Palpitations are a noticeable change in heartbeat, such as feeling fast, strong, fluttering or irregular. Earlier reassuring tests do not make a new, severe or changing symptom safe to self-manage. A Traditional Chinese Medicine pattern does not establish a cardiac cause or rule out one.
Call 000 for palpitations with chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness or fainting.
Tension and disrupted rest may differ from low energy, slow recovery and digestive change. Neither explains a heart rhythm.
After medical advice, acupuncture or individualised Chinese herbal care may be considered for daily comfort and function.
Medical assessment comes first
See a doctor for palpitations. Seek urgent review for frequent episodes, episodes lasting more than a few minutes or a family history of heart-rhythm problems. Call 000 immediately for palpitations with chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, light-headedness, fainting or blackouts. Do not change prescribed medicines, supplements or stimulant use without medical advice.
Traditional Chinese Medicine pattern directions
After appropriate medical assessment, one current pattern direction may include tension, lighter sleep, sweating or thirst change. Another may include low energy, slower recovery, appetite or digestion change, bowel or urine changes and a heavy or slow feeling. Dampness means a subjective heavy, slow, boggy or hard-to-move feeling, not excess body fluid, infection or proof of a cause.
A Traditional Chinese Medicine pattern assessment considers the relevant present mix of energy and recovery, temperature response, sweating, thirst and drink preference, appetite and digestion, bowel and urine habit, sleep, heaviness, tension and sensation; where relevant it considers menstrual or reproductive history. This is a traditional symptom-pattern framework, not a biomedical diagnosis, infection identification, proof of a cause, disease explanation or relapse test. A remote exchange or self-report alone is not enough to prescribe.
How acupuncture may fit
After urgent and medical issues have been addressed, acupuncture may be selected within the current pattern to support tension, sleep quality or a sense of physical steadiness. It does not diagnose or treat a heart condition.
How individualised Chinese herbal care may fit
Individualised Chinese herbal care may be considered for sleep, digestion or energy-related daily function only after a full review of diagnoses, prescriptions, supplements, pregnancy plans, breastfeeding and allergies. It is not used to rule out a cardiac cause.
Next step
Record when symptoms happen, how long they last, associated symptoms and relevant changes in sleep, illness, food, drink or medicines, then take this to your GP. A practitioner uses a Traditional Chinese Medicine pattern assessment to decide whether acupuncture, individualised Chinese herbal care, or both may suit the person.