Hi,

There's another recent thread about this too and I think the people who responded felt it was pretty normal. I think given the fact that you've had your heart so closely monitored because of the PE and that your doctor feels that everything is fine, you're probably ok but certainly, if it continues or gets worse, call your doc.

For me, heart palpatations are one of two things usually: anxiety and/or dehydration. Anxiety and dehydration are sneaky little devils - they come out of nowhere.

I too had heart issues from the clots and had thrombosis as well due to the heart issues and size of the clots. Are your clots completely gone now?

Recovery is so strange. Not anything like you imagine. It's a weird transition from hospital to home.

They said that my clots would be gone after being thrombolysed... but didn't say anything else about them. I'm assuming they are no longer there, given that the lung pain I had whilst in hosp is completely gone now.. and they took enough blood to test of me to refuel another human!!

For about a week after being admitted I was on strong painkillers as I could still feel a deep pain in my lungs when I breathed heavily. They said that this was normal and just your lungs being slightly battered after having clots in them and would dissapear when they have a chance to heal themselves.

I think i'm mainly worried about what caused such intense palp's... I've had them before but never as ferocious or worrying. I'm also really angry and upset at the fact that I'm predisposed to worry about everything more now. Simple things like leaving the house worry me because I don't want to have the scary palpitations again.

I don't know if I would consider what I had "palpitations" but I've definitely had heart stress.

It was basically the feeling of my heart beating so hard/fast that my whole body would shake and I could hear it in my ears. Made it really hard to sleep and I've been to the ER with it too.

But, yeah, my heart is fine. (Had an echo recently.) When I started taking anti-anxiety meds I started to hear my heart less and less, so I'd probably agree with rmb that it is anxiety related ... at least in my case!

The fact that you're upset and worrying so much, which is completely normal, could be contributing to this. That's just my opinion of course. I don't want to accuse someone of having anxiety. I'm just saying it's surprising how anxiety manifests itself.

I can totally empathise with this! I had a massive saddle clot 18 months ago, I was thrombolysed as it had almost blocked both pulmonary arteries and my heart was enlarged.
I went back to A&E twice with massive palpitations, there would be a couple of huge ones which almost knocked me off my feet and then several smaller but still big thuds. I was hooked up each time for a few hours but it was never another clot.

I still get them now, not very often and I have learnt not to panic so much when it happens. Having said that, if you're really worried then you should always listen to your body and get it checked. My cardiologist said that the heart can react differently to drugs etc after such a major event.
I used to take venlafaxine but I got terrible "brain zaps" on it. I stopped taking it and truly thought I was dying! I had a racing heart, dizziness, nausea and almost passed out. I had to go back on them and wean off slowly.
I hope you're feeling better soon :-)

I left the house today for the first time since the crazy palpitations of the other day...

To be fair I was so nervous before going out! Actually being afraid that the next couple of months would see me turning borderline agoraphobic, but I left.. and was very very cautious of anything going on with my body.

I managed to go to a coffee shop, and then for a ride in the car for an hour after.. and only had two palpitations!

I was very impressed with my body for not giving out on me :)

Good for you! Keep doing that, keep trying to do normal stuff. Because that's going to make you less and less nervous and anxious.

We feel like we're made of glass after a PE. But I just mentioned this to someone else. Think how strong you are for surviving such a thing.

The body is healing; our emotions have to have to catch up.

I had the racing heart and palpitations, had ekgs, monitors and was told everything was fine. I had an echo cardiogram as well, that was normal too. I didn't believe them of course , because that happened on and off for months with my heart. I think the clots , wafarin causes the heart palpitations. I am five months out and that has gotten a lot better.

I had bilateral PE's 1 year ago and started getting palpitations in October of last year and am still having them maybe 10-15 a day depending on where im at in my cycle, I have taught myself to not freak when I have them but will they ever go away!!!!???

Its been seven years since my PE and I STILL have palpitations. I dont know if it is related to the emotional aspect of coming close to death? Or is it physiologically connected to the cause and/or damage from the incident??? Not sure we'll ever know. Doctors speculate and if you ask 10 docs you'll get 10 different answers. The best thing to do is keep a diary and identify a trend. Perhaps someday we'll know more about the long-term effects of experiencing something like this, but for now we'll have to rely on good resources and each other.

I get palpitations too, and nothing seems to be wrong, according to my cardiologist. I agree with RMB that we do feel very fragile after the PE thing. Mine was almost exactly a year ago to the day, and I've been having "flashbacks" about the whole hospital experience and the few weeks that led up to it.

I had a PE one month ago and have experienced the exact same thing you describe. I have the benefit, though, of knowing that I have a mitral valve prolapse, which is related to having premature ventricular contractions (PVCs). PVCs feel like palpitations or like a skipped heartbeat. I've had PVCs for a long time and noticed after the PE that I have had some VERY strong PVCs. It felt like my heart stopped for a few seconds and then started again with gusto! Each time (and this has now happened 3 times) my heart races and I feel a bit dizzy and lightheaded and extremely anxious afterwards for up to 30 minutes. I'm not sure if this is related to having a mitral valve prolapse, but you may want to have it checked. Having a mitral valve prolapse is usually benign and most people never know they have one, but for those of us that do feel it, it's usually manifested by PVCs. Your docs may know you have a prolapse and never told you because it is usually insignificant.

As far as the extreme palpitations go, I'm hoping they lessen and eventually go away!

Rosanasw:
When the palpitations started last October I was placed on a heart monitor for a month, had an ECHO, EKG and a treadmill stress test and they said everything was completely normal. I had experienced palpitations prior to the PE's but it was episodic and during two anxiety attacks that I had. I just had another surgery last Wednesday that lasted 6 hours and the CRNA said that I never had an abnormal rhythm the entire 6 hours. He is guessing it is anxiety related?! Oh how I do i wish I could convince myself that I am ok now! I'm so thankful for this support group i was going to a therapist and it wasn't helping at all!

Hello people, if somebody find this thread and is asking, if pulmonary embolism (and especially massive PE) can cause PVCs, I can assure you that yes, it can cause and it will cause. Why? Simple answer: because your right ventricle can dramatically dilated and when this dilatation happens, it will damage the heart's electrical transmission system and this will cause PVCs ... also there are another changes in the heart after right ventricle dilatation - like tricuspid regurgitation, next left heart ventricle will begin to adapt to this dilated right ventricle and begins to enlarge, this cause mitral regurgitation and whole ejection fraction decrease ... there will be a stabilization point and the heart may slowly begin to adapt to the better (this takes years) - but it depends on how much your heart was damaged by PE, and how good rehabilitation program for heart condition was set and practiced. Doctors often claim that your heart is alright after a massive PE, but if right ventricle was dilated, your heart can not be alright, and you most probably feel it that something is bad with your heart. To be on the right wave, PVCs can be from other reason or combination of reasons (like minerals, food, hormones, stress, weather and changes in barometric pressure, other disease). But right ventricle dilatation after massive PE is well known and often classified information by some doctors themselves. Dilatation can cause various heart problems included uncomfortable PVCs and the condition of the heart must be monitored for recurrence (first few years each 6 months and later each 1 year)!!! My advice sounds, practice regular and reasonable conditioning activity, do not overload the heart but train it slowly and regularly. Eat a healthy diet.