What causes sudden, rapid heart beat, even in your sleep..??

Question

When I am sitting or even sleeping in the bed. My heart beat starts to go up. I have to struggle to keep my breathing up to so I don't faint. I have not fainted but I feel light headed. Just want to know what causes this. No family history of heart problems, some diabetics. Take care

Answer 1

Hi there, I had this problem once. You feel like your heart beat is beating harder and like your chest is getting tight? Mine ended up being anxiety/panic attack. see doctor and tell him about it. he may prescribe some anti-anxiety medication.

Answer 2

Diluted,

This sounds very much like PSVT, or Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia. It used to be called Paroxysmal Atrial Tachycardia because it only affects the atria, but they've changed the name. We'll get to a way that you can tell if it is in a minute. Tachycardia is from two Greek words for Fast Heart ("Kardia" means heart, and "tachus" is fast. A "tachometer" measures how fast an engine turns). If this is what it is, then it's not dangerous.

The name is a fancy way of saying that the two top chambers of your heart, the atria, are suddenly and for a brief time speeding up. Then they suddenly go back to their normal beat. During this time the ventricles do not change their normal beat, so you're still healthy and in no danger. This happens to quite a number of people. It's considered abnormal only if it happens quite a lot during the (24-hour) day.

Your heart electrically is only two chambers, since the same signal triggers the beat of the atria in unison and then the ventricles in unison. It's a very simple electrical system, but even with such a simple one, since it grows in place it can occasionally grow a little funny.

It has two "nodes," or centers of signaling, both of which are in the right atrium. The first one is the "sinus" node (actually, the sinoatrial node. "Sinus node" for short) which is the heart's pacemaker. It's what goes wrong when someone needs a pacemaker. It starts the signal. The signal then travels down to the atrioventricular node which is the heart's gatekeeper, sending the right signals to the ventricals. It's a kind of gatekeeper, and it's why the ventricals don't speed up every time the atria do. Then there are fibers that send the signal down in to the ventricals.

Occasionally, a heart will grow with an extra node-like center near the pulmonary veins, and it can trigger extra beats. This is fairly rare. It's called "focal" tachycardia because there's a "focus" for the extra signal.

The more common type--the one you probably have, assuming that this is the problem, is "re-entrant tachycardia," where there is an extra pathway between the nerves that run from the sinus node to the AV node that "short-circuits" the beat signal, sending it back to the sinus node and triggering that extra beat. The atria beat about twice as fast as normal when this happens, maybe even faster. This does often bring on the dizzy feelings that you get.

Here's a trick you can do to see if it's PSVT:

Put your hands together out in front of your chest with your elbows straight out to your right and left, as in an exaggerated praying position, and push them together hard. If that doesn't stop it, then take a deep breath, hold it, and strain against it as if you're trying really hard to go to the bathroom. Hold that for a few seconds (5-10), breathe normally, and PSVT should stop. Sometimes a really hard cough can do it, too.

This is called the Valsalva Manuver and is well known as a diagnostic tool and a "treatment" for PSVT (it isn't a real treatment, because it doesn't "cure" PSVT, it only stops it). It forces blood out of the arteries of the heart, slightly speeding the heart and raising blood pressure a bit, then when you start breathing again, the blood rushes back into the heart and arteries, blood pressure drops slightly, and the heart returns to its normal beat.

Now, if that doesn't work, that's when you might want to start thinking about going to your doctor and asking him about it, and perhaps arranging for some tests, but in the great majority of cases of this kind, the Valsalva Manuver works.

When it occurs at night, you can do the Valsalva (isn't there a kind of Latin music called that?) without waking anyone else.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Few factors cause it are: too much coffee/tea, anxiety, insomnia.. or else its most likely caused by the nerves of your heart muscle, it send ''electrical signal in the wrong direction''. We called it as ''extra beat''. Most of the time it wont cause you problem, but if it worry you and if you get it quiteoften, you should see a cardiologist. He will put you through some tests: ECG (check the heart beat, standard simple test), Echocardiography (ulatrsound of the heart;to see if your you have any muscle/valves defect, any hole in the heart, any leaking etc) and finally 24 hours-Holter ( a small device attached 2 ur body w wires on it, it will record ur heart beat for 24 hours. Any abnormalities will be recorded on it).
The doc will either gv you 1 medication to regularize ur heart beat..or none at all. Depends on the result,
I hope my advice helps...

Answer 4

Anxiety, fear are known to cause rapid heart beats. Emotional distress, break-up of a relationship may also cause rapid heart beats. An overactive thyroid or an additional focus of initiating heart beat in the heart musculature causing extra beats (extrasystoles) are more serious causes.

If the rapid heart beats are causing distress, you should consult your family doctor and or a Specialist Physician.

Answer 5

There are multiple kinds of disorders that deal with anxiety. Although most can manifest in similar ways, these disorders generally occur due to different events in your life. Natural home remedies for anxiety https://tr.im/IpU6A
Generalized anxiety disorder includes persistent and unnecessary worries about everyday, common events or activities, which can disrupt concentration and lead to other issues, such as depression.

Answer 6

rapid hear beats(anxiety). Do you have the shakes especialy when you wake up in the morning? Losing weight...very very touchy about anything that is wrong...emotional could be thyroid

Answer 7

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Answer 8

The only person qualified to answer is your doctor...be safe go see ur gp

Answer 9

how do toy know you have them in your sleep??