Monday, February, 13, 2012

Heart palpitations

Table of Contents

Call your doctor right away if:

  • You feel frequent extra heartbeats (more than 6 per minute or coming in groups of 3 or more).
  • You have risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol, diabetes, or high blood pressure.
  • You have new or different heart palpitations.
  • Your pulse is more than 100 beats per minute (without exercise, anxiety, or fever).

What to expect at your health care provider's office

Your doctor will take a medical history, perform a physical exam, and do an electrocardiogram.

If you have chest pain, shortness of breath, or other worrisome symptoms, and are in the emergency room, your cardiac rhythm will be monitored. An emergency intervention will be performed if necessary to restore normal cardiac rhythm.

If you do not have the symptoms at the time of your visit, the doctor will want to know what your pulse was at the time you felt the palpitations and whether or not the rhythm felt regular.

You may be asked:

  • Do you feel skipped or stopped beats?
  • Does your heart rate feel slow or fast when you have the palpitations?
  • Do you feel a racing, pounding, or fluttering?
  • Is there a regular or irregular pattern to the unusual heartbeat sensations?
  • Did the palpitations begin or end suddenly?
  • When do the palpitations occur? In response to reminders of a traumatic event? When you are lying down and resting? When you change your body position? When you feel emotional?
  • Do you have any other symptoms?

As part of your physical exam, your doctor will check your temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure. Special attention should be paid to your heart and lungs.

Diagnostic tests that may be performed include:

  • Electrocardiogram
  • Ambulatory cardiac monitoring (for example, wearing a Holter monitor for 24 hours, or another type of monitor for two weeks or longer)
  • Echocardiogram
  • Electrophysiology study (EPS)
  • Coronary angiography

If your doctor finds you have an abnormal heart rhythm, write down what it is called and be sure to tell other professionals involved in your medical care.


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Review Date: 12/10/2010
Reviewed By: A.D.A.M. Editorial Team: David Zieve, MD, MHA, and David R. Eltz. Previously reviewed by David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine (5/16/2010).

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)