If you feel like your heart is fluttering, pounding, or skipping a beat, it means that you are having heart palpitations. Unfortunately, they might be quite serious if caused by another health condition like heart disease, sleep apnea or a thyroid disorder. However, looking on the bright side, heart palpitations at night aren’t usually harmful. Indeed, a fast heart rate while sleeping might be a result of caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, stress, or hormones. Now, let’s have a closer look at heart palpitations at night and everything you need to know about them!
Heart Palpitations Symptoms
In short, common symptoms of heart palpitations at night include: ● Fluttering – the flapping or fluttery feeling in the chest ● Irregular heart rate – experiencing heart race or irregular or fast heart rate while sleeping ● Pounding – feeling like the heart is beating too hard or forcefully
Heart Palpitations Causes
As already noted, experiencing heart palpitations at night is usually harmless. What’s more, they aren’t typically caused by an underlying medical condition. Namely, they occur when the heart contracts too soon or beats out of rhythm. In medical terms, this is called premature ventricular contraction (PVC) or premature atrial contraction (PAC). Sometimes, you can experience palpitations just because of the position you sleep in. For example, if you sleep hunched over on the side (especially the right side), the pressure inside your body will increase and potentially cause heart palpitations. Other common heart palpitations causes include:
● Stress, anxiety, and depression ● Electrolyte imbalances or dehydration ● Drugs like diet pills or some nasal decongestants ● Excess weight and obesity ● Menopause and pregnancy hormonal changes ● Foods high in carbohydrates, salt, sugar, or fat ● Alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and chocolate
● Stimulant medications
More serious causes of heart palpitations at night include:
● Sleep Apnea ● Heart disease ● Cardiac Arrhythmias ● Hypotension ● Hypoglycemia ● Metabolic syndrome ● Anemia ● Hyperthyroidism
Heart Palpitations Diagnosis
If you’ve noticed a fast heart rate while sleeping, your doctor will first discuss the symptoms you’ve been experiencing and listen to your heart. Then, you may need to do a blood test to check for anemia, electrolyte abnormalities, infection, vitamin deficiency, or a thyroid problem. Next, your doctor may recommend an electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) which will measure your heart rate by attaching sensors to your skin. However, oftentimes heart palpitations cannot be detected by an ECG as you may not experience any heart rate or irregular heartbeats during the test. In this case, you may need to get an ambulatory cardiac monitor. This is a device that records your heart rate and rhythm for anywhere from 24 hours to up to 4 weeks and you should wear it both during the day and at night.
Heart Palpitations Management
Finally, let’s see how you can manage and treat heart palpitations at night. If you experience a fast heart rate while sleeping only from time to time, you likely won’t have to take any major steps to manage it or get treatment. Indeed, some things you can do to improve the symptoms are to take some deep breaths, drink a glass of water, and get up and walk around. Still, as we said before, other causes of heart palpitations include more serious medical conditions. In this case, your doctor will recommend the best treatment option for you as treatments vary based on the actual cause of heart palpitations. In general, medications like beta-blockers are sometimes prescribed to slow the heart rate and reduce symptoms. That said, although most nighttime heart palpitations aren’t serious, ensure that you schedule a medical check to identify the cause and start on the right treatment. Identifying the underlying cause and then directing appropriate treatment usually resolves the problem.
