Heart palpitations?

[HidaShara]

Mine, not the baby's.

I'm 17 weeks now, and for the last week or so I have been getting crazy heart palpitations. Like, three times a day. I'll be sitting around doing nothing in particular then BANG, my heart is racing or just beating so hard I can hear it. I have no other symptoms - no dizziness, lightheadedness, pain, nothing. A cursary internet search tells me that unless I have other symptoms, the palpitations are "not serious", but it seems wierd to me that I am getting them all of a sudden, so often.

Is this another one of those wacky pregnancy things? I am seeing my doctor on Thursday so I will be asking her, but still.... it's sorta freaky and I'd love to know if anyone else has any experience here. :/

Charlotte

[BirthFree]

I'm from the DDC above (June), but I thought I'd post.

If you're dehydrated or if you need more calcium your heart will race. I notice mine doing the same thing even when not pg for the same reasons, but it's just exaggerated during pg b/c both of those things are in way higher demand when pg. My naturopath helped me with that bit of info.

Hope that eases your mind some!

[mrs rockstar]

Yep. I had them BAD for awhile and they seem to have let up pretty much. I went to the doctor and got an eeg (ekg?) and my rhythms were fine. I was supposed to get the take home monitor to use for a month but there was a glitch with my insurance so I wasn't able to and now I'm not really having them so. But my doctor wasn't worried at all, he said he was giving me the take home monitor for my peace of mind more than anything else.

[*Melissa*]

I'm in the May DDC, but I had palpitations with my first as well. Just try to rest and take deep breaths, they go away.

Also - if you're intaking any caffiene - through chocolate, cola, coffee, tea, anywhere, try cutting back on that.

[LoobyLoo]

Me too - I've had palpitations on and off all my life, but they're totally benign and most people get them. I cut out caffeine years ago during a period of regular palpitations, it didn't seem to make much difference but cutting out stimulants (caffeine or foods/drinks high in sugar) helps a lot of people. You could mention it to your doctor, I'm planning to mention it to my MW but I'm honestly not terribly worried about them as I'm used to them and doubt she'll be worried either.

I do know that mine are often caused by stress and my work is seriously insanely stressful at the moment, so I figure that in addition to my body getting used to the extra load on my heart at the moment is what's leading to the extra beats. Like you, it's usually when my body's very relaxed so I just breathe through them and reassure myself that they're going to go away in a sec. I often had palpitations caused by hormonal weirdness (I have PCOS) and figure these probably also have something to do with my body being flooded with more hormones than usual at the moment.

Another reason for palpitations can be an overactive thyroid, which you can have a blood test for, and also excessive exercise (professional atheletes often experience palpitations), but they're not usually an indicator of heart disease or similar serious stuff. But I'm not a doctor so check it out with them if you continue to worry!

[mama to 2 girls]

Yes, I have had them with all my p/g's. I think mine could be linked to caffeine I don't drink more than like a small coke or 1 small glass of iced tea a day but I can just get up from sitting and I feel like I just ran down the street and back....but like the op's have said I just take a couple of deep slow breaths and it slows down. HTH

[Emily12581]

I have them and they are caused by thyroid issues and an increase in blood volume. I do have to have an appt with a cardiologist.

[veganf]

I had this happen a couple of times during my first pregnancy. As soon as I could lay down and do nothing it would subside. My midwife chalked it up to hormones. Never happened to me in subsequent pregnancies.

[anya_and_yessenia]

I also had them w both pregnancies. Last week I had one bad day. The triggers for me are:

- being in the same position for a while. Sitting is the worst. Make it tough at work...
- coffeine - I only drink green and herbal tees now. One cup of decaf on weekends - I love the taste of coffee.
- full stomach. This one can really be a killer especially combined w sitting.

My palpitations are most effectively eliminated by walking, doing something active, and eating small portions.

Anya

[HidaShara]

I saw my doctor today and she thinks the palpitations are caused my low blood pressure, and told me, like everyone else did, to just drink more water! I'm trying, but I think drinking water is the bane of my existence.

Still, that's a load off my mind!

Charlotte

[SeekingSerenity]

Glad it's nothing serious! I've been having them off and on, but they were much more frequent earlier in the pregnancy. They're not so often now... I have to drink a lot of water to keep the headaches at bay, which may be why I don't have them as much.

Thanks for the info and the update.