When Should I Call My Doctor Or Nurse
- Unexplained change in weight if you gain or lose more than or equal to 4 pounds from your dry weight .
- Increased swelling in your ankles, feet, legs, or abdomen.
- Shortness of breath that is new, has become worse, or occurs more often, especially if it occurs when you are at rest or when you wake from sleep feeling short of breath.
- A feeling of fullness in your stomach.
- Extreme tiredness or decreased ability to complete daily activities.
- A respiratory infection or a cough that’s become worse.
- Coughing during the night.
- Chest pain or discomfort during activity that is relieved with rest.
- Changes in sleep patterns, including difficulty sleeping or needing to sleep a lot more than usual.
- Fast heart rate – at or over 120 beats per minute while at rest.
- A new or a more noticeably irregular heartbeat.
- Any other symptom that causes stress or concern.
When To Go To The Hospital
You need to seek emergency treatment if you have any of these symptoms:
Chest Pain
Chest pain should always be considered a serious symptom because it can indicate an emergency situation. If you’re experiencing chest pain and any of these factors apply to you, you should seek emergency care:
- You have a strong family history of early heart disease.
- You’re 45 years old or older and you have any of the risk factors for coronary artery disease, including obesity, smoking, family history, diabetes, high cholesterol, or a sedentary lifestyle.
- The pain is worse than any other chest pain you’ve had.
- The pain feels like it’s spreading to your neck, shoulders, upper abdomen, arms, back, or jaws.
- The pain is crushing, tight, heavy, or feels like squeezing.
- You also feel nauseous, fatigued, weak, short of breath, dizzy, sweaty, or you’ve fainted.
- You feel like something is very wrong.
- The pain keeps getting worse as the minutes pass.
- The pain is unlike anything you’ve experienced before.
Heart Attack Symptoms
If you have symptoms of a heart attack, be sure to seek emergency medical care. These symptoms include:
- Chest or arm pain, pressure, or discomfort that may spread to your neck, back, or jaw
- Shortness of breath
- Dizziness and loss of coordination
- Difficulty breathing
If you’re with a loved one and suspect he or she is having a stroke, use these measures to help you determine if there’s a problem:
Sudden Cardiac Arrest
- Collapsing suddenly
Heart Attacks In Women
Although hard-to-read heart attacks happen to both men and women, they are more common in women. One reason for this is that men’s symptoms initially set the standard for recognizing heart trouble. Now a growing body of research shows that women can experience heart attacks differently than men.
Understanding sex differences in heart disease is important. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women. Although it mostly affects older women, it isn’t rare in younger women. One in 10 of all women who die from heart disease or a stroke are under age 65, and this age group accounts for one-third of heart- or stroke-related hospitalizations. Even so, younger women and their doctors don’t necessarily suspect a heart attack even when all the signs are there.
In a survey of more than 500 women who survived heart attacks, 95% of them said they noticed that something wasn’t right in the month or so before their heart attacks. Two most common early warning signs were fatigue and disturbed sleep. Some women, for example, said they were so tired they couldn’t make a bed without resting.
Chest pain, a common early warning sign of heart trouble for men, was further down the list for these women. Those who did have it tended to describe it as pressure, aching, or tightness in the chest, not pain.
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Other Methods Of Reducing Heart Rate Fears
Its can be challenging to directly control your heart rate. But you can control the way that you react to it. One helpful coping strategy is to exercise. Being physically active actually lowers your general resting heart rate in the long term, but in such cases your heart becomes much more efficient overall. Exercise is also a great-way of combating anxiety. With exercise, therefore, youll be less likely to have a slowed pulse thats anxiety related and you can be more confident that your low resting heart-rate is actually a sign of your physical health, rather than any possible problem.
Seeing a doctor is obviously a good idea as well. Ruling out the most likely medical causes of a low heart rate may not calm you down completely especially if you still struggle with anxiety but it may well give you some peace of mind that your low heart rate is not related to any medical concerns.
Beyond that, try to stop searching on the net for ways to make sense of your low heart rate. Online, youll find countless explanations for a low heart rate and you may convince yourself that youre suffering from a more serious issue, even if youre medically healthy and well.
Finally, learn to control your overall anxiety. The less anxiety you experience, the less youll focus on your heart. The less time you spend worrying about your heart, the less likely you are to experience a low heart rate as a result of anxiety.
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When To See A Doctor About A Racing Heart Rate
We repeat, rarely is a racing heart an emergency. But if you experience a rapid heart rate along with chest pain, feeling weak, lightheaded, or short of breath, its best to call 911 you could be experiencing symptoms of heart failure or a heart attack.
Ultimately, when it comes to an elevated heart rate, trust your gut. It doesnt matter how healthy you are or how healthy you think you are, Dr. Doshi says. If your heart doesnt feel right for you, its worth getting a check-up.
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A Chest That Is Heavy & Tiredness With A Shortness Of Breath
With the advent of the Internet and ready access to medical information, both professional and lay, researching illnesses and their symptoms is just a few mouse clicks away. This easy availability of information sometimes makes for arm-chair doctors when the real thing is necessary. Its important to rationally review your symptoms and, if ever in doubt, seek medical advice.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
View An Animation About Atrial Fibrillation
Atrial Fibrillation Patient Education Animation –
Watch this patient education animation to learn about the symptoms associated with atrial fibrillation.
If left untreated, AFib as a disease continues to progress. There are three main types of AFib:
- Paroxysmal AFib occurs from a few seconds to days, then stops on its own
- Persistent AFib will last for more than seven days and will not correct on its own
- Permanent Patient and clinician joint decision to stop further attempts to restore normal heart rhythm
Find a heart rhythm specialist who can help diagnose and treat your AFib.
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Fast Heart Rate Overview And Conclusion
A fast heart rate although often defined as a heart rate over 90 is not necessarily abnormal and each case is different. History, physical exam and diagnostic testing are required in order to determine the significance of the heart rate and to see if any treatment is required. Treatment for non-cardiac causes of fast heart rate is to address the underlying cause. In the case of cardiac causes of fast heart rate, typically medication will be tried first or in some cases a procedure required particularly if the problem is with the electrical system of the heart.
What Do People Mean By Sudden Death
Sudden death is used to describe a situation in which a patient loses cardiac function and essentially will die within minutes if assistance is not provided. By assistance, I mean cardiopulmonary resuscitation and frequently, electrical cardioversion to restore the heart rhythm to normal. Obviously, patients where these efforts are successful will require extensive evaluation to determine the cause of cardiac arrest and to prevent it from occurring in the future.
The internal defibrillator devices that have become commonplace in the care of these types of patients have proven to be very effective in preventing death from heart arrhythmias in patients who have already had one or more episode of attempted sudden death.
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Is Your Racing Heart A Sign Of Supraventricular Tachycardia
Approximately 2 in every 1,000 people have SVT, a type of arrhythmia that can often be cured. Learn more about symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.
If youve ever experienced a sudden racing heartbeat, you know how unsettling the feeling can be.
While there are many potential causes of a fast heartbeat, one of the more common forms is supraventricular tachycardia, or SVT.
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SVT symptoms heart palpitations, chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness or lightheadedness can be alarming, but the condition is usually treatable and can often be cured, says Michigan Medicine electrophysiologist Rakesh Latchamsetty, M.D.
First, he says, the type of arrhythmia responsible for the symptoms needs to be determined since different arrhythmias can be treated very differently and some can be more serious than others.
A person experiencing a rapid heartbeat should consult with their physician, and anyone experiencing unrelenting palpitations or severe symptoms should be seen in the emergency room, says Latchamsetty.
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What Medications Are Usually Prescribed To Prevent Palpitations
There are a large number of medications that are used by physicians that are used to treat more serious types of heart rhythm disorders. These are usually prescribed by a heart specialist because they do have significant side effects and if not used correctly can cause serious cardiovascular problems, even a cardiac arrest or sudden death.
When used correctly, these powerful medications can prevent serious heart rhythm disorders from occurring and can be quite useful, although most patients would prefer not to be on them because of their cost, side effects, and they often must be taken multiple times a day.
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The Rapid Heart Rate Of Atrial Fibrillation Causes Shortness Of Breath
The first reason for shortness of breath is the heart rate by itself. You can imagine people who have atrial fibrillation who are not well controlled, will likely have elevated heart rates. The heart rate may be controlled when theyre just sitting down, but with just a little bit of activity the heart rate may become very fast, such as, 120, 140 bpm, sometimes even faster than that. There are patients who have, even when theyre just sitting and resting, their heart rate at 100, 110 bpm. You can imagine that if your heart rates going very fast consistently, its like as if youre running or exercising all the time. You can imagine when youre exercising, your heart rate gets up, and you can feel short of breath, and for patients with atrial fibrillation, they may feel this way all the time. So sometimes just the heart rate by itself can make a person feel short of breath.
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How Are Exercise And Pvcs Related
The relationship between extra beats and exercise is a complicated one. Many patients experience PVCs or palpitations before and after exercise, but not during exercise.
When most patients start to exercise, their own heart rate rises and the PVCs or other extra beats disappear at higher heart rates. After exercise, the body’s natural adrenalin level remains high for a period of time while the heart rate begins to go down during rest. This period of time often permits the extra beats to come back, and sometimes their rate and frequency are higher than before exercise.
If the other symptoms are mild or not present, usually there is not any reason for serious concern. If other symptoms accompany the palpitations such as shortness of breath, chest discomfort, or severe lightheadedness or loss of consciousness, those symptoms with palpitations in any setting are a cause for concern and require further evaluation.
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Possible Reasons For Shortness Of Breath And Fatigue
Shortness of breath literally means facing a difficulty in breathing due to lack of sufficient quantity of oxygen. It may affect one’s productivity while performing even daily tasks.
Shortness of breath literally means facing a difficulty in breathing due to lack of sufficient quantity of oxygen. It may affect ones productivity while performing even daily tasks.
Shortness of breath generally occurs due to infections, allergies, asthma or other nervous and respiratory disorders. Difficulty in breathing and fatigue are closely related to each other as the latter is a prominent indicator of a person suffering from shortness of breath. Frequent cough, fever and pain in the chest are the most general signs which highlight the presence of this disorder in an individual. You should contact your family doctor immediately, if you face any of the above problems as prevention is better than cure.
How Are Arrhythmias Treated
Many arrhythmias don’t need treatment. For those that do, these options might be used:
- Medicines. Many types of prescription anti-arrhythmic medicines are available to treat arrhythmia. Sometimes, these can increase symptoms and cause side effects, so the patient will be closely watched by the doctor.
- Pacemakers. A pacemaker is a small battery-operated device implanted into the body through a surgical procedure. Connected to the heart by a wire, a pacemaker can detect if the heart rate is too slow and send electrical signals to speed up the heartbeat.
- Defibrillators. A small battery-operated implantable cardioverter defibrillator is surgically placed near the left collarbone. Wires run from the defibrillator to the heart. The ICD senses if the heart has a dangerously fast or irregular rhythm and sends an electrical signal to restore a normal heartbeat.
- Catheter ablation. A catheter is guided through a vein in the leg to the heart. Arrhythmias often are caused by microscopic defects in the heart muscle. Once the problem area of the heart is pinpointed, the catheter heats or freezes the defective muscle cells and destroys them.
- Surgery. Surgery is usually the treatment recommended only if all other options have failed. In this case, a person is put under anesthesia and a surgeon removes the tissue causing the arrhythmia.
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He Can Feel Breathless If He Tries To Do Something Too Quickly
Well when you feel breathless its like walking up hill, and when I feel you know walking up, or running up and downstairs well say, and I feel breathless, I dont run up and down stairs but if thats what it feels like Ive run up and down stairs you know, up and down a few times you now puffing hard you know. You know youre gasping for air a bit more. But its a lot better now that Im on the medication, I dont get so much breathlessness, only if I approach a bank or I do something rather quicker than I should have done like go upstairs faster than I should, then I might feel a little bit breathless you know. But other than that it hasnt affected me too badly now. It did initially before I had the medication I felt I was, I was puffing walking on level ground you know I was out of breath then so thats how it felt.
Are Pvcs That I Can Feel More Significant Than Those I Can’t
There is no prognostic difference between the PVCs that are felt by the patient and those that are not. Obviously the symptomatic PVCs are of more concern to the patient because they can be annoying and distracting. Beyond that, the PVCs are all the same, prognostically. In most patients who are otherwise healthy, PVCs on a Holter are of little prognostic value regardless of whether they’re experienced or not.
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What Are The Health Risks Of Experiencing Heart Palpitations
The irregularity of the heart rhythm per se usually does no damage to the heart itself. Patients with a very rapid heart over a long period of time do run a risk of developing enlargement and failure of the heart.
We see heart enlargment with a very common cause of palpitations called atrial fibrillation. Patients can be in atrial fibrillation for many years without harm, but some patients with very little symptoms may have too rapid and irregular a rhythm present with symptoms of heart failure. There may also be some increased risk of stroke because of blood clots that can form in association with atrial fibrillation.
He Noticed He Was Breathless At Night And Went To See His Doctor
Nobody told me that, well I was told that every time I had a heart attack the muscles in my heart died a little or were damaged, and that they wouldn’t recover at that time and up to the present time there is no recovery, although they’re working on it! And…the consultant, no not the consultant, the surgeon that actually did the thing said that he didn’t think he would get rid of my breathlessness completely with this but it should do me. It should prevent any more heart attacks coming and should look after me for… I think approximately 10 years. And that was that. I had a triple bypass and I had a nurse come and take out the stitches and see me here, and then she went ill and I never saw anybody again for about 7′ years. When I started getting very alarmingly puffy, and especially alarming was getting breathless lying down in bed and I thought well this is not right, this is something wrong. And… it was then I went down to the local doctor and it was an emergency appointment so it was a lady doctor, who was very good, and she decided to send me for a scan in the the hospital. And there was an Irish lady doctor there, who had a good look at everything and said there hadn’t been any great deterioration in my heart, but it might be a good thing to see the consultant.
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