I am petrified of the skipped heartbeats I am having.

Hello. This is my first time posting here. I will share a little about myself and skipped best history.I have been having them off and on since my 30's, I am now 66. I have worn a couple of holter monitors and a 7 day king of hearts monitor, results usually show PAC's, PVC's and atrial runs. I have had a couple of echocardiogram as well, all good results. Well, that was all back home in America. I moved to New Zealand in 2012 after I married a man from New Zealand, that was 11 years ago. Anyway, since being here, I didn't have any major heart skips for the 6 years. I did have one episode the first year here but it was due to Hormone Replacement Therapy due to menopause. As soon as I stopped it, the skips stopped too. I hate drugs. Well, fast forward to 2018, they started after my husband was diagnosed with Colon cancer (he's cancer free now though) it was awful, he had all kinds of complications and almost died, he was in hospital over 85 days. Well at first the skips weren't so bad, but when we had to move to a different house due the rental being sold, that was pretty upsetting, that was 2019. My skips stated to increase and by 2022, I even started going to the ER because of them. Now, since January 2023, I am having them more and more. This August alone, I have gone to the ER 3 times. I have been many times since, my last visit was two days ago. I am petrified, they get worse when I eat (I have a hiatal hernia). The skips sometimes will come in couplets, bigeminy and trigeminy and sometimes randomly. They used to only last a few hours or less, but this month they are coming off and on all day. I cry all day, it's taking over my life. I begged the doctor to refer me to a cardiologist so I could wear a monitor, but they refuse as they say the skips are not dangerous and the ER only catches a few PAC's. Well, I DO need to wear a monitor. So, since I can't get a referral, I have to pay (in New Zealand, if you're referred, you don't pay, but if not referred, you go private and pay.) I have set up an appointment to wear a 7 day patch and the price will be astronomical, if it weren't for help from a relative, I couldn't do it. I have to have peace of mind. I am scared what I have at times is V-tach or A-Fib. I know I have PAC's and PVC's already. I especially hate the little "blips" I feel in my throat. I am miserable and so afraid. The more scared I get, the worse they get, it's a vicious circle. The only thing my GPs say is to take beta blockers, there is no way I will take them. My normal resting heart rate is between 68 and 78. My blood pressure is normally 115/75. Naturally, in the ER, the heart rate increase lots as does the b/p but even then I will usually end up with a heart rate of 85 and 130/69 pressure. My EKG is always normal as is blood work and Troponin levels. They send me home, I am OK for a day or two, then they act up and I am petrified again. I can't take it any longer. I am constantly looking up heart skips on Google which is not a good idea. Usually the articles scare me more. I should know better as I have Medical Assistant training.

I finally wore the 7 day monitor a few months ago, of course my skips calmed down and didn't show the ones that come in fast runs with skips. This was the "Conclusion" regarding the monitor results:

7 Day study

Sinus rhythm

The average heart was 70bpm. The minimum heart rate was 49 bpm and the maximum was 121.

Rare ventricular ectopics

Rare Supra-ventricular ectopics with rare couplets and 6 (3-14 beat) episodes of supra-ventricular tachycardia,average rates with beats up to 146 bpm.

No pauses greater than 2.0 seconds

Ventricular ectopics 2 with a 0,00% burden

Supra-ventricular ectopics 321

SV-run Total 6 (total beats 36)

Longest SV run: 14@114 bpm.

Max HR in SV-run: 3@ 146bpm

SVE Burden %: 0.04%

A-Fib Burden (%) 0.00%

Total Minutes >100BPM 112

Tachycardia burden %: 1.11%

What really upsets me is I had some really bad ones AFTER I returned the monitor. So, I still don't know what is going on. One I had was like this: beat, beat, beat, etc then a quick beat and a half beat, then some fast beats, then beat, beat, beat, beat, etc then a quick beat and a half beat, than some fast heart beats. It didn't last long, but it scared me.

I am at my wits end, I can't stand those little "blips" that you feel in the throat. Mine also act up a lot after I eat, when I bend down or lay down. I do have a hiatal hernia, so I suspect that is contributing to it as well. I watch videos by a wonderful cardiologist, they seem to help, but I still am afraid. I want to stop this fear, it is taking over my life.

I wasn't impressed at all with the cardiologist I saw either, he intimidated me and I was afraid to ask questions. I can't see another one as 1)I can't afford it and 2)he's the only one in our area.

I forgot to add that back home in the states I did have an echocardiogram and it was "normal", I was 54 at the time. Now that I am 66, as I said, I think I should have a baseline but the GP and cardiologist don't agree. I would have to pay for one, and if I can get some money, I will. I don't think it is fair to not let a 66 year old woman with all these skips to not refer me.

My dear mother had heart issues, she had a major MI when she was 72, she was in and out of hospitals for the last 8 years if her life. I never left her side and stayed in the hospital every time she was admitted. She had a triple bypass and later on, the last year of her life, she had her right leg amputated from the knee due to vascular disease. My daddy stayed home taking care of our many pets. She died in 2005, she was 81. Daddy was never the same, they had been married 61 years. He died in 2012 from cancer and CHF, he was 91.

My mom's side of the family has heart issues, my daddy's side, cancer

Well, I will add that I thought my skips were finally going away as the last couple of months they weren't as bad.... WRONG. Wednesday, they started acting up again with a fierce vengeance, they were awful, they wouldn't stop except maybe for a few minutes, then back again. I had my husband take me to A&E, I was hooked up to the monitor, y'all know the drill, and of course during the EKG, my heart behaved. The nurse and doctor were very caring and said that they would monitor me for a couple of hours. So, during that time, I felt some but nothing like at home. Every time I felt a few I rang the nurse so she could check it on their telemetry. After 4 hours, the doctor talked to me again and asked what I was worried about when I felt them, I told him that I was afraid that I had had a heart attack, so, he said for my peace of mind, he would order a Troponin blood test. I waited another hour for the results and again felt some skips. When he came back with the results be said the level was very low and they had been monitoring me on their telemetry. He said even though I reported some "skips" they weren't anything that would have raised a red flag and that they were benign. As usual, he told me that many people have ectopic beats and they're not serious or a forerunner of a heart attack. He also said that Beta-Blockers probably would do more harm than good since my normal blood pressure is low and my heart rate in the 60's and 70's when calm. He tried to reassure me, but this time I wasn't convinced. When we left A&E, I started crying and told my husband that I know they are missing something, that this time the beats definitely feel different. They were horrible all the way home and into the night, I finally got some sleep however. The next morning, I didn't have any even though I was doing strenuous work, but as soon as I stopped and had some lunch, BANG, they came back, they went on all the rest of the day and when I went to bed last night, they were the worst I have ever had. I had to sit up and calm myself down, never have I felt anything like that. They finally settled some so I layed back down and was able to sleep some. It is morning now, 9:30, and already they are acting up and I am crying. The least little movement, such as getting up to use the bathroom, starts them again. I am afraid to do anything. I hate that I feel them mainly in my throat. I also did something I should never do, that's look up things on Google,so I scared myself even more. Almost all articles say that if you feel more than 6 a minute, to call 911 immediately. Well, I am definitely feeling more than that at times. I know anxiety can cause these horrid things, and mine has been higher than usual, but I have never had these last so long and even affect my sleep. I can't call my GP, the office is closed until January 8, I am resisting the urge to go back to A&E, but if they continue or get worse, I will go back. I am at my wits end. I will also say that during the skips, my heart rate is sometimes between 69 beats a minute to 85. Last night, however, the heart rate was fast and I could feel it pounding in my back.

Has your doctor said how many a day are dangerous?

Thank you for reading this

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