Heart Flutters

[RichC]

Are heart flutters normal in grief?

[Summersun]

Dear RichC

First of all, I am not a doctor.

So, plus given that I don´t know you, I have to wildly guess.

My best answer is: yes and no. It is known that great stress, as in divorce, shock, or death of a loved one, people can experience what is commonly called "broken heart syndrome" - symptoms so strong they can, in the worst case present as a heart attack and lead people regularly to the ER, where doctors actually can measure stuff, that is changes in all kinds of parameters, even though no "real" heart attack occurred. See link on the bottom below, and read the whole article if you like. It also says that most, though not all people to whom that happens are female.Since you post under Rich, I´d assume you are male? In that case, you can still have it, even though the symptoms are not strictly described as flutters. You have to do more intense research here. Because what you describe could also be atrial fibrillation. And that can also be made worse by stress, indirectly through higher blood pressure etc. Find Mayo clinic link attached below.

Depending on preexisting conditions, your medical and family!!! history with heart conditions, I´d probably try my best, if I was you, and go see a kardiologist at least once. Do not know if you are American and maybe have to pay for it yourself. But given I used to know someone who just dropped dead at the ripe old age of 41, and so did my grandmother, I believe, I´d better be safe than sorry.

I am sorry I cannot help any better. Grief makes every underlying condition worse for sure. It could also be, that you have had a heart condition you could "compensate", until today, so that you did not notice it, because you were just healthy enough otherwise. And now your body decides, that enough is enough. Then it would be better to know, wouldn´t it?  Before you have a stroke or something, and your relatives have one more person to grieve? Do not mean to scare you, it´s just - you asked.

All the best Rich! Please take very good care of yourself.

Summersun

See here:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/atrial-fibrillation/symptoms-causes/syc-20350624

 

Atrial fibrillation (A-fib) is an irregular and often very rapid heart rhythm (arrhythmia) that can lead to blood clots in the heart. A-fib increases the risk of stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications.

During atrial fibrillation, the heart's upper chambers (the atria) beat chaotically and irregularly — out of sync with the lower chambers (the ventricles) of the heart. For many people, A-fib may have no symptoms. However, A-fib may cause a fast, pounding heartbeat (palpitations), shortness of breath or weakness.

 

Episodes of atrial fibrillation may come and go, or they may be persistent. Although A-fib itself usually isn't life-threatening, it's a serious medical condition that requires proper treatment to prevent stroke.

Treatment for atrial fibrillation may include medications, therapy to reset the heart rhythm and catheter procedures to block faulty heart signals.

A person with atrial fibrillation may also have a related heart rhythm problem called atrial flutter. Although atrial flutter is a different arrhythmia, the treatment is quite similar to atrial fibrillation.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takotsubo_cardiomyopathy

 

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy or Takotsubo syndrome (TTS), also known as stress cardiomyopathy, is a type of non-ischemic cardiomyopathy in which there is a sudden temporary weakening of the muscular portion of the heart.^[3] It usually appears after a significant stressor, either physical or emotional; when caused by the latter, the condition is sometimes called broken heart syndrome.^[4] Examples of physical stressors that can cause TTS are sepsis, shock, and pheochromocytoma, and emotional stressors include bereavement, divorce, or the loss of a job.^[5] Reviews suggest that of patients diagnosed with the condition, about 70–80% recently experienced a major stressor, including 41–50% with a physical stressor and 26–30% with an emotional stressor.^[6][7] TTS can also appear in patients who have not experienced major stressors.

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy
Other names	Transient apical ballooning syndrome,[1] apical ballooning cardiomyopathy,[2] stress-induced cardiomyopathy, broken-heart syndrome
Schematic representation of takotsubo cardiomyopathy (A) compared to a normal heart (B)
Specialty	Cardiology

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