The second most common symptom of menopause is a rapid heartbeat or heart palpitations. As with hot flashes, these often indicate the onset of menopause. The rapid heartbeat will normally be accompanied by a hot flash and is usually nothing to be worried about. In fact, worrying about it will probably just trigger further episodes. However, it is essential to consult your doctor to rule out any underlying conditions that maybe be causing rapid heartbeats. Once your doctor has confirmed that rapid heartbeats are just a symptom of menopause, there are many measures you can take to manage and control heart palpitations.
When visiting your doctor be sure to give him or her as much information as possible. List all the symptoms you can, even minor ones. If you suspect that you may be starting menopause tell your doctor. By nature, doctors tend to look for the more serious problems first, so unfortunately not all doctors will recognize the symptoms immediately and may send you for lots of unnecessary tests. There have been several high-profile incidents of people being misdiagnosed or sent for second and third opinions only to find it was just menopause-related heart palpitations.
Key Points
- A common symptom of menopause, heart palpitations are often accompanied by hot flashes.
- It's important to consult with your doctor to rule out any underlying conditions that may be causing rapid heartbeats.
- Regular exercise and relaxation techniques can manage heart palpitations.
- In severe cases, hormone replacement therapy maybe be considered.
- Adjust the room temperature, wear light clothing, and manage diet and stress levels to reduce hot flashes that can lead to heart palpitations.
What You Can Do to Cope With Mood Swings
There are a number of things that you can do to help control the rapid heartbeats. If they are accompanied by hot flashes the first thing to do is to concentrate on minimizing the hot flashes. Reduce room temperature and wear several light layers of clothing. Also, look at your diet and stress levels. If you can start to control your hot flashes you should reduce the palpitations.
Try some exercises and relaxation techniques to help control the rapid heartbeat. To help you to relax; close your eyes and breathe deeply, remind yourself that this is just a symptom of menopause and that it’s not serious. By learning some advanced relaxation techniques you will be able to get a good level of control over your heartbeat. In the most serious cases hormone replacement therapy has proved to be very effective in controlling this particular problem. HRT has problems of its own, so do your homework if hormone replacement therapy is suggested.
Menopause Information Center
The content of this article should not be considered professional medical advice. Exercise due diligence when seeking relevant health information. Always consult your healthcare provider before making any medical decisions.