Heart Seems To Miss A Beat! ?caffeine Related

[dogpoo]

Quite often my heart feels like it is missing a beat, very strange feeling, this is only noticeable when I am at complete rest, should I get it checked out or could it be linked to stress etc I did have an ECG a couple of years ago, the doc said I have a heart defect but not to worry as it is something many people have! the reason I had the ECG was because I have experienced uncomfortable breathing from time to time for as long as I can remember, all the results regarding this were clear, doc said stress was probably the cause, I don't feel stressed although I do worry about a lot of things so maybe this is the cause of these problems! any thoughts and advice would be much appreciated!

[dogpoo]

What effects can caffeine have on the body? the reason I ask is because for as long as I can remember I have had uncomfortable breathing and a feeling that my heart misses a beat, as I mentioned in another post on this forum I have had tests which show nothing wrong, I am not and have never been a big coffee drinker but do drink it from time to time but recently more so, could caffeine be the culprit?

[qdinthailand]

Some energy drinks are the equivalent of 4 or more cups of coffee in one small can.

How about sodas like Coca-Cola, which contain caffeine?

Drinking any of these?

While a non-caffeine user (think Mormon - don't know of others) may experience some slight effects from their first coffee experience, I doubt that drinking one or two coffees from time to time as you say are the culprit.

Edited March 6, 2013 by qdinthailand

[dogpoo]

Yes I drink Coke, Pepsi and others, I guess I need to find out what could cause my symptoms and go from there!

[Sheryl]

Stress cannot cause an abnormal heart rhythm and short of an actual panic attack will not cause shortness of breath either.

From what you describe a consultation with a good cardiologist is in order. Where are you located?

[dogpoo]

Just found out one of the effects of caffeine. Stimulates your heart, respiratory system, and central nervous system. So it's worth cutting this out completely and see if it helps!

[Sheryl]

Excessive caffeine can indeed do this and it is worth trying without to see if it resolves.

While this would usually result from heavy caffeine intake people vary greatly in their sensitivity to caffeine and some people are more affected than others.

[Sheryl]

P.S> I have merged the 2 topics and added caffeine into the title.

[canman]

I have the exact same symptoms. Hard to explain the feeling but as the op describes it feels like my heart misses a beat. Always seems to occur when I am at rest. I have had a couple ECG's as part of routine medicals and a stress test some years ago and no abnormalities were seen. Don't drink much coffee or cola's. Not really stressed about it but have been considering seeing a cardiologist for a closer look.

[dogpoo]

Stress cannot cause an abnormal heart rhythm and short of an actual panic attack will not cause shortness of breath either.

From what you describe a consultation with a good cardiologist is in order. Where are you located?

Sheryl I attended Phuket Bangkok hospital last year when I was having my normal uncomfortable breathing problem, the doctor examined me and said he can find nothing wrong, he could see I was concerned, he sent me for a chest ex-ray and ECG, the chest x-ray was clear, the ECG showed a defect but the doctor said it is nothing to worry about and is something many people have, he asked me if I was stressed, I replied "yes I have been a stressed person all my life, who worries about everything" he suggested seeing a councillor which I refused, he also suggested yoga, if you knew me you would know that is something I could never do as I am active 24 hrs a day awake and in my sleep!! going to try the caffeine free diet so to speak, I have had this problem for as long as I can remember so this is nothing new to me, I would like to find out what is going on though!

[jrtmedic]

"Premature Ventricular Contractions" is the technical term for what you describe. In the vast majority of people these "missed or extra beats" are of no significance and are NOT an indication of cardiac (or any) abnormality and do not require any treatment.

Precipitating causes include :-

Caffine, Alcohol, "Recreational Drug Use" and anxiety. These issues (behaviours) are all within the control of an individual and can indeed be modified.

High blood pressure is another cause for which treatment would eliminate or at least reduce the incidence of PVC's

In some (Rare) cases where the occurance of PVC's is intrusive, frequent or associated with other symptoms consultation with a Cardiologist would be indicated. Investigations would include comprehensive physical examination, blood analysis, ECG, Stress ECG, extended ECG (Holter monitoring) and echocardiography.

Edited March 6, 2013 by jrtmedic

[dogpoo]

That would fit in with what the doctor said to me last year, he said its a normal glitch which is of no concern! cheers for the information!

[cooked]

I had the problem with missed heart beats (I had the impression that it was a late heart beat) when I was around 30 years old. My doctor told me not to worry. I later discovered that drinking coffee with whiskey wasn't a good idea, since I stopped doing that, everything ok since 35 years or so.

I agree that it is a most disturbing sensation.

[qdinthailand]

If you go totally caffeine free, you may experience headaches. I do every time I go stupid over my caffeine intake.

I don't do energy drinks or sodas anymore - my caffeine intake is limited to 3 cups of coffee in the morning - 1 or 2 just don't do it for me.

Otherwise I drink water, or an occasional green tee, on rare occasions a fruit smoothie.

[Sheryl]

They may also be premature junctional beats (PJC) , not necessarily PVCs.

PVCs can be idiosyncric (?sp?) and nothing to worry about, but they can also be linked to underlying heart disease or other underlying medical issues.

Personally if it were me and if it were confirmed that it was PVCs (as opposed to JVCs) and I had no prior history of it and no obvious
precipitating factors (such as recent increased caffeine intake, or on a new medication etc) I would want to investigate a bit further to rule out any serious underlying causes. Ditto if PVCs significantly increased in frequency for no known reason, and definitely if accompanied by light-headness or other symoptoms. . PVCs can occur for no known reason but they will also occur if the heart muscle is not getting enoughoxygen for any reason.

One of the tests often done to determine this is a stress test. Benign PVCs will not increase (and indeed often vanish) with physical exertion whereas PVCs due to underlying heart or respiratory problems will increase. There will be other EKG changes during exercise as well if there is significant cardiac disease.

For the poster who felt skipped beast but had not had them diagnosed, a single EKG will often miss it since it captures the heart rhythm over only a very short period. The doctor needs to run a longer strip i.e. for several minutes at least, to capture it.

In some cases a small device is worn to monitor the heart rhythm over an extended period like 24 hrs or so to figure out what is going on but that is usually reserved for cases where the person is symptomatic, for example has episodes of light-headness or fainting.

[candypants]

dont worry about it, heart problems never killed anybody

[JAS21]

Mine does ... I went to see Dr Nopparat at BNH, saw him a few years ago for a stress test and have seen him since . So as I've had a heart attack, followed by a bypass (20 years ago now) and another small heart attack 10 years ago (could have been the new wife!!) so he decided to do an echocardiogram, then a stress test and then an after echocardiogram. The missed beats showed up on the stress test. I'm 67 and reached 153 heart rate after Bruce protocol Level 4 (used to clean level 6) , but he said all was okay and nothing to worry about.

Go see someone and put your mind at rest. BNH had the promotion for these tests last month. Think the normal price is around 9000Baht. But maybe he will just recommend a simple stress test.

I quite like Dr Nopparat, first saw him in 2004.

Edited March 6, 2013 by JAS21

[peanut]

I used to have this same problem too, and found it really scary. Especially in the evening when I lay down in bed and relaxed, and boom! my heart felt like it skipped a beat and there goes my relaxation. Checkups didn't reveal any problems.

In my case it would happen for a few months, then go away. Then it would happen again at some point. And yes it did happen in periods of my life when I was very stressed.

[BEVUP]

Google - Blood presure / ECG / Blood thinner medication

Cafien has nothing to do with it unless yu drink it heavely like some do with smokes & beer

Had a resting pulse of 130 told to see doc as i would not get job till 100 (max ) p/min

Had a series of 4 blood tests & blood limits shot to pieces So whilst on blood press meds also put on Thinners & pulse droped from 130 to 85

Had Ecg afternoon & morning slight problem but seen something like yours when Googled

[bunnaag]

Google - Blood presure / ECG / Blood thinner medication

Cafien has nothing to do with it unless yu drink it heavely like some do with smokes & beer

Had a resting pulse of 130 told to see doc as i would not get job till 100 (max ) p/min

Had a series of 4 blood tests & blood limits shot to pieces So whilst on blood press meds also put on Thinners & pulse droped from 130 to 85

Had Ecg afternoon & morning slight problem but seen something like yours when Googled

Google - Blood presure / ECG / Blood thinner medication

Cafien has nothing to do with it unless yu drink it heavely like some do with smokes & beer

Had a resting pulse of 130 told to see doc as i would not get job till 100 (max ) p/min

Had a series of 4 blood tests & blood limits shot to pieces So whilst on blood press meds also put on Thinners & pulse droped from 130 to 85

Had Ecg afternoon & morning slight problem but seen something like yours when Googled

probably extra systolen,many people have it, like myself since many years .do not worry too much your dr.will tell you the same

[Sheryl]

People vary greatly in their sensitivity to caffeine.

[Totster]

Is this the same as palpitations ?

totster

[Sheryl]

Not exactly. Palpitations is the subjective sensation of the heart beating unusually fast.

What these posters are describing is the sensation of the heart missing a beat. Actually what occurs is that a beat comes too early to effectively pump blood (and thus is not felt at the pulse) following which there is a longer than average delay before the next beat. The premature beat is not felt at all, but the interval after it is felt as a "missed" beat.

[Totster]

Not exactly. Palpitations is the subjective sensation of the heart beating unusually fast.

What these posters are describing is the sensation of the heart missing a beat. Actually what occurs is that a beat comes too early to effectively pump blood (and thus is not felt at the pulse) following which there is a longer than average delay before the next beat. The premature beat is not felt at all, but the interval after it is felt as a "missed" beat.

Thanks Cheryl,

I have palpitations regularly and it literally takes my breath away, not sure what causes it although I am guilty of certain excesses.

totster

[Sheryl]

May be what is called paroxysmal atrial tachycardia.

Caffeine can be a trigger Also smoking, and excessive alcohol.

Should see a doctor to rule out more serious causes, and assuming nine found, work on reducing these triggers. There are some other measures that can be taken to cut the palpaitations short, which a doctor can teach you.

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Arrhythmia/AboutArrhythmia/Tachycardia_UCM_302018_Article.jspIt is not

[nontabury]

After being involved in a small road accident about 25 yrs ago,I was taken as a precaution to the local hospital,there the doctor noticed I was missing about 1 in 13 beats,this was on a Saturday,he advised me to visit my GP on the Monday.That weekend I got all my insurances together,thinking I was about to die.On the Monday,visited my GP,who simple checked my pulse and then asked if I drank coffee,I relied about 4 cups a day,he then asked if it was normal caffeinated coffee,I said"yes".The treatment he recommended was to abstain from caffeinated drinks,if I still wanted coffee to only drink de-caff,it took about 4 months for my pulse to regulate, and after that I started running marathons etc.,no problem since.

[cheeryble]

doc said stress was probably the cause

Wonder where the evidence for that was or if he was filling In a word-free moment.

Did he define stress?

Funnily enough was having a conversation with a psychologist friend the other day. He was talking about stress as in he Sinatra book about cholesterol. I said what exactly is stress? Is driving a car, always ready for a life-endangering moment, stress? Is playing polo, which is much more dangerous again but extreme fun, stress? Is it just worry or is it muscular tension or is it adrenaline release?

My friend who has finished the book says they make a cogent definition of stress in the heart disease sense and suggest the chemical concatenation it causes.

I must read further. They may even be right.

(BTW had missed irregular beats and "bang" beats for decades, just occasionally, no problem (doc said so too) and fit enough a 64 to exercise vigorously daily.....don't worry too much.)

Edited March 9, 2013 by cheeryble