Experiencing Rapid Heartbeats: Understanding the Causes and Potential Risks
Hanging out at home one evening, you're watching your favorite TV show or scrolling through your phone when suddenly your heart starts acting funny. Maybe it feels like it's beating too fast or too slow, or maybe it's just skipping a beat.
You try to keep calm, but hey, it's your heart we're talking about here, and the sudden change has you feeling a little anxious. Plus, COVID-19 is known to cause a slew of weird symptoms, so you can't shake the idea that this might be one of them.
Let's dive into everything you need to know about those pesky heart palpitations, including when they might be a sign of something more serious.
What the heck are heart palpitations?
Medically speaking, a normal heart rate ranges between 60 and 100 beats per minute. However, many times, heart palpitations aren't actually about an increase or decrease in heart rate, says Dr. Melissa Robinson, a cardiac electrophysiologist at UW Medicine Heart Institute specializing in arrhythmias.
"Palpitations can simply be a heightened awareness of your heartbeat," she explains. "The issue is whether or not they represent an arrhythmia."
That heightened awareness could mean you're noticing a change in your heartbeat that's actually pretty normal and doesn't point to any underlying health issues. Since most of us ain't walking around with our heartbeats on our radar, just noticing them can trigger some anxiety.
But sometimes, heart palpitations are for real, caused by issues like arrhythmias where your heart is beating irregularly. Arrhythmias can indicate an underlying medical condition, and they might increase your risk for stroke or other cardiac events down the line.
According to Robinson, about half the time when people go to the doctor for palpitations, the issue turns out to be a normal rhythm. One-fifth of the time, it's extra beats, and the remaining 30% are actual arrhythmias. But these percentages vary depending on age and other factors, like underlying health conditions. Older adults, for example, are more likely to have actual arrhythmias.
Got COVID-19? Might be cause for concern
If you've got COVID-19, there's a chance you could experience heart palpitations. But don't start freaking out just yet - it's probably not gonna happen to you.
So far, most people who get palpitations and are sick with COVID-19 have already been hospitalized. According to Robinson, about a third of hospitalized COVID-19 patients also incur some level of myocardial damage - a fancy way of saying they've got an arrhythmia. This damage means they could be at risk for serious heart problems in the future.
However, it's important to note that the general public doesn't need to start self-scanning for palpitations to see if they have COVID.
What heart palpitations actually feel like
Everybody experiences palpitations differently. For some, it feels like their heart is beating faster or harder; for others, it's more like a flip-flop or a skipped beat. Some even describe it as a salmon flipping in their chest.
It's common to feel palpitations at night when the body's at rest - especially if someone's lying on their left side, which brings the heart closer to the chest wall. The change in rhythm can resonate more and use the chest and the chest wall as a drum. Palpitations during exercise are also common, but feeling them during mild activity like walking or cleaning around the house is less common.
What triggers heart palpitations?
There are plenty of things that can mess with your heart rhythm, some harmless and some more serious.
Common triggers include everything from dehydration and drinking too much caffeine or alcohol to smoking, drugs (including marijuana), exercise, fever, or respiratory illness. And let's not forget anxiety, which often accompanies other anxiety symptoms like a sense of impending doom, stomach upset, feeling tired, having trouble sleeping, and even trembling or sweating.
While anxiety alone can cause palpitations, dismissing palpitations as a symptom of anxiety without an exam or further testing is a bad idea. If a doctor or healthcare provider doesn't take your symptoms seriously, don't hesitate to speak up and get a second opinion.
Arrhythmia symptoms to watch out for
There's only one way to know for sure if you've got an arrhythmia or not, and that's by talking with a doctor or trying a heart monitor. But there are some signs of arrhythmias you can watch for:
- Sudden change in heartbeat
- Persistent and recurring palpitations
- Severe palpitations that interrupt your daily life
- An irregular pattern to your heartbeat
- Lightheadedness or dizziness
- Shortness of breath
- Sweating
- Chest pain
Arrhythmias are more common in older adults, but even children can get them.
What now?
If your palpitations don't disrupt your life too much and only happen at predictable times (like when you're doomscrolling social media), it's worth trying a heart-monitoring app. These apps can help you figure out if your palpitations are due to anxiety or something more serious.
However, if you're more worried about your palpitations, have other symptoms with them, or have an underlying medical condition, it's essential to see a doctor.
"The main goal of the patient-provider interaction is to find out if it's an arrhythmia or not," says Robinson. Some arrhythmias might not be dangerous, but others - like atrial fibrillation, the most common type in the United States - could lead to heart failure or stroke if left untreated.
Treating those palpitations
If your app doesn't detect any irregular heartbeats or your doctor rules out an arrhythmia, it might be time to reevaluate potential triggers and find ways to manage them. For example, cutting back on caffeine or learning healthy coping techniques for anxiety could eliminate those pesky palpitations.
If you receive an arrhythmia diagnosis, treatment will depend on how serious it is. Mild arrhythmias, like supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), may not require treatment unless they interfere with your daily life. More serious types, like atrial fibrillation, can be treated with medication, catheter ablation, or lifestyle changes to address underlying issues, such as diet and exercise changes to treat obesity.
The bottom line? Don't ignore those palpitations. They could be a sign of a fixable problem, and who wants to keep dealing with that? Seek answers from a healthcare provider, and don't settle for dismissals of your symptoms based on assumptions. Life's too short for mysteriously beating hearts.
In this context, here are three sentences that incorporate the given words:
- Maintaining good mental health through exercise and balanced health-and-wellness practices can help reduce the anxiety associated with heart palpitations, a common symptom in medical-conditions like arrhythmias.
- Regular news articles on science and medical-conditions often discuss the latest developments in managing cardiovascular-health issues caused by arrhythmias, and their impact on overall health.
- If you experience heart palpitations during exercise or any mild activity, it's a good idea to take note, as they might be a sign of an underlying health issue or medical condition requiring medical attention.
