Guest guest Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 /Kat - It sounds to me like what you are both experiencing is what my cardiologist calls palpitations. You can tell when you are in afib by the irregularly irregular pulse. Aflutter does not refer to a fluttering feeling in your chest but rather is a technical term for a type of arrhythmia. With flutter, your atria are beating at 300 beats per minute or so but regularly. Those atrial beats are passed to the ventricles at a ratio -- say 2:1 or 3:1. At 2:1 your heart rate will be 150 beats per minute; at 3:1 100 bpm. I some times get preatrial contractions (PACs) which feel like a skipped beat when I'm taking my pulse. At my two most recent doctors visits -- one to an EP the other to my cardiologist -- they noticed PACs while listening to my heart and asked me if I felt it. I said no. The cardiologist asked if I had palpitations and I said if you mean PACs then yes. He said no, only if I felt the PACs and they bothered me would they be considered palpitations. Hope this helps some. Apparently almost everyone has those occasional irregularities and it bothers some and not others. Not sure I have all the definitions exactly right, but somebody on this board will be sure to correct me if I don't. The short answer, it seems to me, is that these " flutters and skipped beats " are not in themselves a sign of afib or aflutter. Certainly worth discussing with your doctors, however. Some on this board report that magnesium helps with afib and in reducing PACs. I've tried it and think it works for me as well. Ed in VA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 > (snip) > > I woke this am with my reading at 111/77 and pulse 78. > My reading this pm is 133/70 and 69. I know these > are not extremely high, but I don't understand it. I > guess I wonder if anyone else has weird readings and > is this more like A-flutter or plain AF. (snip) Kat: My understanding is that everyones blood pressure measurements vary widely over the course of a single day. No one measurement should be of concern. Instead look at overall averages and trends. H, Charlotte NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 > (snip) > > I woke this am with my reading at 111/77 and pulse 78. > My reading this pm is 133/70 and 69. I know these > are not extremely high, but I don't understand it. I > guess I wonder if anyone else has weird readings and > is this more like A-flutter or plain AF. (snip) Kat: My understanding is that everyones blood pressure measurements vary widely over the course of a single day. No one measurement should be of concern. Instead look at overall averages and trends. H, Charlotte NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 > (snip) > > I woke this am with my reading at 111/77 and pulse 78. > My reading this pm is 133/70 and 69. I know these > are not extremely high, but I don't understand it. I > guess I wonder if anyone else has weird readings and > is this more like A-flutter or plain AF. (snip) Kat: My understanding is that everyones blood pressure measurements vary widely over the course of a single day. No one measurement should be of concern. Instead look at overall averages and trends. H, Charlotte NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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