I'm just wondering if anyone has intermittent tachycardia? I've been dx with MS now for three years and just last year my heart started beating fast, skipping beats, hard thumping that I can feel up in my throat and neck. Sometimes I feel like my head is being cut off from oxygen or blood. I've had a 2D Echo cardiogram, nuc med stress test and a carotid doppler and everything seems to be normal except for a few leaky valves which the cardiologist said isn't a big deal and not the cause of the problem. Turns out this is something not to worry about unless you're passing out from it. It is just driving me nuts! I'll have it for weeks, then goes away for awhile...then comes back. When this is happening sleeping on my sides, especially my left side makes it worse. Does anyone else experience anything like this? If so, what do you do...or take for it???

I was diagnosed with PSVT (back then it was PAT) a long time ago...maybe 25 years or longer? I had occasional episodes of tachycardia, out of the blue, sometimes when I was just relaxing and reading a book. The first time I thought I was having a heart attack.

I wore a holter monitor for a day or two, if I recall. Anyway, the doctor and I agreed that if it became debilitating I would start medication (can't remember what kind) but she told me that sometimes the side effects of the meds were worse than the symptoms if it's a mild case.

I still have an occasional episode, maybe only a half dozen a year, if that. And I can't sleep on my left side; doing so virtually always triggers tachycardia. It's a creepy feeling and I don't like it, but it's infrequent and the docs assure me it's not life-threatening, so for now I don't take anything for it. Just talk myself through it: "This will pass, it's not a heart attack, you'll be fine, take deep breaths..."

Check your meds, Carebear. Some of them can cause palpatations.

Feel better soon, I hope.

I do. It started out of the blue about 25 years ago when I was 27. My heart rate would jump to 220 bpm while at rest. I went through testing but nothing was found. Luckily it never lasted long and I felt fine.

Fast forward 15 years and I was having episodes that could last for hours. After a couple of days of that, I went to the ER and they caught the problem on EKG. I was diagnosed with PSVT.. Paroxysmal superventricular tachycardia. I have taken a low dose beta blocker(an old one called Atenolol or Tenormin) for 13 years. Now it is only an occasional thing that doesn't last long at all.

Like Sally said, be sure meds are not the cause. I also found that some food additives can trigger more frequent episodes...so I avoid a lot of heavily processed foods. My neurologist and cardiologist assured me it is not MS related. It's just an extra pathway in my heart that gets triggered and causes the increased heart rate.

Keep a journal of your episodes. Date, duration, and heart rate if you can. ALso what you were doing when it started. I found a cardiologist was more helpful in figuring this out than my General Practitioner was.

I was diagnosed with PSVT (back then it was PAT)

So Pat isn't PAT anymore? It's PSVT? Why didn't my doctor tell me I guess if you break it down they are right. I've had PAT for about 40 years. I just stay on my beta blocker which also works on my B/P and I'm OK. If I am particularly stressed or my B/P up it is worse while lying on my left side I guess it's cause you are putting more pressure on your heart.

i began having worsening episodes of arrhythmias about 6 mos ago.
mine usually lasted no longer than 45". i had a lot of the same tests. i tried wearing a couple of different monitors but could never catch it at the right time.

finally my dr ordered a monitor that i wore for a month. that did the trick. i was dx'd with A Fib or atrial fibrillation. untreated it can increase the risk for cardiac blood clots because the heart is quivering and blood tends to pool which can make a clot. i ended up on an anti arrhythmic. i also had to start on a blood thinner. i didn't want to but i understood the risks.

make sure your dr really documents what kind of arrhythmia you have. not treating unless you're "passing out" doesn't seem right to me. the fact that you're symptomatic should count for something.

advocate for getting more information, and, get copies of your test results and dr dictations. you might learn a lot.

I had tachycardia starting at 17, on and off. Later in life, I switched over to the atrial fibrillation which NurseNancy has. Mine is paroxysmal, that is, I don't have it all the time.
I agree that it can be triggered by food additives. I am much more likely to get it if I have
had food additives, which means I don't eat out in many places. Also I am more likely to get it if I eat a meal heavy in fat (like red meat) which I'm not supposed to do on the Swank diet anyway. A-fib is different than tachycardia, and I recognized the difference right away, but when I had my first attack about six years ago I just felt exhausted and could not tell what was going on. I checked my heart rate and it was very fast and weak, so I called 911. I take l5 mg a day of Propanalol, a Beta blocker, in 5 mg increments (with each meal, or take at bedtime if I forget the one at dinner time). I am in danger of clots from Polycythemia Vera, too. I believe following the Swank diet and
curtailing excess salt has kept me so far from clots, but I probably do have tiny clots in my toes, where the thick blood from PV may clog my microvascular system and irritate the nerves, thus increasing neuropathy to the acute pain level sometimes.

Once I got Tachycardia from a big dose of Vitamin C--probably with an additive, as it came from a health food store which I learned later has products with a lot of additives.
I read labels.

Thanks Sally, Thought for awhile that it may have been my thyroid meds, but as it turned out, my thyroid levels were very good. Levoxyl is the only other med I use besides Copaxone.

Carebear, my only brand name med is my thyroid. I take Synthroid, and numerous doctors have said it's better than the generic. I think Levoxyl is generic, but I'm not sure. When I switched from Levoxyl to Synthroid, I noticed my palpitations were less frequent. That's not a scientific observation, but I did notice it. My insurance won't cover the brand name,so I have to pay for it, but it's worth it to me.

"Be still my racing heart"....or something like that. About forty years ago, way before MS, I had the rapid, pounding heartbeat and was diagnosed with MVP (Mitral Valve Prolapse). The beta blocker, Tenormin, was started and I've been on it ever since in varying strengths. Now it's the generic, atenolol. It all stayed about the same until three years ago when my heart wouldn't go back on it's normal rhythm. Off to the hospital for all the usual heart tests and was eventually diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, (A-fib), as was mentioned before. So in addition to the beta blocker, the blood thinner Warfarin was added. Of course this means my blood has to be checked regularly to make sure it isn't too thin or too thick.

About a year later, it happened again. This time it took two days in the hospital for the heartbeat to return to normal. Digoxin was added to my daily "cocktail". The doctors didn't seem to think it was MS related, just something that happens. There is a strong prevalence of heart disease in my family, but so far this is just a condition and not a disease. I'm praying it stays that way.

Whatever the cause for the heart irregularities, I feel they should be watched so they don't develop into something else. We have enough to worry about without more problems added!

to all.