Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Gilla999]

I started suffering with an irregular heartbeat aged around 37, where I get a beat too quickly and then a pause, and then a massive THUMP. Or sometimes it's just a bunch of continual flutters that make you want to cough and feel like you have a butterfly in your chest! I had a bunch of tests at that time that came back with 'Premature ventricular beats' and I was told it was common and nothing serious to worry about. At that point I think in hindsight I am pretty sure it was being caused by me tapering off my antidepressant medication, as once that stopped the PVCs eventually calmed down.

However perimenopause and changes to Estrogen levels restarted it with a bang, and over the last month or so it's been particularly bothersome and really starting to get me down. It starts at around 3/4pm every day and it makes evening relaxing really hard.

I have been prescribed beta blockers and have been taking 1/2 a day for about a year now and they do help take the edge off the racing heart I also tend to get, but hasn't done anything to help the PVCs. I tried increasing to a full tablet but because I have naturally borderline low blood pressure anyway, my BP then gets really quite low and my heart rate also drops below the normal range, so I'm not sure taking beta blockers in general is the right way forwards.

As I've read it's quite a common peri symptom, I just wondered if any other ladies had found any relief from it? Is there anything to be done?!

[AKatieD]

Funnily enough I recently had it the other way round recently, I stopped my HRT for 3 days before doing some testing (as I was advised) and ended up with atrial fibrillation that went agter a few days when I started up HRT again. Another group said it would be the drop in oestrogen.

Perhaps it will settle as your body adjusts?

[karab]

I also have low blood pressure, and found that magnesium helped me with irregular heartbeat in perimenopause.  I do still notice anytime I have a significant change in hormones (including changing anything about my hrt), I'm vulnerable to it returning temporarily.  If my estrogen is low or high, I also seem to get it again.  I only take a few hundred mg of magnesium, but I have a friend that takes 900 for the same problems in perimenopause, and says it has really helped her with that. 

Don't know if this is relevant to the factors involved for you, but that's my experience.

Kara

[Twinmummi123]

I’ve really noticed my hydration levels have an impact on my palpitations, I have the same type as you and although they are not sinister they are very distracting!
The days when I don’t drink plenty (min 2L) of water is when they can be at there worst.
Magnesium is supposed to help as is reducing caffeine. Good luck 🤞🏻

[AmandaJR]

Hi Gilla999, sorry you’re struggling. I know you’ve had a rough time for years with peri, me too.
I am on 160mg of Propanolol twice a day to reduce heart rate due to hyperthyroidism symptoms. Propanolol reduces the T4 to T3 conversion which is what I need it to do. Are you monitoring your thyroid whilst taking Propanolol, I’m wondering if your conversion is being affected which will bring unwanted symptoms that we don’t need during the peri nightmare?
I think there are other beta blockers available that don’t lower conversion, I think one is called Bisaprolol.
Good luck, I hope you get this sorted quickly.

[Katherine]

Hi, have you had your iron levels measured? I had irregular beats a few years back and it turned out I was anaemic. After a few months of iron tabs the problem went away.

[Gilla999]

Thanks ladies for your replies!

Kara and Katie, yes it seems to be ANY change to my Estrogen (whether endogenous or HRT) that triggers the episodes, in either direction up or down! It's so frustrating because of course in Peri your hormone levels are just all over the place, and even when I'm not suffering from anxiety the palpitations make you feel as though you are. Kara how much magnesium and of which kind of you take, if you don't mind me asking?    I used to take it but haven't in a while, so can't hurt to add that in.

Amanda that's very interesting, I wasn't aware of the connection and I haven't had a thyroid test recently - would the impact on T4 to T3 conversion cause potential hypo or hyper thyroid? I've been borderline hypo in a few tests and have a history of it in the family. I take Atenolol - not sure if that affects conversion or not!

Katherine yes iron levels are the one thing I know are fine thankfully!

[joziel]

I had this in the evenings before I started HRT. My heart would just come in with a loud THUMP after a skipped beat. Especially lying around, watching TV, or lying in bed, falling asleep.

It went after I started HRT. I don't remember exactly when because I had a lot of other symptoms to track...

[merrygoround]

I was diagnosed with ectopic beats about ten years before menopause and I think they improved with taking HRT (tibolone in my case).
Google says up to 100 a day is considered within normal limits, but that would be really distracting and not easy to live with.

I like the description of a frog doing summersaults inside my chest, feels just like that!

[karab]

I have tried a number of different magnesium products, and finally settled on thorne biglysinate powder (about 200 mg for a small scoop).  It helps a little to relax at night and doesn't affect anything else for me.

Before I also tried tri magnesium (around 300mg), from integrative therapeutics, life extension's brand neuromag (three capsules are around 150mg), which is magnesium l-threonate, suggested to me by a menopause expert, and life extension's magnesium citrate (which came in 100 mg tablets).  The citrate can cause diarrhea or cramps if you take too much, but helps with constipation.  I found that the brands other than the thorne powder could cause stomach upset at times if I took them right before bed, so I stayed with thorne.  Different types of magnesium have different effects, so it's worth experimenting a bit and seeing what works well for you.  Just be careful of which ones might cause diarrhea or stomach upset; easy to check by reading reviews, although not the same for everyone.

Sometimes I also still supplement with the citrate 100 mg if I need it's effects or I think I need more, but usually I just take the thorne powder. 

You may find if you get on a stable dose of hrt for a few months, and it's high enough, that the palpitations go away.  That happened to me for 3-6 months before I needed to make more changes to my hrt and palpitations came back.  My practitioner says that a higher dose can even out the fluctuations of peri, if that is appropriate for you in other ways.  I think now that I'm stabilizing on a new dose again, mine may be disappearing again.

Kara


 

Thanks ladies for your replies!

Kara and Katie, yes it seems to be ANY change to my Estrogen (whether endogenous or HRT) that triggers the episodes, in either direction up or down! It's so frustrating because of course in Peri your hormone levels are just all over the place, and even when I'm not suffering from anxiety the palpitations make you feel as though you are. Kara how much magnesium and of which kind of you take, if you don't mind me asking?    I used to take it but haven't in a while, so can't hurt to add that in.

Amanda that's very interesting, I wasn't aware of the connection and I haven't had a thyroid test recently - would the impact on T4 to T3 conversion cause potential hypo or hyper thyroid? I've been borderline hypo in a few tests and have a history of it in the family. I take Atenolol - not sure if that affects conversion or not!

Katherine yes iron levels are the one thing I know are fine thankfully!

[Gilla999]

Thank you for this Kara - super helpful! I'm going to order some, can't hutt