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thos cannot be normal! so frustrated

Posted , 4 users are following.

love87
love87

I thought my heart was finally going to be normal. The last couple of weeks were great. Very few skips and all was going well. Then a couple of nights ago I woke up with a racing heartbeat. It happened again the next day but a splash of cold water got it under control. Now tonight it has gone into an abnormal rhythem for around 30 seconds on 2 occasions. Felt no skips today or anything like that today so It really caught me off guard. Nowim freaking out again.Im not anxious, stressed etc so how can this be normal? Ps had a 7 day holter monitor 3 weeks ago and am still awaiting results.

0 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • Caterina26101
    Caterina26101 love87

    Posted

    I thought my heart was doing pretty good too for a while. Until I got hit with these 1 hour episodes of AF (now twice in one week). I am going to really push for answers when I see my cardiologist Wednesday as I am sick of the usual dissmissal that these things are "normal". It is so horrible knowing they can hit at any time and now I find myself "waiting" for the next episode. so debilitating. When keep you posted on what I am told this time. In the meantime lets try and concentrate on something else to take mind of these skips.
  • sarah87793
    sarah87793 love87

    Posted

    Hi. I hate to say it but it is quite normal. It sounds like you have SVT (supraventricular tachycardia) which means fast heart rate coming from above the ventricles. LOADS of people get this. They are always triggered by an ectopic beat which sets off an extra electrical pathway in your heart. This pathway gets stuck in a short loop which is why it is so fast. If it stops after a few seconds I wouldn't worry. I have had two ablations for mine and they burnt 7 pathways (I have a feaky heart). I used to get them lasting a couple of hours if 230 beats per minute. If you can stop them yourself that's a good sign. They are horrible but not dangerous. Did you have your symptoms when you were wearing the monitor?
    • love87
      love87 sarah87793

      Posted

      I had lots of dropped beats while on the monitor, but dont think I had the runs or abnormal rhythm. Is an abnormal rhythm typical with svt too? The fast heartbeat I can deal with as cold water tends to stop it.
    • sarah87793
      sarah87793 love87

      Posted

      When you say abnormal, do you mean irregular? Irregular could be lots of ectopics but could also be AF. I tend to get all sorts going on. I have learnt not to get too hung up on them. It is scary when it happens and it puts you on edge waiting for the next time but believe me the worry and stress is far worse than the arrhythmia itself. It also makes them worse! Are you in the UK? Perhaps you can ask your doctor for another monitor. You are doing the right thing being checked out. Have you had an echo?
    • love87
      love87 sarah87793

      Posted

      An irregular heartbeat it feels like runs of skips all together so instead of a full heartbeat, they are like little weak ones and I feel fluttering in my chest. Lasts anywhere up to a minute. I cant ask doctor for another monitor as I only had on 3 weeks ago. It just freaks me out when it happens and I end up thinking this is NOT normal.
    • sarah87793
      sarah87793 love87

      Posted

      It could be AF. Hard to say without seeing an ECG. Either way, try and stay calm when it happens (Believe me I know how hard this is). AF is the most common heart rhythm disorder. Many people live with it for years without knowing. Long episodes can predispose you to strokes because the blood can clot, but short rare episodes are unlikely to cause problems. I know how anxious you are. Every skipped beat is terrible and I get a sense of dread everytime it happens but I have lived with my crazy heart problems for 7 years now and I've handled it so far. If the episodes start becoming more frequent and last longer you may be a good candidate for an ablation. Are you in the uk?
    • derek76
      derek76 sarah87793

      Posted

      Consultant trying to persuade me to go back on Warfarin told me that you only need to be in AF for five seconds and a clot can form.
    • love87
      love87 sarah87793

      Posted

      No im in ireland but our health system is similar to yours. This irregular heartbeat can happen every day and then nothing for weeks and it starts up again. I have had skips for 10 years but got used to them. But this rhythm is newish. Started in december and have become frequent since. If my heart did not fo into AF while on the monitor could the still diagnose it? Sorry for all the questions but I do feel a bit better now that I have an idea of what it could be.
    • sarah87793
      sarah87793 love87

      Posted

      To get a proper diagnosis I'm pretty sure you need to catch it on ECG. SVT is a fast but regular rhythm, if yours is irregular it could be AF, it could also be an ectopic misfiring. Some people have an ectopic every other beat, some have one every three beats and some can be random. Any one of these scenarios creates an irregular beat. The difference between that and AF is that an ectopic usually originates from one cell, whereas AF is more chaotic and comes from different places. If you are concerned about it being AF I suggest speaking to your GP or consultant. There is a higher risk of a blood clot with AF and you may need to go on a blood thinner, but that would be a doctors decision based on your overall health and medical history. Hearts are wierd things but amazingly resilient.
    • love87
      love87 sarah87793

      Posted

      Thanks hun, I feel a bit better now. I will ask my gp about AF next time im in with him and see what he says. Im awaiting results of 7 day holter monitor. Maybe they can give me a diagnosis from that. Nearly 4 weeks now and still no results. My gp said give it another week and maybe ring them then. Thanks again hun.
    • sarah87793
      sarah87793 love87

      Posted

      No problem. Yes give them a chase! Let me know how you get on Hun x
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