My heart beats funny and i'm scared to DEATH!

[lavenderinscence]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone could identify with what happens to me, or have an insight.
I was just sitting at my computer, completely at ease, when litterally out of nowhere my heart just took off- the first half a second or so felt kind of like a pvc (I have benign pvc's) and then without a pause it just went frantic. Not skipping beats but beat VERY hard and VERY fast. It only lasted for maybe 10-12 seconds, but felt like an eternity. I bet my heart beat over 20 times in that short span of time- that's how fast it was going. I got dizzy during it.

earlier today I had pain high in the middle of my chest, above my breasts. About 1 1/2 years ago I started having those pvc's and went through all the norm tests - stress echo, ultrasound of the heart, blood tests, holter monitor - one week and 24 hour. There is nothing physically wrong with my heart.

I am pregnant, and I am taking Wellbutrin, but I don't think wellbutrin has any real heart side effects. Can someone please help me? I'm very nervous and i'm gonna keep posting this until someone answers.

please ... even a little encouragement will help.

[Brandie51]

Hi.  Congratulations on your pregnancy.  I read your post and would encourage you to talk w/ your doctor about your symptoms but try not to worry yourself too much b/c the anxiey could make your symptoms worse.  I am not sure if it will help but I will share my experience with you.  

I had similar symptoms as you described and talked to my doctor.  My echo showed my heart was structual normal, my labs were normal and my stress test was basically normal but showed that I had the SVT.  My doctor said it was nothing to be overly concerned with and treated the problem w/ an ablation.  It was scarey but when my heart rate would spike, I would try some deep breathing or a strong cough to slow the rate down and would help.  I was taking wellbutrin; however, I was not pregnant.   My cardiologist stopped my wellbutrin after my diagnosis even though I had been taking it for a while without problems. He said that the med did not cause my problem but just aggrevated it b/c it was stimulating my heart.  

I suggest that you talk with your doctor and don't leave out any details.  Best of luck to you and let us know the outcome.

[cindy707]

Read your post......itdood is right definately in saying that the pregnancy could be wearing on you (this is normal) babies tale our vitamins, etc. from our bodies when we are pregnant however.....the dizziness during the episode is not so normal.  Sounds like your heart was tach'ing out on you for whatever reason it had.  Caffeine has a huge influence on it and Wellbutrin is a little controversial right now in the medical community but not pinpointing the heart is correct.  Because your heart is physically sound on the outside virtually has nothing to do with the electrical activity that fires off within the inside of the heart.  Hearts tach millions of times a day on this planet and they say that 2.5 million people in the U.S. have it ....so its kind of like a car that tachs out when it goes too fast......it'll hit the red zone and then once it gears back down drops back down to normal.  Being pregnant i would def. at the very least make a call to your OB/GYN and tell them what happened to be on the safe side for you and the baby both.  Again i agree with itdood......it might just be a one time incident....but watch anything that you put into your mouth especially now that you're pregnant that has caffeine in it...coffee, chocolate, tea, colored sodas, anything that the side of the package reads caffeine content i would avoid and def. don't stress it.  Sounds like you have alot of good things happening in your life right now so i would focus on those things and reassure yourself by calling the doc if not going into to see him/her....you'll be glad you did and can start working on the babies room without fear........good luck and congratulations to you and your family.......

[itdood]

Could have been NSVT or just plain 'ol SVT.  Neither of which is too concerning in a structurally normal heart like yours.  Could be your baby is pressing on something, like a sympathetic or para-sympathetic nerve and made your heart flip flop along.   Or baby hormones are triggering it.   This is more common than you may think.  My sister went through this, I hear other posters here talk about it.

I've been through these myself and it never hurt me.  

If you stayed vertical through that, your heart is in great shape!  look on the positive side.  

Talk to your doctor about it too.  I know you probably can't get to the answers and reassurance you're looking for fast enough.  But time will fly quick if you keep occupied and working at it.  Remember to always talk to you doctor about these things no matter how trivial it may seem.  If you tell them it is making you concerned, a good doctor will do what they can to reassure you.  If they blow you off, eh, find a new doctor.  

Keep your chin up, you'll get through this.   Once you have your baby and get through your first episode of croop with him or her, you'll look back on this and think about how easy it was !  :-)  My daughter had that at about 6 months and we rushed to the ER not knowing what it was.    I would have done anything at the time to trade places with her.  But, it turns out we could have just put her in a steamy room...  When my son had the croop, we know what to do by then.   Steamed him, gave him a neb treatment, went back to bed :)