AboutDavid Richardson Expertise Adult heart function and disease. Not very good about children lesss than 12. Hypertension is o.k. Heart rhythm a special interest.
Experience Certified in cardiology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Was chairman of division of cardiology at the Medical College of Virginia. Am now mostly retired.
Organizations Fellow of American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology and member of American Physiological Society..
Publications Circulation, American Heart Journal, Hypertension.
Education/Credentials M.D. from Harvard Medical School. Residency training at Yale Uhniversity School of Medicine and Medical College of Virginia.
Awards and Honors Gold Heartt Award from American Heart Association in 1995.
Question hello, im 17yo and decently active. i play football, but just recently moved so i havent done much in a couple months... about a week ago i woke up 4 or 5 hours after i feel asleep with a heart beat probley between 180 and 200... it scared me, but it was really weird because i was not sweating, no pain anywere, and my heart was not beating hard, i could only feel it in my pule. i was not breathing hard at all, i could even hold my breath. it went away after about 30-60 seconds, and i feel asleep 20minutes later. since then, i have been waking up everynight at like 8:40am, witch is very unusawal because i usally go to bed at 3am and wake up in the afternoon.
i dont really know if my heart is beating fast when i wake up because, i just dont really remeber, i always fall back to sleep..
also, since then, when i start to go to sleep i get a twitch on my left side of my face by my nose. its weird because iv never really had that befor, but it keeps happaning...
i was worried that i might have had a stroke or somthing. my mom said not to worry about it, but i am...
i dont really have any medical problems, execpt that i just got over mono like 2months ago...
do you think its anything?
thanks;)
Answer Dear Garrett,
If the fast heart beat starts and stops abruptly, in one heart beat, it's probably supraventricular tachycardia, an abnormal rhythm that is no threat to life or health but needs attention. If financially feasible, see a doctor and ask for an event monitor, which will record your EKG when it senses rapid heartbeat. SVT can cause twitching. You haven't had a stroke
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