Af

 I also suffered from these and it is called paroxysmal AFib.  My episodes lasted anything from a couple of minutes to a few hours and then I would go back into sinus. I used to feel very ill, breathless and scared and I got these almost daily in the end.  I was greatly improved when put on Flecainide which regulates the heartbeat and shortens the frequency of episodes and was on a twice daily dose of this before my first ablation.

There are many courses of treatment to control this kind of AFib and firstly it would be trying various medications, followed by possibly ablation (s) and in my own case a pacemaker and AV node ablation which has cured my symptoms almost completely.  Not many arrive at my outcome however, for instance my husband also has now permanent AFib and he experiences no symptoms at all from it.  Both of us take blood thinners and I presume you are on these as a matter of course. Go back to the GP and ask for further treatment.

I know it's such a scary business Lynn but so many of us have cardiac problems and we are all still here battling on through various treatments.  You still don't say whether you have had a diagnosis.  This can be the most difficult step of all as with all intermittent episodes, you have to catch one on an ECG before a definite diagnosis can be made.  In my own case, after feeling I was not being believed, I marched up to the surgery during one and demanded an ECG on the spot.  They were a bit disapproving but went ahead and the nurse said the ECG looked peculiar - well the way my heart was skipping and drumming, I could have told her that!  She just looked at me until I told her I thought it would be a good idea if she took it to show one of the doctors.  Reluctantly she did that and then one of the doctors came bounding in with an enthusiastic wrong diagnosis but at least confirming a real cardiac complaint at last.....  We went from there on to a hospital consultant - and off I went on a very long pathway.

I tell this just to show, you have to be determined and not fobbed off when you know something is not right and needs further investigation.  AFib is one of the most common arrhythmias and is not life threatening unless you are not on blood thinners, such as Warfarin or Pradaxa - so have you been told your episodes are AFib and not something else?