I am plagued with ectopic heartbeats and have lapsed int...

I[size=12:0bf3cb9a47][size=18] have recently been getting missed heartbeats along with gastric discomfort and a feeling I have indigestion all the time. Went to A and E as I was in a bit of pain chest wise, was given ECG blood tests etc and asked to stay in over night bu they ha amd had a racing heart at night - but no beds in the observation ward and I went home. I survived the night anyway! I also feel when the beats are missed, a electric \"full\" feeling in my head near the back and it makes me dizzy. Waiting as one does for a visit to Cardio but it takes weeks for an appointment. I am 59 so post menopausal which is a worry for a heart attack.[/size:0bf3cb9a47][/size]

hi guys im 48 year old female and have had my first experience of palpitations when i was 8yrs of age have continued to have them since some days a few and other days a nightmare where i have palpitations and ectopics at the same time lasting sometimes a couple of hours. my recent experiences with these are the worst i have had to date, on two occassions i went to a&e via ambulance. the paramedic who initially saw me at home and who monitored me agreed my heart was beating 160beats with ectopics and said although it is a very disconcerting and scary feeling that it wasnt too serious and there was help available for this condition! ive since had an echocardiogram of which ive had three over the years awaiting results of recent one and an app with cardiologist. i find it realy ha1rd to believe that a healthy heart can do this and as a result each time i believe will be my last as my heart wont be able to cope! but ive yet again lived to tell the tale. what i feel would convince me that its not serious if the cardiologist could capture them on a holster monitor and explain whats happening. the last monitor i had done showed one ectopic which was realy frustrating as the next day my heart was going crazy! i do sympathise with all you fellow suffferers and am realy happy to have found this site as its reassuring to know others are experiencing similar feelings. oh by the way theres no set triggers for mine except if im tired . lye in a certain way. active or excited basicaly anything can trigger it, shamrock

I am a 26 year old male from Australia and I can sympathise with the people on this discussion! When I was 21 I started to get palpitations that would last for a minute or so. Then a few months later after having random episodes I had one that lasted around 20 hours before I saw a doctor. I was rushed to the hospital and was diagnosed with Wolf Parkinson White syndrome where an extra pathway in my heart made it beat really fast for no reason. I then had to wait 3 months before I had an ablation which made everthing better for a while but I had bad anxiety problems ever since which then developed into ectopics!

They were really bad for a while then I got prescribed beta blockers by my cardiologist which really helped over the last 3 years but for some reason lately I have been having attacks of ectopics despite increasing my dose of medication! This is extremely frustrustrating as I though I had my life under control.

All I get from the cardiologist is do yoga or Thai chi to relax!

I'm open to some type of breathing exercises but not sure exactly what to do?

I am 53 and started having ectopic heartbeats when I was 8 mths pregnant just a month before I turned 25. I used to panic so much because I was experiencing lots of them all day and night. I have had heart monitors 24 hr and 48 hr ones and it never did it but when I didn't have one on I got one. Typical. I'm still not used to them after 28 years. I have been on beta blockers for nearly 20 years to slow my heart down. It bears too fast. I could go a few days and not have one then I get one then maybe not again for a few days again. I can cope with those. But yesterday out the blue I must have had about a hundred. I was nearly going to A&E last night but eventually fell asleep. The ones I were aware of was 4 of them through the night. This morning wasn't too bad but this afternoon and even now they are at it again. It's the most awful feeling. It's like my heart leaps, misses a best then thuds hard then goes back beating normal. So scarey. I feel for everyone on here but it's nice to know you aren't on your own. I found this site this morning when I was sitting having a cup of tea. Feel stronger knowing I am not on my own with them. Has made it a bit better when I have one. Had 4 while typing this. Sue. X

Hello everyone,

As a new sufferer to this strange condition, I can see that I'm very much not alone. This has literally begun after a dose of 'Deli-belly' and I can now acknowledge the comments so many of you have made about an association with stomach problems and this condition. My doctor has listened to my heart, done an E.C.G and used the common reply that 'I've nothing to worry about'. I do feel tired and fall asleep in front of the TV nearly every night. My husband worries about this. I'm just annoyed as I feel powerless to stop this. I'm an extremely active person otherwise, walking our two dogs twice a day and have a cleaning job. I do take blood pressure pills , I was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat 16 years ago, but, I've never experienced ectopic hearbeats before now. Quite irritating and almost like a 'silent, inner battle' going on, like hiccups that never go away. I have found using a brown paper bag to take deep breaths helps slow down the frequency. Lying on my right side at night in bed also deters these beats. I'm menopausal also and I realise there is also a link there too. Basically, this is a big nuisance and I can see possibly from repeated comments of lack of medical interest that as sufferers, 'are we to be treated like nuisances also?' Anyway, I hope and wish you all get more help in the future. Lets hope anyone reading this will acknowledge and take our plight a lot more seriously than they do in a lot of cases.

Q. Does anyone ever stop having these once they've started?

I have just started having this problem-have had 2 visits to the hospital for tachycardia, about a month apart. I blame the medication I was prescribed for high blood pressure for leaching potassium and magnesium from my system, (the connection has been well documented). I've been doing a lot of research re arrythmias online and also on the role of magnesium in particular. What I have learned has convinced me that I must co manage my health and particularly to monitor nutrient levels and other lifestyle factors rather than letting the doctors prescribe increasingly serious medications. I am willing to take a blood thinner medication (Pradaxa) while I try to manage the heart rhythm problems. Like you, I experience bouts of fatigue, which interfere with my normal routine. Switching to a Mediterranean or DASH diet will provide lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and other nutrients that are probably the real underlying cause of heart rhythm problems-with due recognition of genetic background, stress, lifestyle, etc.

Good luck and start researching so you can find what works for you-don't leave it up to the medical profession as they are not really tuned in to the dietary and alternative therapies.

Thanks Leah,

your comments have given me hope. I shall definitely look into dietary and alternative therapies.

Good luck with yours,

Cheers,

Wendy

Hi,

I get these too, I haven't noticed any link with my digestion but I will be looking out for it now! been having these hiccups all last night and today! annoying. Anyway I just thought it was worth mentioning, if people are finding them linked to their digestion have you tried keeping a food diary? Kind of a separate story but I think it could be relevant, I got told I had IBS and there was nothing I could do except deal with it, eat yogurt etc. I think doctors have very little nutrition training. I knew it was linked to eating salad but couldn't quite work out why. I took a holland and barratt food sensitivity test which showed a reaction to tomatoes. Cutting them out of my diet I'm totally IBS free now. (I should stress the doctors told me on no accounts to do the test, and that it would be a complete waste of money!) So the reason I tell this story here is that perhaps its linked? if its a gastric issue it must be something we are eating no? I read a mind blowing book called The China Study that links loads of conditions to nutrition. Any of you mentioning fatigue, high blood pressure and cholesterol should definitely give it a go. Ok anyway thanks everyone for putting the gastric link in my head I'll let you know if I work out whats causing mine.

Hi All,

I came across this Discussion and have joined to pass on Information that I hope will be useful.

I have have had several Heart Attacks...always refused By Pass Surgery...for almost 20 years now...and dealt with the condition thru a Variety of treatments both conventional and non conventional.

Over the years...I have had various Stents inserted in my Coronary Arteries .....at last count..around 30. ..But after the last stenting procedure in September 2012..I was left with the most dreadful...terrifying and life destroying ectopic Heart Beats. Very prolonged....almost all day every day..very severe in intensity.

My Cardiologist sent me to an Electrical Cardiologist..who specialised in Heart Rythm Disturbances...who did every test under the sun. after a few weeks....and all tests finished , he began to explain my options...2nd on the heap was Abalation

BUT FIRST before we go that road...lets try this......and he prescribed......RANEXA....starting at 375mg twice daily for a month...then no side effects...increased to 750mg twice daily. ALSO Magnesium Verla...a packet of powder magnesium mixed with water...three times daily.

VOILA..after 6 months of absolute HELL with Ectopic Heartbeats..They are GONE..........reduced in intensity and frequency after a week..and over the following 3/4 weeks disappeared entirely.

Worth a Try..I am in Ireland.....so I dont know how available RANEXA and Magnesium Verla is where you are. Has got to be Magnesium Verla..NOT the ordinary run of the mill Magnesium you get in a Health Food Store.

Good Luck all

Liam

Seems many of us have similar if not same syptoms and no one in the medical profession is taking it serious!!

I too feel much worse during both eating and digesting food, also sitting watching tv is not an option, I have to constantly get up and 'do' something to take my mind of whats happening. Night times have become a 'nightmare'. Cant sleep, get woken up if I do doze off, sometimes gulping like a fish out of water. Whether my heart actually stops for a split second and thats what wakes me I am unsure, but it is very frightening!

Have had monitors fitted, which pick up the ectopic beats, and have had couple of cardiograms, just before the appointment with a consultant. Always when getting to my appointment the heart behaves itself, so nothing shows up!

Have bought my own BP monitor to try to see whats happening when I'm at my worse, it seems to be rapid pulse and lower than my usual BP. I'm at my wits end, I'm a petite 5'.2", 7 and a half stone lady of 63, who eats the right food and takes a lot of exercise, and still carries on doing everything around the house and large garden, as well as helping to care for my mother who has dementia, and looking after my 8 year old grandson every other weekend. I'm glad I'm not alone with the way I feel and intend to show some of your letters to my doctor and consultant, if I get to see him in the future

Hi all. Well I had a 24hr heart monitor on about 2 weeks ago. They gave me a card and said fill it in when you get one. I did plus three sheets of A4 paper. Had about 300 or more. Some I didn't write down because I was driving. When i took it back and she saw all the paper she said oh! I said you should have given me a toilet roll to list them all. I am having a heart scan on Wednesday coming. Am dreading it. Probably find blocked arteries or something! Anyway wait and see what happens. Not had as many today and yesterday. Probably 100 or so.

Hi again all,

And a thanks to Sue, Leah and Lynne and Liam, your posts made interesting and informative reading. Gosh it's crazy that so many of us have such on-going similarities but, are not being taken seriously. I read your comments Sue about the 24 hour monitor with personal interest as I've yet to go through this in the next few months. The 'blaze' response of the nurse is probably a good indication of what I can expect then. And Leah, your interesting comments about the magnesium and potassium depletion are significant to those who take blood pressure pills like myself. And Lynne, like you I'm 'physically' active and couldn't possibly get fitter. Doesn't this all add up to a big 'why?' Why haven't the medical profession acknowledged that as sufferers we have a right to perhaps special clinics to handle our problems? It affects our well-being as much as any other medical disorder? Or, is it that they don't class our problem as a medical disorder? I think that a lot of medical research should pursue this area as surely, we can't all be wrong? Hear our voices, is what I say.

Q. Has everyone managed to cope o.k. with this whilst on board a plane? I'm just about to embark on one?

Cheers everyone,

Wendy.

Keep the conversation going until I get back.