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chest vibration

Last night I had a vibration thing happen in my chest off and on for about 2 hours.  I am almost positive that my pulse was normal just fast (100-110).  It was scary but I didn't panic and my breathing stayed normal.  I have had a panic attack before (full on heart attack thinking kind) and this wasn't like that.  I was just wondering if the heart can be spasming and yet not be arrythmic.  Does that make sense?  Is an anxiety attack and a panic attack the same thing?  (I did post on the anxiety forum too, I just feel like it is a heart related issue so I thought I'd try it here too!!)

I have mentioned that I am heading to Mayo and I would like to go up there with only the relevant chest related issues and although I FEEL like last night was one, I really honestly don't know anymore.

Thanks you all and I hope you have a great weekend.
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Avatar universal
Hello

My heart seems to spasm too.  For me, it beats normally and then there is a gurgle that seems to interrupt the beat temporarily.  It is really annoying.  I've been to a cardiologist and he assures me my heart is fine.  I just wish I could get it to stop.  I never know when to expect it to happen.  Just so you know you are not alone!
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Avatar universal
Okay, I know I sound a little paranoid but, well...I am.  The vibration thing happened again this afternoon.  I was resting (I am lucky to be hit with ear infection, sore throat and now--thanks to my littles---PINK EYE!!!) and had just dozed off when I felt the shaking start.  I put my hand on my left chest area, like you do when you are "pledging allegiance" and could feel and see a pretty rough shaking.  I tried to feel my pulse at the wrist and I think it was normal.   It happened two more times after that.  The last time I checked my pulse at the neck and I couldn't tell what was happening because I think I was getting a little panic-y.  Very, very scary.

Can my heart just start an eratic beating like that--out of the blue?  I know the heart is buried deep under the ribs, cartiliage and etc but is it  possible to visualize it (any shaking it is doing)  on the surface?  This is crazy I know but something weird is happening.

Does anyone have any insight?
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Avatar universal
You know, i have felt something similar a few times! Ive felt it in my chest, in my legs and in my arms, and its muscle spasms brought on by dehydration usually.. I can put my hand on the area and feel the muscle vibrating..Its a VERY weird sensation! Does this sound like you?
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Avatar universal
I am probably very dehydrated today.  Since I have been sick I've not really had my usual huge amount of water.  It seems to only come on at night though, until today when I was napping during the day.  I would like to think it is a muscle spasm (that sure makes the panic feeling less...thanks!!!) but it seems to be only on the left side of my chest.  Actually, now that I think about it, if I am startled awake (this afternoon it was one of those awake jerk things that woke me up) it seems to happen.  Tonight I was watching a movie with my little boy and I dozed off and he said something and it startled me and it happened.  hmmmmmm....I never realized that until I started typing this reply.  But it doesn't seem to be adrenaline either---my pulse does get faster but seems normal.  Oh yeah, my chest aches after a few of them.  Could that be sore muscles?  Also, can any type of arrythmia cause this type of feeling?

Wow, thank you so much for your reply, I think it really help with the panic feeling I was having.  I have been kind of dreading going to sleep because I was afraid it would happen again.  Gee, can you say classic panic/anxiety disorder???  lol   Mayo is going to kick me right out on my keister!!!

Thanks you so very much.
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Avatar universal
you're welcome! I just wish i could make you feel better.. i know how much of a drain the anxiety can be!  

I have an arrhythmia, but ive never had a vibration sensation in my chest before with it, but that doesnt mean its not possible. it is encouraging however that your pulse seems to stay the same, thats a very good sign, its also a good sign you arent really experiencing much tachycardia (110 is nothin to sweat).. I hope you have good luck at mayo ! Anything that you feel is heart related you should mention to them.. Dont hold anything back for fear of sounding anxious or overly concerned! Let us know how things go!
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Avatar universal
You seem to be describing a myoclonus, that is, a vibrating muscle.  The problem is, we don't know where it is.  The ones occurring in the chest, may be coming from the diaphragm.  Their origins are obscure, as they are often due to an insult to the phrenic nerve system.  If your pulse is normal while the vibration occurs, it's likely not your heart.  Check out diaphragmatic myoclonus on the web...horses typically are afflicted after vigorous exercise, so there's lots of references to horses.  That fact that a startle gets it going for a while can be due to an adrenaline surge, which is in keeping with a muscular problem.  Anxiety will make it worse.  Your should be able to track it down with the right kind of MD (specializing in neuromuscular disorders), or it might go away on its own (as the neural insult gets repaired).  Magnesium deficiency has been implicated (at least in horses).

Good luck,

-Arthur
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Avatar universal
i would get another cardio opinion and not risk it. if it happens on and off perhaps it wasn't happening when you got it checked with the doc the first time... go to ER
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Avatar universal
i would get another cardio opinion and not risk it. if it happens on and off perhaps it wasn't happening when you got it checked with the doc the first time... go to ER next time it happens and try to see what is going on while its happening... thats the only way to make sure you are ok...

my hubby gets these and just had a massive heart attack...
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Avatar universal
I get chest vibration too. It starts when I go to sleep, and it sometimes wakes me back up. I started to fall asleep in a chair one time, and it started just as my head began to nod. I wake up with it constantly. It stops as soon as I become fully awake, and start moving around. During these attacks, my pulse is always normal. I thought it was atrial flutter or fibrillation, but after a sleep study, echocardiogram, nuclear cardio stress test, two Holter monitors, and two event monitors, nothing but a couple of benign PVCs showed up. Evidently my heart is fine, but I would sure like to know what the vibration is.
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1 Comments
Hello KarlUp. I get similar symptoms as fall asleep and am wondering if you found out the cause of this.
Avatar universal
Six years ago, I had a mild heart attack and had 2 stents installed. I had restenosis two months later and had an angioplasty at that time. After that (for a month or so), I occasionally would get a vibration in my chest during the day. I had an ECG while it was happening, but it showed nothing unusual. Eventually, the vibrations stopped. I have had a few cardiolite stress tests over the years and all show there is no evidence I ever had a heart attack. Six weeks ago I was drinking a very cold frozen beverage and felt like I froze my esophagus. I went into atrial fibrillation a few minutes later and drove to the emergency room. It converted on its own (heart returned to normal sinus rhythm) before I could be given medication (the episode lasted about 2 hours), so they sent me home. A few days later my chest would vibrate any time I laid on my stomach, or on my left side. I can stop most of the vibration by lying on my back, or getting out of bed. I had another echo and cardiolite stress test and it looks like my heart is fine. At this time, I wake up a couple times a night with my chest vibrating. My heartbeat is fine and I have not had another atrial fibrillation episode, but I too wish I knew what the deal is with this vibration. It certainly appears to be related to events that happened to my heart, yet tests show my heart is fine.
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88793 tn?1290227177
Not many tests would show that vibrations are.....  The first came vibration on my chest, I told my cardio when I had my pacemaker checked.  He said it was A-Fib.  Later I have it in my legs and hands.  They discovered I got diabetes type II.  Now I got that "express train" like in my chest first thing in the morning when I open my eyes.  They said is normal, nothing wrong.  I also got that vibration in my chest after eating.  Dr said I didn't have A-Fib anymore.  It's just gone or disappeared by itself but the vibration is still there!  What is that?  My mum told me if the cholestrol is too high you get numb in the big toes but my diabetes dr said it won't have any sign if cholestrol is high or too high!
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Avatar universal
This has been a fascinating forum. I have been dealing with the vibrations in the chest and the heart racing a little plus even some jerkiness for years. I have been Dx with MS but that is probably just another factor. I think the person who said it stems from the diaphram is probably correct. It is a muscle contraction thing that pushes up the stomach as well I think and starts the spams....I hate it. I get it almost every night and hate to go to sleep but it has been years. I take propanalol if my heart goes up too high and valium seems to settle the spasms .....but it takes some time...I seem to have myclonus with it which could be my MS just kicking in...who knows. I have had all the heart tests and I have no heart problems..

Brandee
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Avatar universal
hi iv got this wierd vibrating in my chest, its doin my head in, its very annoying! i used to have wolf parkinsons white syndrome (a very irregular heart beat at certain times) but i had an ablation so i havent had any for years, iv had millions of ecgs after an they said my heart is fine now.
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Avatar universal
I never thought that I would find so many people with the same symptoms of vibrating!! I was thinking I was nuts! It has been happening to me off and on for the last year or so. I have a family hx of heart disease with my Brother (deceased), uncle and grandparent. I was dx'd in my early 20's with Mitral Valve Prolapse and was told not to worry about it. Then in my 30's was told I didn't have it. The vibrating occurs about 15-20 after I lie down for bed, or if I nap during the day, it doesn't appear to effect my heart rate and just feels like a vibrating cell phone in my chest.  It is unsettling and I usually get up and stretch and go back and lie down, I eventually fall asleep.  I have not had this checked out by a Physician yet, but I plan too.  Also, I take antidepressents and Lithium for bi-polar disorder, wonder if the med's can cause it?
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Avatar universal
I had the vibrating chest for the first time last night, and it scared me so I looked it up and found this forum.  I have also had symptoms similar to others posting here, l like chest gurgling.  My heart also beats hard at times when I'm trying to sleep.  That gives me a desire to twitch and toss and turn to distract me from the loudness of my heart... which leads of course to no sleep.  When I went to the doc about it, he said it was stress, possible GI related and not to worry about it.  But the vibrating thing that happened last night freaked me out.  I wish there was a magic answer in the forum, but I haven't seen any.  I'm sure the doc will tell me again that it's stress (that seems to be the answer for everything), but I will certainly go if the vibrating continues.  I am 30 years old, not on any meds and have not been diagnosed with any disorder, plus the doc says my heart is normal (did an EKG).
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Avatar universal
I am having the vibrating chest, left side, using plavix and crestor.  Anyone with an answer?
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Avatar universal
I have been in the chest and foot buzzing/vibrating club for years now. I don't take any medication, my heart has been cleared as good. Yes, its annoying at nite when your trying to sleep, my bed use to shake ever so slightly sometimes because of it. Right now as I write this my left inside foot, closer to the heel is buzzing/vibrating actually like a pulsing buzz some more pronounced than others, I just came in from shoveling snow.  I wonder if it is related to muscle spasms or something vascular but I have never bothered going to the doctor about it, Yet...it doesn't seem to hurt just annoy.  Im 45 and female. This is interesting.
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Avatar universal
I've been having these chest vibrations for nearly two years now as well.  Seriously thought it must be a rare thing - obviously that's not the case.  Although there doesn't seem to be any real diagnosis' listed, I'm certainly glad to have found this forum!  

I notice the vibrations in the left side of my chest more-so during the day at work.  They do happen at night sometimes, but it's been acting up quite a bit over the past couple weeks again and it often happens during the day.  Extremely annoying - panic sets in because it seems no-one around me understands what I'm talking about.  I have seen a couple of doctors over the past year - thinking this could be related to indigestive issues - I haven't been given any solid answers.  I do believe that keeping hydrated helps keep the vibration episodes minimalized, but I certainly haven't found anything that has made them disappear all together - oh how nice that would be!

I'm 36/female/not on any meds/family history of some heart issues

There has to be an explanation for this.

Thank you to everyone for the information posted - this has certainly been beneficial.

Kristi
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Avatar universal
Last night while sleeping a noise like a motor inside my chest woke my up, had no beats, it was my heart working faster than ever, the sound was like a motor, I was not short of breath but in amazing put my hand over my chest and I thought I was gonna die. Nothing of it happened and I am alive, but fear that it happens again.
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Avatar universal
i have been having the vibratons on the left side as well, as im tying this i am having the, i find they can be one after another, or i can go  hrs and hrs without one.  the one other thing i had was burning feet. i changed the way  i was eating and started to drink lots of water which i really didnt before. the feet seem to stop burning for sometime then the last few days i didnt drink much water and there back to burning all day today. as for the vibrations there really annoying and after 3 weeks i was beginning to get to the point of panicing today, i been to the dr, had ecg - normal, had all the blood work done for diabetes, cholesterol, everything and it all came back normal. the heart rate seems to be fine when this is happening. im so glad to have found this site and to know others have this.  wondering if its female issue more then male?
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Avatar universal
I had this vibration approx. 8 months ago and I like another person on this forum  has posted,  felt it so strongly that my bed was shaking. I thought that I was dreaming as it woke me up and I actually believed my wash machine was on and that it was spinning as my laundry room is upstairs near my bedroom.  I accused my daughter the next day of doing laundry in the middle of the night and informed her of how  she had disturbed me.  She then told me she had not done any laundry at all.  I thought to myself, was that me or was I dreaming.  It did not occur again until a few weeks ago, being a female and being a nurse I thought can this be a heart attack without pain or a pending sign of something so I went to hospital emerg.  It only lasted a few minutes and actually was not as strong as the first one, but it was so unusual and I've never had any of my patients complain of this before so I was surprised to see that so many experience this.  I was scared because this was the second one and I knew now that it wasn't a dream.  I was released from the hospital after about 8 hours when blood work came back normal, I had not eaten or had anything to drink before going to emerg in case they needed to do some type of procedure.  My potassium levels were normal, so it wasn't due to low potassium as some have suggested.  I had an ECG which was also okay and like I said to the technician, it's not happening so I'm sure it won't reveal anything.   I was  however referred to the regions cardiac hospital and at the time of this writing I am in to my second day of wearing a loop recorder.  I will wear this for the next two weeks and then have an echocardiogram on the day I return the loop recorder.  Of course it hasn't happened yet, but I'm hoping it will in the next 2 weeks.  The doctor wondered if I was having some type of myoclonic seizure but wants to rule out heart first.  Will continue to search for answers.  
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Avatar universal
The vibration in the chest is a scary one, right? But we are all still alive and kicking and talking about it. Just don't ask your doctors as they don't know what you are talking about. I'm not knocking the docs but as to  AFIB and all of it's related side effects, they don't have a clue. And my specialist as much as told me that. He said a lot of the treatment is hit and miss. So it seems that they should be listening to what we say, recording it and evaluating it. They have, on all of the sites and forums on AFIB a chance to collate all of the side effects,symptoms, advice and use it in their trials. But they don't, so these forums are great when you are worried and anxious. Just don't be too anxious, and I know that sounds easy, but believe me I used to go into total panic when I first experienced AF, heart racing all out of rhythm, up to 220 beats per minute. I used to get in my car and drive myself to hospital, 20ks an hour, 2 and 3am in the morning. Guess what, I got sick of doing that. Now I take a deep breath, take a flecinaide(which I  hate because of the horrendous side effects)and sit down or lie down quietly.If it goes on  for too long I take another pill and get on my PC and get onto the AF sites for a bit of comfort and stress relief...manage your own fear. remember we all die sometime, not much we can do about it...just don't let it control your life. I am 69 female, still working full time(and doe get AF every 10 days or so so often at work)and I plan to fight this thing tooth and nail.
It is without doubt, one of the worst things you can have as you tend to live in constant fear, and I once wished my specialist would get it so he wouldn't be so flippant about it. Then I thought no, I couldn't wish it on anyone else.
Be brave, take care, and keep your fingers crossed for a bright young spark somewhere who will discover the cure. The old school become complacent.
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Avatar universal
The vibration in the chest is a scary one, right? But we are all still alive and kicking and talking about it. Just don't ask your doctors as they don't know what you are talking about. I'm not knocking the docs but as to  AFIB and all of it's related side effects, they don't have a clue. And my specialist as much as told me that. He said a lot of the treatment is hit and miss. So it seems that they should be listening to what we say, recording it and evaluating it. They have, on all of the sites and forums on AFIB a chance to collate all of the side effects,symptoms, advice and use it in their trials. But they don't, so these forums are great when you are worried and anxious. Just don't be too anxious, and I know that sounds easy, but believe me I used to go into total panic when I first experienced AF, heart racing all out of rhythm, up to 220 beats per minute. I used to get in my car and drive myself to hospital, 20ks an hour, 2 and 3am in the morning. Guess what, I got sick of doing that. Now I take a deep breath, take a flecinaide(which I  hate because of the horrendous side effects)and sit down or lie down quietly.If it goes on  for too long I take another pill and get on my PC and get onto the AF sites for a bit of comfort and stress relief...manage your own fear. remember we all die sometime, not much we can do about it...just don't let it control your life. I am 69 female, still working full time(and do get AF every 10 days or so so often at work)and I plan to fight this thing tooth and nail.
It is without doubt, one of the worst things you can have as you tend to live in constant fear, and I once wished my specialist would get it so he wouldn't be so flippant about it. Then I thought no, I couldn't wish it on anyone else.
Be brave, take care, and keep your fingers crossed for a bright young spark somewhere who will discover the cure. The old school has become complacent.
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Avatar universal
OMG!  I am amazed at how many people have this vibrating feeling.  I have had it on and off for several years.  I have been wearing an event monitor when while it happens and am told it is not related to my heart.  It always starts JUST as I am drifting off to sleep and, of course, then I can't get to sleep until it stops.  Sometimes it is like a constant vibration and sometimes it is like it is pulsing, getting stronger and weaker.  I swear it feels like my heart is quivering but when I take my pulse it is normal. Having survived a sudden cardiac arrest a couple of years ago, it of course sends me into an anxiety attack when it happens.  I do have unsustained Ventricular Tachycardias and have a defibrillator and I keep telling myself that since the defibrillator hasn't zapped me I must be okay.  Even my electrophysiologist cannot explain it - and he has even experienced it himself.  It is oddly comforting to know I am not alone in this.  Thanks for all your posts.  
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