“Immediate medical help is vital to prevent sudden cardiac arrest,” says Dr. It can be caused by heart attack, coronary artery disease, use of some drugs or an electrolyte imbalance. This rhythm can become irregular and fast without warning with one symptom being insufficient oxygen delivery to the brain. Meaning: Ventricular tachycardia is caused by abnormal electrical pulses in the heart’s lower chambers. If those causes aren’t behind the bradycardia, tests can evaluate whether you need a pacemaker to speed up your heart rhythm and treat for bradycardia. Solution: “First, we work to rule out causes we can change immediately, like thyroid problems, medications or sleep apnea,” says Dr. Although treatment isn’t always necessary, people with prolonged or repeated symptoms should seek medical care. Blood flow to the brain may be insufficient and cause fatigue, dizziness or fainting. Meaning: With bradycardia symptoms, your resting heartbeat falls below 60 beats per minute. “AFib patients benefit from healthy choices like controlling weight, diabetes, blood pressure and sleep apnea,” says Dr. Treatment options for atrial fibrillation include medications, a procedure called cardioversion that restores normal heart rhythm, ablation and implantation of a WATCHMAN device to the unnecessary left atrial appendage of the heart to prevent blood clots for people who cannot take blood thinners. Most people take blood thinners to prevent stroke.

Solution: “Treating AFib is important because it can lead to stroke or congestive heart failure,” explains Dr. It can also cause congestive heart failure. Atrial fibrillation can cause a blood clot, making you five times more likely to have a stroke. Meaning: In atrial fibrillation, also known as AFib, symptoms include abnormal electrical pulses in the heart’s upper chambers cause part of the heart to quiver instead of beat effectively. Atrial fibrillationīeat: Racing, uncomfortable and irregular If no reversible cause can be found, doctors can treat premature ventricular contractions with medication or, in stubborn cases, an ablation procedure that treats the tissue in your heart that’s triggering the abnormal rhythm. Solution: Sleep apnea, electrolyte abnormalities or coronary artery disease can cause PVCs, and sometimes there is no underlying cardiac cause. “This can end up feeling like sudden stops in your heartbeat,” Dr. Symptoms of premature ventricular contractions include heart pounding, sinking sensation, difficulty catching breath or chest pain. Meaning: PVCs start in the heart’s lower chambers, disturbing the electrical signals and causing an irregular, or “extra,” beat.

Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) Here are four common types of rhythm disorders and what you should know about them. People who do notice symptoms might experience chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, anxiety or heart palpitations - the feeling of your heart racing, pounding or fluttering. Most of the time, doctors diagnose these too-fast, too-slow or irregular heartbeats, also called heart arrhythmias, in physical exams or tests before an operation for an unrelated condition. “Many people never feel an irregular heartbeat,” says Brian Moyers, MD, a Northwest Regional Heart & Vascular cardiologist and electrophysiologist.

You could have an irregular heartbeat and not know it - but that doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous.

Extra heartbeat symptoms