Expert: David Richardson - 11/8/2009

Question
Hi there! I am a 31 year old male who has been running for 6 years. Im in pretty good shape. A few months ago I moved to a new city and began a happy (but stressful!) new life. I started noticing that during my runs I would get a few flutters in my chest as I warmed up. They would also occur occasionally during the day. This concerned me and I went to the nurse at school, and she gave me an EKG. Everything came up normal, but it said I was borderline ecg, as my heat rate was around 60 bpm. Ive noticed its worse if I have coffee in the morning, but even when I refrain I still will get a flutter from time to time. The flutters are over quickly, and there is just one at a time. Also for a little while the left side of my ribcage felt sore. I havent had any dizziness shortness of breath, etc
Does this sound serious? Is there more info I can provide? Do you think its safe to exercise? If its too long of a question, basically I want to ask "Am I being one of the worried well or is this something to see a cardiologist over?"
Thanks so much for your time!
Mark


Answer
Dear Mark,

Skipped beats are normal heart activity, no threat to life or health in someone with normal EKG and good exercise ability.   About half of us have them, they are easy to understand as normal from knowledge of the heart's electrical system, and they don't mean you will ever get heart disease or any catastrophe.  They are truly harmless.

Please exercise as much as possible.  You don't need to see a cardiologist.

Please write back if this note doesn't answer all your questions.

David Richardson