Since this morning I have had intermittent fluttering around my heart - inner side of left pectoral. Can’t tell if it’s my heart, muscle spasm, could it be gas?
I feel fine and when it happens my pulse feels normal in neck. Any suggestions? BP and HR have been normal today and the week leading up to it.
If you are sure your pulse is steady and HR is normal, it doesn’t sound like a big deal.
However, if you are getting an irregular heartbeat (fluttering pulse) it would sound like it could be Afib. Obviously if you are concerned about it, go see a doctor.
First let me ask you if there are any hotties walking by at the time…
Coffee (or caffeine in general) and dehydration can play a role in this sensation. As the weather is heating up, and longer, harder rides are being made, its fairly easy to get moderately dehydrated. Wash, rinse, repeat, and more dehydration tomorrow. Its common to stay mildly dehydrated for long periods of time, and simply call it normal.
Make sure to eat potassium rich foods (bananas, orange juice, potatoes) as well as magnesium rich foods (anything naturally green). Potassium and magnesium are inter-related and can effect nerve transmission and muscle relaxation. Training stress causes an increase in corticosteroids, which retain sodium and lose potassium.
Take care and see a doctor if you still feel fluttering, especially if you already eat well, hydrate appropriately, and keep you distance from stimulants.
Being an expert on this subject, based on my ability to run, bike, swim work on aircraft electronics and post pointless stuff on the internet, I would just ignore this for a couple weeks and see how it goes from there. If it continues try putting some butter or windex on it.
Under no circumstances should you see a Dr.
Get to a doc. Seriously.
I get these also. Cardiologist said they were PVCs due to my low Heart Rate…Something about a backup electrical signal firing. Anyhow, he said that if I wanted them to go away, stop doing triathlons, sit on the chouch for about six months and all would return to normal, like a regular sedentary person. Caffeine and wine seem to aggrevate it, especially if I’m dehydrated.
Or, I could stay in shape and have my heart beat like a teenager…Seriously.
Mostly likely PVC’s. Everyone here jumps straight to Afib but in reality its very common for people to have either PAC’s and / or PVC’s for various reasons. Very benign unless sustained but if you feel crappy and like it is sustained, agree with other posters, see a doctor, get a holter monitor.
Causes include things like dehydration, caffiene, some medications, including allergy meds and idiopathic.
This is good stuff. I have had the “fluttering” sensation at night sometimes and never thought about dehydration being the answer. I have been doing some hard difficults, live in Florida, probably do not hydrate well sometimes, etc… Thanks for the post.
x2 or 3 on the dehydration. If I get really dehydrated, I’ll get PVC’s, and a nice mitral valve “click” when I’m lying down. Good way to freak the wife out though…
John
Ha! My wife would freak out if she heard that - I don’t even tell her about the fluttering. These are the discussions which make slowtwitch a nice place to visit.
Since this morning I have had intermittent fluttering around my heart - inner side of left pectoral. Can’t tell if it’s my heart, muscle spasm, could it be gas?
I feel fine and when it happens my pulse feels normal in neck. Any suggestions? BP and HR have been normal today and the week leading up to it.
I have had the same sensations. It has recently gotten pretty bad and I thought I had some heart rhythm anomalies so I went to the cardiologist and had a complete battery of tests done. Turns out my heart is fine but that I have GERD. I have no heart burn and little to no sensation other than an odd fluttering every so often in my mid to lower chest.
It is most prevalent if I ride within two hours of eating or eat within three hours of sleeping.
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Since this morning I have had intermittent fluttering around my heart - inner side of left pectoral. Can’t tell if it’s my heart, muscle spasm, could it be gas?
I feel fine and when it happens my pulse feels normal in neck. Any suggestions? BP and HR have been normal today and the week leading up to it.
my wife had similar symptoms and after about a million tests they determined it was Mitral Valve Prolapse LINK. Obviously no one can determine what your issue is or even if you have one over the net. Best case it is nothing to worry about and you waste a little time and money figuring it out. Your heart is something you need, better not to mess around with it.
A not very bright person I do not like very much once told me something profound: “I do not want to die of something stupid and preventable just cause I was lazy about going to the Dr.” There really is not much that it is not better to get a handle on sooner rather than later, especially when it comes to health issues.
Hello Sully and All,
“I have had intermittent fluttering around my heart - inner side of left pectoral. Can’t tell if it’s my heart, muscle spasm, could it be gas?”
I get that sometimes and wondered about it too. Pulse normal during that feeling.
I wondered if it was my stomach rolling around or I needed to burp.
Sometimes when I drink a 500ml bottle of water and it goes away. Not like I was dehydrated but more just filling up some void.
I have been to the doctor and had EKG and so on with nothing remarkable.
Cheers,
Neal