Menopausal palpitations causing distress

Many menopausal women report having palpitation distress. The likelihood of women reporting palpitation distress was higher with worse insomnia, depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and menopausal quality of life (QOL) issues. These findings are presented in Journal of Women's Health.

Palpitations are described as a pounding or racing heart, skipped heart beats, flip-flops, or fluttering that occurs with or without dizziness or lightheadedness. A range of 19.6% to 33.5% of perimenopausal and menopausal women reported having palpitation distress.

"Future research could explore associations or clustering among palpitations and other menopausal symptoms and determine if palpitations predict, co-occur, or result from other symptoms, insomnia, depression, stress, and overall menopausal QOL," state Janet Carpenter, Ph.D., RN, Indiana University, and coauthors.

"With, on average, 25% of women experiencing palpitation distress, this is a symptom that healthcare providers should be aware of when evaluating peri- and postmenopausal women,"says Journal of Women's Health Editor-in-Chief Susan G. Kornstein, MD, executive director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA.