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1224086 tn?1313657552

Heart stops for some seconds

Hi everyone,
I'm a boy, 20 years old. I don't remember since when, maybe since a couple of years, my heart stops beating for like two seconds, and then gives a really hard beat and then continues to beat normally. The last time it happened, my heart stopped, then started beating softly but really fast and then started beating normally andI felt a pain in my chest for a couple of hours. Lately I cough to make the heart beat normally and I feel like it won't start beating again if I don't cough. This thing happens to me once a day or once in a two days or less frequently and sometimes twice a day.
I'm really worried and I need your sincere opinion on this.
Thank you in advance
13 Responses
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Avatar universal
One more thing, Ed:

"I'm a boy, 20 years old."

At 20 years of age, you are still young, but you are a man.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
As marlinspike said, the heart does not pause or stop.  However, as several here have noted, early or out-of-sequence heartbeats can be so small that ordinary people cannot feel them , which causes ordinary people to think their hearts have paused.  You can learn more about these mostly benign 'ectopic' beats by googling words like PVC or premature ventricular contraction.

Speaking as person with many PVCs per day, I note that stopping caffeine has very little effect on my ectopic beats, but theoretically there can be a connection, so those who are very bothered by PVCs are advised to lower their caffeine.

Cigarette smoking is another story, though.  If you wish to live a long and healthy life, you simply must stop.  Nicotine has very strong and very bad effects on your heart, your blood pressure, the health of your blood vessels, and of course, your nervous system.  And all these components can affect the number of ectopic beats you experience.
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Avatar universal
Hi ed. Energy drinks are very bad for the heart rhythm - they give a huge surge of sugar and caffeine and can affect heart rhythm. A 24hr monitor would identify if what you are having are pvcs - these are mostly benign, even if you have thousands a day. But you won't know until you get checked out. I used to be terrified of what I thought was happening - that my heart paused. But in fact at no point does your heart stop or pause. In fact, the previous beat comes a little earlier than it should. This leaves a little extra blood in the heart chambers. What you feel is the regular beat which has to be a little harder to push the extra blood through. At no point does the heart pause or stop.
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1224086 tn?1313657552
@michelle I measured my heartbeat and it was 79 right now. I agreetotally with you what you said about ectopics. I will try cutting energy drink as much as I can
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1224086 tn?1313657552
In my country we don't have a 'family doctor' so I have to go to a cardiologist. Before a couple of years I've been to one, because I had a problem with my ears (I still have it to be honest) I hear a continuous high frequency noise in both of my ears and the doctor told me to do a check of my blood pressure in my neck in case the noise had to do with the blood but everything was ok.
Helpful - 0
1807132 tn?1318743597
From what you drew it looks like a pause is happening but there is possibly an extra beat preceding the pause that you are not feeling first so that is why you need to see a doctor to get a monitor to find out if this is a true block or just some ectopic beats.  When you get ectopics sometimes the next regular beat may feel really strong or you may notice your heart speed up a bit to compensate.  The slower your normal heart rate the longer the pause will feel.  Do you know what your regular heart rate is.  While at rest try to count your pulse to see where it is generally.  

If you avoid anything really do try to avoid the energy drinks.  Those have a high amount of caffeine and sodium which could be what is affecting your heart more so than the smoking.  The smoking in the long run will damage your heart but caffeine will have an impact on your heart immediately.  Anyways, try weaning off of them so as not to give yourself a massive headache and then see how your heart feels.  
Helpful - 0
257552 tn?1404602554
Tiny Pic, cool. Did you look at the link I provided? It's showing something similar. What's your pulse when you notice the pauses? If you're at rest, the length of the pause will be longer if it's a Compensated PVC, since the pause lasts two normal beats (actually the heart contracts on the second beat). If you were walking and got them, and your heart rate was a little higher, the pause would be less. Many people mostly have PVCs at rest, they are caused by an irritated cluster of cells that discharge on their own and the rest of the heart contracts when they do, but with a slightly higher heart rate, the heart's natural pacemaker discharges before the irritated cells can, which essentially discharges them and keeps them causing the premature beat.

Can you schedule with a family doctor to have your concerns addressed?
Helpful - 0
1224086 tn?1313657552
Thank you very much to both of you, I really appreciate it. If I could draw my heartbeats,, it would be something like these http://i59.tinypic.com/343iyp0.jpg Mostly the first and very rarely the second.
I will try to reduce ad much ad I can smoking because cutting it completely is really difficult.. I rarely drink alcohol,, but I drink too much caffeine a day,, two coffees a day and an energy drink,, I'll try to cut them down and I will consult a doctor as soon as possible.
Helpful - 0
257552 tn?1404602554
In addition to consideration of smoking cessation, alcohol is something else you probably should avoid. Again, start with your family doctor and detail your concerns.

Be well.
Helpful - 0
1807132 tn?1318743597
I can't really say for certain especially about what you are visually seeing.  It could be nothing but you may want to go to a grocery store or drug store and just do a self bp check on one of the machines those places sometimes has.  If you are feeling your pulse that strongly maybe it best to just check your bp to be sure it isn't super high.  And then just go and see the doctor to get a full work up.  It is really the only way to know if there is or isn't anything to be concerned about.  

From all they say smoking is not good for the heart.  Regardless if it is the cause of any of your symptoms it is best if you can kick the habit sooner rather than later.  I smoked for 24 years and it was really hard to quit.  But everything my doctor said to me. Even having something called svt where my heart would all of a sudden start beating super fast he said quitting smoking was the best thing I could have done for my heart even if I never did anything to fix my svt.  So do what you can to quit.  It could help alleviate some of what you are feeling.
Helpful - 0
257552 tn?1404602554
I agree with MichellePetkus, you should at least schedule to see your family doctor, he or she can refer you if need be. Having pain is an especial concern, as would be fainting, dizziness, etc. If they occur again and cause pain, consider visiting the Emergency Room.

There are premature beats, known as PVCs Premature Ventricular Contractions, that are quite common. There are Interpolated PVCs, they just get thrown in with your regular rhythm, and there are PVCs with a Compensatory Pause, this may be what you feel.

The actual premature beat is not felt, but with a compensatory pause, your heart has a normal beat, the PVC quickly follows, and the occurrence of the PVC essentially keeps your heart's natural pacemaker from causing an effective ventricular beat, but will pick up again when the next beat should have occured. Say 1--1--1--1 is a normal rhythm. If the PVC is represented by a slash /, it might go like this with a compensated PVC. 1--1/----1--1--1

The following link describes the EKGs that result from some of these premature beats.

http://www.equimedcorp.com/rhythms/topic/40/

Some people, such as myself, experience thousands of these a day. I have a rule of thumb I always use. If you are experiencing premature beats for the first time, see a doctor. If you normally experience these but have been told by a doctor that they are benign, and they suddenly grow worse, also see a doctor.

Caffeine, some medications, such as cold and diet meds, supplements, vitamins, energy drinks, prescription and illicit drugs, etc. can increase the frequency of premature beats and other heart rhythm issues. These should be avoided until after you have been seen by a doctor.
Helpful - 0
1224086 tn?1313657552
Thank you very much for your consideration, I forgot to mention that I smoke (3-4 packs of cigarettes per week). I also have another fear. The left part of my chest is visibly bigger than the right one. Is this something to worry about? I also feel too much the beat of my heart on my ankles, my chest and sometimes in my ears neck and head. I'd be grateful if you could give me your opinion.
Helpful - 0
1807132 tn?1318743597
I really think you need to be evaluated by a doctor and cardiologist.   Sometimes it seems like the heart is stopping for a long time but is really just pausing for one beat.  In these instances it isn't a big deal but if you feel your heart is actually stopping for a full 2 seconds then I would really just go and get checked out by a doctor.  They will record what your heart is doing so they know exactly what is going on as well they should check the overall health of your heart.  It is possible what you are feeling is nothing to worry about but it sounds like what you are feeling warrants a doctors input.  Best of luck and keep us posted on how you are.
Helpful - 0
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