Causes of Heart Palpitations

How to tell causes of Heart palpitations or heart palpitations causes.

Heart palpitationsare described by many sufferers as their heart is racing or it feels as if it might jump right out of their chest.

Anxiousness over the erratic heart fluttering can cause the symptom to worsen because stress is among the many causes of heart palpitations. This ailment can cause a lot of emotional distress and concern especially if the patient has a known heart condition.

A great majority of people will experience fast heartbeats at some point in their lives. When it becomes a regular occurrence is the time to seek medical assistance.

What Are Heart Palpitations

Symptoms of heart palpitations are a series of very rapid heartbeats. If you are also experiencing dizziness, shortness of breath, or fainting, it is time to see your doctor. Typically, heart palpitations are caused by the existence of more than usual heartbeats, which are ordinarily contractions of the heart chambers happening too soon. Usually, the flutters are not signs of present or future heart abnormalities. Although, palpitations can be symptoms of heart disease or connected with other medical conditions such as overactive thyroid disorder or anemia.

Generally, we never take notice of our heartbeat, only when something is out of the ordinary. Palpitations are normally felt in the chest but they can also be noticed in the neck or throat and normally only last a few seconds or minutes.

what causes heart palpitations

Stress and anxiety

Smoking

* Strenuous exercise

* Feverr

* Low potassium level

* Caffeine

* Certain medications such as thyroid medication, beta blockers, or asthma medicine.

* Narcotics

Alcohol

* Diet pills

* Heart disease

* Pregnancy

It is fairly common for women to have heart palpitations for the first time in their life during pregnancy. The increased level of hormones in a pregnant woman's body increases their susceptibility of a fast or irregular heartbeat. This puts additional stress on the heart which can cause it to beat irregularly or faster. Some common conditions during pregnancy that result in heart palpitations include: low oxygen levels in blood, anemia, hypoglycemia, thyroid conditions, and/or changes in blood pressure.

How Are Heart Palpitations Diagnosed?

The physician may order an EKG to look at patterns of your heart rate to help with diagnosing the problem. The causes of heart palpitations may be diagnosed by your wearing a Holter-Monitor for at least 24 hours to track the heart's electrical activity. Other diagnosis tools are an echo cardiogram which would show the doctor if there are problems such as an enlarged heart.

Heart Palpitations Treatment

Treating heart palpitations involves finding the underlying cause. Treatments include lifestyle changes such as cutting down on your caffeine consumption to see if it helps prevent the heart palpitations. Many patients find that by reducing or eliminating caffeine altogether from their diets; the problem happens less often or goes away entirely.

There is an extensive list of over the counter and prescription medicines that may cause heart palpitations which includes blood pressure medicine, asthma medications, and anti-depressants. Avoid alcohol because it is another of the causes of heart palpitations. Anxiety and stress are common causes of heart palpitations. In some instances, your doctor may prescribe a mild sedative to help alleviate the problem. Visit your health provider if you have frequent heart palpitations, especially if they are accompanied with chest pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath.

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