Extrasystoles for several years, psychological or physical?
The following issue has been bothering me for about two years now: During a very stressful time in which I was under a lot of pressure (I'm in my mid-20s), I suddenly started feeling my heart flutter. I measured it, and it turns out that it's causing extra heartbeats, or even a single beat, several times within a minute.
During this stressful time, this continued for quite a while. I went to the doctor, but he just said I was crazy and didn't take me seriously—thanks for that. Another doctor suspected a panic attack. So far, that sounds logical. The psyche can certainly trigger a lot of things, so the keyword is psychosomatics.
This stress lasted quite a while (professional, looming unemployment, etc.) until a solution was in sight, and things have been looking up since the beginning of this year. My life is currently so perfect that it couldn't be better.
Unfortunately, I keep waking up in the middle of the night with a fright (bad dream, etc.) and feeling my heart almost pounding out of my chest. And sometimes my heart even suddenly skips a beat. It's not the usual fluttering that I feel, but rather a truly depressing, slow pulse that simply stops for a moment.
Before I run back to the doctor, I'd like to ask here if anyone has ever experienced something like this. Is it simply psychological and does it take time? I know how unlikely cardiovascular disease is in your mid-20s, but it's not impossible. I have to mention: – high cholesterol (inherited) – reflux – I smoke (vape).
I would be happy to receive an answer.
Oh yeah, they did three ECGs. A stress test and a long-term ECG at the cardiologist were unremarkable (although I didn't have any problems during those times; it was always in phases). An ECG at my family doctor clearly showed the extrasystoles. My Apple Watch was also able to record them repeatedly.
There are various (good) reasons for extrasystoles. For example:
If your cardiologist thinks that your extrasystoles are good-looking, I wouldn’t ask you to do that primarily. As you have already written, you’re a smoker. The NUMBER be a possible cause. The only way to find out is to give up the probable trigger. :