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Can the CA pulses be confused as heart palpitations? - Printable Version

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Can the CA pulses be confused as heart palpitations? - Rcgop - 03-29-2017

I feel my therapy is for the most part "dialed in". Sleep is "normal " (7-8 hours at night) and I am feeling great. My AHI has jumped up as sleep improved, half are CAs, and half Hs.

My problem is, when I am half asleep, I feel (or hear) what I think are palpitations. I have had an EKG, ECG, Holter monitor, and a nuclear stress test. All tests were fine. 

My question is - Am I miss interpreting the pulses used to differentiate CAs from OAs as heart palpitations? It only happens when I am half asleep and on my CPAP.


RE: Can the CA pulses be confused as heart palpitations? - Beej - 03-29-2017

I'm wondering if you're having myoclonic muscle jerks. These tend to happen as one is falling asleep. Some muscles will contract abruptly and your body may jerk.
Does that seem like what is happening?


RE: Can the CA pulses be confused as heart palpitations? - justMongo - 03-29-2017

For ResMed's that's a 1 cm-water amplitude pulse train at 4 Hertz. Too fast for a palp; and unlikely to be felt.
Since your cardio workup is good. I tend to think it's some other observed phenomenon. Such as that suggested by Beej.


RE: Can the CA pulses be confused as heart palpitations? - Sleeprider - 03-29-2017

Just stop breathing for 10 seconds and feel the FOT pulses. Pretty easy to do.


RE: Can the CA pulses be confused as heart palpitations? - Rcgop - 03-30-2017

(03-29-2017, 10:01 PM)Beej Wrote: I'm wondering if you're having myoclonic muscle jerks. These tend to happen as one is falling asleep. Some muscles will contract abruptly and your body may jerk.
Does that seem like what is happening?

Very possible. I will have to explore this further. Now that you mention it, they are always just before I get close to falling asleep. Since I cannot ignore them, I wake up completely and they stop immediately. 
It's hard to describe the feeling, could the muscle contractions be the muscles involved in breathing, throat, or airway?

Since I (for the most part) don't feel my heart beat, should I not feel a palpitation?

Since my tests are negative and my heart doctor did not schedule any follow up tests, I will try pay attention from this aspect. 

Should I start a new thread with "myoclonic muscle jerks" in the title?


RE: Can the CA pulses be confused as heart palpitations? - justMongo - 03-30-2017

(03-30-2017, 08:17 AM)Rcgop Wrote: Should I start a new thread with "myoclonic muscle jerks" in the title?

Nah. I can see a thread with that title going off course in a hurry... Big Grin


RE: Can the CA pulses be confused as heart palpitations? - Rcgop - 03-31-2017

Ok. No new thread. But, last night I paid better attention and there might be something to it. My research turned up sleep related myoclonus and palate myoclonus.  Restless leg syndrome, hiccups, and other muscle twitching all fall under this item.

Last night was a minimal night but I still noticed "pulsing ". Only when I am half asleep trying to go to sleep and not when I am just waking up. I tried to pinpoint the location and the best I could do is above my heart and below my ears. Which is the exact location of the soft tissue responsible for sleep apnea. If this is what is happening, it would explain a lot of my difficulties getting used to the CPAP.

I did not find anything related to sleep apnea directly but it was sleep related and could interfere with sleep for those worried about heart issues.

I would appreciate any comments if any knows more about the topic.


RE: Can the CA pulses be confused as heart palpitations? - PaulaO2 - 04-01-2017

(03-29-2017, 10:57 PM)Sleeprider Wrote: Just stop breathing for 10 seconds and feel the FOT pulses.  Pretty easy to do.

This.

Lay in bed with mask and machine on. Relax. Chill out. Mellow yourself until you think you are still enough to notice. Then hold your breath for at least 10 seconds.