Have you ever collapsed into bed, ready for some shut-eye, only for your heart to feel like it’s doing gymnastics? If you feel your heart racing at night and can’t sleep, you’re likely not imagining things, and you’re not alone.
Below, you’ll learn all about the weird feeling in your chest, including what causes heart palpitations to begin with, what’s totally normal vs. when to go to the hospital for rapid heart rate, and how to calm a racing heart at night so you can sleep like a baby.
What do heart palpitations feel like?
Heart racing at night and can’t sleep? You might just be super aware of your heart beating, and maybe picking up speed. Or you could be experiencing heart palpitations, which are sensations like unusual heart beating, heart flutters, skipping a beat, or the feeling that your heart is doing a “flip” in your chest. “Collectively these sensations fall under the broad diagnosis of ‘palpitations,’” says cardiologist Elizabeth Klodas, MD, founder and chief operating officer of Step One Foods.
While the feeling of your heart skipping beats might make you nervous, these sensations are all pretty common and may not be a sign that something is wrong, says Mariell Jessup, MD, FAHA, a cardiologist and chief science and medical officer at the American Heart Association. In fact, Dr. Klodas says the heart’s rhythm isn’t always perfect even in completely healthy individuals.
“For example, if we place a rhythm monitor on 100 patients and record their heart’s electrical activity for long enough, we will find that all 100 will have extra beats, early beats, and short runs of faster heartbeats,” she says. “Some people will feel every one of these perturbations, others will feel none.”
With that being said, Dr. Klodas notes that there are factors that can make these rhythm findings more frequent or more easily felt. So if your heart rate won’t go down when you’re trying to hit the hay, you may be able to stop heart pounding at night by learning what causes heart palpitations in the first place and addressing the problem.
What causes heart palpitations at night?
Heart racing at night and can’t sleep? Even if your heart is skipping beats throughout the day, you’re more likely to notice heart palpitations at night when lying down. But why is that?
Oftentimes, the reason you can feel your heart beating in your chest when lying down is because when you get into bed and settle in for the night, you’re not as distracted.
However, there are a few bedtime-specific reasons your heart might be racing above your resting heart rate at night—most of which can be addressed through simple lifestyle adjustments, says Dr. Klodas.
1. Drinking caffeine or eating too close to bedtime
Common causes of nighttime heart flutters include drinking caffeine too late in the day or having elevated blood sugar, says Dr. Jessup. Too much caffeine can cause your heart to contract with more force. Eating too close to bedtime, on the other hand, can cause your blood sugar to spike because your body is not as adept at digesting at night.
2. Smoking or drinking alcohol
Both smoking and drinking alcohol can rev up your heartbeat and lead to heart palpitations, according to UnityPoint Health, so a cigarette or cocktail close to bedtime could be the culprit behind that fluttery feeling.
3. Body position
Your body position may also play a role if you’re feeling heart palpitations at night when lying down. For some people, lying on their back may cause pressure changes in the body that make them more likely to feel palpitations, according to the British Heart Foundation. It’s also possible that sleeping on your left side could make you more aware of that fluttery feeling because of the shorter distance between your heart and the wall of your chest.
If you notice your heart pounding harder in a certain position, try rolling over to see if the sensation goes away.
4. Stress
Mental health factors like acute emotional reactions (like anger), depression, stress, and anxiety can cause heart racing when you’re trying to sleep. If you begin to think about things troubling you when you lie down in bed, you may experience heart flutters, says Dr. Jessup. Your heart can start racing from stress thanks to the activation of your sympathetic (“fight or flight”) nervous system. This may even result in things like heart palpitations with a headache or jaw pain.
To turn off this response, try breathing exercises to lower your heart rate or a micro meditation like visualization or saying a helpful mantra.
