{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Thyroid Mystery Solved: Hashimoto's and Hypothyroidism Revealed","title":"025 The Case of Erratic Heart Palpitations w/ Dr Christopher Kelly","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2038,"description":"The Case:  Erica is 37 and was experiencing fast and loud heart palpitations without provocation. These episodes became more frequent causing Erica to fear the worst. She saw several cardiologists who insisted that nothing was wrong.  A racing heart or heart palpitations are described in many ways. Some might say, ‘my heart is beating out of my chest,’ or ‘my heart skipped a beat’. It can also be described as being able to feel your heartbeat in your ears, or like it’s banging against your rib cage. You might even feel like you can’t catch your breath.  However you describe it, it’s scary. We get used to not really noticing our heartbeat - to just knowing that it’s in there, doing its job. So, when we suddenly feel it, we worry that something must be wrong. In some cases, heart palpitations can be a sign of a more serious issue so Erica was right to see her doctor and a cardiologist first.  However, when she came to me with no answers from those specialists, I knew we had to dig a little deeper to get to the root cause of these frightening and erratic heart palpitations.    The Investigation The heart is very responsive to other types of stimulation. When you see a cardiologist, they generally don’t have a lot of time to look into these other causes. Understandably, they focus on major issues or events that are life threatening and if those are not the cause, they may dismiss your concerns as ‘nothing’. But, that doesn’t stop them from happening or make you feel any better about it when it does happen.  Luckily, some cardiologists go beyond the ‘it’s not a heart attack’ diagnosis to get curious about what’s actually going on. One such cardiologist is Dr Christopher Kelly. He practices at the North Carolina Heart and Vascular (part of UNC Health) and is the co-author of the book, Am I Dying?!: A Complete Guide to Your Symptoms--and What to Do Next. I was thrilled to invite him in to discuss Erica’s case.    Could it be a Heart Condition? We know in Erica’s case...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/9ZbRr0xzgu8-YRnig2AcyeY_Nu_m2EBquTr83LV8K2g/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzQ4NTg5LzE3MTE1/NjQxMDktYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}