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I am moderately active, normal blood pressure, fairly average weight and build. I've noticed that when I'm running in cold weather, about 5-10 minutes into my run I start to get what feel like heart palpitations, a somewhat uncomfortable but not painful fluttery feeling in my chest. I don't get dizzy or anything, and am able to run normally, but I usually stop for a few minutes so I can make sure everything is ok.

I have had similar experiences when I used to work in a chilly building (65-68F) all day then walk out in the summer air (>95F). For the first few minutes I'd get the feeling my heart wasn't beating fast enough, and it had the same fluttery feeling, but once I take a few breaths and give it a few minutes, things seem to normalize.

Why would this be happening? Do I have bradycardia? Could this be dangerous?

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We can't diagnose you. The only thing we could do is list a bunch of possible reasons, but that wouldn't be an on-topic question. – Kate Jan 8 at 3:28
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Please speak to a physician about this. – Eric Gunnerson Jan 8 at 4:41
There are known conditions where cold items in the throat (Such as swallowing ice) can cause a nerve response that disrupts/stops heart function. Please see your doctor, as death is a rather final consequence. – JohnP Jan 8 at 14:57
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Not adding this as an answer since I'm not a physician, but your description fits that of premature ventricular contractions pretty well. While it's a normal thing to happen in adults, only a cardiologist can properly identify it and make sure there isn't anything bad causing it, so that's who you should ask to. – Agos Jan 8 at 15:38
Feel your pulse when you feel the "flutter". Does your pulse have a regular, or irregular rhythm? – Chris Jan 9 at 12:53

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1 Answer

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Palpitations can be a result of many things going on with your heart. Atrial Fibrillation, 1st 2nd or 3rd degree heart blocks, and a few others come to mind. The important thing to note is any time you heart starts doing something abnormal, even if you aren't sure if it is a normal response, CALL YOUR DOCTOR. Most exercise induced palpitations can be worked with if treated and monitored by a physician. If left un-diagnosed and untreated they can be fatal. When you call your doctor ask if having an exercise stress test with an EKG hooked up to you. (In all honesty they will suggest you do this anyway).

See your doctor sooner than later though. Good luck.

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Don't forget that many palpitations are completely normal. – Chris Jan 9 at 12:54
Anything irregular is abnormal. Palpitations, while abnormal, can be completely benign (harmless). – Grohlier Jan 9 at 13:55
Depends on how you define irregular. I was using "normal" in the sense of the number of people who have them, and their tendency to be benign. I think you may have interpreted the term "abnormal" to mean a disturbance in the regular rhythm of the heart rate, as opposed to being uncommon among humans. – Chris Jan 9 at 23:52
You stated that, "...palpitations are completely normal." You are correct though, I did interpret that as meaning that you thought palpitations were normal. If you would have said "common" in place of "normal" I would have definitely agreed with your statement. I just didn't want someone browsing this topic to get confused. Thanks for clarifying the miss communication. – Grohlier Jan 9 at 23:57
I wanted readers to know that heart palpitations were common and benign and expected in healthy individuals. This is usually the medical definition of normal. An increase in heart rate during exercise is common and benign and expected. I call this increase a normal increase. Similarly, heart palpitations, while irregular, are definitely normal in life. – Chris Jan 10 at 0:31
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