Palpitations

[Gwersey]

How many ectopic beats a day is considered too many? Surely there's a guideline to say when they become dangerous? Or can one just keep having them all day every day without harming the heart? Lots of questions I know. But if anyone can answer any of them I'd be grateful.

[BobD Volunteer]

They are distressing rather than dangerous Gwersey. Normal people have up to 200 a day and many of us old stagers have 2 to 3 thousand. If the deep slow breathing doesn't help then maybe your EP can offer some help if very excessive but they are normally quite dismissive since they are benign.

[Gwersey in reply to BobD]

Thank you BobD, as always, for your prompt reply. I see my EP in October, where he will, no doubt, dismiss them. But they are worsening, and I feel as if I'm having a rush of blood to my head whenever they come.

I know you and the rest of the people on this forum are not qualified to give medical advice. I'm looking for anyone who experiences this or similiar with ectopic beats all the time.

[Leeson in reply to Gwersey]

Bob, I have had af for twelve years now, took tablets, then had a ablation four months ago, had to go on tablets again as still having af symptoms, just recently no af, but ectopic beats lasting hours, is this a problem do you think, should I just ignore them or go back to see my specialist

[Mary-miles in reply to Gwersey]

I get them most days .They come and go.I had an ablation 2 months ago for A Fib but did not get ectopics until after the ablation.Although they are bothersome they are way better than having A fib.They are worse with stress but don’t have too much of that in my life.I will be getting the 2 week event monitor on Oct 2 so will find out how many I am actually getting.I don’t know how dangerous they are so E/P will tell me after the reading.They sure aren’t normal.

[Gwersey in reply to Mary-miles]

Please post after you've seen your EP. I'm interested in what he or she has to say about your ectopic beats.

[Mary-miles in reply to Gwersey]

I will post for sure and mention your name so you will be able to see it

[Gwersey in reply to Mary-miles]

Thanks in advance.

[Gwersey in reply to Mary-miles]

Did your EP have anything to say about your ectopics?

[Mary-miles in reply to Gwersey]

Sorry I did not know where to put this post.The holter monitor showed no A fib but my ectopics are PAC.They do seem to be less this month but he does want to do another holter for 2 weeks and it’s booked for Jan 14 th.He said they may decrease even more but if not he said he would ablate them if I wanted.He did not seem that concerned.

[Gwersey in reply to Mary-miles]

Good. I hope they continue to lessen for you. All the best.

[Bmwpaul1971]

Hi, I am 47 and must have thousands a day. They don't seem too bothered. I get the question " is it bothering you?" Lol

[philologus in reply to Bmwpaul1971]

I was getting 30,000 to 40,000 a day.

This was causing my heart to get confused and led to my left ventricle getting mixed messages so that my ejection fraction was below 20. (Heart Failure at level 4.)

It was caused - according to the specialist - by my taking Tramadol for two years as this is known to cause irregular beats.

Medication got this down to 20,000 after I stopped taking Tramadol.

Because of a post on this site, I began researching the use of iodine.

After a week of taking it my ectopics fell below 200 a day. I slowly built up to four drops twice a day and then reduced this to three drops a day once I had the result I wanted.

I realise that this might have been specific to me as I had a known cause of the HF and ectopics so if anyone is considering going down this road I would say DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH FIRST!

The Iodine I use (I still take 3 drops a day) is nascent iodine from a company called Harmonic Innerprizes. 600 drops in a bottle so lasts for a long time.

[Hidden in reply to philologus]

That is very interesting to hear and particularly your experience of tramadol .I have been taking this on and off for weeks and finally stopped as I felt I was living in a twilight zone . I certainly don't need extra help to get irregular heart beats!

Sandra

[bibibrock]

I recently saw both my GP and then a cardiologist because of frequent palpitations (ectopic beats). The doctor told me that he knew a nurse that had ectopic beats (feels like a skipped beat) every second beat and still managed to live a normal life. My cardiologist also reassured me that they are benign and said around 20,000 or 25,000 a day would be where they would consider treatment such as an ablation or drugs, and even then only if necessary. Unless the anxiety caused by the palpitations is making your life miserable, no medication is usually necessary. Medications can be effective and they can also cause side effects, hence the preference to leave it alone and learn to live with them. Both doctors assured me that there would be no adverse effects on my heart or any implications for longevity. I currently get anything between a few ectopics a minute to none at all at times. The most I get is when my heart skips a beat after every two beats. Even that has no affect on what I do, as long as I make sure that I don't get stressed about them. Worrying is a sure way to make them worse. These days, most of the time I don't even notice them.

[Gwersey in reply to bibibrock]

Thanks for your reassuring reply, although I have to say the ectopics dominate the quality of my life. Stupid to allow this I know. Unfortunately I'm in a constant state of anxiety because of them. A GP suggested that because I only weigh 45k I can feel them more acutely.

[bibibrock in reply to Gwersey]

interesting point about your weight, because I also weigh under 50kg. Have you had your thyroid function checked because an overactive (even slightly) thyroid can cause palpitations (it did with me and I was put on beta blockers for a while until it settled down). I do suspect that my thyroid function may still be a little elevated even when the test results are in the normal range, because even now I sometimes get this wired feeling that I used to get when I had hyperthyroidism. Taking a magnesium supplement (about 350 - 600mg a day) has helped me settle the anxiety and has made them much less noticeable. And another supplement that has made a very noticeable difference to my anxiety has been Niacin (B3) 100mg a day after breakfast.

[Gwersey in reply to bibibrock]

My thyroid has been tested and comes back normal. My mum has an under-active thyroid for many years.

Are you on any medication, heart meds or other? And is Niacin an over-the- counter supplement?

[bibibrock in reply to Gwersey]

Hi,

not taking any heart medication, there is no need as my heart is actually very healthy, it just likes to miss beats for some reason What I do take is bio-identical hormones (progesterone and estrogen) in low doses which I started when I went through peri-menipause and my palpitations really started to play up! The hormones helped and I am still taking them. My cardiologist said to continue as low estrogen can contribute to palpitations. Niacin is a very safe, inexpensive and easily available over the counter supplement. I use Nature's Way brand, 100mg for 100 capsules.

[Vandalbragg]

I get ectopics when I lye down. They are extremely annoying.

[SpritzerAce]

I have PAF and sometimes I get ectopic beats too. They are bothersome as usually they are signs that full blown AF is coming My longest bout of ectopics lasted about 5 hours with HB about 150 p/m the highest during this episode. Not sure how many beats a day is normal or too many. But I informed my EP and she assured me that those beats are harmless albeit annoying. I guess we just need to learn how to manage them. I would check with my EP if I keep getting it every day though. If you have the chance to get AliveCor Kardia that will help, at least from my experience.