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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Whats Wrong With My Heart ?

Since last night I've been having these weird palpitations in my heart. There is a history of heart disease in my family, and many people close to me have suffered from heart attacks. I'm only 21 so I don't think I'm going to suddenly drop dead or anything like that.. But I don't know what this is. I was so worried last night that I went to the hospital but they didn't take me seriously in anyway, probably because of my age. I'm not a hypocondriact or anything like that either!! I rarely if ever go to the DR, let alone the hospital, its just when it comes to my heart its something i take very serioulsy becoz of the family history. The nurse at the hospital told me its "Probably normal" But I don't see ANYTHING normal with your heart pulpitating every couple of minutes, and espcially if it lasts this long. Does anyone know what this is? And what should I do about it, no one seems to be taking this seriously enough to even check if there is a problem! Thanks in advance. :) Just to sum up exactly what it feels like... I can actually feel my heart beating, it feels heavy and it feels like its skipping a beat then its giving a big thump, and beating irregular, but this only lasts for a few seconds at a time. Thankyou to everyone for answering my question!!! :) I will definetly stop worrying as much and I'll go see my GP, hopefully he can spend some decent time with me, and if he thinks there is anything wrong then maybe I can be put on a monitor or something, my dad has had to do that many times. Thanks for all your advice I really appriciate it. :) I usually get these weird palpitations every few months, once or twice.. I always thought that was normal. But Never this much and all at once! Thats why I was worried! But thankyou all for taking me seriously. :) I will be making an appointment with my DR very soon!
Tue, 15 Dec 2009
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An actual heart attack (myocardial infarction) before the age of 50 is extremely rare and at 21 even rarer. Everyone will experience "palpitations" in their lifetime at some point or another. This seems to just of been a one day occurrence from what you stated. This is unlikely to have any clinical significance as this is just one simple day. Palpitations are usually not indicative of major events happening. Heart attacks usually have a more discomfort feeling in the chest area than palpitations. This, however, could be indicative of a heart problem. You might actually have something wrong with you, but emergency departments are set up to assess the potential of a life-threatening emergency happening. They will not do further testing such as echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) if they don't find any problems with simple tests such as ECG/EKG (same thing). The best option for you at this point is to make an appointment with your local doctor if symptoms persist or if you are still worried about it and see what your local doctor thinks. They will listen for a murmur and determine if more testing such as echocardiogram is needed. I'm not saying that you don't have potential to have an actual cardiac event, because you do, just like every other person. Don't ever hesitate to go to your local ER if you feel the need because it is the law that they evaluate your symptoms for any life-threatening possibilities. Best of luck to you! NOTICE-- No one on this thing can diagnose you with anything including PVC's. PVC's are just more common but what happens to others is not necessarily what is happening to you! Never take a diagnosis off of the internet.
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Whats Wrong With My Heart ?

An actual heart attack (myocardial infarction) before the age of 50 is extremely rare and at 21 even rarer. Everyone will experience palpitations in their lifetime at some point or another. This seems to just of been a one day occurrence from what you stated. This is unlikely to have any clinical significance as this is just one simple day. Palpitations are usually not indicative of major events happening. Heart attacks usually have a more discomfort feeling in the chest area than palpitations. This, however, could be indicative of a heart problem. You might actually have something wrong with you, but emergency departments are set up to assess the potential of a life-threatening emergency happening. They will not do further testing such as echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) if they don t find any problems with simple tests such as ECG/EKG (same thing). The best option for you at this point is to make an appointment with your local doctor if symptoms persist or if you are still worried about it and see what your local doctor thinks. They will listen for a murmur and determine if more testing such as echocardiogram is needed. I m not saying that you don t have potential to have an actual cardiac event, because you do, just like every other person. Don t ever hesitate to go to your local ER if you feel the need because it is the law that they evaluate your symptoms for any life-threatening possibilities. Best of luck to you! NOTICE-- No one on this thing can diagnose you with anything including PVC s. PVC s are just more common but what happens to others is not necessarily what is happening to you! Never take a diagnosis off of the internet.