I'm approximately 4 months post op and the last couple of nights I've had the sensation that my heart was pounding so hard it was going to come out of my chest. Has anyone else experienced this? It is pounding so hard and when it's happening I have a hard time catching my breath. Don't know if it's band related or not.

Thanks for reading

It doesn't sound band related. It may be anxiety attacks. You need to call your doctor.

I'm approximately 4 months post op and the last couple of nights I've had the sensation that my heart was pounding so hard it was going to come out of my chest. Has anyone else experienced this? It is pounding so hard and when it's happening I have a hard time catching my breath. Don't know if it's band related or not.

Thanks for reading

I am familiar with this feeling of hard heart pounding (exactly like you said - like it's coming out of my chest) and shortness of breath, but I had it long before my Lap-Band. My heart had an arrhythmia (irregular heart beat) know as SVT (super ventricular tachycardia - a fast heart rate). I was told that this wasn't uncommon. Of course I can in no way say this is what you have, just that you are describing similar symptoms that I had. The important thing: Get to your doctor and make sure he/she refers you to a cardiologist, so you can be diagnosed. Don't pass this off as anxiety (people told me that what it was with me too - and it wasn't). My irregular heart beat was treatable, and I'm free of it today. Get yourself to a doctor quickly, and best of luck to you!

I am familiar with this feeling of hard heart pounding (exactly like you said - like it's coming out of my chest) and shortness of breath' date=' but I had it long before my Lap-Band. My heart had an arrhythmia (irregular heart beat) know as SVT (super ventricular tachycardia - a fast heart rate). I was told that this wasn't uncommon. [u']Of course I can in no way say this is what you have[/u], just that you are describing similar symptoms that I had. The important thing: Get to your doctor and make sure he/she refers you to a cardiologist, so you can be diagnosed. Don't pass this off as anxiety (people told me that what it was with me too - and it wasn't). My irregular heart beat was treatable, and I'm free of it today. Get yourself to a doctor quickly, and best of luck to you!

I was diagnosed with arrhythmia 20 years ago but at that time they said there was no reason for concern and I haven't had it checked since. I continue to have episodes of it and lately they've increased in frequency. How did they treat your SVT?

I was diagnosed with arrhythmia 20 years ago but at that time they said there was no reason for concern and I haven't had it checked since. I continue to have episodes of it and lately they've increased in frequency. How did they treat your SVT?

Hi Donna,

It really depends on the type of arrhythmia you are having - if you haven't had it checked in 20 years, and you're experiencing episodes of it, you definitely need to get back to your doctor and get it checked. My Cardiologist told me I probably had my SVT all my life - I just really didn't start having symptoms until my late 30's. How they treated my SVT - first with medication, but after awhile that didn't work. So then I had a procedure done known as EP (electro-physiology) studies with Cardiac Ablation (google for a better explanation than mine, lol). The SVT was caused by extra "pathways" in my heart, that conduct the electric impulses created by my heart - causing it to beat faster (up to over 200 times a minute). With the Cardiac ablation, they went into a large blood vessel in my groin, and passed catheters up through to my heart. Once there, the doctor ablated (burned I think?) the extra electrical pathways in my heart. It's amazing the techonlogy doctors do have to help you! The procedure for me was easy - I was in a "twilight" sleep during it, and had no pain at all. I did spend one night in the hospital so they could watch my heart rhythm. It's been about 5 years since that procedure now, and I have no SVT or any other problems with my heart since, and I'm not on any medicine. It feels good to have that problem gone! :smile:

But there are other arrhythmias you might have (do you have the hard pounding heart beat?) . . . maybe you just have something that doesn't need treatment - but hey, please don't listen to me - get to a doctor (if you've been diagnosed with an arrhythmia, you should be seeing a cardiologist) and get it checked out. Even if there was no problem back then, it's good to have it checked now. Best of luck to you!

Mine is more like skipping. I don't even realize it's happened until the next beat which makes it feel like my heart has just been shocked. The episodes I've been experiencing lately has been more like a squeezing feeling. I know I should have it checked again.

Mine sounds kind of like yours Donna. Mine will bet irregular and hard, skip a beat and seems to flip-flop. The longest it has done this is for an hour. It is very scary when it is happening, but it doesn't happen often. I was sent to a cardiologist and when the results came back my pcp looked at them and said we didn't need to treat it unless it was bothering me. It doesn't happen enough to warrant medicine, so I am currently unmedicated. This makes my dad CRAZY. He has it and now has a defibrillator thing that keeps his regulated. I guess that is where I will be 10-20 years from now.:smile:

Mine started doing this about 2 years ago for a period of 2 months. It stopped when the doctor took me off of Yaz. Then, yesterday it did it again. My heart beats fast for about 1 1/2 to 2 min, and then it gets very irregular as it is slowing down. Yesterday I thought I might pass out. I had an EKG done yeserday which was normal, and lab drawn. I guess I will have to go back to my cardiologist.