Get your health question answered instantly from our pool of 18000+ doctors from over 80 specialties
123 Doctors Online

By proceeding, I accept the Terms and Conditions

Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

HCM Blog Instant Access to Doctors
HCM BlogQuestions Answered
HCM Blog Satisfaction

What Causes Skipped Heart Beats?

Occasionally, in the past, my heart will skip beats. I can feel it flutter in my chest when it occurs and I sometimes get light headed. It usually doesn t last long and stops on its own...During the last week, every day I ve had an episode of my heart beating twice, then skips a beat, and this has been lasting for hours..Today, I took 0.3mg of Alprazolam while it was occuring. I fell asleep for about 2 hours, but then woke up, very drowzy, and yet my heart was still beating at 2, and skipping 1.....There has been a lot of stress in the home lately, and I ve always had anxiety disorder, but my heart doing this is a concern...Got an ideas? Thank you very much!! John
posted on Sat, 28 Apr 2018
Twitter Sun, 15 Jul 2018 Answered on
Twitter Thu, 19 Jul 2018 Last reviewed on
Report Abuse
Cardiologist,  's  Response
Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.

Some palpitations are quite normal in every healthy individual due to physical activity or anxiety. Anyway, I would recommend consulting with your attending physician for a physical exam and some tests to investigate for possible cardiac arrhythmia:
- complete blood count for anemia
- a resting ECG and a cardiac ultrasound
- an ambulatory 24-48 hours ECG monitoring in order to examine your heart rhythm trends for a prolonged time and investigate for possible cardiac arrhythmia
- blood electrolytes for any possible imbalances
- thyroid hormone levels for possible thyroid gland dysfunction. You should discuss with your doctor on the above tests.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
I find this answer helpful
Disclaimer: These answers are for your information only and not intended to replace your relationship with your treating physician.
This is a short, free answer. For a more detailed, immediate answer, try our premium service [Sample answer]
Share on
 

Related questions you may be interested in


Loading Online Doctors....
What Causes Skipped Heart Beats?

Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice. Some palpitations are quite normal in every healthy individual due to physical activity or anxiety. Anyway, I would recommend consulting with your attending physician for a physical exam and some tests to investigate for possible cardiac arrhythmia: - complete blood count for anemia - a resting ECG and a cardiac ultrasound - an ambulatory 24-48 hours ECG monitoring in order to examine your heart rhythm trends for a prolonged time and investigate for possible cardiac arrhythmia - blood electrolytes for any possible imbalances - thyroid hormone levels for possible thyroid gland dysfunction. You should discuss with your doctor on the above tests. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.