“What can cause an irregular heartbeat?”

Most of the time and irregular heartbeat is caused by premature beat coming from either the top (atrium or APC) or less frequently the bottom chambers parentheses ventricles (vPC) of the heart. When you have a premature beat there is typically a slight pause before your normal pacemaker picks over and beat again. This may cause a palpitation with the beat that is felt being not the premature beat but the beat after the premature beat. Occasionally and irregular heartbeat could be caused by a more sustained heart rhythm problem. At age 32 that is much less likely. In general, these premature beats are very benign. Sometimes they can be made worse if you are not getting enough sleep or are consuming too much caffeine. I would recommend, getting plenty of sleep and using caffeine in moderation.

Most people's heart never beat completely regularly. Almost everyone has additional beats called ectopics, which are quite benign, and the more you worry about them, the more you get, but they do no harm at all and rarely are related to any heart problem. Sometimes the heart can develop atrial fibrillation, which can only be detected by an ECG. This does require some heart tests, and often drugs, including anticoagulants, are needed. But most irregular heart beats are quite benign.  

Regards,

Gerald Lewis, MD