I have an extremely Hard/Heavy heartbeat.

Hi,
i'm 23 and i've had the same problem since high school. It doesn't happen every night, but nearly ever night, my heart beats so hard that i can hear my hair moving from side to side against my pillow with each beat.. I've never really thought anything of it, just kinda moved on with life, never really thought of it as a health concern. My blood pressure is about normal, so i don't think thats it..

I have had this since I was 8 or nine (thats when I noticed it). The doctors call it a "Bounding" heart beat. Mine is so strong the bed will move I will move and if the dog is on my lap he too (you guessed it) will move. I can feel if or when my blood pressure when it goes up and down. I have been told it is normal. I have had full work ups and nothing there. I did notice at a young age that when doctors would take blood I would fill the vile rather quiclky (my whole family has this atribute). The only thing I Can attribute it to is if you have big Pipes you need a stronger and bigger pump. As I have become older (not that 40 is old its not) but my blood pressure has gone up a little 140/70. The doctor has placed me on a med that dialates your blood vessiles and I do not feel the pumping as much when I take them.
Hope this helps.

I have struggled with the same heavy/pounding heart beats. However annoying, it is NOTHING life threatening. I experience these "anxiety attacks" when I am under lots of stress. I recently made a major career decision that could put me in over my head at my job. Worries about how I would feed my family if things don't work out, is what is getting me right now. Along with these attacks I get stiff, sore hands. I think this just has to do with the adrenaline rush entering/exiting your body. I know that anxiety can lead to a rush of adrenaline, which may take up to 3 minutes from brain impulse (your stressfull thought) to actual heavy heart pumping. Anxiety is annoying, and you can do mental remedies to fix it, it isn't however dangerous to you. This is just according to what I've researched online about it, and what I actually experience. People who are on drugs often experience these anxiety attacks because of this. Step 1 they are stressed. Because they are stressed they do step 2, take drugs. Because they are taking drugs they aren't at a 100% mental capacity and they are unable to complete the steps to mentally get over anxiety. 3 they convince themselves they OD'd, or that they are having medical side affects because of the drugs. Are you starting to see the viscious circle? Now before you know it, you lay awake all night crapping your pants with diahrea, all because you should just look in the mirror, tell yourself to chill and go to that happy place. Read a book, watch a movie. Whatever you need to do to get your mind off of things!!!!!!!

Well, as most of you before me, I too occasionally become extremely aware of my heart. I feel it pumping hard in my ribcage and it's always when I rest that all this happens. When I'm active during the day everything is fine, but when I get home it starts. This also comes and goes in periods, so it was all very confusing to me at first. I am a 23 year old student, I'm healthy and active and not overweight.

I was guessing it has something to do about my bloodpressure before I read about it here, so now I beleive more strongly in my hypothesis. As I told you my problems occur periodically. At first I didn't know why, but then I started to see a pattern. I'm a blood donor, so I've been over to my local hospital every three months for the latest five years giving away 1/2 L of blood. Now these heart poundings start just about exactly before it's time for me to go and donate. So I figure, maybe my blood production is very high, so if I don't go and give away some blood occasionally, my blood amount - hence my blood pressure - will rise temporarily.

Is there anyone who can confirm this? Also, I'm going for a donation soon, so I will try to ask one of the nurses.

I have the exact same problem, when i start weightlifting, my feel my heartbeat pound deeply n loudly, feel my pulse raiseing in my other parts of my body like fingers, head, neck, it worrys me alot, becos i cant get a decent workout done. but i try not to think about it because i know its just anxiety attacking me, but i always give up, dureing my workout session. My teeth end up chattering, n i end up shutting my mouth tight to stop my teeth from chattering, n feel my pulse inside me beating deeply. Sometimes it comes when im alone, bored, watching tv. It really is annoying me and im only 21 years old, n very fit. it has effected my jogging aswell, my way of being. i dont no what to do, it only started happening 6 months ago,

I'm a 29 year old male, not very athletic, but I've always been fairly healthy and generally eat healthy foods. I've had this heavy heart beat thing off and on for as long as I can remember. Generally, I've noticed it more when I was particularly tired after a long day or when I was sick and fighting off a fever. I looked up this thread because the symptom has been fairly persistent for the last week or so and I thought I should do some research.

There have been many suggested causes in this thread and I am inclined to think that most, if not all of them, may be correct. For example, I've recently been drinking mocha lattes almost every morning... caffeine, check. I stopped drinking coffee for a few days but unconsciously upped my dark chocolate intake... some of the better dark chocolates can have a lot of caffeine. I've recently realized that I've not been drinking enough water... dehydration, check. Last night, I made an effort to drink two large glasses of water (and not eat any chocolate) and I woke this morning with a normal heart beat for the first time in a week. I've also noticed in the past that the heavy heart beat feeling can come on after a very long, very hot shower or a visit to the steam room. Hypertension, check. No mystery there... I'm pretty sure the cause there was a combination of prolonged exposure to heat combined with the slightly thinner oxygen levels in a closed room full of steam. Alcohol is also a no brainer since it generally dehydrates and lowers oxygen levels in the blood.

Speaking of oxygen, I suspect another cause may be mild anemia due to low iron levels in the blood which can make the heavy heart beat kick in more noticeably during exercise rather than resting times. If you suspect this might be the issue (or one of them) for you, don't fool around with it... anemia can be quite serious. Start eating iron rich foods in large quantities like chicken liver, red meat, leafy greens and reduce things that actually inhibit iron absorption like coffee, black tea, red wine, etc. Lots of black pepper and foods that are rich in vitamin C will help your body absorb the iron you consume. You may possibly want to take an iron supplement combined with folic acid, vitamin C and E and lots of water, of course. Folic acid is a key nutrient in producing red blood cells and is linked to other benefits. Natural food iron is absorbed much more efficiently than iron in pill form, and iron from from meat is absorbed more easily than from vegetables. Iron deficiency is actually common among vegetarians for this very reason. Here's a link to some info about iron rich foods: ***edited by moderator*** web addresses not allowed

If you really think you might be anemic, you should see a doctor and have them test your hemoglobin, iron, and B12. Anemia can spiral to dangerous levels very quickly since it becomes a cycle. The body has a wonderful ability to compensate for chronic vitamin deficiencies but eventually it just can't keep up anymore. You can be anemic for a long time, years even, and then suddenly start feeling a little tired and then short of breath, heart pounding, etc. You can go from feeling relatively healthy to being unable to walk up a flight of stairs (or even get out of bed) within a few days.

I'm no doctor so this is just my two cents. I think it's very rare for symptoms to be caused by only one thing. In my case, I think my heavy heart beat is a combination of all these things... mild iron deficient anemia, situational high blood pressure, excessive caffeine intake, and dehydration. I hope this helps.

i have the same problem

Hey guys Im glad to have read this as Ive suffered from this for a few years now. I am now 29.
from about 18-27 I drank and partied quite heavily and had no problems until this woke me up one day while sleeping. I basically had a panic attack due to it.
Doctor scanned my heart,had an ekg and so problems were found except that my heart was slightly "swollen" due to heavy beer drinking and heavy lifting at work.
I have been active in keeping fit,exercising and doing martial arts,and eating healthy and not partying so hard or often and it has gotten better but never went away completly.Especially when Im hungover.
I know that doctors can give you a scanning type of thing to wear for 24 hours and they can print out the results to see how the heart did in that period. You are supposed to write down all activity within the 24 hours,rest,walking,working,sex ect..
My question is if any body has tried this and if anybody has had an answer from a doctor as to what this is???
thank you

I have the same problem from time to time with my heartbeat keeping me up at night. I have a couple of suggestions on how to minimize this discomfort.
1. Don't drink coffee or consume anything with caffeeine as it's know to stimulate your heart. Try this for a week and see if it helps.
2. Google up any medications including herbs you are taking. Some are know to have side effects that can affect your heart.
3. Don't eat a large heavy meal right before bed. Stick to a light meal like salad or soup or eat your dinner several hours befere bed time.
4. Excercise on a regular basis. Doesn't have to be a major workout, even a nice walk around your neighbourhood would be good.
5. Drink plenty of water. Hydration can cause rapid hearbeat.
6. If you keep having problems consult your doctor and ask about Atelonol. It's a safe and very effective drug that regulates your heartbeat and prevents andrenaline (from stress) from affecting your heart. As a result you'll sleep like a baby. I take it as needed whenever I have major problems with my heart at night.
7. Finally if your heartbeat is associated with dull pain/pressure on your chest, numbness on your left hand, jaw pain, stiff neck, and makes you gasp for air then seek a doctor to rule out any real heart problems.

FYI - sharp pain around the chest area at nighttime is usually caused by heartburn due to spicy or oily food you ate before going to bed. It's the dull pain or pressure that you need to worry about. To rule out the cause, drink some warm or room temperature water. does the sharp pain go away? If so it's only heartburn and nothing to worry about.

Wishing you all the best!

For those of you with low/normal blood pressure and hard heart beats: Check out Postular Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. I was diagnosed with it when I was 14 - the main thing the doctors told me to do was make sure I am stay hydrated and to increase the sodium in my diet (to retain water).

It's dehydration in my case. Had the really over the top heavy thumping heartbeat for over four hours, thought I was dying to be honest.

Quick look on here, drank a pint of water in pretty much one go, five minutes later my heartbeat was back to normal.

May not work for you (hope it does!), but definitely worth a go.

For all of u out there, stress aint the cause. this sh*t started with me only after binge drinking outta control for years. my heart started pounding outta control. i went to the hospital for dehydration. it went away. sometimes your body gets so dehydrated, u are at a dangerous level and need a salene solution to get ur heart tickin right again which was the case with me. Ive always gotten dehydrated very easily, so, i got to be extra careful not to drink too much. I quit drinking and smoking cigarettes, and started working out 4 days a week, and i feel healthy as an ox. But not so fast.....u need to have stopped drinking and smoking and started exercising and i mean running weight training, all that, for at least three months before the symptoms start to permanently go away. Gentlemen this is no small thing, ur body is telling u somehow, someway u are f*****g it up, dont look for a short term cure, u need to make major lifestyle changes, or else one day all the people that love u and care about u will wake up to find u gone. I dont care if the doctors tell u ur fine. Do u feel fine?? Besides if theres anything wrong with ur heart is there anyhting they can do for u short of surgery. medicine will only make it worse. U need to take care of urself. FOR IMMEDIATE RELIEF**** this may sound odd to some of u but if my heart is beating outta control and I'm trying to sleep and its freakin me out, i go run for a slow jog for at least 30 minutes and drink atleast 2 big glasses of water and u should feel a little less like ur dying. cuz for me, it got so bad, i thought if i fell asleep i would die of a heart attack because one day..........i went to sleep with my hard heartbeat bangin real hard on my chest, i managed to pass out and i woke up with acute asthma, shortness of breath disorientation and a dull pain in my chest, ever since then Ive been hesitant to go to sleep. But i was a real hard binge drinker so im sure yall will be alright. alright fellas, this should help. these methods are tried and tested.

Hey Im 20 years old and I feel the same way.  It's sooooooo relieving to hear that soo many people have been feeling the same way as me...this heavy heart beat really does bother me, mostly when im trying to sleep.  I also have been suffering from chest pain in my upperleft chest area.  However, I got into a bad habit smoking sliffs with tabacco from cigarettes, not natural tabacco, and I cant help but feel like this has something to do with my pain and heart beat.  I just want it to stop and Im willing to do anything for heavy heart beat and pain to go away.  My diet probably has alot to do with it as well as my stress levels.  Anyway I just want to say THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS WROTE SOMETHING ON THIS BLOG.  There are few better feelings than knowing you arent alone in the world and everyones imput really has helped me and taken SOME of the wieght off of my shoulders.  THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE AND I HOPE EVERYONE'S AILMENTS ARE CURED!!!!!!

Yeah, I experience the same thing...

toatally pisses me off too, but I guess there is nothing wrong with my heart because I run usually 8-10k every second day...

I can only assume it has something to do with certain food's before bed, and im also playing with the theory that it might have something to do with dehydration or over stimulus as I dont drink alot of water and tend to drink 4-5 cups of coffee a day.

I might be on to something with the water thing...

To anyone who is complaining about the heavy or hard heart beat, this could be a sign of a thyroid problem.  I had the same thing for months going undiagnosed and one day someone mentioned getting my thyroid checked.  Overactive thyroid disorders or hyperthyroiditis can be characterized by loss of weight, tremors, poor sleep, irritable mood or behavior changes, anxiety, and especially tachycardia (fast heart), and palpitations (hard heart beat) frequently before bedtime.