Archives For Miscellaneous

Heart Palpitations Update 2020

Tom August  —  January 6, 2020

Hey Everyone! I hope you all are doing well. I get a number of emails and comments from many of you asking for an update on my heart palpitations, so I thought I would write a post about where I currently am in my journey to cure my heart palpitations and what’s in store for the future. I apologize for not being as responsive as I would like on comments and emails lately. My job has been crazy, but I’m determined to put more into time into this site. Blogging through my journey with heart palpitations has been a huge blessing. This is an awesome community and I love how we are all helping each other.

WHERE I AM NOW IN MY BATTLE AGAINST HEART PALPITATIONS

I can’t believe how much things have changed since I first started this blog. I feel like a whole new person. It’s been an incredible journey. I’ve gone from thousands of heart skips a day to to next to nothing for weeks if not months at a time. I used to obsess about every skipped beat, every heart palpitation, but now I rarely think about it. I would have never believed it was possible all those years I struggled with heart palpations. As I have written before (you can read more about my story HERE) it was awful. It was a nightmare that affected my family, my work, and my relationships. It consumed me. 

Finally, after nine years, I found a routine and system that works for me and my heart palpitations have pretty much went away entirely (here are some heart palpitations cures and remedies that I found helpful). I still occasionally experience some every now and again, but it’s rare. I feel like I’m the healthiest I have ever been and I’ve learned to manage stress and anxiety like I never thought I could. I still monitor my health pretty closely, and I try to do an annual physical just to make sure everything is good, but overall I feel like I am in a really great place. I hope that is encouraging to you all who are still experiencing a ton of heart palpitations tight now. I know it feels discouraging times, but if things can turn around for me, anything is possible!

WHAT’S NEXT FOR LIFE OFF BEAT

So what’s next for this blog? My hope is to do a better job detailing what has helped me over the past few years. I hear from a lot of you that are right in the midst of a difficult struggle. I would love to help you all as much as I can since I was helped by so many people on my journey (and still am). I realize that everyone’s heart palpitation journey is different and what works for me may not work for everyone else, but hopefully you can apply something of what I have learned to your own situation.  I plan on writing more articles and I may try branching out to different formats for the blog too like audio or video as well 

I would love to also build a better way to communicate and collaborate as a community. There are so many similar experiences that it would be great if it was easier to find similar stories and share tips and tricks you all have learned in your own journey. 

And I’m still trying to improve in all the key areas (sleep, exercise, stress management, life management, diet, etc) so I will likely write about that some as well. I have some fun ideas that I will try to roll out as the year goes on. 

If you would like to follow along, be sure to sign up for my email list and I will send you an email when new articles are posted (no spam, I promise).  
And if you have any ideas for the blog or topics you would like to see covered, be sure to let me know in the comments below! 

In Miscellaneous
 permalink

The Best Cures and Remedies for Heart Palpitations

Tom August  —  January 6, 2020

When I first started having heart skips I spent an embarrassing amount of time scouring the internet looking for the illusive cure for heart palpitations. If you are reading this right now I suspect you are doing, or have done, the same thing. This blog series is an effort to put an end to the hours of mindless research for cures. My hope is that it will help you quickly find what works best to manage your palpitations so you can get back to a normal life.

Natural Cures for Heart Palpitations

Photo Credit: Gerard79

So in order to consolidate things, I have tried to put together a running list of possible “cures” for heart palpitations that I have found in my research across the internet. For each palpitation remedy I have written or will write a post with more details so you can comment on whether that specific cure worked for you or not.

I’m not saying that these work for everyone (or that you should try any or all of them), I am just saying that someone, somewhere on the internet has claimed that it worked for them (I will do my best to provide links to where I found it so you can dig deeper if you would like). There are many different types of heart palpitations and many different causes, so what works for someone else may not work for you. Also, many of these cures were likely the result of multiple factors and not just one single thing. And as always, please don’t try any of these without first consulting your primary care physician and/or your cardiologist.

My goal is to try and find the BEST cures for palpitations (as determined by actual people). The only way to do that is with your help. So please be sure to let us know what has worked best for you and what hasn’t worked!

If you would like to get an email every time I discuss a new cure, be sure to sign up for the Life Off Beat mailing list – you can do that HERE. No spam, I promise (and of course you can unsubscribe at any time).

So without further ado, here is the list I have put together so far. Please let me know if I left anything off!
Continue Reading…

In Cures and Remedies, Miscellaneous, Palpitations
 permalink

How I Use Meditation to Relieve My Heart Palpitations

Tom August  —  April 30, 2015

[Note: This post is part of a larger series about the The Best Cures and Remedies for Heart Palpitations]

Meditation is (or was) a foreign concept to me. Prior to heart palpitations I never tried it. It seemed like some mystical aspiration for gurus or hippies. But after developing heart palpitations, I kept stumbling on to articles extolling the calming virtues of meditation. And then I saw an article that said Jerry Seinfeld credited much of his success to his daily meditation. Really?! Seinfeld! That sealed the deal. I had to check into this whole meditation thing. So I tried it. And of course I loved it. Apparently there are a zillion different ways to meditate (ranging from bizarre to bare minimal) but I finally found a way that works for me.

How I Use Meditation to Help Relieve My Heart Palpitations

How I Meditate with Heart Palpitations

I already wrote about the breathing exercises I do (you can see that post HERE). I occasionally combine both my meditation and my breathing exercises, but I prefer to do them separately if I have the time.

Like my breathing exercises, I always have a hard time focusing when my heart palpitations are going crazy. So I use a massager and place it on my chest if I am laying down or propped up on my back if I am sitting up (this is the massager I use). The vibrations from the massager make it harder for me to feel each heart skip. Otherwise, all I can think about are the palpitations and my “meditation” time is anything but peaceful.

How I Prepare for Meditation

I also try to find a nice, quiet, comfortable spot in the house (sometimes I go into our closet where it is nice and dark and other times I sit by a window in the warm sunlight). I typically like to lie down, but occasionally I will bring a giant comfy pillow (like this one) and sit up with my legs crossed and my back against the wall or a couch.

I love good smelling candles, so I will also light candles when possible. I really think that certain smells can be comforting and bring us back to familiar, restful places. I love Eucalyptus & Peppermint candles (especially this one) and Cinnamon Candles (this is another one I’ve used and enjoy). The Eucalyptus candle is supposedly great for stress and reminds me of my house growing up, and the cinnamon candle reminds me of the Christmas holidays and just makes me happy.

How I Meditate

Once I get situated, I put my headphones on (this may be a meditation no no, I don’t know) and I start listening to music or pre-recorded reminders that I made. I use noise canceling headphones because I have a house full of boys and it’s pretty much the only way to ensure a quiet environment (if you are interested, here is the pair of headphones that I use and love. They are awesome). Continue Reading…

In Cures and Remedies, Meditation Techniques, Miscellaneous, Palpitations, Stress, Stress Management
 permalink

Life Off Beat is Back on Track

Tom August  —  April 6, 2015

Hey Everyone! It’s been a while since I have posted an update or article, so I just wanted to let everyone know that I am finally able to get back to updating Life Off Beat!

Life Off Beat - A Site for Managing or Finding a Cure for Heart Palpitations

It has been a crazy busy year with work, but things are slowing down. I am ready to jump back in and get back writing about managing heart palpitations. This has been my best year yet with my PVCs, so I can’t wait to fill you in on all that I have learned and experienced.

This comes at a great time for me too since my wife and I are expecting our fourth child in a few weeks (yep, we now have four boys!!). So things are about to get a little more crazy around here which means my heart palpitations generally get worse. So I need to be prepared!

“You know what it’s like having four kids? Imagine you’re drowning. And someone hands you a baby.” – Jim Gaffigan, “My Dad is Fat”

So over the next few weeks and months I will be posting about all the possible cures for heart palpitations as well as how I have been managing my heart skips. I will also try to provide some in-depth reviews on some products I find helpful and other products that I think are a scam so you don’t end up buying them like I did.

I hope y’all are doing well. I know the struggle is real and incredibly frustrating, so I hope you all are finding peace and success in your journey with heart palpitations!

If you are not already signed up to receive email updates for Life Off Beat, be sure to sign up HERE.

In Miscellaneous, Palpitations
 permalink

The Different Causes of Heart Palpitations

Tom August  —  November 11, 2013

We have already covered the definition of heart palpitations in the last post, so now would be a good time to talk about the causes of our heart palpitations. Knowing what may be causing our heart palpitations goes a long way to figuring out what will help manage or cure them.

Heart Palpitation Causes

Photo Credit: Justin Visser

This is where I made a big mistake. When I first got heart palpitations, I panicked. I went to the ER where they did some basic tests and found nothing wrong. I went straight home and googled “how to cure heart palpitations.” But I had skipped a step. I was looking for a cure without knowing the cause. It was like having a broken down car and googling “how to start a car that won’t work.” There are a number of reasons a heart will palpitate. Not every situation is the same and trying each possible solution is time consuming and potentially can make matters worse. So before we go into the possible cures for heart palpitations, it’s important to understand the different causes of heart palpitations. Continue Reading…

In Miscellaneous, Palpitations
 permalink

Life Off Beat is Back in Action!

Tom August  —  November 1, 2013

It has been a little while since I last wrote a blog post. I have tried to stay active in the comment section of each post, but a major project at work has kept me busy for the last few months. But now I am ready to jump back into the rubrics cube of heart palpitations. And it couldn’t come at a better time. The same life changes that lead to my irregular heart beat back in 2009 are happening again. My wife and I just had our third child, we are in the process of moving again, and my job is changing. It’s a palpitation “perfect storm.” But this time, my goal is to prepare myself and come out of the storm a better man.

Heart Palpitations Anxiety

Photo Credit: Andreas Krappweis

So over the next few weeks and months, I will be going back through all my research and notes and blogging about what has helped me in my journey to manage/cure my heart palpitaitons as well as what has helped others with their irregular heartbeats.

Here is a quick overview of what I will be covering: Continue Reading…

In Miscellaneous, Palpitations
 permalink

Managing Heart Palpitations: An Overview

Life Off Beat  —  September 9, 2011

Start Here To Learn More About Heart Palpitations

After dealing with an irregular heartbeat for a number of years now (you can read about my story HERE), I have put together a compilation of ideas on how to manage stress, anxiety and heart palpitations.  Keep in mind that it is just a bunch of collected research and I am not a medical professional.  I am just a guy who got sick and tired of dealing with heart palpitations.

First off, there are few things you should know:

  1. I don’t think there is a magic cure all for an irregular heartbeat (or stress and anxiety for that matter).  Some certainly claim there is and I will provide those for you in detail.  But there are many different types of irregular heartbeats, and what works for some might not work for others.
  2. This is just what I have found in my research.  I have found things that work for me, and I have done countless research on what has worked for others.  But in the end each person is different.
  3. Please do not do anything described or recommended in this website without the consultation and consent of your Primary Care Physician or Cardiologist.  After all, this is your heart we are dealing with.
  4. This compilation is a work in progress.  And it is a collaboration. So please feel free to let me know what has worked for you!

So now that we got that out of the way, here is a quick overview of some steps to take to manage or cure your palpitations.  I go into more detail on each topic, but hopefully this will give you a 10,000 ft. view of where we are headed. Continue Reading…

In Miscellaneous
 permalink