This board has been very helpful, so I'm looking for an answer. Last night I had what I would call a "jolt" again in my chest.
This only happens at night when I'm relaxed and has only happened a couple of times. It is almost like the reaction when you are dreaming that you are falling and you jerk hard when you wake up. I've had echocardiogram, 3 EKG's, stress test, and my cholesterol is very good. I have had anxiety attacks, night sweats, fish flopping heart, cold sweats, and stomach issues. I'm 47 and chalk all this up to hormonal issues and peri. What in the world could this be and has anyone else had anything like it? This jolt last night really scared me. I had cold chills last night and issues with my stomach before I fell asleep.
Most of my anxiety attacks and racing heartbeats are associated with gas, belching and nausea. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!

I've had jolts in my chest at night and they're the most horrible feeling. I don't know if what I've experienced is the same as what you experience, but I put it down to either an adrenaline surge or, following finding an article recently, the cortisol surge on waking (I started a thread about it in the Insomnia forum).

In the past it's been associated with anxiety and palpitations for me (the two didn't always occur together for me, sometimes palpitations would occur independently of anxiety) and also accompanied by digestive problems as you describe, although I didn't know whether the anxiety and palpitations were affecting digestion or whether digestion or food sensitivity was triggering anxiety and palpitations at a hormonally sensitive time. Overall I think it's all caused by hormones as I never experienced it prior to peri!

All of my symptoms have cleared up now except hot flashes from time to time, but I also still get this jolt in the chest quite frequently as well. Now it's always shortly after waking. When my symptoms were bad however, I think it was the cause of me waking up but I sleep more or less normally now, but still have this odd feeling after waking. That's why I think it's the cortisol surge on waking that we all apparently experience to get us active for the day, but in exaggerated form.

Here's the link to my thread about the cortisol boost:

http://www.power-surge.com/php/forums/inde...showtopic=15094

I had some time to log on to the internet and have maybe found an answer! The vagus nerve is responsible for alot of weird happenings with the digestive system and heart palps, etc. I found a forum and a poster had exactly what they called jolts in the chest and upper abdomen area. I can relate to alot of their symptoms listed. I just was so stressed thinking it was my heart, even though the E.R. Doc and my Doc both told me I couldn't have a heart attack even if I wanted to.

Does anyone have a good solution to the internal shakes? They are driving me nuts. Please give me what works for you. I really would like something natural, but quick.
Thanks,
Mary520
p.s. I don't know how to get back to this site. I am fairly new here and am not findin this user friendly.
my email is ***
Thank you so much



*** Edited by moderator to remove the e.mail address. It is not a wise idea to post this information publicly.

Hi Mary, you shouldn't leave your email address on any of these threads because anyone can access it-including some that might NOT want to send you friendly support. You could end up with WAY too much spam. Power Surge members can send you private messages right to your P/S inbox without an email address.
Just a friendly word of advice!
Hugs, Kleeo

Yes I was reading about the vagus nerve a while ago as a possible cause of palpitations. I think there's a thread about it on this forum. Glad to hear that you checked out OK healthwise.

What a wonderful bunch of people . ( No..I don't drink, so am sober ! ). Fantastic, advice.. I get a racing heartbeat during a panic attack, but those horrible palpitations have gone. ( I'm 56). They lasted..ooh, about two years. Gone. Haven't had one, for about three years. Had a heart check at the time - no problems. They were awful, at the time. I reckon that yours will go too but that's probably no consolation at the moment !

I have those "jolts" sometimes when I lay on my side. They go away when I change positions. They feel like really big PVC's to me.

I've been having some palps lately. They came on when my hot flashes came back about a week ago. I seem to have bad spells every three months or so. I take a beta blocker so they aren't nearly as bad as they used to be.

I'll be really happy if they ever go away!

Laura

I know exactly what the "jolt" is. I think it is what you get after having a heart palp and then it's like your heart is getting back into rhythm again...Somebody made a good analogy on another thread...it's kinda like you are trying to start your car, it stalls, and then all of a sudden it kicks in. The big JOLT is your heart getting back into gear and properly beating in a rhytmic way. I know how you feel. They are VERY HARD jolts.

YOU. ARE. FINE.

You hit the nail on the head!! It is like a stalled car kicking in!! Thanks to everyone for their support

I also get these jolts I'm so sick of the weird things we go through. One minute it seems everything is fine and the next the old heart takes a jolt or a flutter. I'm on beta blockers and anxiety meds and I still have them
Glen

I also get these jolts I'm so sick of the weird things we go through. One minute it seems everything is fine and the next the old heart takes a jolt or a flutter. I'm on beta blockers and anxiety meds and I still have them
Glen

I have something like this right before I have a hot flash. And the more intense the jolt, the hotter the flash. So maybe it's adrenaline or some other hormone.

YES YOU ARE NOT ALONE......IT KINDA FELT LIKE MY HEART MUST HAVE STOPPED AND STARTED UP AGAIN......THANK GOD.........ITS FUNNY YOU SHOULD MENTION STOMACH ISSUES BECAUSE I HAVE ACID REFLUX.......THAT CAN CAUSE MANY MANY SYMTOMS.........I FIND IF I GO TO BED WITH INDIGESTION I HAVE A TERRIBLE TIME "ALLOWING MYSELF TO FALL ALSLEEP".......ITS LIKE I FEEL LIKE IF I DO I WONT WAKE UP OR SOMETHING.........AND I GASP JUST BEFORE I FALL ALSEEP PULLING MYSELF OUT OF IT..........MAYBE YOU COULD TRY SLEEPING NOT SO FLAT? WITH 2 PILLOWS? OR RAISE THE HEAD OF YOUR BED UP BY SIX INCHES..........I TAKE PRILOSEC........TWICE A DAY..........HAVING AN ISSUE WITH MUCUS IN THE MORNING CAUSING MORE ANXIETY TRYING TO COUGH..........HAD A CHEST XRAY DONE JUST TODAY......DONT KNOW THE RESULTS YET.........HAVE HAD MANY ANXIETY ATTACKS THAT COULD MAKE YOU FALL TO YOUR KNEES AND PRAY...........YES THE GAS ALSO...................THIS BELCHING AND GAS COULD VERY WELL BE ACID RELUX.......CHECK THAT OUT..........DO YOU SMOKE? I HAVE CUT BACK TO HALF PACK A DAY IN THE PAST 3 WEEKS FROM OVER A PACKA DAY.....HARD...........
DO YOU DRINK? I HAVE A FEW WINES EVERY NIGHT TO CALM ME ...........DONT KNOW HOW GREAT THAT IS FOR THE ACID RELUX......PROBABLY NOT GOOD BUT IT HELPS TO CALM ME...........HOT BATHS HELP ME ........REMEMBER NOT TO RUN FROM THE ANXIETY OR IT GETS WORSE........TRY BREATHING WITH YOUR DIAGHRAM NOT SO SHALLOW IN THE CHEST......WHEN YOU TAKE A DEEP BREATH PUSH THE AIR INTO YOUR STOMACH AND PUSH YOUR STOMACH OUT AT THE SAME TIME......THIS HAS SAVED ME MANY TIMES FROM A FULL BLOWN ANXIETY ATTACK.......OR PANIC DISORDER WHICHEVER IT MAY BE......
BEST OF LUCK............LET ME KNOW IT YOU RECEIVE THIS INFO AS I AM NEW TO THIS AND AM FUMBLING AROUND LOOKING FOR WHERE TO GO AND ALL THAT STUFF........THANKS
TERRI

Hi here. Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this but another possibility is sleep apnea. I'm recently started on a cpap and I do recall occasions when I would wake suddenly with my h eart "jolting".

If it's sleep apnea t hen the cause of the jolt is not breathing or improper breathing.

Have your doctor prescribe a sleep study. It can be dangerous.

In my case I think the sleep apnea caused the panic feelings I had which brought me to this site to begiin with!! No regret there - love this site. Good Luck