Heart Palpitations: Causes, Symptoms & When to Seek Care
Does your heart suddenly feel as though it is racing, pounding, fluttering or skipping a beat? Heart palpitations are the awareness of your heartbeat. They are common and are often not dangerous, but sometimes they may be associated with an abnormal heart rhythm or another medical condition that deserves evaluation.
When Heart Palpitations Need Urgent Attention
Seek emergency medical care if heart palpitations occur together with chest pain or pressure, fainting, severe shortness of breath, severe dizziness, or sudden rapidly worsening symptoms.
New or persistent palpitations accompanied by significant weakness, lightheadedness or the feeling that you may pass out also deserve prompt medical assessment.
Do not use information on this website to delay emergency medical care.
What Is a Heart Palpitation?
A heart palpitation is the sensation of becoming unusually aware of your heartbeat.
You may describe it as racing, pounding, fluttering, thumping, skipping a beat or feeling an extra beat in your chest, throat or neck.
A palpitation is a symptom, not a diagnosis. Some palpitations occur even when the heart rhythm is normal. Others may occur with premature beats, tachycardia, atrial fibrillation or another rhythm disturbance.
The important question is not simply whether you can feel your heartbeat, but why you are feeling it and whether other symptoms happen at the same time.
What Do Heart Palpitations Feel Like?
People describe heart palpitations in different ways. The sensation may last only briefly or may continue longer, and it may occur during exercise, emotional stress or while resting.
Racing
Your heartbeat may suddenly feel much faster than you would normally expect for what you are doing.
Pounding or Thumping
Each heartbeat may feel unusually strong or forceful in your chest, neck or throat.
Fluttering
Some people describe a rapid flutter, quivering or vibrating sensation inside the chest.
Skipped Beats
A premature heartbeat may feel like a pause, skipped beat or a stronger beat immediately afterward.
Irregular Beats
Your heartbeat may feel uneven or unpredictable rather than following its normal rhythm.
Other Symptoms
Pay particular attention to dizziness, weakness, shortness of breath, chest discomfort, near-fainting or fainting.
Learn more about heart palpitation symptoms .
Which Heart Rhythm Problems Can Cause Palpitations?
Palpitations do not always mean that an arrhythmia is present. However, several heart rhythm disturbances can produce the sensation of palpitations.
Premature Beats
Premature atrial contractions (PACs) and premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) may feel like an extra beat, skipped beat, pause or sudden thump.
Tachycardia
Tachycardia means a fast heart rate. Some fast rhythms begin suddenly and may cause racing or pounding palpitations.
Atrial Fibrillation & Atrial Flutter
Atrial fibrillation may produce a fast, irregular, fluttering or pounding heartbeat. Some people with atrial fibrillation have few or no noticeable symptoms.
Other Arrhythmias
Other rhythm disturbances, including supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias and some slow rhythms or pauses, may also cause symptoms.
Their significance depends on the specific rhythm and the person’s overall medical condition.
What Can Cause or Trigger Heart Palpitations?
There is no single cause of heart palpitations. Some triggers are temporary and relatively harmless, while others may reflect a medical or cardiac condition that requires evaluation or treatment.
Stress & Anxiety
Stress, strong emotions, anxiety and panic can increase heart rate and make your heartbeat more noticeable.
New palpitations should not automatically be assumed to be caused by anxiety without considering other causes.Caffeine & Stimulants
Caffeine, nicotine, energy drinks, cocaine, amphetamines and other stimulants may trigger palpitations in susceptible people.
Exercise
Heart rate normally increases during exercise. However, new, excessive or persistent palpitations during or after exertion may deserve medical evaluation.
Hormonal Changes
Palpitations may be noticed during menstruation, pregnancy or menopause.
Thyroid hormone abnormalities can also affect heart rate and heart rhythm.
Illness & Body Conditions
Fever, dehydration, anemia and certain metabolic or electrolyte abnormalities may increase heart rate or contribute to palpitations.
Heart Disease & Arrhythmias
Palpitations may occur with atrial fibrillation, other arrhythmias, heart valve disease, coronary disease and some structural heart conditions.
Medicines
Certain cold and decongestant products, some asthma medicines and other medications may affect heart rate or rhythm.
Do not stop prescribed medication without discussing it with your healthcare professional.After Eating
Some people notice palpitations around meals. Possible contributors may include meal size, caffeine, alcohol or the body’s response to digestion.
Sometimes No Cause Is Found
Even after medical evaluation, the exact trigger may not always be identified.
The pattern of symptoms and any associated warning signs help guide further investigation.
How Are Heart Palpitations Evaluated?
There is no single test that every patient with palpitations needs. Your doctor chooses the evaluation according to your symptoms, medical history, examination and individual risk factors.
Medical History & Physical Examination
Your healthcare professional may ask when the palpitations started, how long they last, whether they begin or stop suddenly, and what you were doing when they appeared.
It is especially important to report chest discomfort, breathlessness, dizziness, weakness or fainting.
ECG / EKG
An electrocardiogram records the electrical activity of the heart and can identify many rhythm abnormalities when they are present during the recording.
A normal ECG does not necessarily exclude an intermittent arrhythmia that was not happening during the test.
Holter or Other Heart-Rhythm Monitor
If symptoms come and go, an ambulatory ECG monitor may be used to record your heart rhythm for a longer period.
The type and duration of monitoring may depend partly on how frequently the symptoms occur.
Additional Tests When Appropriate
Depending on your symptoms and examination, your doctor may consider an echocardiogram, blood tests, thyroid testing, blood-count testing, exercise testing or other investigations.
An echocardiogram can help evaluate the heart’s structure and valves when structural heart disease is suspected.
What Should You Tell Your Doctor?
One of the most useful things you can do is describe exactly what happens during an episode. If possible, keep a brief record of your symptoms.
- What does the heartbeat feel like: fast, pounding, fluttering or irregular?
- When did the episode begin?
- How long did it last?
- Did it start and stop suddenly or gradually?
- What were you doing immediately before it started?
- Had you consumed caffeine, alcohol, nicotine or an energy drink?
- Had you recently taken medicines, supplements or a decongestant?
- Did you have fever, dehydration, emotional stress or anxiety?
- Did chest discomfort, dizziness, breathlessness, weakness or fainting occur?
Recording these details can help your doctor determine whether heart-rhythm monitoring or additional testing may be appropriate.
Learn More About Your Symptoms
Explore our patient guides about common symptoms, possible triggers and situations in which heart palpitations may occur.
Medical Expertise Behind Heart-Palpitation.com
Heart-Palpitation.com provides patient education developed with the medical experience of Dr. Albana Greca, Family Physician and Dr. Benard Shehu, Cardiologist.
Our purpose is to explain heart palpitations and related symptoms clearly while helping patients understand when symptoms may require medical or cardiology evaluation.
Dr. Albana Greca Sejdini
Dr. Albana Greca is a Family Physician and General Practitioner with extensive experience in primary care, chronic disease management and patient health education.
On Heart-Palpitation.com, she contributes to patient-focused explanations of symptoms, possible medical causes, risk factors, evaluation and appropriate routes to care.
View Verified iCliniq Profile →Dr. Benard Shehu
Dr. Benard Shehu is a cardiologist with clinical experience in cardiovascular medicine, including arrhythmias, hypertension, coronary artery disease and heart failure.
His cardiology expertise supports the site’s coverage of heart palpitations, abnormal heart rhythms, cardiovascular warning signs and cardiac evaluation.
View Verified iCliniq Profile →Medical References
We use established cardiovascular and patient-education resources to support the medical information published on Heart-Palpitation.com.
- American Heart Association. Symptoms, Diagnosis and Monitoring of Arrhythmia .
- American Heart Association. Common Tests for Arrhythmia .
- Mayo Clinic. Heart Palpitations: Symptoms and Causes .
- Mayo Clinic. Heart Palpitations: Diagnosis and Treatment .
- Cleveland Clinic. Heart Palpitations: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment .