Women's Health

Palpitations

Heart palpitations are experienced by both men and women. Palpitations are common and can at times indicate a serious medical problem such as underlying heart disease or an abnormal heart stucture, problems, anxiety, stress, and perimenopause.

What Heart Palpitations Feel Like

Heart palpitations are described by those who experience them in several different ways such as:

There is a pounding or fluttering in the chest.
The heart is doing a flip-flop.
The heart is skipping or missing a beat.
The heart is racing.
There is an extra heartbeat.
The heart is beating in the neck.

Triggers of Heart Palpitations

Though heart palpitations do not always indicate a severe health problem they can be uncomfortable and, over time, can pose some threats to your health. For this reason it is important to recognize some of the triggers of heart palpitations:

Exercise
Stress, anxiety, or fear
Smoking
Alcohol
Too much caffeine from coffee, colas, or tea
Anemia
Heart problems, such as mitral valve prolapse
Thyroid problems
Medicines, such as diet pills and decongestants, or overdoses of such medicines as theophylline and antidepressants
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or perimenopause
Lack of certain vitamins or minerals
Low blood sugar, or an insulin reaction in diabetics

Some of these triggers can be minimized by avoiding or reducing the intensity and/or frequency of certain activities or circumstances. For those situations that are beyond your control, such as PMS, it is important to keep track of your symptoms to make sure that they are just part of your normal functioning. Even in these ‘normal’ scenarios it is important to inform your doctor of your palpitations.

Talk to Your Doctor

When you report your palpitations to your healthcare provider he or she may want to examine you to try to determine the cause of your symptoms. He or she may find that there is no health problem associated with your palpitations but even then it will be important and helpful in the future for this information to be on your medical records.

Common Recommendations

If your healthcare provider does think that you should receive treatment for you palpitations he or she may recommend one or all of the following:

Drink less coffee or alcohol, or none at all
Try to reduce the stress in your life
Take certain medications

Get Medical Attention Right Away If…

There are some instances in which it is imperative that you seek medical attention right away such as:

You have palpitations that last a few hours.
They occur often.
Fainting or passing out
You also have sweating, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, nausea, vomiting, or pain in the chest, arm, back, or jaw.

These symptoms may indicate that you are having a more serious health problem.

Palpitations and Menopause

It is not uncommon for women who are about to enter or are in the midst of menopause to report heart palpitations. Doctors are not yet sure why palpitations sometimes occur with menopause, but one theory is that varying hormone levels stimulate the heart differently causing occasional unusual rhythms. Talk with your healthcare provider about these and other symptoms of menopause.

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This article is a NetWellness exclusive. NetWellness Article

Last Reviewed: Sep 26, 2008

Esa M Davis, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor
Department of Family Medicine
University Hospitals
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University