I'm posting this in the hope that it may help and comfort others who are plagued by ectopics, in the light of a couple of videos made by Dr Gupta relating to stress causing ectopics and slow, deep breathing helping to disperse them.
The last week has been horrendously stressful with a situation outside my control and I thought I was coping sooo well in keeping calm. But last night all the built-up miseries came together in the most awful nightmare and I woke up from it with a sledgehammer storm of ectopics (worst I've every had), every second/third beat - very strong and heart jumping every which way. No AF though, I'm happy to say.
I lay for 10 minutes doing the slow, diaphragm breathing Dr G recommends and the ectopics lessened and then stopped completely. Remembering not to allow anxiety to breed, I went back to sleep.
So, I think the storm was caused by subconscious worries about a week of stress and the short-term solution was the breathing technique. Oh my, how do we control the external world which causes stress and anxiety - we probably cannot but I thought I had my reaction to it controlled and my brain thought otherwise!!
I gratefully took my Flecainide and Bisoprolol this morning and silently thanked Dr Gupta for his wisdom.
I hope this can help someone else to cope.
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Finvola
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Oh Finvola ... sounds horrible. Well done for remembering the breathing exercises! They very often go right out of your mind when you most need them and a good answer to my post - so will add if I may?
I've been plagued with ectopics since 1973 and have never been completely rid of them. Heart seems to have its own nervous system and aside from various suggested triggers ( which never be particularly definitive) its just a matter of ploughing on and varying the prescribed medication (fine tuning as I call it).
Has an ablation for AF in 2001 which seemed to be moderately successful although the ectopics have continued to come and go over the years - sometimes with long periods of remission. As I have got older these unpleasant symptoms have been around more often.
Current medication for irregular heart rhythm is down to Flecainide - now at the rate of 250 mg per day. Used to take beta-blockers also (Atenolol) but the combined effect lowered my pulse rate to alarmingly low levels so my doc took the Aten. off my list and increased my Felodipine medication (taken for high blood pressure - which is also why I was taking Aten.) so the Flec. is now coping with the ectopics on its own. Anxiety was another by-product of the ectopics, and this in itself fed back to worsen the symptoms. I was prescribed Citalopram - at 30 mg per day and this improved the anxiety symptoms although these still surface occasionally following episodes of ectopics. I still get bouts of ectopics despite the Flec. and I still hate them - who wouldn't? My cardiologist says I'm still within safe margins re. the Flec. and can still hike the daily dosage if this is indicated.
I think Dr Gupta is a wonderful medical counsellor throughout his Youtube presentation.
Thanks, Don - I'm fairly sure this bout was the result of adrenaline gone mad as the dream images took over. I'm so fortunate that the breathing technique works so well against most of the bouts. Thank goodness for Flecainide - without it I would probably have gone into AF.
Finvola I do understand. After a week of stress starting with a nearly 600 mile round trip on Monday for a family funeral, and including some annoying conflict resulting in ,much lost sleep I have had to resort to similar tactics but we endure!
Be strong and give away your stress and worry says he. lol
Thank you Pete. I know how you have suffered with your arrhythmias and really hope (very quietly) that you have finally got some resolution. I agree with the calming technique being good for body and mind - I usually try to do a session every day.
I'm actually feeling rather pleased that I didn't panic but used the knowledge from this forum to cope.
So sorry Finvola , that you have been having such a miserable time. Glad you eventually got some release from the physical side, even if the stress inducing aspect is beyond your control.
Funny, I too, had a bad night last night, (I'm guessing caused by spag bol rather than any conflict situation), and trawled through the internet to get anything which would regularise the frantic beating of my heart. I came across a doctor with AF who advocated listening to a recording of a regular heartbeat so listened to it for an hour and Hey Presto!
Wow POrtnahapp1e - I had read about heartbeat sounds helping to calm fears and anxiety. We used an old-fashioned clock with a loud tick under our worried collie pup's bed and he settled well.
Finding anything which helps is such a relief isn't it? Spag bol would set me burping all night - LOL!
I think it is good that the mind de-stresses you during the night by playing out concerns in dreams, otherwise we would only be more stressed in the day. My approach has always been to accept that whilst I don't feel over stressed I am and I need to work on it while I am well and before something occurs that causes me to boil over into AF- and there always seems to be a bit of that lurking around the corner!
I also think Mg helps sleep and relaxation, I struggle to get my levels up (Red Cell test by Biolab, London) as I think I have too much calcium with a high dairy diet, which I am trying to change slowly. I have read that too much calcium blocks Mg and the knock on effect is more susceptibility to AF.
Good philosophy secondtry - the nightmare was definitely my brain trying to explain and cope with the daytime stresses and was probably an excellent safety valve. It just blew a bit too hard!!
Someone asked me to reply, since I have some experience with flecainide. I'm happy to help, but it doesn't have to do with flecainide.
You are right that slow breathing is a short-term approach to handling stress. But your question about controlling " the external world which causes stress and anxiety" might take a little different tack.
I agree we can't control that world, but can control our response to it, and you're on the right track. But don't stop there; go deeper into it. Slow breathing is only one aspect of mindfulness, and it's mindfulness that keeps us grounded. (Let me tell you about dealing with disabling symptoms of Lyme disease for the past 2+ years.) If there's a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program anywhere nearby, you might do well to attend it. It's an 8-week program that teaches the basic elements of its title.
You might investigate Vipassana - mindfulness meditation. It's what MBSR is based on, but you can go more deeply into it. There are a lot of resources on the Web. Look for anything by Jack Kornfield in particular.
If you get really stressed, you might check out the short guided meditations by Kristin Neff that are available on my website: codabone.net/dharmatalks.htm.
I particularly recommend Tara Brach's talk on Radical Acceptance, also on my website. It's a little over an hour and well worth it. She offers a couple of great tools for dealing with stress inducers. I'll share a teaser: "See what is real and meet it with compassion."
Thank you so much, Kodaska for your advice and the links. There is a mindfulness/CBT therapist in the next town and I'm planning to have a talk to her about dealing with things which I cannot influence but stress me out.
I'm so sorry you are dealing with Lyme disease - so debilitating. We live in a tick-infested area and always make sure to cover up etc - here in Ireland it is usually so cold, it's the only way to walk!
I love that last sentence and will check out your links.
Hi Finvola. Try Futurelearn on It's free 3 to 6 week courses run online from universities around the world covering all sorts of topics. They run one called mindfulness and I think you can log onto old courses run within the last 12 months. I think they do Mindfullness a couple of times a year as well. Worthwhile pursuing.
It doesn't seem to for me. Mine don't seem to be stress or anxiety related at all. Most time I get them I've overdone the caffeine, but occasionally they come for no real reason. I can ignore them to some extent; they are no more bothersome than hiccups really. But they persist for as long as they want to, breathing exercises can sometimes slow them down a bit during the exercises, but they come back quickly enough. Eventually they go away of their own accord, but they are quite the nuisance.
I suspect when my ectopics are adrenaline driven, toning the vagus nerve seems to work in stopping them. In fact, last night I concentrated on 'talking' to my vagus nerve! Some bouts occur after a sugar surge or just out of nowhere. Sometimes mild exertion shifts them - definitely a nuisance.
A few years ago when I was studying psychology, I developed an interest in hypnosis and I use hypnotherapy techniques to alleviate the symptoms. It usually works now but despite being a qualified hypnotherapist, there were times when I first experienced the panic and fear that I found it hard to get past the overwhelming anxiety. It really is a beast ! Perhaps an initial session with a qualified hypnotherapist may help you to use relaxation and mindfulness to lessen the anxiety.
Thank you Beehive, I am going to look more closely at all the options. My normal reaction to heart gymnastics has been to worry and give in to the anxiety. This time I was much more in tune with what was happening - being half asleep may have helped. Just told myself - this will work to some degree and it was very calming.
Of course, once something has worked once, it is easier to use the same technique again and I'm feeling quite pleased it did work.
Where might I find Dr Gupt's videos? Also just curious if other people experience their triggers say after 6 or 7 hrs from having wine or caffeine, or do your triggers happen immediately?
If you type Dr Sanjay Gupta into the search box at the top right of the page, all the videos which have been posted on to the forum by Steve112 will come up. These are the ones which are applicable to AF.
All of his videos are on Facebook and he has a Facebook page - details are at the end of each of his videos.
My worst trigger for AF was breathing in solvent fumes from white spirit and it always took around 12 hours to start the AF. Some people are sensitive to loud music or irritating situations where they have instant triggering. Wine usually made my heart start misbehaving within a couple of hours, sadly.
Had to go to decaff, I got rid of my ectopics, a few years ago, after beening on bisoprolol, But 15 mins after coffee my heart rate speeds up, nothing too fast but I do notice it, dr Gupta talks about vagus stimulating after food some foods do speed up my heart,,deep breathing and the valsalva ( bearing down) technique works,,for me
Love the idea of listening to a normal hear beat though
Thank-you Finvola for reply! I thought I was able to drink red wine as it didn't immediately send me into A-Fib, but twice now in the middle of the night after drinking red wine I have been awakened by my A-Fib😔 Oh well, could be worse things! I will watch the videos,
I’ve been suffering with ectopic lately, I’ve been dieting and doing some running and managed to lose 2 stone plus get bit fitter, however last 2 weeks I’ve been having big missed beats whilst exercising, it’s put me right off doing anything, plus I’ve git my stress test at the brompton on 9th so am now worried about that aswell
Was with cardiologist last fri with my brov, I’m always going on about hydration,,the doc said to him you need to drink more water,,brov took a sly look at me, 😏 maybe your not rehydration enough, and I always make sure I’m salt, pottasium, magnesium rich, with a balanced diet,
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