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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Heart Palpitations Along With Vertigo And Dizziness?

I m going straight to the point here. As of right now, July 7th I think and feel as if I m having heart palpitations (skipping beats most of the time and two cases of extra beats). I started noticing this skipping beat after an event/episode that I never wanted to occur again: SVT. During a sport of Frisbee in April 2016, I had to call and ambulance because I was running around strenuously for 2 hours without stopping or resting. The paramedics recorded my heartbeat to be around 230-240 at that time. I was then put onto a stretcher and I told the paramedics that this happened before and I had to bend over or do something to squeeze the blood back into my head (the symptoms I had during this event was lightheartedness and blacking out). The paramedics told me to blow through the sharp end of a syringe tube really hard which made it go away and I had my high pounding heartbeat back (I now learned this is called a vagal manoeuvre). This SVT event was the 3rd time that happened in my life and I m currently 18. I had an event during the same event when I was in the 7th grade, the second one was during the same frisbee event a month before April and the one I just explained above. At my visit to the hospital, I was looking at my heartbeat on the monitor and I saw that I was beating at 100 bpm for a while (30 minutes or so). That was the first time I went to the hospital so I was scared and nervous. I looked at the monitor for a minute and I saw a space between the blips of the heartbeat which I did felt in my chest as a sense of chills going down the back of my spine and a sense of lightness. This worried me even more. I was sent to a cardiologist named Camden Hebson in the Georgia where I was given an event monitor to wear for a month and a EKG. Dr. Hebson told me I had SVT with aberrancy. At the end of the month, the event monitor was was looked over by him and he said that everything was normal. I m still curious because I tagged the event where I had heartbeats skipped and I thought he would say something about that. As time passed I went to school like normal sitting for long periods of time in class when suddenly I had the same skipped beat followed by a feeling of chills going down my back, the feeling of burping or at least a bubble-like bump sensation at the bottom of my throat and a sense of lightness. This was annoying because I noticed when I sit down for a few hours during some mornings and nights, a few hours at school, or a few hours anywhere I get a skipped beat which I notice. I then started to feel my pulse in my neck every time I felt uncomfortable. This made me more anxious and I just constantly tried to measure my pulse whenever I think it may happen again. I had a skipped beat once bending down to grab my shoes (followed by the same symptoms), when I was at my high school graduation sitting down and standing up ready to move, once while urinating, and once while watching a 3 hour movie like everybody else. During the month of June I went on vacation to Cambodia and I was also uncomfortable because I worried that the skipped beats may happen again. Upon arrival to Cambodia, I was jet lagged and I felt motion sickness due to turbulence on the plane and I just felt as if I was still riding on the plane a day or two after I arrived. I had a heartbeat skip again on the plane when it was night and while watching a movie (the plane ride was more than 14 hours + 5 more). Now that I m back home in Georgia (arrived july 15, right now it s july 19) I still feel a little dizzy which is weird for me now. While I m sitting here writing this every few seconds to minutes I fee a sense of vertigo and slight dizziness (I m not sure if this had to do with the plane ride since). Today I m still jetlagged and I was watching a movie while feeling my pulse during the time. I was so focused on my pulse to detect the missed beat that I ended up feeling skipped beats! I researched a plethora of sites to determine the causes of palpitations and most of the suggestions don t apply to me: I don t drink alcohol, caffeine, do drugs, but I am stressed a lot due to school. I don t think stress is causing my heart palpitations because I m so used to stress that I never notice my heartbeat skip or any symptoms of heartbeat skipping. I m noticing it more after my second SVT event. The SVT ONLY happened when I m running excessively or at least sprinting every few seconds. I stopped Frisbee to prevent any SVT to reoccur again. The doctor prescribed me with nadolol which I used twice because I was so nervous whether or not my heart rate was high. I meaused my ehart rate once at 110 bpm because it was pounding and racing but in hindsight I think I was really anxious and I took the nadolol with side effects being sleepy, tired, fatigue, and dizziness. I don t think nadolol neither helped me or harmed me.
Mon, 2 Sep 2019
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General Surgeon 's  Response
Hello,

One possibility is heart rhythm disorders such as SVPT--Supraventricular paroxysmal tachycardia. You should check your pulse and EKG? Another possibility is MVP or mitral valve prolapse (common in 40% of people) --it can lead to similar symptoms.

One way to abort these attacks is to pinch your nostrils and blow hard through your mouth. This is called Valsalva's manouevre. Alternately feel the carotid artery inside the sternocleido mastoid muscle in your neck--(any doctor can show you) on any one side of neck and gently massage. This will also abort the attack. But never do it on both sides simultaneously.

Personally I do not think they are panic attacks considering your personality. And instead of 25 mgs of Metoprolol, Verapamil 120mg SR or Propranolol 10 mg twice a day will keep you under control.

Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Take care.

Regards,
Dr. Ivan R. Rommstein, General Surgeon
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What Causes Heart Palpitations Along With Vertigo And Dizziness?

Hello, One possibility is heart rhythm disorders such as SVPT--Supraventricular paroxysmal tachycardia. You should check your pulse and EKG? Another possibility is MVP or mitral valve prolapse (common in 40% of people) --it can lead to similar symptoms. One way to abort these attacks is to pinch your nostrils and blow hard through your mouth. This is called Valsalva s manouevre. Alternately feel the carotid artery inside the sternocleido mastoid muscle in your neck--(any doctor can show you) on any one side of neck and gently massage. This will also abort the attack. But never do it on both sides simultaneously. Personally I do not think they are panic attacks considering your personality. And instead of 25 mgs of Metoprolol, Verapamil 120mg SR or Propranolol 10 mg twice a day will keep you under control. Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further. Take care. Regards, Dr. Ivan R. Rommstein, General Surgeon