Track your palpitations

The sensation of a skipping, fluttering, or racing heart can be startling. While often benign and stress-related, tracking palpitations is vital for cardiovascular peace of mind.

Why track this symptom?

  • Identify 'heart-sink' moments related to caffeine, alcohol, or stress.
  • Track the duration and time of day these sensations occur.
  • Provide your cardiologist with a detailed frequency log.

How Trace Health helps

Trace Health provides a calm, private way to log heart-related symptoms. By recording your palpitations, you move from anxiety to awareness, building a clear record of your cardiovascular health.

Common causes

Stress, anxiety, and panic attacks are the most common triggers for palpitations in healthy individuals, causing the heart to race or skip beats during emotional responses. Caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and certain medications (including decongestants and stimulants) frequently cause heart rhythm disturbances. Hormonal changes during menstruation, pregnancy, or thyroid disorders can trigger palpitation episodes. In some cases, structural heart problems, electrolyte imbalances from dehydration, or conditions like atrial fibrillation cause more concerning rhythm abnormalities.

When to see a doctor

Call emergency services immediately if palpitations occur with chest pain, severe shortness of breath, fainting, or dizziness that makes you unable to stand safely. Seek urgent care if palpitations last more than 30 minutes continuously or are accompanied by sweating and nausea.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I log when I feel palpitations?

Record the time, duration, what you were doing when they started, heart rate if possible, caffeine or alcohol intake, stress level, sleep quality, and any associated symptoms like dizziness or chest pain. Note if they stop suddenly or fade gradually.

Why is tracking palpitations important?

Most palpitations are harmless, but tracking helps your doctor determine if further investigation is needed. Frequency, duration, and associated symptoms help distinguish between benign palpitations and arrhythmias that may need treatment.

When should I see a doctor about palpitations?

Seek immediate medical attention if palpitations come with chest pain, fainting, severe dizziness, or shortness of breath. See your doctor if they occur frequently, last more than a few minutes, or are increasing in frequency. Your log provides critical data for diagnosis.

Should I try to take my pulse during palpitation episodes for tracking?

If you can do so calmly, taking your pulse provides valuable information, but don't stress if you can't get an accurate count during episodes. Use your smartphone's health app or a simple pulse-taking technique at your wrist or neck. Focus more on describing the sensation (racing, skipping, fluttering) and duration rather than exact heart rate numbers, as anxiety about measuring can worsen palpitations.

How can my palpitation tracking help distinguish between anxiety and heart problems?

Track what you were doing when palpitations started - anxiety-related episodes often occur during stress or worry, while heart-related causes may happen during physical activity or at rest. Note whether palpitations stop when you calm down or continue regardless of your emotional state. Consistently tracking triggers, duration, and associated symptoms helps your doctor determine if further cardiac testing is needed or if anxiety management should be the focus.

Your health data stays on your iPhone.

No account. Private. No personal information is ever requested. Your health data stays on your iPhone by default. A backup option to your private iCloud is available. Trace Health never collects or sells your health data.

What people say

Rated 4.8 out of 5 from 62+ ratings on the App Store.

  • “About a month ago, I did a scan of the App Store to see if there was any new apps for symptom tracking and I found Trace Health. It had what I was looking for, but missing some minor features. I decided to give it a shot and I was really pleased with it, it worked in the way I wanted it. And the biggest plus was a super dedicated developer that keeps adding features that I was wondering about at a super fast pace. I can’t recommend Trace Health high enough!!!” (redferret2001, United States)
  • “This is what I was looking for in a symptom tracking app. I like the ability to adjust severity and check in when a symptom has resolved itself.” (Missyfro, United States)

Read the complete guide: How to Track Palpitations: A Complete Guide →