Ectopics and trialing different drugs.... Feels endless. Feeling desperate.

[Newheartplease]

Hi to this community it's so nice to talk to people who may understand my situation as it's been tough to talk to friends and family as they don't understand how much this effects your everyday life.

A year ago I started to feel these strange beats in my heart and saw a cardiologist.they called it ventricular ectopics and said it was probably stress and sent me home.

A month later I landed myself in hospital when they were going crazy one night and ecg and echo showed a crazy amount of extra beats. Ventricular ectopy they said.

Back to cardiologist who put me on bisoprolol. This made me feel panic, anxiety and breathlessness. Not sure if anyone else had this but this drug made me feel unwell to say the least. I was on 2.5mg and eventually worked my way upto 15mg where my heart was great and I hardly noticed a thing but the bisoprolol seemed to make me feel short of breath. After weaning off this drug I returned to the cardiologist who prescribed me verapamil. This was after treadmill test and halter monito revealed my overall burden was getting higher and was now 7%.

Im two weeks into the verapamil and heart is still have crazy amount of ectopics. They send pressure to my head and make me feel light headed.

I am also Constipated and suffered badly the whole week with headaches. I am on 120mg and wonder if I should go higher.... Would that make a difference?

Everyone I kmow says it's stress. De stress and you will come right. With bills to pay and a busy family life that's not likely to happen but for the first time I'm actually considering quitting my job because I can't handle stress on my heart. It certainly makes it worse. But I need the money so there's that too...

What brought this on! How can a perfectly healthy 40 year old femail who ran everyday suddenly be suffering with this? I wish I had answers or atleast leads... Its really getting me down

I am now taking lorazapam every day to calm myself because it's the only thing that gives me a break from all this.

My questions is..

Has anyone transitioned from bisoprolol to verapamil for ectopics.

Which one worked better for you?

What was your dosage? How long to you give it before you realise you need to try something else. And is there anything left to try... Other than ablation which has been suggested.

A year ago I was injected with marcaine adrenaline for a minor loacl anesthetic surgery... Could this have anything to do with it?

Help! I'm so frustrated! Any feedback would be much appreciated! Thank u in advance!

[bantam12]

Hi

I can't help with meds because my Cardio hasn't given me any ! I did take Bisoprolol in the past but it made me desperately tired is it was stopped.

My Cardio has said beta blockers and anti arythmics will make the symptoms worse so isn't happy to prescribe but I'm not happy plodding on with no help !

I have both atrial and ventricular ectopics and recently diagnosed with 2nd degree Mobitz1, on bad days it's constant and as you say it really messes with daily life, the worst for me is the lightheadedness and faint feeling, not ideal when out and about !

At least you are being offered treatment which is half the battle, after diagnosis I was discharged with no ongoing help 😕

[Newheartplease in reply to bantam12]

Poor u! I have basically had to be a noise in their ear though.juat keep returning and telling them I'm still not well and need help. Wonder about ablation but then hear some stories that aren't so nice too. Can't keep taking anxiety meds to help as that's just masking the problem. Grrr so firstrating!

[Kellyjelly in reply to Newheartplease]

I completely understand how you feel. It is so hard to figure out what to do and which way to turn, isn’t it. I can’t help much with the questions about drugs apart from to say bisopropolol made me feel extremely unwell and I was on the lowest dose and had to stop taking it.

I’m finally after many years of being passed from pillar to post meeting an EP on the 1st March, I’m hoping he will be able to really help me and bring it all together so I can make a plan for my future.

Have you seen an EP? From what I’ve learned through this forum that is the person that really knows the most about the electrics of the heart. I have seen many cardiologists over the years who have constantly suggested that it’s all in my over anxious mind and really nothing to worry about. That’s all well and good but if your quality of life is really suffering you need to know that you are speaking to the right specialist and every possible treatment is being explored and discussed.

I started a thread about ablation yesterday and it might be worth a read, it’s very positive and helpful.

I’m sorry I can’t answer any of your questions and I hope you get the help you need soon. I understand how confusing and isolating this all is. Good luck and take care.

[Newheartplease in reply to Kellyjelly]

Omg thanks so much for uour message honestly just so I don't feel alone in this.

That's a great idea as yes it's all to do with the electrical circuit. Will try to find an ep in my area. Great idea!

[Kellyjelly in reply to Newheartplease]

Are you in the uk? One of the hardest things for me has been trying to cope with the years of being told it was all being caused by my inability to cope and my chronic anxiety. I felt so strongly that I wasn’t suffering from chronic anxiety on a day to day basis but only when my heart was beating irregularly at 220bpm! Unfortunately the more you disagree with an anxiety diagnosis the more anxious you appear 🙄

It took so many years to get a firm diagnosis and even with that I still get the inevitable question”do you suffer with anxiety?” When I see any new doctor or a paramedic is called. The suggestion to take a deep breath and try and relax and calm down is the most common response, this can definitely be helpful but it’s also a bit undermining because it suggests that if you just get a grip you can stop your symptoms and that is just not the case. All this can make these problems extremely isolating, especially for women I think. It’s also hard when you are younger, I have never met anyone my age with this condition apart from on this forum.

Please don’t feel alone, this forum has been a godsend for me, everyone is so helpful and kind.

[Newheartplease in reply to Kellyjelly]

Oh yes I'm so pleased I found it. No I'm not in the UK I'm in New Zealand. I'm 41 so in my opinion way too young and can totally relate with the anxious comments as that's all I get! Especially from my husband! It's frustrating as it's not in my mind, I don't need to do yoga and quit my job I just need to fix the funny circuit in my heart so I can get on with my active life looking after the kids and working. It should be possible. It was a year ago before all this started! Well I'll keep searching for answers. In the meantime I have got our of bed at 11pn for 5 mins to walk somewhere and I'm puffing like a 90 year old and my hearts going crazy. Sorry I can't live like this forever.

[bantam12 in reply to Newheartplease]

Ahh different countries probably explains you getting treated and us in the UK being left untreated, Cardiology here is not great especially for us ladies !

[Kellyjelly in reply to Newheartplease]

It’s not in your mind, I had that from family members too.

I have found that you really need to try and focus on finding the right help and that starts with the correct specialist. I got so bogged down and confused and I’m now trying to do one thing at a time. I’m hoping that things will get easier when I see the EP, it will be such a relief to talk about what’s actually happening to my heart and not get side tracked by the other stuff!

Best of luck with everything and you are right you are too young to feel like this.

[Hidden]

Dr Sanjay Gupta recommends magnesium supplements for ectopics. In another video he describes a small trial of Ranolazine in ventricular ectopics which he says looks promising. If you search this forum you will many threads discussing ectopics.

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

++++++++++++++++++++

Below is the link for the Ranolazine video

healthunlocked.com/afassoci......

[sleeksheep]

My cardiologist mentioned verapamil but cautioned it does cause constipation so I stayed on Diltiazem .

Anxiety is a self perpetuating disorder , it needs to be dealt with first IMO just controlling this relieves strain on the heart. I had decades of anxiety and eventually at last resort went to a hypnotherapist . This really worked only took two sessions to build the coping mechanism and my anxiety levels have been 99.99% less ever since - dont want to mozz myself by saying I have never had it since.

Magnesium Taurate has been shown on this site and elsewhere to be one of the big factors in heart health improvement , I would include CoQ10 and try another cardioversion.