Hey, I need some advice. I am a 23 year old female. I have been having problems with an irregular heartbeat for awhile. I'm not sure how long, because I never paid that much attention to it. I was bulimic for a few years, so I never sought medical attention for these things, because I was afraid my parents would find out... But now I am concerned about my heart. I went to the school nurse on Monday because I was having bad dizzy spells. I've had these weird spells periodically for the past couple of years, where I feel like I am going to faint just sitting down, and it is not like a dizzy where I am going to fall over, but like this horrible "heavy" feeling,where I feel like every part of my body is being pushed towards the ground. I have low blood pressure normally, and am always dizzy, so I went to the nurse to see if my blood pressure was particularly low. It wasn't, it was about 110/65 I think, and that is normal for me, actually higher than normal. But the nurse checked my pulse and noticed that I skip beats constantly. I knew that too, but I thought I was just taking my pulse wrong or something. Seems like I skip beats at least several times a minute normally (i've been watching all day), and when I am feeling dizzy or tired and weird, it like skips constantly, like every four or five beats. I am worried about this, because I am not on medical insurance right now and can't afford to have fancy tests done. I don't know if what I am experiencing is bad, or if it is just something weird about me. I have been on effexor, 75 mg a day,for over a year, and I thought maybe I was doing this when I get off on my meds and skip days and stuff, but I called a pharmacy and the pharmacist said that arrhythmia is not a side affect. Could arrhythmia be a result of imbalances in the drug when I get off schedule, or should I be concerned about the extent to which I am skipping beats? I never had any tests done when I confessed to being bulimic, but now I am afraid I may have caused damage to my heart. Can anyone give me some advice?

My wife has arrythmia, and takes toprol. It tends to slow the heart a bit also. It requires a prescription, so you might ask a dr. about it. You should only be out the cost of an office call, and the toprol is not a high-priced drug. Having your heart skipping deprives your body of the oxygen it needs.

Hi, I have the same problem and it was discovered that I have a mitral valve prolapse. Not a life-threatening condition. Just annoying sometimes. Seems it's more prevalent in women and that up to 20% of women can have it. Maybe ask your doc if this is a possibility. Hope this helped.

I have arythmia also. I had 2 EKG's done and also an Echocardiogram. They showed I have two leaky valves on the left side of my heart. They said its nothing to worry about. I don't have them as bad as you. Mine will skip several times in a row but it doesn't happen every day. When they do happen though,It feels like it knocks the wind out of me. The next time you have them, try holding your breath until they go away. They say that helps although I've never tried it. Hope this helps