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You need to purchase a Kardia Mobile, a slim card-like pad that you put fingers on when you know or suspect that you are having an arrhythmia...which is what you are experiencing.
Patients report 'palpitation's to their doctors, or their doctors ask if you are having 'palpitations.' Palpitations are the sensation when a heart's rhythm is off, not a formal diagnosis. So, the doctors want to know what it feels like, and then they'll usually order a Holter monitor to be worn by you for 16-100 hours or so, sometimes more if the arrhythmia happens seldom.
You might have what is known as an SVT, or supra-ventricular tachycardia. This means 'above the ventricle extraordinarily high heart rate.' The two smaller pumps high on the heart, the two 'atria', are beating at two or three times the the rate, or faster, than the large ventricles below them. This is abnormal.
SVTs are common as we age. In fact, the current best guess in the research suggests that up to 40% of all living humans today will develop a cardiac arrhythmia in the future. Wow!! And the trends at hospitals are certainly supporting this contention.
There are other arrhythmias, and you should have a formal assessment to eliminate them as what is actually going on. A particularly dangerous one is VT, or ventricular tachycardia. Chances are very low that you have that because you have been experiencing your arrhythmia for several years now. We can all but rule that out.
You should consult a good, and I do mean a GOOD, cardiologist and ask for a formal assessment for cardiac arrhythmia, and I bet what you have is either PACs or AF, premature atrial complexes or atrial fibrillation. But they can be treated, and they SHOULD be treated early if possible. You will need an echocardiogram, possibly a stress test to determine if you have ischemia (poor oxygen supply to the heart and organs), and possibly an angiogram where they put you on your back, maybe sedate you, and slide a very thin fiber/tube up your arm and into your heart to be used like a tiny camera. I had that done...no big deal, honestly.
We can offer more information as we develop the conversation, but I don't want to load you up too much at first. Maybe you have other information you'd be willing to share, or you have other questions?
Replies to "You need to purchase a Kardia Mobile, a slim card-like pad that you put fingers on..."
The v i o monitor is something that they stick on your chest for a week or more depending on what insurance pays
I use a Kardia device and find it very helpful both for my own information and for my health care providers. At fist there was an air of disbelief when i said my HR goes as high as 240+ but with the Kardia recordings to verify i was taken seriously. I had an ablation done just over a year ago and was symptom free for a few months. More frequent recurrences happening again.
I second the suggestion to get a Kardiamobile device. Inexpensive and very helpful in keeping a record of the frequency and intensity of your heart rhythm. I use mine every time I have an AFIB episode. I opted for their optional monthly payment program which gives me a monthly report of my recordings; I print out the report and bring a copy with me when I see my cardiologist. He typically is very rushed but when he asked “how have you been?” I hand him the print out so he can see the frequency and intensity data. So much better than me saying”well, I still have episodes quite often” which doesn’t really tell him anything. I also have a very good Garmin watch which measures my heart rate but it does NOT detect AFIB - it does give me a clue that I’m out of rhythm as the watch heart rate is generally up a bit. All this to say, the advice to get a Kardiamobile device is very sound in my opinion.
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I appreciate your reply, and the detail. Once it does go back to a normal rhythm, I've had an ECG and from what I gather, it all looks normal when it's beating in time. I think I had an echo sound, if that's correct and that showed nothing abnormal. I've been put on bisoprolol, a small dose.