Thread: Random heart palpitations?

Okay, so I am a 15 year old male. I am 5 9" and 142 pounds. So, I am skinny. I run cross country and track, so you could say I am pretty active.

Over the past year or 2 I've been getting Heart Palpitations at least 1-2 times a month. It happens out of no where, like I will just be sitting on my computer and will randomly get one.

They normally go away with 5-20 minutes. I never experienced really any other symptoms likes shortness of breath, or passing out. etc. The worse one that I had was light headiness. It wasn't that bad and it was probably because I got my heart palpitation during running and it lasted about 30 min.

But the rest are just pretty normal.

I'm not sure if I should be worried or not since I get them so often. I also don't drink much caffeine I pretty much just drink water and Gatorade when I practice.

Heart palpitations are actually fairly common and do not always indicate an underlying serious cause. Simply being dehydrated, under more stress, or exerting yourself can bring on the feeling that your heart is beating out of synch or to fast. When you get these episodes find a way to as accurately as possible take your pulse. If your pulse rate is beyond 100 when you're at rest, you've got tachycardia. Tachycardia in and of itself isn't totally dangerous, and in fact, many people who have it simply don't know they have it. Being that you're an athlete, it would make sense that, if tachycardia (rapid heart rate) is the cause of your palpitations, you would notice it.

If your heart rate is elevated during the episode, it will give your doctor a starting point. We have little bundles in our hearts that send out the nerve impulse to beat and contract. There should only be one focal point, but some people have two or more. Doctors can go in with a laser and fry the ones you don't need so that you don't get mixed signals. However, if your heart rate is regular, but fast, they might just leave things alone for now. Being light headed is the issue. It would be worth seeing a cardiologist to make sure you don't have some sort of a valve leak other more serious condition, especially since you run.