Ok, this used to happen every once in a while, but for the past 3 days or so, it has happened, like, 15 times each day. My heart hiccups. It feels like it catches and stutters for a beat and then keeps going. Is this something to be concerned about?

Perhaps. I'm a cardiac tech. Everyone has an irregular beat occasionally. A few people have a harmless ongoing dysrhythmia. But if it's picked up like this recently, I'd definitely not wait long to go get it checked. Don't screw around with the heart; you've only got the one, and it's usefule to have in working order. It could be a lot of things. Get it checked.

15 times a day is definitely something to have evaluated.

Yeah, Rhiannon, I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on tv, but get yourself checked out soon.

Like first thing in the morning. A lot of folks have that stuff and it's nothing, but like the man said, take no chances. BTW, There's a related article in the latest issue of Discovery. (worth picking up for the article on all the new planets found so far)

my friend had that problem- the doctor told her to stop with the caffeine and it went away

I have "sinus arrythmia." Someone who knows more about this than I do may be more able to explain this. It basically means that I have an irregular heartbeat, and the doctor claims that I don't need to worry about it unless it becomes more severe...It sounds like what you're going through. But you probab;y should get it checked out anyway.

Okay, I'll try to see the doctor sometime this week. The doctor who misdiagnosed a corneal tear as pink-eye, which lead to the girl going blind in that eye, by the way. Yikes. I have PCOS, which raises your insulin levels, and I've read that high insulin levels do things to your heart. Maybe that's what's going on. Or, I've been drinking caffeinated beverages this week, after having abstained from caffeine since the No-doz incident in December. Maybe that's what's doing it. Today, it only happened about three times. Sometimes it's very noticeable -- I'll suddenly feel like I can't breathe or that something just...stopped...in my chest. Other times it just feels like my heart fluttered a little. Well, I'll find out in a few days. Thanks for the advice.

Anecdotally, it sounds like caffeine. But don't let the doc get away with brushing it off as that without doing some ECG work.

ok. I drank a bunch of coffee saturday and then went to the gym and did my most intense workout ever. last night I tried to replicate the feat without any stimulants. I failed. I want to succeed. how very bad is it to engage in sustained aerobic exercise immediately following caffeine intake?

I'm not a doctor, but I watch one on TV. No idea. I pay little attention to caffeine, as it has no effect on me. Probably not a problem, I'd guess, for someone in normal health. A mild stimulant combined with vigorous exercise might even be a good thing; or at least not a bad thing. Or something else. I've got no idea, it seems.

Can't be too bad for you. At the gym I go to, they have those "super teas" which are chocked full of caffeine and sugar. Taste like crap though.

oh good. I mean, I know it must be doubly stressful to the heart, but so what? I can take it. I thought of you today, markus, when I was getting some coffee, something you wouldn't do. and I thought of nate after reading the definition of "a tergo" in the foreign phrases section of the dictionary.

Actually, if you can time it so you're hitting the stairmaster about a half hour after you take the caffiene -that's about how long it really takes to start affecting you. I used to take this caffience-ma huang stack, but After i while I didn't like how it made me feel. I lost a good deal of fat while using it, though. Gained it back cause I've been slacking off like a dickhead on the exercising lately.

If anyone's interested: I went to the doctor on Wednesday. She listened to my heart and told me I sounded fine. Then she sent me home. Okay. So I did an experiment. I went without caffeine on Thurs., Fri., Sat., and Sun. No heart flutters. At 3:30 today I had a bottle of diet Coke. At 4:09 my heart made the little pause-hiccup move. I conclude it's the caffeine. When I go home for spring break next month, I'll have my (trusted) doctor check it out, just in case.

One more thing: We had a blood drive last week. I tried to give blood, but they said my heart rate was too fast (140 bpm). I was nervous. I'm nervous a lot. Maybe my heart has had enough and is asking for a break?

The fast rate and disrhythmia could be stimulant-related, in which case the heart is being stressed unhealthily. Or they could be things such as atrial fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia, already present, but aggravated or triggered by the caffeine. 140 is dangerously high, unless you're an infant or a hummingbird. At that rate, the heart isn't efficiently getting oxygenated blood throughout the body, and is under high stress. There's only so much one can tell by listening. You really should insist on an ECG. To get optimal MD attention, I'd pound a couple Cokes right before the appointment. Doctors are goddamn lazy; unless it's something obviously wrong with an obvious fix, like a broken arm, they're always going to go for the "Nope, you're fine, get out of my office you hypochondriac, I'm running an hour behind on appointments." It's understandable; they're overbooked, and a lot of the people they see shouldn't be there. You got the flu? Stay home in bed with fluids instead of spreading it to everyone else in the waiting room; the doc can't really do anything for you anyway. I spent several months in hospitals before I learned not to defer to the doctors. You have to push them sometimes. Even the good ones are overworked, and however empathetic they are, they don't care about your health as much as you do. You're the patient's advocate. If you don't speak up on your own behalf, no one's going to.

good thing you're in canada. you probably don't have to coax the doctor into writing the key words "medically necessary" in the chart. I had higher heart rate and blood pressure before I started exercising regularly. do you get any aerobic exercise, gee?

That was me, not Gee. I walk 30-45 min. a day, and when I work at the library, I run up and down the stairs a lot, too. Over winter break, however, I got hardly any exercise at all. I would say that maybe I'm just adjusting, but I've been in my current routine for about 4-5 weeks, so my heart should have adjusted by now, right? Right now my pulse is at 74 bpm, so it's not always that high. When I go to the doctor, do I just say, "I'd like to have an ECG done"?

I get you guys confused sometimes. I think you're both in my "really sweet and neurotic young girls" category. I'm trying not to become one of those pushy exercise fanatics. this weekend I realized I can ride my bike to go places. I got so drunk saturday night that I couldn't even drive, so sunday I had to go pick up my car. I only tried a little to get a ride, and I only tried at all because it was raining pretty hard. then I rode halfway across town. it was so fucking fun. I rode on saturday too. and I met a nice hippie guy at the community action project place a few blocks from me. he was digging up the grass in the strip between the sidewalk and the street. he said he was going to plant a butterfly garden. he would put in plants that would attract butterflies from miles around. he spoke in that slow, inner-peace way, and I was all charmed and didn't know what to say. he asked me what my name was, and I wanted to tell him not to bother. I thought of saying, "don't be fooled! I am a BAD PERSON. I hardly ever ride my bike, I don't volunteer, I'm not vegetarian. hell, sometimes I don't even recycle!" I don't know what the fuck gets into me. why I always have these perverse thoughts. like last night. I got bored with traffic laws, some of which should only apply when there are a lot of other cars around. so on a red light I turned left from a one-way street onto a two-way street. I didn't think I would get caught. but then I see lights and hear a siren. thank god I wasn't drunk or stoned. but still, I wondered how much this was going to cost me. more than $100, I'm sure. so this cute blond/blue police officer asks me for my licenseregistrationproofofinsurance. bless his heart, he didn't ask me why he pulled me over. I might have refused to play dumb. he told me why he pulled me over and then told me it was illegal. I said ok. he went back to his car for a LONG LONG LONG time. I decided for sure he was writing up a ticket. but he finally came back and told me he was just going to warn me. he said, "I know the oregon drivers' manual is a little unclear on this, but..." I wanted to yell at him, "I KNOW WHAT THE GODDAMN DRIVERS' MANUAL SAYS. I am not stupid! I waited for that jerk at that bar for half an hour by myself, and I didn't feel like fucking waiting at the stupid light in zero traffic for another half-hour. all I wanted to do was go the fuck home, ok?" but I just said, "ok, thank you. ok. yes."

Cyst, are we the only ones who see your writing? You've got a very good ear and eye. (And I think I've got Gee beat for neuroses. I'm a mental valetudinarian.)

you're not a true valetudinarian until you start carrying a pill alarm or complaining of fibromyalgia. but you still have time for that. thank you for telling me that, rhiannon. I copy some stuff I write here and send it to the friend I admire most because he says he loves it and that helps me feel consequential. also, some of it is going to go into the monster web page I'm working on. oh, the neighbors are finally taking out the garbage, thank god.

I have a "friend"her name is Jana and she is very wealthy,her family owned the newspaper here and she,s never had to worry about money her whole life,so what does she do,she worries about herself.The worst hypocondriac I,ve ever seen,it,s sickening to hear her go on about herself,she,s the main reason I got caller I.D.,just couldn,t stomach her bowell reports,she came over to my house once started talking about her fizzy shits,then used my bathroom and tried to make me look at her shit.Is there anyone out there that wants to marry for $$$$$? I can hook you up,she,s fat,she,s ugly she,s fucking looney tunes,and she,s desperate.Jana reminds me of Brian Wilson,she,s also the gal that came over in the morning the first time Bruce did acid,we were both tripping but to this day we remember she looked like Petunia Pig.She was wearing her hair in pigtail braids,and had painted a mole on her cheek,she lifted her blouse to show us her new breast implants,that was the straw that broke Brucifers back,that,s when he tried to committ himself.It just really bothers me that someone has all this money and their crippled inside.I feel sorry for her,but if I had the kind of money she did I would be so out there.

Hey there surely must be some seeing and hearing impaired man out there that could use the money.

Don't forget smell impaired.

The same thing happened to my sister..I am a ER nurse and so is she..at first, the symtoms made me nervous and she went for an EKG..and bloodwork. The bloodwork was fine..the EKG showed PVCs...and lots of them. They will give you the symptoms you describe. for her, it lasted several days and then went away. A cardiac specialist was called in and he says that this is nothing to worry about, it happens and will pass...which it did..If you are not in the hospital pls respond to this message and let me know you are ok..Best wishes to you..