What helps with heart palpitations?

[POTSius]

Has anyone found anything especially helpful for heart palpitations?

Mine are triggered by exertion and feel like an excessive pounding of the heart (but heart rate and pressure seem normal, although I am on a beta blocker so I wonder if my heart rate would be elevated otherwise)

I have found ivabradine to sort of help but that is about it

[Pistol]

@POTSius - a combination of Carvelidol. Diltiazem and Guanfacine has helped me with those symptoms. 

[MTRJ75]

I'm guessing there's no universal answer to this, but anyone who has an easy solution would be a savior.  I don't, but I'm right there with you. It's the least anxiety producing of the types of palpitations I get on it's own (if there's no racing or skipping to accompany), but most frequent...almost constant. I feel like I can never fully rest or relax. I can generally feel my heart bouncing whenever my back is pressed up against something, leaning back or lying down. Much less frequently when sitting forward or standing at least. 

Some heart pounding after exertion would seem normal, especially for most of us who are deconditioned, but it seems to last a long time afterward. I also get a shakiness in my upper chest and shoulder blade area after being up for more than a few minutes, which I also don't feel until sitting back down and leaning back. 

I sometimes wonder if there's a mental solution to this. Something we can train our brains to ignore or not sense anymore? It seems to be one of my symptoms that is more receptive to distraction at times. I even sometimes question whether it's something my brain is just magnifying, but then sometimes I'll be able to feel with my hand or actually on parts of my body, my heart pounding just like it feels, so I don't know.  

I guess the key question is what exactly is the cause? What's happening in our bodies to cause this particular sensation? 

Edit: I also sometimes think I feel my heart pounding or racing once in a while, and realize it's not in line with my actual pulse. I'd love to figure out what that is. 

 

[RecipeForDisaster]

My beta blocker dulls the feeling somewhat, and I am allowed to take more of it when the feeling is worse. I do take magnesium taurate for it as well, because it doesn't hurt. My heart is like a sledgehammer no matter the rate or situation. It would make it impossible to sleep if not for the beta blocker. I can easily see the impulse in several parts of my chest, neck, and abdomen. The weird thing is that my BP is low and I barely have a weak pulse in my wrist.

[POTSius]

Thank you all for the suggestions

Diltiazem sounds interesting

On 11/2/2019 at 2:44 PM, MTRJ75 said:

I guess the key question is what exactly is the cause? What's happening in our bodies to cause this particular sensation? 

This is a very thorough article about that

https://academic.oup.com/europace/article/13/7/920/447426

It suggests that the heart can be completely normal and we can still perceive it to be doing something wrong.

Maybe our cardiac nerves are somehow sensitized

I am not sure if trying to ignore it is a good idea though, even if the heart is not doing anything abnormal

[MTRJ75]

2 hours ago, POTSius said:

This is a very thorough article about that

https://academic.oup.com/europace/article/13/7/920/447426

It suggests that the heart can be completely normal and we can still perceive it to be doing something wrong.

Maybe our cardiac nerves are somehow sensitized

I am not sure if trying to ignore it is a good idea though, even if the heart is not doing anything abnormal

Thanks for the resource. I've only briefly skimmed so far, but if this is for the general population instead of dysautonomia patients, I wonder if the mechanisms are going to be different. Maybe the answer is further down in the study. 

If the heart is normal and nothing is wrong though, why would it be a bad idea if we were somehow able to retrain ourselves to not feel them so badly anymore? 

[POTSius]

1 hour ago, MTRJ75 said:

Thanks for the resource. I've only briefly skimmed so far, but if this is for the general population instead of dysautonomia patients, I wonder if the mechanisms are going to be different. Maybe the answer is further down in the study. 

If the heart is normal and nothing is wrong though, why would it be a bad idea if we were somehow able to retrain ourselves to not feel them so badly anymore? 

At one point the article above mentions that:

"In addition, the adrenergic hyperactivation connected with intense emotions and anxiety can, in itself, predispose the patient to supraventricular and/or ventricular arrhythmias"

I think this implies that hyperadrenergic POTS could cause the same arrhythmias (for reasons outside of "intense emotions and anxiety") due to the excess adrenergic activity

I guess I wonder whether if you tricked yourself into ignoring the palpitations stuff would still be going on behind the scenes that could manifest itself in further, different symptoms

[MTRJ75]

The way it's been explained to me is if we can take the emotional charge out of it, refocus thoughts on anticipation and attention, we might be able to "rewire" our system. Not so we're ignoring these symptoms, but so that it somewhat normalizes in this respect. It sounds very difficult to do and I've been unsuccessful so far, but you would still likely notice something that was different than the palpitations you usually feel. But if we're sure that whatever we're dealing isn't cause for concern (AND ONLY IF), then I would view it as a positive if we were somehow able to disregard it when the alternative is the constant mental suffering we endure. 

[Derek1987]

Coreg has helped a lot but hasnt completely taken them away. 

[joss]

When you really occupy your mind and body, do you still suffer palpitations?

I forced myself to engage in distractive activities as often as possible and it helped. I suffer far fewer episodes now, and I try not to focus on it,as it only makes it worse.

I did not like the way the meds for this made me feel.