At night, some people experience a sensation of an arrhythmic, rapid or heavy heartbeat before falling asleep. This pathology speaks of some problems in neurology or the cardiovascular system. The complaint "when I go to bed, my heart beats badly" is common at a reception with cardiologists. Although the cause of this pathology most often lies in neurology or psychosomatics.
Heart rate and signs of increased heart rate
Most patients determine the increased heart rate by the following criteria:
- the heart beats loudly and as if striving to jump out of the chest;
- the noise and response of a heartbeat in the temples and nape;
- darkening in the eyes, sensation of proximity loss of consciousness;
- twitching with the little finger on the left hand;
- a painful sensation in the area of the location of the heart.
With a normal pulse value, such sensations never occur. Such a pathology signals chronic diseases of the cardiovascular system, which are most often psychosomatic in nature (i.e., associated with anxiety, excitement, fright).
For what reasons does a rapid heartbeat develop?
Factors that contribute to the appearance of arrhythmias and tachycardia:
- physical activity (jogging, anaerobic exercises, climbing stairs);
- taking certain drugs that provoke a heartbeat;
- jumps in blood pressure for one reason or another;
- mental problems, neuroticism, fear, anxiety, excitement;
- increased consumption of caffeine (it is found not only in coffee drinks, but also in Coca-Cola, phantom);
- conditions and diseases in which the diaphragm rises.
These are all standard causes of heartbeat. Before going to bed, they may differ in specificity. Not all patients with diseases of the cardiovascular system may experience problems at certain times of the day - this condition says a lot.
When I go to bed - a strong heartbeat: causes
Most often, such a pathology is psychosomatic in nature. The occurrence of tachycardia and arrhythmias at night or in the evening more than once a month should alert the patient and prompt a consultation with a cardiologist, who, in turn, will most likely send him to a neurologist for examination.
Complaints in the spirit of "when I go to bed, my heart beats badly" most often have the following diseases and conditions as their cause:
- hypochondria;
- violations of the functions of the vestibular apparatus;
- vegetative-vascular dystonia ;
- jumps in blood pressure;
- hot flashes and menopause in women after forty.
True tachycardia and arrhythmia develops arbitrarily, at any time of the day. If the patient complains that the heart beats strongly before going to bed (or at any other stable time of day), then you need to look for the roots of the problem in psychosomatics.
Methods to normalize heartbeat without medication
Increasing arrhythmia scares many patients (especially the elderly). They begin to experience panic, gasp for breath, gasp for breath, make unnecessary gestures. This behavior contributes to an even greater increase in the number of heart contractions per minute.
There is a set of simple tips and rules approved by official medicine (some of them are borrowed from Hatha Yoga) to normalize heart rate:
- try to take a comfortable posture so that there are no creases on the body, and the spine is straight and relaxed;
- monitor breathing: take deep breaths and exhalations, trying to reduce the diaphragm;
- concentrate on the point in the bridge of the nose and hold the right nostril with your thumb, take a slow deep breath in and out. Then hold the left nostril with your index finger and take a few more deep breaths through the right.
- in some cases, relief comes from rinsing the throat with cool water or applying a damp cold towel to the chest and neck;
- you should drink a glass of cool water, take a tablet of a sedative drug (in no case should you take alcohol tinctures such as Corvalol or Valoserdin) or a heart remedy.
If after all these manipulations a strong heartbeat during falling asleep does not abate, it is necessary to call an ambulance team. In some cases, tachycardia can provoke many complications in which a fatal outcome is possible.
Taking sedatives and sedatives
Since heart palpitations before bedtime are most often provoked by psychosomatic causes, experts often prescribe tranquilizers and sedatives as auxiliary or main therapy:
- "Atarax" refers to a new generation of tranquilizers. Promotes fast falling asleep, sound sleep. Reduces anxiety, excitement, hyperactivity.
- "Adaptol" is ideal for patients whose problems with a heartbeat are provoked by a difficult life situation and constant excitement. This is an excellent sedative, the effect of which begins already on the third or fourth day of administration. The patient ceases to worry about trifles quickly falls asleep.
- "Fitosedan" is a completely natural remedy based on herbal ingredients. It has a sedative, sedative and hypnotic effect. virtually no side effects. In rare cases, it can cause allergic reactions.
Why can not take "Corvalol"?
A common mistake of many patients is to take, if falling asleep , the heart beats, a few drops of Corvalol alcohol tincture. Doctors are extremely negative about such a way to overcome the heartbeat.
Firstly, Corvalol contains the strongest tranquilizer of the old generation phenobarbital, which causes drug dependence. The old woman’s habit of treating arrhythmia with Corvalol is not only useless, but also harmful.
Secondly, taking even small doses of ethanol has a depressing effect on the central nervous system. This not only does not reduce the pulse rate, but in some cases can trigger a microstroke.
Thirdly, Corvalol is a morally obsolete remedy that should not be taken by any of the patients.
Taking antiarrhythmic drugs
These drugs are primarily aimed at bringing the heart rate back to normal. If a patient comes to a cardiologist with a complaint “when I go to bed, my heart beats badly”, then with a high degree of probability he will be prescribed a prescription for taking antiarrhythmic drugs.
The following drugs stop an arrhythmia attack :
- potassium channel blockers (amiodarone);
- sodium channel blockers (procainamide);
- propaphenol (antiarrhythmic class IC);
- and calcium channel blockers (verapamil).
These drugs have many side effects, some of which can lead to the development of toxic hepatitis. Therefore, the dosage should be increased gradually, starting with the minimum. The total duration of the course of treatment should be prescribed by a cardiologist based on the patient’s individual medical history.
Preventative methods
If you are concerned about a strong heartbeat before bedtime, you should consult a doctor and start taking medications.
But what if the patient does not feel much discomfort and feels very mild arrhythmia in the evening? Here are simple but effective ways to avoid it:
- evening walk in a quiet place (park, forest belt, field, botanical garden), during which you need to wander in silence and breathe fresh air;
- refuse coffee and black tea;
- perform simple breathing exercises alternately with the right and left nostrils (it was described just above);
- do not do any physical exercises five to six hours before bedtime, in no case run or jump, do not even walk at a fast pace - all this provokes a violation of the heart rhythm;
- exclude from your circle of people communication, communication with which causes anxiety, excitement and other problems of a neurotic nature;
- try not to take fatty meat food four hours before bedtime: dinner should be as light as possible, so that the gastrointestinal tract rests at night.
Which doctor should I go to and which examinations to go through?
The complaint "when I go to bed, my heart beats badly" should be addressed directly to a cardiologist. This is a doctor who specializes in diseases of the cardiovascular system.
If the patient complains of an increased heartbeat, the doctor will first establish the reasons - whether it has a physiological or pathological origin. For this purpose, laboratory and instrumental studies can be prescribed, including ECG, echocardiography (ultrasound of the heart), radiography of the heart. If a cardiologist diagnoses pathological changes in the heart, appropriate treatment will be prescribed. If pathologies are not detected, and in the evenings arrhythmia will continue to haunt the patient, you should consult a neurologist.
Neurologist or neuropathologist will prescribe sedatives, sedatives. In the absence of pathologies of the cardiovascular system, the cause most often lies precisely in nervous disorders. A course of correctly selected tranquilizers in the required dosage will help completely remove the manifestations of anxiety, which most often take the form of insomnia, tachycardia and arrhythmias.