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 Hi David I suffer from Panic Disorder and recently my panic attacks have been bothering Im trying to deal with them but its becoming very impossible with the associated skipped beats that arise when I have these attacks I am currently taking 40 mgs of citalopram which is an ssri Im 73kgs Im about close to 1.76m tall I weight train 4 times a week my resting heart rate is between 58 to 64 Ive had my heart checked twice in 3 years that being an ecg,echo and stress now my question is when I get a panic attack and my heart is racing like at abt 150 beats a minute and Im getting skipped beats inbetween is this dangerous they forceful and it makes me panic more?
Answer Dear Yassar,
No, neither the rate of 150 nor the skipped beats are at all dangerous. Skipped beats are normal heart activity, no threat to life or health in someone with normal EKG and echo. 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. Anxiety and panic make them more frequent.
