![]() ![]() Excess electricity overwhelms the system, and the atria start to contract and beat rapidly.” These include atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardia and ventricular tachycardia.Ītrial fibrillation, or afib, Darby’s specialty, is the most common heart rhythm condition that causes heart flutter.ĭarby describes afib as an “electrical storm in the upper chambers of the heart. Heart rhythm disorders, or arrhythmias, can occur if your heart beats too fast or too slow. What Causes Heart Flutter (the Abnormal Kind) This map shows the electrical activity in the heart, with the bright red area indicating the source of the arrhythmia that causes heart flutter. An erratic, inconsistent pulse, or if it’s hard to detect - this is problematic see a doctor.A nice rhythmic pulsation - this is normal.Put your hands on the outside of your wrist gently. Taking your own pulse can help you measure the steadiness of your heartbeat and whether you need to seek professional help. Cardiac electrophysiologists are cardiologists who specialize in the treatment of heart rhythm disorders. An evaluation with a primary care physician is a good place to start.” Depending upon the symptoms or initial evaluation, a referral to a cardiac electrophysiologist such as Darby may be the next step. But if the feeling is ongoing,” Darby says, “like lasting minutes, you should call the doctor. “If just a second or two, it’s less worrisome. When Palpitations PersistĪnother deciding factor: How long the palpitations last. If you can hear your heart and feel it racing, it’s definitely something that should be evaluated, especially if you also feel faint, lightheaded, shortness of breath and/or chest tightness. You could have an arrhythmia, or heart rhythm disorder. You should call your doctor if the following occurs. “People forget the electricity affects the physical part of the heart,” Darby says. Introducing stress, anxiety, caffeine, chocolate, alcohol or other stimulants into your blood system has the ability to interfere with the electric flow at any place on your heart: This causes heart flutter.Īnd this is why you might have a twinge of pain along with a palpitation: The electricity charges through your heart’s muscle fibers. At the top of the heart lives the pacemaker, a spot that sends electrical discharges through the wires in the heart, telling it when to beat.īut any area in the electrical system or in the heart tissue itself can generate an electrical discharge. Electricity flows through your heart constantly, maintaining your heart’s rhythm. “For most people, having a single, extra heartbeat that feels like a brief, intense skip can be normal and benign.” What Causes Heart Flutter (the Normal Kind) ![]() It just so happens that some people have “premature beats, also called premature atrial contractions or premature ventricular contractions,” Darby explains. Heart palpitations (a generic, not medical, term) that last a second or two and happen infrequently should not cause you to worry. I asked expert cardiologist, Andrew Darby, MD, to clarify the difference. The culprit spurring my heart to canter: stress.īut that doesn’t mean abnormal heart rhythms never indicate a problem. The EKG she gave me revealed that my heart was fine. Several years ago, when my heart started beating so loudly I couldn’t sleep, I ran to the doctor. ![]() Has your heart ever skipped a beat or hammered loudly against your chest? And has this made you wonder what causes heart flutter? Worry that your racing heart means something is terribly wrong? How do you know when to ignore something and when to get to the doctor ASAP? We break down what’s normal and what’s not in this occasional series. Abnormal heart tissue (red) and normal heart tissue (purple) of the upper left atrium, caused by afib.
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