Ectopics

[mastiff22]

Hi all. Does anyone have long episodes of Ectopics lasting for hours on end and having a heart rate of 43 beats per minutes . This is happening to me most days at the moment and completely knocks me out. I have pains in my head at it’s worst and very fatigued and dizzy.

[bantam12]

I have continual ectopics 24/7 but not a low heartrate, are you seeing a Cardiologist and getting treatment ? If you have bradycardia you need something done.

[mastiff22 in reply to bantam12]

Yes, thanks bantam12. I had an ablation 12 months ago but was back in AF after a few days. I am booked in for a pace and a late but am told it could be a few months before it takes place.

[mastiff22 in reply to mastiff22]

Sorry that should read pace and ablate.

[pottypete1]

I get Ectopics more with a slow heart rate than when it is faster. I think it is because the heart finds it easier to slip in the extra beats and miss beats when the heart rate is slower.

Equally if your heart rate is faster extra beats are not so readily noticed.

Pete

[Crash88 in reply to pottypete1]

sorry to intervene but i am just like you, when my resting HR is at 55-57 i get them, are they dangerous though?? i get like maybe 10 of them then i get busy and they stop, and when i exercise and my HR is 140 i never get them at least i dont think greetings

[pottypete1 in reply to Crash88]

Ectopics are in the main benign.

I have had AF that started with ectopics but non of it is dangerous in itself. What is dangerous is having uncontrolled AF without anti-coagulation. There is then risk of stroke.

[Crash88 in reply to pottypete1]

dont have AF myself but curious how many ectopics did u have before it switched to AF or what happened that u got AF???

[pottypete1 in reply to Crash88]

Ectopics were probably a by-product of my AF.

I started having AF nearly 30 years ago so cannot remember much about the start. All I know is I had two days a month apart when I felt really odd for no apparent reason and had what I now know to be palpatations. I saw my GP who actually called an ambulance and I spent the next 5 days in hospital under observation.

Since then I have had Lone Paroxysmal AF which means it comes and goes but has now identifyable cause eg heart disease.

I have had 7 ablations to correct my heart rhythm problems that now seem to be much less since the last one 21 months ago.

Look up Dr Sanja Gupta on YouTube. He has a number of very good videos explaining everything much better than I could ever do. In one he explains that everyone has ectopics and that they are mainly benign. It is because AF patients really get to know their heart and the vagaries of heart rhythm that means that they feel it much more than the vast majority of people.

Pete

[BobD Volunteer]

Have you tried the slow deep breathing exercise which works so well to stop ectopics for many of us.? Breath from your diaphragm not your shoulders and slow your breathing down to no more than six breaths a minute. Many can go slower still. Do this for at least five minutes and prefereably ten once you have mastered it. Should stop them or at least reduce your burden.

[mastiff22]

Thanks Bob. Will practise that.

[2468abcmuk]

Hi

Yes horrible things my pulse is low but take bisoprolo and this slows your pulse

They definitely help ectopics for me and only get occasional break throughs ( touch wood ) lean very forward on a chair or your bed 🛌 like squashing your abs and slow breathing! Works for me after around

10 min

[mastiff22 in reply to 2468abcmuk]

Thank you, will give that a try.

[Crash88 in reply to mastiff22]

Bisoprolol low doses should actually get rid of ectopics and also exercise regularly and no alcohol

[TinCool in reply to 2468abcmuk]

I too take a daily low does (2.5mg) of bisoprolol. I've been on it about 4 months now and they've all but stopped my ectopics. I still get the occasional few. I put this down to stress and anxiety that I'm suffering with. I have a lot going on in my life at the moment. I'm still waiting on a cardiologist appointment but the bisoprolol definitely helped. My GP prescribed them to me as after two visit to A&E with aFib which were resolved by cardioversions and 100's of ectopics every day, something had to be done. It does lower heart rate so may not be suitable, but GP should be able to do something for you.

[Onboat74]

Yes this is happening to me also at the moment and it’s been going on daily for like three months. When your resting the heart slows down so low it starts to skip a beat to catch up. You go into Bradycardia basically. This can happen if your very athletic too and can be normal. Im not very athletic but try to be somewhat but not very because when I try to be I sometimes get heart fluttering too. I’ll tell you my thoughts. I have been to a few cardiologist over the last few months. How about six of them getting opinion after opinion. I went through a ton of tests trying to figure out what is wrong. I’m like a guinea pig I feel. None seem to know. They basically tell me I’m fine and it’s anxiety no worries but I know something isn’t right. You don’t know who to believe and trust. One hospital wanted to do an electrophysiology study and possible ablations basically go into my heart to try and make it flutter with wires and prob around but I decided not to go that route just yet. That’s mostly for afib. I don’t have that or least they said I don’t but it can work great for some with afib but defiantly would go to the most experienced for that with high volume experience. Im not ready to operate just yet I told them let’s wait on that. I was thinking maybe it’s anxiety after all the ekgs where normal and the tests I went through. Some very conflicting. For example two different echocardiogram technicians said I had a dilated left atrium two different labs one said I had a severely dilated left atrium the other said only slightly but then some other cardio doctors told me not all the echocardiogram technicians are accurate. I’m like ok. Then why do you do them if they aren’t always accurate. Seems bizarre. Just tell me something your guessing at I guess and that’s not accurate. Ok that makes me feel really good. Then they suggested MRI with contrast it’s more precise. That test defiantly sucks it’s like being put into a toilet paper roll very tight and there is banging noise for like an hour. Im like really you want me to go in there for an hour! Ok give me like 5 Xanax so I’m in nana land before I do that test. Anyway got through the MRI with contrast they said no dilation its normal but worse I have low blood flow on bottom of chamber. Can mean heart transplant the doctor said. The doctor came in very serious. I was scared out of my mind! I already have anxiety not something you say to me. I was freaking out. Then I thought well Vice President Dick Chaney in 2007 had a heart transplant and no pulse for about a year before that and he is still alive; so this is stressful stuff. Im forging forward. I then had a stress test and all was good and I didn’t get any Palpations on that test. So then I said ok and had another echocardiogram done this time with contrast at another top hospital with another cardio doctor he seemed good and good reviews and trust worthy I actually met him casually before. He lives in my neighborhood. They said it was all normal. I had a chest X-ray too but don’t do that unless it’s really necessary because it’s to much radiation. I read it’s not good and can pick up myocardia virus and swollen heart and stuff like that but don’t do it unless you really think you need it. So it’s like ok who do I believe? I can write a book about this experience. I’m not kidding that last cardio guy saved me from and operation. See in the USA this is a business for some doctors sadly. They want to make money. I decided let me get a holter monitor for 30 days and have that checked out see what they come back with. No afib but they said well your getting PAC and PVC everyone gets them a few times you had sinus tachycardia while on it but I was Bike riding when that happened so it’s normal. They said you get these extra beats just slow down a bit your just feeling these extra beats but it’s normal. Yeah ok sure it’s normal but it’s never happened to me before. That’s easier said then done. Then they prescribed me a beta blocker. I tried out a few of them. One made my seemed to even make my blood pressure increase a bit. How does that happen. They all seem to make it worse for me. The older one metoprolol 25mg the least bit but never the less it brought my blood pressure down even lower and my heart rate was very low I was like wait am I still even alive? I’d check it like 15x a day. My pulse was like 42. Then on one medication I got so scared I was at 42 beats a minute in bradycardia I have the Apple Watch 4 it alerts you. So I got nervous then I went right into tachycardia and my heart would raise to 150 because I was nervous I guess. I would go to the local hospital and this nurse was like your pulse is 45 then I’d be back not even kidding a few days later and same nurse I would walk into the hospital and she is like bradycardia again and I say no I can’t breath and she take my pulse and I was at 150 and she was like oh Sinus tamycardia. My blood pressure then skyrocket too. They said stay on metoprolol for anxiety and it will chilled you out a bit. They said it’s not for my blood pressure it’s ok pulse is low more for the heart palpations. I stopped it can’t deal with it. Anyway it’s still happening my resting heart rate goes into the low 40 range I get a pvc or pac and it feels like Im getting shocked sometimes the palpations are so hard. I would definitely see a good cardiologist one you trust just to get fully checked out to make sure nothing serious. Let them do and ekg and echocardiogram a stress test extra. The basic work up. After doing some reading on my own which you should never do and don’t self diagnose like me. It seems like my sinus node is slow and maybe I have first degree heart block. Which can cause this. There are three degrees of heart block. first degree second degree and third degree heart block. I forget what the scientific names exactly are at the moment but for the first but it isn’t that serious and doesn’t show all the time on a basic Ekg ecg test and its hard to diagnose. But you get can get dizzy sometimes heart rate slows and you get extra beat Palpations. I’m going to a another high rated electrophysiologist in two weeks I got an appointment at a major hospital with a high volume doctor to see if they can figure this out. I sympathize with you and what your going through it defiantly sucks. I would have just have a cardiologist run test to rule out anything serious. With today’s technology I’m sure you will be fine. Hang in there.

[greg35 in reply to Onboat74]

This could be story also had 2 ablations they did not work EP wants me to go for a third I am at the minute not going down that road yet! Flecainide worked for a year but now on Ivabradine which seems to be working for now! Please let me know how you get on, best wishes Ingrid

[mastiff22 in reply to greg35]

Thanks for that. Good to know I’m not on my own. Horrible episodes which take 3/4hours out of my life every day.

[Cutie1]

I have a similar problem Apple Watch shows resting heart rate between 42 /53 then had 4 episodes over the last 4 months one a month pulse rate shooting up 190 249 ended up in hospital twice Holter showed no fast rate but bradycardia they wanted to give me beater blocker but refused to take it as most of the Day pulse was low ! Last episode the ambulance saw I had atrial fibrillation so diagnosed with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation they want to give me a warfarin type pill to prevent clots and a beta blocker but would preferred to strength my heart with vitamins and minerals exercise yoga meditation so not sure what to do now !! As the onset is progressive it also shows a mitral stenosis that I believe is the cause of it all so feel I need rest to see it needs widening

[Onboat74 in reply to Cutie1]

I think the blood thinner you may need just so you don’t get a stroke if you have afib. Did you where a holter for 30 days or just a few days?

[radagast58]

Hi

Did you see a cardiologist when the paramedics picked up PAF. If you have mitral stenosis that warrants further investigation. I would strongly advise you rethink your decision not to take anticoagulants. Can I ask your age? I hope you get things sorted

[Deb1838]

Mastiff I used to get loads of ectopics and a significant amount of svt according to my cardiologist but since the lovely people on here pointed me towards magnesium taurate. I have had very few, I am not saying they are gone completely but they are not taking over my life anymore.

I am on bisopolol and my heart rate also goes as low as 45 and that’s when I always feel vulnerable to an afib attack.

Fortunately recently been 49 to 55 which I can tolerate.

[mastiff22 in reply to Deb1838]

Thanks for that Deb 1838. I will try anything. I have now got a date for the pace and ablate for 24 May but I am dreading getting through the next 7 weeks of these episodes lasting 3/4 or 5 hours every day . Currently on Flecanide and Verapamil, not forgetting Rivaroxaban.