During the night, some people experience a feeling of irregular, 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 strongly" is common at the appointment with cardiologists. Although the cause of this pathology most often lies in neurology or psychosomatics.
Pulse rate and signs of its increase
Most patients identify an increase in heart rate as follows:
- heart beats loudly and seems to be trying to jump out of the chest;
- noise and response of the beating of the heart in the temples and the back of the head;
- blackout in the eyes, feeling close to loss of consciousness;
- twitching the little finger on the left hand;
- a pinching sensation in the region of the heart.
With a normal value of the pulse of similarfeelings never arise. Such a pathology signals chronic diseases of the cardiovascular system, which are most often psychosomatic in nature (i.e., associated with anxiety, excitement, fear).
What causes palpitations?
Factors that contribute to the appearance of arrhythmia and tachycardia:
- physical activity (jogging, anaerobic exercise, climbing stairs);
- taking certain medications that cause palpitations;
- 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, Fanta);
- conditions and diseases in which the diaphragm rises up.
These are all common causes of palpitations. 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: reasons
Most often this pathology is psychosomatic in nature. The appearance of tachycardia and arrhythmia at night or in the evening more than once a month should alert the patient and encourage him to consult a cardiologist, who, in turn, will most likely send him for examination to a neuropathologist.
Complaints like "whenI go to bed, my heart beats strongly" most often the following diseases and conditions have their cause:
- hypochondria;
- violations of the functions of the vestibular apparatus;
- vegetative-vascular dystonia;
- blood pressure jumps;
- 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 is beating strongly before bedtime (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 air, suffocate, make unnecessary body movements. This behavior contributes to an even greater increase in the number of heartbeats 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 the heart rate:
- try to take a comfortable position so that there are no creases on the body, and the spine is straight and relaxed;
- watch your breath: take deep breaths and exhale, trying to reduce the diaphragm;
- concentrate on the point at the bridge of your nose and pinch your right nostril with your thumb, take a slow deep breath in and out. Then close the left nostril with your index finger and take a few more deep breaths and exhalations throughright.
- in some cases, gargling with cool water or applying a damp cold towel to the chest and neck area can provide relief;
- you should drink a glass of cool water, take a sedative pill (in no case should you take alcohol tinctures like Corvalol or Valoserdina) or a heart remedy.
If, after all these manipulations, a strong heartbeat does not subside when falling asleep, you need to call an ambulance. In some cases, tachycardia can provoke many complications in which a fatal outcome is possible.
Taking sedatives and sedatives
Since palpitations at bedtime are most often provoked by psychosomatic causes, specialists often prescribe tranquilizers and sedatives as an auxiliary or main therapy:
- "Atarax" belongs to the group of tranquilizers of the new generation. Promotes fast falling asleep, sound sleep. Reduces anxiety, excitement, hyperactivity.
- "Adaptol" is ideal for patients whose heart problems 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 admission. The patient stops worrying over trifles and quickly falls asleep.
- "Fitosedan" is a completely natural remedy based on herbal ingredients. Has a sedativesedative and hypnotic effect. has virtually no side effects. In rare cases, may cause allergic reactions.
Why can't I take Corvalol?
A common mistake of many patients is to take, if the heart beats strongly when falling asleep, a few drops of Corvalol alcohol tincture. Doctors are extremely negative about this way to overcome the heartbeat.
Firstly, Corvalol contains the strongest tranquilizer of the old generation, phenobarbital, which causes drug addiction. The habit of old women to treat 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 heart rate, but in some cases can provoke a microstroke.
Thirdly, Corvalol is an obsolete drug 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 strongly", then with a high degree of probability he will be issued 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 from the minimum. The total duration of the course of treatment should be determined by the cardiologist based on the patient's individual medical history.
Preventive methods
If you are worried about a strong heartbeat before going to bed, you should consult a doctor and start taking medication.
And what if the patient does not experience much discomfort and feels a very slight arrhythmia in the evening? Here are simple yet effective ways to avoid it:
- an evening walk in a quiet, peaceful place (park, forest belt, field, botanical garden), during which you need to wander in silence and breathe fresh air;
- give up coffee and black tea;
- perform simple breathing exercises alternately with the right and left nostrils (it was described a little higher);
- do not do any physical exercise five to six hours before bedtime, in no case do not run or jump, do not even walk briskly - all this provokes a heart rhythm disorder;
- exclude from your social circle people whose communication causes anxiety, excitement and other neurotic problems;
- try not to take fatty meat food four hours before bedtime: dinner should be as light as possible so that at night the stomachintestinal tract rested.
Which doctor should I contact and what examinations should I undergo?
With the complaint "when I go to bed, my heart beats strongly" you need to contact a cardiologist directly. This is a doctor who specializes in diseases of the cardiovascular system.
When a patient complains of an increased heartbeat, the doctor will first of all establish the causes - 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), and radiography of the heart. If the cardiologist diagnoses pathological changes in the heart, appropriate treatment will be prescribed. If no pathologies are found, and arrhythmia continues to haunt the patient in the evenings, you should contact a neurologist.
A neurologist or a neuropathologist will prescribe sedatives, sedatives. In the absence of pathologies of the cardiovascular system, most often the cause lies precisely in nervous disorders. A course of well-chosen tranquilizers in the required dosage will help to completely remove the manifestations of anxiety, which most often take the form of insomnia, tachycardia and arrhythmia.
