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What Causes Increased Heart Rate And Arm Pain In An Elderly Person?
Question: i am XXXXXXX my heart seems to be racing. I am 55, 173 pounds so atleast 30 pounds overweight but have been always healthy........mom has dementia and ive had more stress, heart palpatations just a little. i moved mom and thought my stress level is lower now, least a little but last night my heart racing kept me awake. I dont feel my energy or ability to breathe is a problem and im not having any arm pain although sometimes my arms go little numb if I lay on them........I asked a friend to listen to my heart and they said sounds normal.......what would make it race........and what do I need to do next..it feels like its racing in the middle more than my heart,stragne
Brief Answer:
I would recommend performing some tests:
Detailed Answer:
Hello xxxxx!
Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!
I passed carefully through your question and would explain that the heart palpitations could be related to anxiety and the fact that you are overweight.
Anyway, before concluding that it all related to anxiety, it is important excluding other possible causes like: a cardiac arrythmia, chronic anemia, thyroid gland dysfunction or an electrolyte imbalance.
For this reason, I would recommend consulting with your attending physician for a careful physical exam and some tests:
- a cardiac ultrasound to examine your heart function and structure
- an ambulatory 24-48 hours ECG monitoring to examine your heart rhythm trends for a prolonged time and exclude possible arrhythmia
- complete blood count for anemia
- thyroid hormone levels for thyroid dysfunction
- blood electrolytes for possible electrolyte imbalance.
You should discuss with your doctor on the above tests.
Meanwhile, I recommend avoiding coffee intake, which can trigger this situation.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
Kind regards,
Dr. Iliri
I would recommend performing some tests:
Detailed Answer:
Hello xxxxx!
Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!
I passed carefully through your question and would explain that the heart palpitations could be related to anxiety and the fact that you are overweight.
Anyway, before concluding that it all related to anxiety, it is important excluding other possible causes like: a cardiac arrythmia, chronic anemia, thyroid gland dysfunction or an electrolyte imbalance.
For this reason, I would recommend consulting with your attending physician for a careful physical exam and some tests:
- a cardiac ultrasound to examine your heart function and structure
- an ambulatory 24-48 hours ECG monitoring to examine your heart rhythm trends for a prolonged time and exclude possible arrhythmia
- complete blood count for anemia
- thyroid hormone levels for thyroid dysfunction
- blood electrolytes for possible electrolyte imbalance.
You should discuss with your doctor on the above tests.
Meanwhile, I recommend avoiding coffee intake, which can trigger this situation.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
Kind regards,
Dr. Iliri
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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