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Ectopic beats everyday

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emily1982
emily1982

Hi. Anyone suffer from ectopics? Mine started 3 yrs ago when i was pregnant and are getting worse. Had ecgs...48 hr ecg ( which of course only showed a couple) echo and ct angiogram which im waiting the results for but wanted to know how many is normal? For the last 5 days have been really bad and tonight in the space of an hour as i counted them i had 16..just so typical that when i had my 48 hr ecg a few weeks back i was having a good few days so of course the cardiologist said all looked normal. Just wondered if people suffered with these and what the outcome has been? Its really getting to me and worrying me now. THANKS.

4 likes, 228 replies

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  • michael01964
    michael01964 emily1982

    Posted

    Emily. I have suffered from extrasystolic heartbeat for some years. I had a long period with no symptoms, then they came back with a vengeance about 3 weeks ago and can be pretty frightening. I can have periods of normal heartbeat and then, at worst, ectopics every third beat. I am waiting for a twenty four hour heart monitor in mid September. Medics telling you it's OK and very common does not help when you think you might imminently have a heart attack at three in the morning. I am on bisoprolol 10 mgm but it is of limited help. You have my sympathies and are not alone!

    • stephen58666
      stephen58666 michael01964

      Posted

      I first got mine when I was playing football. I was 25 at the time. When you are young you don't really feel them. I use to wear a polar heart rate monitor and I use to notice that the beeping would continually stop. As I have got older I feel them a lot more or maybe I am just more aware of them and they can be quite scary. They put me on Atenolol and when I walked I would miss a beat every 3 beats and believe me this can be quite scary. Mine come and go and I do believe that stress and anxiety has a lot to do with it. I was on a low sodium diet by choice and some medical professionals say you need a certain amount of sodium as it acts as an electrolyte. So I am going to try to take 1500mg of sodium, take magnesium and also find a way to drop my adrenaline levels or stress. Regards Steve

  • stephen58666
    stephen58666 emily1982

    Edited

    I know how you feel. I have had them since I was 25 and they never bothered me because I never felt them. The reason I knew I had them was because I wore a polar heart rate monitor when exercising and noticed that it always missed beats. When I was 40 I got paramoxal afib and then started to take the missed heart beats a lot more serious. I only noticed them when I was stressed so if I relaxed they would go away. I am now 60 and I get them a lot more or at least it seems that way. They can be quite scary and I spent 4 days in the ED because they thought I had a massive heart attack. I was skipping a beat every 3 beats. I take Atenolol 12mg but that does not seem to matter. I believe that stress and adrenaline pay a big part in the missed beats. I massaged my vagus nerve and also did what they call tonal stimulation on the vagus nerve and they dramatically slowed to about 1 every 5 minutes which is good for me. I will keep experimenting and let you know. Regards Steve

  • tony52050
    tony52050 emily1982

    Posted

    What do you mean by massage your vagus nerve and tonal stimulation?

    • stephen58666
      stephen58666 tony52050

      Posted

      The vagus nerve is the longest of the cranial nerves and runs from the brain to the stomach. It also has branches that run to the voice box, the heart, the lungs and the stomach. To massage your vagus nerve you massage the rear of your ear, the inside of your ear and the rear of the hole. I would put a link up but a lot of forums don't like links. Tonal stimulation is humming. So you hum a song for 5 minutes that you know and you may find that the skipped beats slow down. There is also a chance that it may be a placebo and stopped because I believed they would stop. I am going to do more testing during the week.

    • peter31288
      peter31288 stephen58666

      Edited

      I just bought a little converted tens machine. I use it three times a day to stimulate the vegus nerve and I drink Gatorade and San Pellegrino water so I'm saturated with electrolytic and minerals including magnesium and phosphate, both vital for the hearts SA Node.

      Had two visits to A&E the past week but I've had zero since starting the above.

      They are worth trying

      God Bless

    • peter31288
      peter31288 tony52050

      Posted

      Please research it. You can buy a machine for 60 quid that will do the job for you. It works too but keep hydrated!

      The machine is called a vegus stimulator. One clip on left ear, one on shoulder for ten min three times a day.

      God Bless

    • stephen58666
      stephen58666 peter31288

      Posted

      I have a couple of tens machines which I could probably convert. I haven't gone down that path yet. They have been using them successfully to treat Alzheimer's. I was on a low sodium diet of 500mg. I have boosted that to 1500mg as I drink around 3 litres of water a day. I get my other electrolytes from vegetables and take a small magnesium supplement. Will see how it goes. Let us know how you get on.

  • peter31288
    peter31288 emily1982

    Posted

    Hey.

    I can't say what the books called probably but if you look on amazon there's a book on palps. I just bought it.

    It mentions water with minerals and Gatorade. The water is called San Pellegrino. It contains magnesium and potassium both vital for the SA Node on your heart!

    The water contains-

    Calcium, chloride, fluorine, lithium, magnesium, nitrogen, potassium, silicon, sodium and strontium are just a few of the most prevalent minerals found in S. Pellegrino water. The minerals are the result of the water's 30-year journey around the rocks inside the Alps.

    Also Gatorade contains electrolytic.

    Try them both and good luck.

  • apop
    apop emily1982

    Edited

    Hello,

    Created an account just for this as I was looking for a solution online before, then I found one that works for me and I am here to share it. Just a small description: Am not a health professional but a patient in a similar situation:

    ARVC [on nebivolol] - Had also VT for 3 weeks until I was placed on amiodarone.

    Worked. [ With the VT and I was getting the occasional ectopic]

    Until after I had Covid [Most likely Delta, and am not vaccinated]. Passed Covid successfully. But after 2 -3 weeks or so, started having alot of ectopics. Have an AppleWatch so started counting. Had 10 in 30 seconds and so on. So 20 per minute. Couldn't sleep properly at night and after 3 days was considering to call my cardiologist. But I said to give some research a try as the doctors probably would have increased my dosage or popped some other pill.

    Tried to think logically. What are ectopics. How do they happen. Etc. So with these questions I got some answers and a bit of know-how. Got to the question of what does the heart need in order to contract. This is the key. It needs electrolytes [Calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, phosphate, etc. ].

    No, I didn't got every electrolyte supplement on the marked as that can cause harm as well. So I tried gradually and in a more healthy-inclined way. This is what I did:

    • Increased my daily magnesium intake by consuming these foods: Cashew [30 gr], Pumpkin Seeds [30 gr, toasted], drank 200ml of coconut water everyday, diluted with water [This also contains other electrolytes as well]
    • Also got a magnesium gel from amazon that I rub in [1-2ml - a pea size squeeze], in the morning and before bed. [After rubbing it the first night, my ectopics diminished in frequency and was able to sleep]
    • Increased my salt intake [As I am cooking most of what I eat, I wasn't consuming enough salt as most of the doctors will say to reduce it. This is sooo wrong, especially if you drink 2.5 - 3L of water daily. We need sodium, not too much, but 6g per day for sure if we drink enough water. If you don't consume too many liquids, consume less, but still, cosume it]
    • Go for walks.
    • You can try taking CoQ10 supplement. I take 300mg daily. [Know this from cardiologist Stephen Sinatra]

    After doing all of these, I hunt for ectopics on my one lead ECG on AppleWatch but to be honest, in the last week didn't find any.

    I do believe most of the ectopics are a result of electrolyte imbalance in the body, but this is my personal opinion. Doctors might raise an eyebrow, but all that I said above to follow, won't do you any harm so might as well try. Hope that helps.

    My two cents.

    Regards,

    Adrian

    • stephen58666
      stephen58666 apop

      Posted

      Adrian, I am like you. I measure out 3.5 litres of water a day and have drunk it by the night. I do not include cappuccinos or tea in my quota of water. I was on a low sodium diet and was only getting 500mg of salt a day as I cook fresh with no processed foods. After reading about electolytes i bumped my salt intake up to 1500mg a day and have noticed less skipped beats. I also take Magnesium and Vitamin C. The rest of the vitamins I get in my diet. It has made a huge difference.

  • tony52050
    tony52050 emily1982

    Posted

    apop.

    Interesting. I find Epsom salts helpful which contain magnesium and you put in the Bath.

    I do suspect that we remove to much from our diet these days, salt being a good example.

    Also people often don't drink enough or not enough of the right fluids. Also more people seem prone to anxiety which is a trigger.

    • apop
      apop tony52050

      Posted

      Hello Tony,

      Yes, Epsom salts contain electrolytes that are absorbed through the skin if placed in your bath, works the same way the magnesium gel works. Practically it bypasses the GI tract where some electrolytes are lost or fail to be absorbed, and go straight through your skin, into your system. That's why, you can feel straight away the relaxation effects of it in like a few seconds to a few minutes after applying it. With this in mind, is important to realize of what we place on our body, as our skin is an organ after all. [So pay attention to creams, moisturisers, lotions, etc.]. I have an app that I use, is called Yuka, and you can scan the product bar code or insert it manually and will tell you if there's anything dangerous in the ingredients list.

      Our body is a biological-mechanic-chemical machine. And everyday lots of chemical reactions happen within, so throwing something off balance will have consequences, of course.

      Regards,

      Adrian

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