Ectopics

[Flaka]

I keep seeing mention of ectopics in a lot of posts and I really don't understand what that is. I have A Fib but how would I know if I have ectopics? I can always tell when I am having an A Fib episode as I can feel the fluttering in my chest and when I check my pulse it is all over the place and my blood pressure monitor shows irregular. But how would I know if I was having ectopics? Thanks.

[Hidden]

Hi Flaka, ectopics are missed or sometimes extra beats. The difference between ectopics and AF is that with AF, your heart beat can be all over the place whereas with ectopic beats, the changes in your heartbeat are more regular, in a kind of irregular way. I hope that makes sense. There are literally billions of people without AF who have occasional ectopic beats. Often they go unnoticed, but as you become more aware of changes in your heart beat they can become troublesome but they are generally not considered to be a problem health wise, but please bear in mind I'm not medically trained

[doodle68]

Hello Flaka Ectopic beats described here by Dy Gupta . ....

youtube.com/watch?v=HySnRlK...(Not working as expected?)

[UScore]

I don't quite experience them as described in that video.

For me, I get a weird wavey sensation in the centre of my chest, and then after that, if I'm checking my pulse I'll notice a missed beat. The next beat after the missed one isn't noticeably harder.

In the video he suggests it's the other way round, you get an ectopic beat which you don't sense, and then a missed beat and then a hard beat.

Anyone else experience it similarly?

[Flaka in reply to UScore]

I use my phone heart app to check my pulse so guess I should do it manually so maybe I could tell if I have a missed beat. I could be be having ectopic beats and not know it.

[UScore in reply to Flaka]

I've never got much joy using phone apps to capture missed beats. I've found them easiest to detect by checking my own pulse with my finger on the underside of my wrist.

But don't get hung on them. If you aren't aware of any, don't go searching for them! They are usually quite benign, but can be a bit annoying. You might end up pointlessly learning how to detect them, and then wish you hadn't!