why does my heart skip a beat?

i have the same symptoms...and it's happenig more frequently and for longer periods of time than it used to. will someone please respond?

Hello,Im no expert but also have Heart Problems,it almost sounds about the same thing that wa going on with my Brother In Law,along with that I believe he had times where he felt a slight flutter,I believe from what i know the heart has like an electrical system if you want to call it that,it I belive regulates your heart Beats,what my Brother In Law had to do is have a pacemaker installed it takes over the electrical impulses to the heart thus stopping that type of thing,as well as my mother In Lw,sometimes in your body that wears out and they use a pace maker to keep your Heart beating normally.Jim

I've seen the doctor for this exact problem.  I had it occasionally and now it has been consistent for the past four months.  I've had ECG's, blood work, an echocardiogram  and even worn a holter monitor for 24hrs to check into this.  Apparently this is very common, especially in athletes.  There are things which can trigger this such as caffeine, MSG, artificial sweeteners, alcohol, stress, anxiety and lack of sleep.  The doctor also said some people are more sensitive and feel this happen while others don't.  I myself am not happy with this answer and am going to see a cardiologist just to be on the safe side as there is heart disease in my family.  I hope this information helps.

Usually this happens from stress some people take there stress or anxeity out in different ways dont be worried about it just cut down on caffeine and sweets and if somthing is bother you with stressful day try to chill out this happenes to me alot trust me i also played fottball all my life and it started to skipp because of stress you'll be ok :]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. This started happening to me around a year ago. I'm 21 and have been an athlete all my life. At first it really scared me because I would have episodes of these skipped beats and flutters for hours. I was hospilized and also told I was completely healthy and put on a beta blocker. I cut out all forms of caffiene and alcohol from my diet. The episodes still remained, but after a while- I got so used to them and began to relax and noticed they went away quicker. A big part has to with the stress thats signaling your parasympathetic system to make your heart o faster. I now take deep relaxed breaths and it happens maybe once in a while with one or two skipped beats. I would also reccomend light exercise. It might trigger the flutter at first but breathe deep. Ive conditioned my body to control breathing and the exercise has even helped the flutter go away for months when I am working out consistently and lightly. I dont even need my beta blocker anymore. Don't let it scare you..it is such a common thing alot of healthy, young people live with.

Hi  My heart does it all the time, i went to docs and had all kind of test not thing worng with my heart,  First of all it seems to happen when i am very upset or when i am all alone, i hvae had this for about 30 yrs, so if anything was wrong with me i think it would have already have happened to me, like i said the least little thing can get me very upset so now i just learn to live with it and also take xanax it seems to calm my body down. Hope i have been a little helpfull to you, take care.

I've had the same problem recently.  I found this interesting:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Heart-Disease/Heart-quotskips-a-beatquot-w-brief-loss-of-breath/show/867155

It may be nothing to worry about, but I would much rather avoid this condition myself.  I notice it occur with greater frequency and strength the more sleep I miss and coffee I have to compensate.  I think I will get more of the sleep and replace coffee with water.  Getting back into my workout should help ensure the sleep at night. -LP

My heart started skipping when I was under a lot of stress. I had and ultra sound and they found Mitro Prolapse in one of my heart valves. I took Inderal for 21 years. It made me tired and I started taking 1200 mgs. of calcium and an equal amount of magnesium. Igradually weaned myself of the Inderal. I still have the skipping and sometimes when I can't sleep or am involved in too many things, it skips more often.

I know that walking and exercise are helpful. Deep breathing also is good to help you relax. Try putting your right hand on your sternum and your left hand over the right when you lie down to go to sleep or anytime that you feel stressed. Breath in and out slowly to the count of 6. This is very comforting. 

Go to the heart doctor just to be safe. I went after 3 years of feeling skips and when it got worse and annoying I finally made the appointment. My heart monitor stated that my heart skipped 2671 times...a normal persons skips 24. yes it was crazy. But I smoke, drink a heck of a lot tea each day and have been sitting in front of a computer not moving around as well as have had massive amounts of stress especially with this economy and apparently all that was making my heart worse. I'm 36 and my doc didnt' want to give me meds. Here is what he prescribed and maybe it'll help you.

First he said no stress..which is hard of course.

He told me to stop smoking, cut down on my tea each day (which alone has helped tremendously), told me to do 30 minutes of cardio a day for 5 days and start to do yoga. Haven't started the exercise yet but just moving around and cutting my caffeine has stopped me from feeling my heart skip. I'm sure it still skips but the annoying skips have passed. Hope this helps.

I agree with all of the above. It is frustrating though after going to doctors and they say It's nothing.....if it gets very bad go to the ER... While taking my pulse in my wrist, I can feel the skip 1st 3 inches below my adam's apple where the throat goes into the rib cage and then the skip in my heart. I have found one thing that has worked and can't really determine why it works, except it probably distracts the mind. What I do is begin counting my pulse, normally it will skip a few more times, then goes away. Hope this helps someone else.

I had problems with my heart doing a lot of skipping.  My doctor wasn't sure what was going on.....checked different things.  Then he did some fairly routine blood work and discovered that my potassium and magnesium levels were low.  If either of these are low, they can cause skipping of your heart, and both of mine were low.  He put me on suppliments, and it has almost stopped.  I still get a few episodes, but not like before.  I read that a lot of you drink a lot of caffeine, and that alone can cause the heart to skip beats....but caffeine is also a diuretic, which can deplete the body of this electrolytes.

Hi,

I have suffered from skipped beats for nearly 20 years. It began to happen after an accident and a lot of stress. I find that over the years stress has always been linked to the problem. On ocassion I also suffer from heart flutter . I have been to several doctors who told me it was natural and nothing to worry about. Recently I had a 'bad' episode of flutter and went to the hospital and was told I had arterial fibrilation, this was at a time of high stress, this was rectified after about 20 hours of rest and medication. When in hospital I spoke to another patient who has had an irregular heart beat for over 60 years and has lived a normal life.. The point of my story is, its not a pleasant sensation to have, but its not as bad as we tend to imagine. However I think any body suffering from this should speak to his/her doctor to put your ming at rest. I have been told that alcohol, cafine, eating late and night, stress and lack of sleep can all contribute to the condidion.

I HAVE THE SAME THING HAPPEN TO ME. SOMETIMES IT HAPPENS WHILE I'M SLEEPING AND IT WAKES ME UP. I WENT TO MY DOCTOR AND SHE SAID IT WAS NORMAL AND IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME, YOU JUST DON'T NOTICE IT MOST OF THE TIME. AS YOU ARE DONING OTHER THINGS THAT KEEP YOU'RE MIND OFF IT.