Ok, every now and then I get heart skips and flutters. I am getting them today. I had a 21 day monitor, Echo, Stress test, etc, and everything is "fine". I have occasional PVCs, PACs, but I don't think I feel those. I don't feel a thump when it happens. It feels almost as if my heart skips a beat or two and then flutters.
I have had horrible anxiety/panic since contracting the disease, and I know the weird stuff my heart does makes the anxiety worse (or the other way around).
I try to ignore the sensations, but how do I do that when they feel like they could be life-threatening? I am 23 years old, and I have little to no risk for a cardiovascular event. I wish all these tests would reassure me that everything is fine, but it doesn't.
Posted by kday (Member # 22234) on :
By the way, it seems to happen when I stand up or lean over.
Posted by Sick Tick (Member # 23003) on :
I had that early in the disease. My EKG was of course normal, because it was not done during the episode. I think this is a common symptom of tick borne illness. But since Lyme can cause pericarditis, worth checking into.
Scary, I know....doesn't happen any more.
Posted by Cheryl (Member # 75) on :
Hi,
It could be an esophageal irritation. If you've had the full cardio work-up, including a holter during these symptoms, and nothing appeared to explain it, then consider the GI tract.
BTW, I've had pericarditis and abnormalities appeared on the tests you've had.
Cheryl
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
you said,
"It feels almost as if my heart skips a beat or two and then flutters."
That's what my PAC's feel like.
Since you've been checked out try not to worry too much!! Did they even consider putting you on a beta blocker?
I have A-fib and MVP with regurgitation... so I know the scary feelings!! A-fib is serious and it scares me to death, but the other stuff is more like a flicker to me.
Posted by bystander (Member # 11893) on :
Rumor has it that CoQ10 supplements help with flutters.
Posted by AnnaL (Member # 18464) on :
Be sure to mention this to your LLMD. It could be a drug side effect. My husband had heart beat-skipping/fluttering when he took Ceftin.
Our LLMD switched him to Omnicef and the fluttering went away.
Posted by Toppers (Member # 20083) on :
That's this stupid disease 110% for you. I couldn't bend over or lay on my side w/out my heart palpitating for over a year. 4 months of abx = totally gone. Nuke those fuggars hard!
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Biaxin can do that. So can any of the quinolones.
Posted by kday (Member # 22234) on :
I've had the fluttering before any medications, and I don't think the medications have anything to do with it. Sometimes the fluttering lasts a few days, and sometimes it goes away for weeks months. I am taking Cipro (a quinolone), so I guess it's a possibility that it is causing some of it. My doc wanted to start me on Zithromax too, but I got a call on my way home from my appointment saying it can interact with Cipro to not fill that one because of my history of SVTs, and heart complaints. I guess he forgot when he wrote the prescription, but I am glad he took responsibility and called right away and said "oops" -- the kind of care you don't get from most doctors. He left messages on 2 other phones. I am on a low dose of doxycycline again, and I almost want to blame it as the heart skips have started after starting doxy again. However, I can't find that as a side effect, so I guess that's not it. I also take Ceftin.
I hadn't taken magnesium in a while, and that seemed to have helped my heart today. As soon as it was metabolized, the heart skipping went away! It's the only supplement I haven't been taking regularly, but it may be the most important for me. I take 100 mg of COQ10 daily. I am not sure how much it helps, but I'm sure it doesn't hurt.
Posted by O2Btickfree2 (Member # 9742) on :
I had the heart flutters my heart would beat out of my chest, skip beats too. The doctor said its the firing of the heart. I noticed mine when i was very busy tired this was before lyme. I have it off and on now might be lyme or meds not sure. Its not as bad so im not worried about it. I was told to stay away from caffene and some other things cant remember now what.
Posted by kday (Member # 22234) on :
I just had another one tonight. I have no clue what they are, but they are brief and only last a few seconds. It FEELS like my heart, but I have been getting heart burn and reflux lately, and they tell me maybe my esophagus spasms since it feels like it comes from the middle of my chest. Nobody has a clue. It's a very unpleasant feeling, and I am wondering if anyone has ever had an answer for this type of feeling. Even though they are short, they feel like they can suddenly kill me, even though that's most likely not the case. I would not classify the feeling as "pain", but just a bad sensation. Maybe it's just a random surge of adrenaline causing a short palpitation and/or skipped beat? A benign PVC or PAC? I don't get it.
I guess I'll just take some extra anti-anxiety drugs so it doesn't worry me so much. I think anxiety may contribute to whatever I am feeling, but it is not anxiety.
I just want this crap to leave me alone!
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I would be very careful with the Cipro and other abx you are on. The combos could be causing you more trouble with your heart.
Be sure that the magnesium you are taking is a good quality. I could tell a difference when I got back on KAL's Mg Glycinate instead of the other stuff I had been taking.
(very cheap at Vitacost, BTW)
Stay on the CoQ10 too!
Posted by kday (Member # 22234) on :
Thanks for the suggestion. I have been taking Calcium/Magnesium in an ionic form, and according the the know-it-all vitageek at the vitamin store, it was the best form they had. I've never met one that knows so much about the vitamins. I wanted the powdered form because I take too many pills, and all I need is more giant pills. It's called Ionic-Fizz by Pure Essence Labs. It tastes pretty good too, it's sugar free (Stevia), and doesn't need hot water like the other powdered forms.
Unfortunately, I left it in a friends car after I spent the night at his house, and I am back to Magnesium Citrate/Oxide pills which are huge and not nearly as effective as the other stuff.
Posted by Pinelady (Member # 18524) on :
Watch out for too much Calcium. It can mess with
the heart bad. Try a pinch of salt. If that does
not help/electrolyte replacement. You may need a
antibiotic that seems to work better in heart
patients.
Posted by Nicole_Denise (Member # 20620) on :
I have this too. And- exactly as you said, it happens more often when I stand up or lean over.
Posted by kday (Member # 22234) on :
It's funny how so many people experience the same thing, yet no one really has an answer. I could google for hours (not that I should be doing that), and nobody to seems to know what is happening in the body. I guess it's just better to not think about it.
Thanks for the input everyone. Time to relax and get some rest.
Posted by psr1 (Member # 22957) on :
I really swear by potassium, magnesium, and taurine, and so do hundreds of other people with heart rhythm disturbances. We tend to be low on these things at the best of times; Lyme further lowers levels of them. Try it and see...
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Good suggestion, psr. I take Mega Multi Mineral by Solaray.
That oxide stuff is probably not the best.
Warning on the one I shared with you.. rather large pills. They don't scare me!! Posted by ott70 (Member # 18237) on :
Potassium, magnesium, taurine, d-ribose, coQ-10, red yeast rice, and hawthorn berry are all supposed to help. Fish oils. I take all of this stuff but I'm not sure what the right balance is.
My number one major symptom is heart-related. The majority of the time it's the flutters being described here. The esophagus spasm has been suggested, but I can feel my pulse skip when I get the sensation.
My heart has been thoroughly checked out but I know it's been affected. I also get chest pains, shortness of breath, left shoulder and arm pain, back pain on the left side, and tachycardia (very minor). It's not chest wall pain or panic attacks, but getting a doctor to understand is impossible when the tests come back clean.
My last holter did show an increase in PAC's. I usually get those because the sensation is on the top side of the heart. I don't get PVC's very often.
Some days I have very few. Some days I probably have hundreds to a thousand. Some people have thousands and are deemed okay without any further action.
I take a low dose beta blocker (Atenolol) because it seems to help a little. I'm not really crazy about taking it, but it is only 25 mg.
There was an article in last weekend's Sunday paper in one of those Parade-type publications. A lady in her 50's started having bad tachycardia for a few months and they ended up giving her an ablation. The doctor determined the cause was a viral infection affected the nerve impulses. They didn't say what bug it was and probably didn't know.
Lyme likes the nerves and there is no reason to think that Lyme won't affect the nerves in the heart. I think the nerve infliction will cause some of this chest pain that I have, but some doctors argue that someone could open your chest and touch your heart and you wouldn't feel it.
Lyme is also a vascular disease, so there is probably some relation with the heart symptoms and the vascular system. I swear I get spasms in my carotid artery in my neck sometimes.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
ott... you sound like me a few years back. Now I have A-fib. Your heart symptoms may be leading up to that. I have PAC's .. but not a whole lot of them everyday.
I used to take 25 mg of atenolol too! In the beginning it was for tachycardia.
Keep an eye out and don't ignore it if things get worse.
Posted by kday (Member # 22234) on :
Well, thanks again for the suggestions. I think these skips over the last couple days were a sign of another herx. My first one was terrifying, this time it's more mild... As if I am coming down with the flu (but I don't think that's the case). Fever only 99.2 which is typical for a mild herx. The severe ones were over 100 degrees.
Any suggestions on what to take for pain, headache, and nausea? Is Tylenol ok? I rarely take Tylenol as it's bad for the liver even without abx. My liver enzymes are fine, so I guess it wouldn't hurt.
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