Hello, I am a 24 year old female and I have been suffering from heart palpitations for 2 days now, this is the third day. Ive stopped drinking tea and coffee because I thought perhaps I had had too much caffeine. Ive really not been able to sleep well, I am very aware of my heart beating so very hard throughout the night and I have been unable to sleep on my side as I feel my heart restricted and beating in a way which frightens me. I do suffer from anxiety but I have not suffered an attack for around 6 months. this feels like a physical problem as opposed to one related to stress. I have never before felt my heart beat this way and for so long.  Can you help? Im very worried.
Hi, This is Chat Doctor. Increased heart rate & palpitations can have a lot of causes. It can be normal sinus tachycardia due to anxiety or stress, or it could be abnormal supra ventricular tachycardia. For the diagnosis, you need to do ECG at the time of palpitation & tachycardia. If the duration of palpitations are short enough to reach a nearby hospital, we put a 24hr ECG monitoring (Holder Monitor). You also need to do a 2D Echo & thyroid function test to see for any associated abnormality if any. Thanks