Diseases & Conditions

Heart palpitations

Heart palpitations (pal-pih-TA-shuns) are the feelings of having rapid, fluttering or pounding heartbeats. Heart palpitations can be triggered by stress, exercise, medication or, rarely, an underlying medical condition.

Although heart palpitations can be worrisome, they're usually harmless, since your heart is still pumping effectively. You can often prevent heart palpitations by avoiding the triggers that cause them.

In rare cases, heart palpitations may be a symptom of a more serious heart condition, such as an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), that may require treatment.

Often the cause of your heart palpitations can't be found. It's thought that common causes of heart palpitations include:

• Strong emotional responses, such as stress or anxiety
• Strenuous exercise
• Caffeine
• Nicotine
• Fever
• Hormone changes associated with menstruation, pregnancy or menopause
• Taking cold and cough medications that contain pseudoephedrine, a stimulant
• Taking some asthma inhaler medications that contain stimulants

However, occasionally heart palpitations can be a sign of a serious, underlying problem, such as an overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism) or an abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia). Arrhythmias may include very fast heart rates (tachycardia), unusually slow heart rates (bradycardia) or an irregular heart rhythm (atrial fibrillation).

Unless your doctor finds that you have an underlying heart condition, heart palpitations seldom require medications or surgery as treatment. Instead, your doctor may recommend ways for you to avoid the triggers that cause your palpitations.

If your palpitations are caused by an underlying condition, such as an arrhythmia, your treatment will focus on correcting the underlying condition.