Ectopic Beats Mystery

Hi everyone,

I am a 28 year old male in the UK who has been getting gradually worse extra beats and skipped beats which have been diagnosed as Ectopic Beats by cardiology, who have also prescribed me 1.25mg per day of Bisoprolol and advised me to stay on the medication for up to one year before then trying to come off of it if things improve. I've been on the medication since the beginning of October this year.

For me, the ectopic beats are there every single day. Sometimes, they can come and go, and other days they are there all the time, literally every few seconds, and I mainly notice these at night or when resting.

One thing I have noticed is that lying on my right side tends to help when I'm in bed, and the ectopics and extra beats get a lot worse when laying on my left side or on my back. They also seem to get worse if I have my head facing towards my chest or if I'm laid in bed watching TV for example.

I’ve noticed when I’m in a sitting position suck as driving this also makes the ectopics worse.

I have had numerous blood tests and ECGs, including several 24 hour monitors which is how they eventually found the ectopics in the first place, and altogether I would say these symptoms have been going on now for at least a year and have progressively gotten worse.

Hospitals and my GP have always been satisfied with my ECG and blood tests which have come back normal, albeit with a few ectopics as described.

When they do occur, I can be laid there minding my own business and then all of a sudden it’s like a thud in my chest. Sometimes it’s just the one thud, sometimes it’s a bunch of them in sequence which goes on for a minute or two before eventually going back to somewhat normal again.

I haven’t been able to identify one particular trigger for the additional beats, and the only thing I have noticed is that they are worse at night and, if I’ve had a few beers on a Friday night then the missed beats will be twice as bad the day after - although for some reason whilst drinking alcohol this doesn’t actually make them worse at the time which is strange.

The ectopics do sometimes get worse when I move around or do physical activity, although this is not always the case.

The last time I had my blood pressure taken it was a steady 120/80 with around 88bpm. I’m around 5.5 feet tall and around 13.5 stones (85.72kg) at the moment.

I’m wondering really if anyone can relate to these issues or have something similar, and what they do to help control the issues.

I’ve booked myself in for a private Echocardiogram which is happening tomorrow as the cardiac waiting list at the moment for a follow up appointment on the NHS is very long, and so I’m hoping that will at least shed some light on whether there’s anything physical causing the issues which needs treatment sooner, but in the meantime I’d love to hear people’s opinions and strategies I could use to help!

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