Ectopics or ?AF

[Jamila123]

Hi kind friends out there

Need advise please.

Background in my fifties diagnoised PAF last year had one episode that was triggered by extreame stress ... heart up to 180

Since then nothing ... medicAl history benign

Ectopics ...Had recent scan heart normal

On sunday i had been having an excitable few weeks...then on sunday just gone i had an awful experience i had alot of cheese then at 8 pm i had these awful palpitations omg in my neck in my heart i coukd feel my heart beating all over the place ...in the past i have had ectopic but my god not strong like these

Felt my pulse it was scary it seems like the ectopics were one after another with no let ..

Just dropping beats every other beat

I quckly laid down and but still were there for short while i felt my heart going i nsane 😳

confused did not feel too fast but difficukt to check I was so anxious and scared near to tears

So laying down made after a while stopped the mad beats ... when i moved thet started again so i kept still

After an hour i thought great stopped now

Got up and Wham bang started again the whole process ... this happened twice

In the end i gave up felt so down and slept till 3 am

I tried to get up and this time was okay stopped completely

Well i am totally confused whether it was AF symptons or ectopics but if ectopics i never throught they can make u feel so bad

Any ideas any one have the same problems

Thanks you

💕

[Mercurius]

I'm afraid, without ECG recording it really a hard task.

[Jamila123 in reply to Mercurius]

Thanks

[Rellim296]

Jamila, that does sound unpleasant! If you were to invest in a pocket ECG monitor like Alivecor / Kardia you'd be able to record what your heart is doing. I find it helpful to look at the pattern and see if it's wild or fairly regular and what gets recorded is saved for scrutiny later when the symptoms have subsided.

The alternative is to summon help when you have an episode. To my annoyance my other half once dialled 999 when I was (I thought) not that bad and a First Responder arrived in minutes and did a quick ECG and did a printout for me. It turned out to be invaluable because when I arrived at A & E I was back in normal rhythm, and when I had an appointment later and there was no hospital ECG on my file, I was able to provide the consultant with what had been recorded.

[Jamila123 in reply to Rellim296]

Good idea must buy

[Jamila123]

Thank u

[expences]

Hi Jamila, I dont know if this helps but I have had a similar problem and it turned out to be caffeine.

I have had palpitations just start out of the blue, and could feel ectopics frequently. My blood pressure also went way up. At one stage when I went to hospital, I went into bigeminy ie: every second beat was abnormal but nothing showed up on investigations.

To keep the story short, I went off all forms of caffeine, ... green tea, black tea, coffee, coffee milk, etc, and the palps stopped. I still have the odd ectopic beat but unless my BP is up, I hardly feel them. No trouble for years.

The only other time I had palpitations was after very vigorous sustained exercise (over an hour walking without any water) and they went away after drinking some water so I figure that dehydration could be a problem ( caffeine is a diuretic which could be causing the same effect.)

After having a couple of cups by mistake, thinking it was decaf, I had my first episode of AF!

Hope it is this simple for you.

xx Brenda

[daveeb in reply to expences]

Thanks for that idea . I get very heavy ectopics that can cause me to double up . I've had them for some time now , but my EP has told me that nothing can be done . You mentioned that they happen to you when your BP is high , my BP averages about 160/97 , but he stopped the BP medications to stop me passing out .

[expences in reply to daveeb]

That BP is quite high Dave. Should be 120 - 130/80ish. I think I only noticed the ectopics when I had the palpitations because I had a BP spike at the same time. When I stopped the caffeine it all seemed to stop.

All the best or awrabest as my scottish husband would say :0)

[daveeb in reply to expences]

I know but I don't understand why I was taken off the BP medications , particularly as I have already had 2 TIAs. However , I feel better with higher BP rather than lower where I feel proper awful . Thanks for your concern though . Dave

[Jamila123]

Thank you Brenda

Yes i am so sensitive to foods caffiene especially have stopped now for 10 months

But i am also a very senstive person and wonder if senstive people actually have more physical symptoms i know that might sound strange 😳

But thanks for advice

June

[expences in reply to Jamila123]

I seem to have got more sensitive to stuff as I have got older

Cant take wheat, dark chocolate, and MSG plays havoc, also sulphite preservatives, it's a pain!

You aren't alone....

Luv B

[Jamila123 in reply to expences]

Thank u 🌺

[mincde in reply to Jamila123]

cheese has a high concentration of tyramines (so does red wine), so it could be you are particularly sensitive to tyramines. The vagus nerve that surrounds the stomach can also get irritated and set off AF. Mine does it every time I eat something in excess (not just cheese) but is generally relieved by belching the air out.

[Jamila123 in reply to mincde]

Thank you

These days i seem to be senstive to everything

Another thing i realised could be a problem is salt its in everthing

Cheese mature has 500mg salt per 100 grams cheese

Thats crazy

Yes it started with ectopics beats i could feel them missing beats every other beat

So scary

But maybe had Af as well not sure

Thank u 🌺

[Polski]

Take note of exactly what make and variety of cheese it was, and be cautious with it next time. Hydration idea is a good one.

You could also look into life-style changes, especially supplements eg magnesium (research details on this forum) and healthy eating (avoid processed foods for example, less red meat, much less sugar and plenty of fruit and vegetables, ). All these put together would give you a healthier life, and may decrease the severity of the AF, and will also have a very good chance of getting your BP under better control. Research on here for suggestions, and maybe try drjohnday.com