Heart stumbling gets worse when lying down
If a cardiac stumbling becomes worse while lying down, it is usually not because the cardiac arrhythmia itself is getting worse or worse, but because the body becomes calmer and the person affected becomes more alert to his/her own body. The fact that the body rests more when lying down, stress generally flattens out a little, blood pressure drops and the heartbeat slows down means that the heart rhythm disturbances are usually better and the heart stumbles less. Nevertheless, the point of lying down is that “distracting” disturbing factors of the environment are often eliminated and the affected persons automatically concentrate more on themselves.
It is not only the ambient noise and all perceptions in everyday life that distract from one’s own body perception, but also the body’s own movements that dampen the perception of the heart stumbling to a certain extent when standing or walking.If the body comes to rest while lying down, no movements take place, the visual, tactile or auditory stimuli become less and the concentration returns to the own body. Thus, it is often the case that the heart stumbling is perceived as louder or worse, although it has not changed or even slightly improved compared to the rest of the day. It is even possible that the heart stumbling may also become worse because the increased perception leads to a feeling of anxiety, which puts the body in a stressful situation and causes the heart to beat faster, which in turn may cause the heart stumbling to occur more frequently.
Heart stumbling while lying down during pregnancy
The body undergoes many changes during pregnancy. Especially hormonal changes can cause cardiac arrhythmia. For this reason, cardiac arrhythmias in women often only occur in life when the body is exposed to strong hormonal fluctuations.
This is the case during pregnancy, but also during the menopause. In addition, the heartbeat becomes physiologically faster during pregnancy, which is quite normal. Finally, not only the mother’s body, but also that of the foetus must be supplied with oxygen and nutrients.
A faster heartbeat promotes arrhythmias. All factors taken together make arrhythmias in pregnancy not a rarity and are not dangerous if they do not occur too frequently. This is because most extrasystoles have no hemodynamic (circulatory) effects.
They are usually only temporary and calm down again as soon as the additional risk factors have disappeared. The dangerous tachyarrhythmias (rhythm disturbance with a heartbeat that is too fast) such as atrial fibrillation or reentry tachycardia are less frequent. In case of doubt, however, and especially if they occur more frequently, they should be looked for.
