At GuideTreatments.com we believe that symptomatic treatments should be reserved only for short term. It is vitally important to diagnose the underlying condition with robust assessment and investigations.
Common conditions to consider:
Condition |
Common clinical features associated with palpitations |
| Hypertension | To be ruled out in all patients with palpitations. Patient may not present with any other symptom |
| Anaemia | Dizziness, fatigue, palor, chronic blood loss and laboratory evidence of low heamoglobin |
| Hypoglycaemia | Prolonged fasting, overactivity, sudden changes or non-compliance to anti-diabetic medications |
| Angina | Central chest pain but no ECG changes |
| Myocardial infarction | Chest pain with radiation to left arm and ECG changes |
| Hyperthyroidism | Palpitations, excessive sweating, heat intolerance, fatigue, loss of weight |
| Peripheral arterial disease | History of claudication, cold extremities, non-healing ulcers, evidence of poor circulation |
| Hyperkalaemia | General weakness, arrythmia or irregular heartbeats, chest pain and/or evidence of deranged renal function |
| Abnormal uterine bleeding | Chronic increase in frequency of menstrual cycle (less than 21 days) leading to anaemia and hypotension |
| Asthma | Chest tightness, wheeze on auscultation and abnormal pulmonary function tests with reversibility |
| COPD | Chronic daily cough, productive cough and abnormal pulmonary function test without reversibility |
| Addison’s disease | Weight loss, changes in skin colour, fainting and associated laboratory evidence |
| Lyme disease | Fever, circular skin rash (erythema migrans), arthralgia, fatigue, joint pains, history of tick bites |
| Congestive cardiac failure | Pedal oedema, irregular rhythm and 2D echo evidence of reduced ejection fraction |
| Rheumatic fever | Fever, skin rash, palpitations, swollen lymph nodes, cardiac murmur and positive throat swab for haemolytic streptococci |
| Scorpion sting | Tingling and numbness with history of scorpion bite, intense pain, stinging, and evidence of toxicity in severe cases |
Note: Any generalised or significant illness can lead to palpitations and hence detailed history, examination and investigations are needed.