Ectopic beats everyday

Your situation sounds so similar to mine! I had my second daughter last year & have suffered from ectopics from pretty much the moment I fell pregnant! They've got worse since she was born in August. At first I was petrified but now I am beginning to accept that they won't kill me, although when they are really bad I do still worry! Some days I might just notice a few, but other days i can get a few every minute - I hate that 🙁

About a month ago I had 3-4 weeks where I only had a couple and I got very excited that they'd stopped but they returned & at the moment are very regular & unpleasant. I can't think that I did anything differently to make them stop and then restart.

I have noticed that they get worse at certain times of the month due to hormones & also if I'm tired. I'm not sure if anxiety makes it worse - at times I think it does but my daughter was diagnosed with meningitis at 6 weeks old (she's absolutely fine now thankfully) & during that ordeal I had only a couple & it was one of the most stressful times in my life! I definitely notice them more at rest - which is a good thing - my cardiologist said it's much more concerning if you only noticed them when active.

The only thing that is different in my life now is lack of exercise - my eldest daughter is 2 & before she was born I exercised regularly but since then I've not had the time or energy & I certainly feel like that with looking after my two girls now! So I can't help but wonder if exercise will help if I can get back to it.

It will be really interesting to follow people's stories to see if anyone finds a way of alleviating them. Well the whole time I've been writing this I've not had one ectopic yey! It's 3:50am so am going to try & get some shut eye before the youngest one wakes me 🙂

My monitor results were sent to cardiology who have pronounced that I'm OK so long as I am not getting any chest pain. 'Scuse me? They should try living with this. Will search for answers here and elsewhere and then persist with the GP. This isn't normal, there has to be a cause.

If it helps, in my case, they are often triggered if I recline on the sofa on my side at night plus after eating or drinking - even just a snack or a drink of water.

Cheers

hi everyone i am a 35 year old male, i have suffered with ectopic beats for last 5 years but for these last 3 months i have had them all day everyday,i have been told by the cardiologist that i have ventricular eptopics, i have been on bisoporal for ages but come of it as it didnt do anything. now the doctors are saying its my anxiety triggering it they have now put me on sertraline,been on them for two weeks so early days yet im hoping anyway, they are driving me crazy! took all sorts magnesium tried everything even had theropy the lot its getting me down now dont know which way to turn any advice would be grateful?? thanks

hi! im new to the group and have been suffering with these ectopic beats every day for the past 18 months.

i have been checked and my heart rate has been recorded when i am having a bad episode and still the doctors arent worried so thats good. only thing concerning me is that i have started to feel dizziness as well, anyone else have this?

Hi Emily and to everyone else in this forum.

I feel for all of you. I wouldn't wish these on anyone. I am lucky in that I don't get them often but when I do get them, I hate them (I'm currently going through a spell at the moment).

I'm doing some digging into why these may occur. I'm not a scientist or doctor in any way, but I want to research into some ideas I have and whether there's any patterns.

So, I have some questions for those who are happy to answer:

1. Do any of you experience Hayfever? If so, what months do you experience Hayfever, what type of hayfever do you suffer from (e.g. grass pollen) and would you say your palpitations get worse or better during that time (or is there no noticeable difference)? Do you take antihistamines and if so, do you experience more palpitations when taking them?
2. Do any of you have any other types of allergies? If so, what?
3. Finally, do any of you have IBS and if so what type e.g. IBS-D, IBS-C or a mix? Which came first IBS or heart palps?

Please don't feel pressured to provide any info you don't want to.

Thanks

hi i am new to this and i do suffer from anxiety but this last week my heart keeps missing a beat think i am going drop dead,should i be worried and go to a and e,it is really scaring me

Hi. Ectopics are so frightening, especially at night when it's hard to distract yourself. I was diagnosed 10 years ago (now in my 60s) and put on Flecainide after Beta Blockers made them worse. It has been a roller coaster of symptom frequency - sometimes triggers, often not! Flecainide keeps them manageable, and as I am on a low dose I can up it when it gets bad. How they present varies - sometimes in my neck, but more often abdomen. The worst is when I feel an icy faintness momentarily - consultant said it was the result of a blood pressure fall. Anxiety is a major factor that I struggle to control - fear when it happens, fear that it will repeat. still trying to find an answer to this, but have bought some magnesium to try after reading comments. 'They won't kill you' is a welcome message, but hard to believe when I'm fighting the panic! It helps that I'm not alone!

hey guys,

ive been suffering these for about a week now everyday i have a bad episode that lasts hours usally comes about midday and sometimes starts around 6pm. struggling to get any sleep maybe 2 hours total a night. as i write this ive currently had them for over 15hours straight! normally its after every 5/6 beats. ive been to a&e 3 times with worry and bad episodes and of course nothing showed on the ecg they seem stop while im in the hospital so it makes me think it may be my aniexty as i know i have health aniexty and other aniextys. they keep telling me its nothing to worry about but its impossible not worry about them its only been a week with them and im exhausted and cant take much more of it. ive had blood tests all were fine and just had a thyroid test which im yet to have the results back. im waiting on my gp to refer me for a 24hour ecg. ive tried breathing exercises and dont seem to work for me majority of the time. im tempted to just go back to a&e as i cant take much of it anymore.

any tips to keep these from happening so often?

all the best

Lee

Hi Emily. I'm so glad I found this forum, like many of you, I thought I was the only one!

I first started having ectopics in my mid 20s, although I didn't know that that was what they were. At first they were quite rare, but then they started to happen about once a week for a few seconds, they led to me having panic attacks and eventually I was taken to A & E, where of course, they found nothing wrong. This happened 2 or 3 times and my doctor eventually decided it was an anxiety issue and I ended up on medication for panic attacks and seeing a psychologist!

I stopped the medication fairly quickly and carried on for almost 30 years with the ectopics getting gradually worse, but nobody believing me. that it was my heart.

Eventually I started to get brief episodes of tachycardia (SVTs as it turned out), then one morning, it went on for much longer than usual, with me panicking so much my partner called 999. A paramedic arrived, after the episode was over of course, did an ECG & said that I hadn't had a heart attack and my readings were normal, I was however finally referred to the hospital who did the 24 hour monitor. This showed several ectopics, but nothing to worry about they said & I was discharged.

About a year later, with ongoing ectopics getting worse & several more brief VT episodes, came the "big one". I started an SVT that didn't stop, after 20 minutes or so we called an ambulance and this time it was still ongoing when they arrived, my heart rate was over 200 bpm. In the hospital it was still going, now approaching 2 hours since it started, and eventually I had an injection which restored my normal rhythm.

I was prescribed Bisoprolol and sent home, but referred to a cardiologist. Still the same answer, "not dangerous etc", you've all heard it.

Since then my medication has been increased a couple of times to 5mg now, it can't go any higher as my resting heart rate is less than 50 bpm and I don't suffer from hypertension. Things improved, inasmuch as I had an explanation, the SVTs stopped & although the ectopics still happened, I never had prolonged episodes more than half an hour or so. 2 weeks ago things took a turn for the worse, I suddenly started to get runs lasting many hours, up to 10-12 hours and virtually daily. another trip to A & E, and of course it stopped on the way, the same answer. My doctor is going to arrange another 24 hour monitor, but what's the point? I'm at my wits end, last night's started at 11pm as I went to bed, I hardly slept and it carried on until 11 this morning. I 'm off work as the concentration just isn't there whilst these carry on, and I'm so tired.

I don't seem to have a trigger, I thought it might be alcohol, although I'd never noticed a previous connection and stopping hasn't helped, no particular food seems to do it, although like many others, I believe there's a connection to indigestion, as this always seems to be around.

Sorry for such a long post, but it's helped to get it off my chest, I just hope it settles down back to "normal", I could live with that!