Perimenopausal/post menopausal women, please reassure me!

[Christine]

Well, I read today that the massive drop in estrogen right after ovulation is associated with palpitations, so from that angle the timing makes a lot of sense. But geez, did my estrogen just completely disappear?

Oh I doubt it would disappear, but in perimenopause you definitely get estrogen-to-prosterone imbalances. Sometimes it's progesterone that really gets out of wack and many women will use an OTC progesterone cream a few times a week to try to help with that, but not sure if those imbalances cause the heart flip flopping feeling.

 

[Lehuaann]

Well, I read today that the massive drop in estrogen right after ovulation is associated with palpitations, so from that angle the timing makes a lot of sense. But geez, did my estrogen just completely disappear?

And yeah, the mind is powerful indeed when it comes to anxiety. I can't even take an ECG reading with my smartwatch because as soon as I begin, my HR shoots up beyond 100 and then I get an "inconclusive" result. Every time. I hate this.

Now that makes sense.

I had the ekgs, 24 hr monitors, blood troponin, heart CT, visits to the er, etc., so chalked it up to deficiencies, dehydration, stress, and/or hormones. Yep, I rip the cuff off when the I see the numbers rising to 170-180

And I have NO desire to touch HRT due to side effects, so estrogen is gonna have to drop it like it’s hot

 

[anniemae]

I started peri around 45. I had irregular cycles. Then the heart palpitations started. I had them at random times, but mainly right around my cycle. I went to my pcp and they did an EKG, bloodwork, and I wore a monitor for 24 hours. All was good so my dr. put me on a med to calm down the heart a bit. It is a small dose. It is definitely a symptom of peri. You could make an appt with your pcp to discuss peri vs. lingering covid symptom. They may do a few tests and bloodwork to check for deficiencies.

 

[DLgal]

You could make an appt with your pcp to discuss peri vs. lingering covid symptom. They may do a few tests and bloodwork to check for deficiencies.

That is a good idea. I think I'll do that.

 

[summerlyangel]

So, I am pretty sure I have been in perimenopause for a couple years. I'm almost 44.

I have a very good awareness of my body and what's going on with it. I also have some general anxiety. That's just background info.

The last 2 cycles, as soon as I ovulate (I know when it happens because its painful and I can feel it), I start getting daily, almost constant heart palpitations and suffer from terrible insomnia. I feel like the palpitating get worse the more sleep I lose. He palpitations stress me out, keeping me from relaxing and sleeping. It's like a vicious cycle. This does NOT happen in the 2 weeks leading up to ovulation. I sleep pretty well, never feel palpitaions, rarely have anxiety or panic attacks, etc.

I HAVE had palpitations worked up with EKG a couple times in the past. Nothing is ever wrong with my heart. I am generally healthy and fit. This recent issue started after I had Covid in early July, so now I'm worried it might be related.

Some googling indicates that heart palpitations are very common during perimenopause, but I have never heard people discuss this and my doctors never mentioned it as a contributor.

Does anyone have experience advice to offer? It's annoying and also a really distressing feeling.

I've had covid 3x now, most recently in early august. I have a very sensitive heart and have already had an ablation for SVT. My heart went wild during and after covid every single time! I saw my electrophysiologist in Feb after my Jan case and she said that it was very common to have palps and irregular rhythms as a result of covid. Same thing happened in during my august case, so I didn't bother going to the cardiologist this time. My heart checked out fine, 2 wk monitor, echo, multiple ekgs, but it is very worrisome in the middle of it.

I am also peri (47). If I am going to have heart acting up issues outside of covid, it absolutely happens around ovulation or when my period starts. My estrogen is high, progesterone low. I haven't tolerated progesterone supplementation thus far, though.

calcium helps, potassium and salt, too. And alcohol sets mine off like no other. Especially red wine. The day after always sucks.

 

[DLgal]

I've had covid 3x now, most recently in early august. I have a very sensitive heart and have already had an ablation for SVT. My heart went wild during and after covid every single time! I saw my electrophysiologist in Feb after my Jan case and she said that it was very common to have palps and irregular rhythms as a result of covid. Same thing happened in during my august case, so I didn't bother going to the cardiologist this time. My heart checked out fine, 2 wk monitor, echo, multiple ekgs, but it is very worrisome in the middle of it.

I am also peri (47). If I am going to have heart acting up issues outside of covid, it absolutely happens around ovulation or when my period starts. My estrogen is high, progesterone low. I haven't tolerated progesterone supplementation thus far, though.

calcium helps, potassium and salt, too. And alcohol sets mine off like no other. Especially red wine. The day after always sucks.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[emer95]

I’m 47, and back in March/April of this year I had heart palpitations so terrible that I went to a cardiologist. I also had high blood pressure, and I’m usually very low. It made my anxiety go through the roof. They put me on beta blockers which helped. I wore a heart monitor for a month and I determined that there was nothing wrong. I also had an echocardiogram and it was fine. The doctor chalked it up to hormonal changes. It’s horrible! And I’m still pretty “regular” so I have a feeling I have many more years before I’m completely done.

And this was before I got Covid in May, so it was definitely not Covid-related for me.

 

[mousefan73]

There are many people on various COVID forums experiencing lots of tachycardia issues after COVID. Nothing is every found to be abnormal and it usually resolves within a few months, but there are so many people who are reporting higher than normal resting heartrates, inappropriate tachycardia, and so on. It wouldn't surprise me if it's both COVID and hormonal related at this point.

Wow I recall reading about this and am concerned for my DD (16).. She is currently finishing up her first Covid run.. On day 5 maybe... At the worse of it, her resting pulse was at 134. which if you knew her past isnt that bad. She had SVT in the past with a resting pulse of over 200 during an episode. Had in April 2020 a heart cathadar procedure and has been fine since.. Then Covid this week and we were like oh oh when she said her pulse was up... I hope it was just a Covid fluke but we are watching are this...

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I had heart palpitations and they eventually went away.

Fast forward to 2022...

Oddly enough, I had Covid and it started happening again for a couple days (while the case was active) then went away again. About a month ago, just randomly had them again one evening, noticed I had a fever of like 101 at the time. Fever went away, that also went away. I had been feeling really tired for a while too (but no real symptoms til that evening), I am guessing I may have had Covid and didn't know it. I woke up the next morning feeling fine so, I dunno.

 

[DeeBee3]

Fevers definitely affect heart rate. Even 1 degree can affect your rate. Good luck to all of you - heart stuff is very scary when you experience it.

 

[DLgal]

Wanted to come back to this thread and post an update.

So, I did go to my PCP who ran an EKG and ordered some blood work. Other than a high heart rate during the EKG, she didn't remark on it, but did say she wanted me to see a cardiologist. I did that last week. The cardiologist asked me a lot of questions about my symptoms and I also brought in a printout from my smartwatch ECG where I captured the palpitations: 3 instances of extra/double beats in a 30 second reading, very obvious by the very short distance between heartbeats followed by a long pause. He appreciated seeing that, as it didn't occur during the in office EKG he did nor the one my PCP did.

Long story short, my EKG was abnormal, and it showed a fib, as well as sinus tachycardia, and a potential right ventricular conduction delay. The cardiologist noted that my heart rate appeared to speed up and slow down inappropriately during the EKG, and the rhythm was not regular, which is what I can feel (in addition to the constant flip flops every minute, all day long). He ordered a 48 hour holter monitor and echocardiogram, to check for structural issues that may be contributing, but based on my lipid profile and blood pressure being good, he does not suspect heart disease. Possibly a result of Covid, possibly just benign ectopic beats. I go next week for the other tests. In the meantime, he prescribed a beta blocker to get my heart rhythm more regular and stop the random racing heart and extra beats. So far it seems to be working. I'm still feeling the flip flops occasionally, but nowhere near as often as before. I haven't had one instance of my heart racing randomly either, which has been really nice. I realized how often it was actually happening when it stopped happening. I always attributed that to anxiety, but now I'm thinking it wasn't always anxiety and it has always been this heart issue.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who recommended I get it checked out. I'm hoping its nothing serious.

 

[fly girl]

Wanted to come back to this thread and post an update.

So, I did go to my PCP who ran an EKG and ordered some blood work. Other than a high heart rate during the EKG, she didn't remark on it, but did say she wanted me to see a cardiologist. I did that last week. The cardiologist asked me a lot of questions about my symptoms and I also brought in a printout from my smartwatch ECG where I captured the palpitations: 3 instances of extra/double beats in a 30 second reading, very obvious by the very short distance between heartbeats followed by a long pause. He appreciated seeing that, as it didn't occur during the in office EKG he did nor the one my PCP did.

Long story short, my EKG was abnormal, and it showed a fib, as well as sinus tachycardia, and a potential right ventricular conduction delay. The cardiologist noted that my heart rate appeared to speed up and slow down inappropriately during the EKG, and the rhythm was not regular, which is what I can feel (in addition to the constant flip flops every minute, all day long). He ordered a 48 hour holter monitor and echocardiogram, to check for structural issues that may be contributing, but based on my lipid profile and blood pressure being good, he does not suspect heart disease. Possibly a result of Covid, possibly just benign ectopic beats. I go next week for the other tests. In the meantime, he prescribed a beta blocker to get my heart rhythm more regular and stop the random racing heart and extra beats. So far it seems to be working. I'm still feeling the flip flops occasionally, but nowhere near as often as before. I haven't had one instance of my heart racing randomly either, which has been really nice. I realized how often it was actually happening when it stopped happening. I always attributed that to anxiety, but now I'm thinking it wasn't always anxiety and it has always been this heart issue.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who recommended I get it checked out. I'm hoping its nothing serious.

I'm glad you got it checked out. Hopefully the beta blocker will be the only thing you need. Thanks for the update and continue to keep us posted.

 

[DeeBee3]

I'm so happy you updated us and I am extremely happy your doctors are all following through. That extra monitoring will give them much more info.

Sometimes doctors want to chalk everything up to anxiety (because it can affect so much), but you always want to rule out medical issues first.

Good luck to you! I'm glad the medicine is giving you some peace for the time being.