Had Heart Irrythmia. Having Throat Irritation And Sinus Congestion. What Is Causing This Feeling?

Posted on Fri, 29 Jun 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 Answered on

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : I had an episode of heart irrythmia recently which seemed to be connected with a series if sneezes followed immediately by extreme throat irritation and sinus congestion. Within minutes of sneezing and resultant throat irritation I began to experience some fairly dramatic heart irrythmia including pvc's, which lasted nearly an hour.
Might the palpitations have be a result of an allergic reaction of some sort?

Answered by Dr. Rakesh Madhyastha (4 hours later)

Hello

Thanks for the query

Repeated sneezing can certainly set off an arrhythmia which most of the times are self limiting requiring no treatment but in your case since the arrhythmia has lasted for about an hour and with PVCs I strongly recommend you to approach a cardiologist to rule out Ischemic Heart Disease through a Thread Mill test. ECHO of the heart should also be done to rule out any structural issues of the heart.
It is the sneezing that has set off the arrhythmia and not infection/allergy.

For now I suggest that you don't exercise, smoke or lift heavy weights until you see your doctor. You can continue taking the fish oil and the multivitamin supplements

I hope I have answered your query, if you have no further queries please accept my answer

I wish you good health

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar