Ectopics and momentary AF

[Rhiannonimity1]

Please can anyone give me advice. I’m really struggling.

I have had fast AF 12 times over the last 12 years. Previously I have not been on any medication but the last time I went into AF I was converted and prescribed 2.5 mg of bisoprolol daily. That was 15 months ago, and since then I haven’t had so much as a flutter, until 2 weeks ago.

2 weeks ago, I accidentally ate one of my trigger foods and although the bisoprolol kept me out of AF, ever since I have had what I can only call extreme electrical activity in my heart. Ectopics 15 times a minute and severe palpitations especially after eating. The trigger food also caused IBS and bloating which still hasn’t gone away although has lessened, but the electrical activity has not gone. The GP wouldn’t see me but upped my betablockers to 5mg for 2 weeks after a phone conversation. The 5mg has stopped the palpitations but not all of the ectopics. I’m also now going into slow AF for about 30 seconds several times a day. The worse thing now is that I’m fine when I stand up, but as soon as I sit or lie down, my heart becomes active. I’m hardly getting any sleep because of the activity. I can’t get an urgent GP appointment and the next appointment I could get is in 3 weeks. I was so exhausted yesterday I went to A and E but they said I was fine and sent me home.

Am I fine? Am I just supposed to live with this?

Sorry to ramble. Also have always been told my score is too low for blood thinners.

Thanks

[Bertiedette]

I have exactly the same problem as you .Thought that I was in slow AF and phoned my surgery ..I could not beleive that after a phone conversation with a GP that she sent an ambulance to me..After examination the crew decided that it was just ectopic beats not AF. I felt terrible to have wasted the crews time.Nonetheless I was suffering badly .every second beat ectopic. They said they would take me to A&E if I wished. I declined .I am still the same and it's been four weeks since then,I am so miserable and depressed ,

[Rhiannonimity1 in reply to Bertiedette]

Oh gosh Bertiedette, you seem so much worse than me. Do you find it is worse when you try to sit or lie down?

[Bertiedette in reply to Rhiannonimity1]

At anytime . It is harder lying down .. no matter what I do I can feel it.

I went swimming yesterday and was scared in the pool but I kept up a very slow pace I was barely moving ..I just think that there must be something that can be done about these ectopics. I am on an anticoagulant thank goodness but I am loathe to try another beta blocker. I am on Nebivolol which I fought hard to be on.

[CDreamer]

I think ectopics are the worst, certainly make you feel horrible but doctors consider them benign so you rarely get any suggestions for how to stop them.

I would suggest that healing the IBS will result in a marked decrease in heart abnormal activity. For me - I stop eating anything with dairy, sugar or gluten in. I also now take 100ml/day of a really good quality organic Aloe Vera liquid, mixed with apple juice, really helps heal the gut. I also use fermented foods to improve gut flora and avoid taking any pharmaceutical drugs for IBS. I can usually get back on track within a few weeks. I also find that confining my eating to an 10 hour window in any 24 hours really helps - allows the bowel to rest and recover.

When I have a an IBS episode I go into rescue mode - 24 hours of fasting - nothing but warm water with a slice of lemon. Introduce food very gradually thereafter with stuff like liquidised or well cooked vegetables.

If you can change your Lifestyle, you will be able to improve your health and well being going forward.

In the meantime - regular slow breathing really helps decrease the number of ectopics - plenty of posts on this, just put ectopics into the search box - top right of page - breath deep into your belly, hold, breath out slowly, hold, breath in. If you can reduce your breathing to 6 breaths a minute you will find it will have a beneficial calming affect on you generally, which in turn will reduce the electrical activity in the heart.

Hope that helps.

[Hidden]

Hi Rhiannonimity1

Just read your post. Hmmmmm .......... can easily identify with your second paragraph

I was diagnosed with paroxysmal AF in Jan 2010. By Sept 2011 I had identified a main trigger - food - which caused digestive issues, the most significant, the worst and the most painful was bloating

My GP had bloods done for IBS and Coeliac Disease but they came back clear. I then consulted a Nutritionist who put me on a course of Probiotics and developed a food plan, which I then developed further in the years following Sept 2011.

By April 2015 I had contained my AF events and my last recorded event was in April 2015 and I have only captured one AF event since then - lying on my left side.

However, chaotic electrical activity of the heart has continued and has worsened even up to last Saturday, 8 June.

I put a post or two on here a few weeks ago about my experiences. Click on my user name and you should be able to navigate your way to these posts. some of the titles are ECG ...., update on ECG and Unhappy Heart.

My one definate AF event occurred in Feb 2018 sleeping on my left side, however, recently I have eaten food which has caused massive upsets as you’ll see from the posts. The latest occurred on Saturday and the best I can do is put it down to a sauce that my Thursday evening dinner was made with. This is the second meal within a month that has caused a major upset for me where a sauce was part of the meal. Actually used in the cooking process I mean.

This event started Friday night and lasted until midday/early afternoon of Saturday. I felt like death, my heart was banging and thumping away like it was trying to escape from my chest, bloating was massive and my heart rate bobbed up and down like a fishing float between 48 and 113 bpm up and down, up and down till late morning/early afternoon between these two number values.

To be honest all I did was stay on the bed at least until I didn’t feel the heart banging away any more. and eventually the heart calmed down. I was quite happy to die.

anyway, hope you are on the mend and more settled.

John