The last few days I’ve been getting loads of ectopics. Last night I couldn’t sleep and didn’t get to sleep until 1.30am. Woke up at 7 am and was lying there contemplating getting up, and then I felt that dreaded feeling again. I jumped out of bed to go downstairs to grab my Kardia, but by the time I got there it had stopped.
But now I’m sitting here feeling shattered, nauseous and that flutter feeling in the chest! Doesn’t help that I’ve got to travel halfway up the country today for a course tomorrow! I literally want to curl up and sleep!
I feel like it’s only a matter of time before this condition rears it’s head again properly, and that in itself causes anxiety and dread!
I’m worried about my job too, as it’s safer critical and i has to jump through a lot of hoops to satisfy them that i was fit and healthy.
Taken a 1.25mg Bisoprolol to help drop the HR a bit...
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Dangerousdriver
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I don’t have any advice but I feel your pain and anguish. We try to remain positive and not stress but the AF demon sits on our shoulder and we never know when he’ll come out to play. I wish you well.
Hey Kaz, I feel wiped out and I’ve got to travel all the way to York as well from Brighton 😬 but on the upside at least I know Sanjay Gupta is near if I do have an issue lol
I've only had one episode of AFib (cardioverted with Flecainide, which I now keep on me with Bisoprolol as pill in pocket) just over a year ago, but quite a lot of ectopics on and off since then. I take 3x daily dose of Magnesium Citrate every day, and have no idea if this is a placebo or is working in another way, but the ectopics either aren't as bad or aren't as noticeable as they used to be in general. My sister's never had Afib, and only found out she also has ectopics by accident, and doesn't feel or worry about them at all because the doc said they were normal.
I think I reacted very badly to Bisoprolol, (weird breathlessness at rest, and a constant sensation of something crushing my sternum, not pain exactly more like a big pressure) so I was weaned off it despite its AFib prophylactic effects. But I really don't know if the symptoms were down to the Bisoprolol or my anxiety, or a combination of both. Whichever it was, I got some sleeping pills (which I only occasionally resorted to) to get me through the first few months after the episode, when I would often struggle to get to sleep, jerking breathlessly awake constantly through the night just as I was dropping off, the sensation being that I'd completely stopped breathing! After a few nights like that, including a full blown panic attack, I made up some cock and bull for the doc to get the sleeping pills, and took one despite thinking if I really DID stop breathing as I thought I might, it might not be sensible - but I was past caring by then, just needed some sleep! Needless to say, they worked, and I kept breathing!
I've also had some hypnotherapy for the anxiety with the sleep issue as the focus for this, which seemed to help. And another positive for me has been talking to an older friend (I'm 57, he's 70) who now has permanent Afib, managed with Biso and blood thinners, who says he's got used to it now. So that's a positive if I do get it again - it ain't necessarily the end of the world!
Sorry to go on, but if you can see how much this one episode has affected me, (and yes, I am a worrier!) then please don't underestimate how much stress and worry your much worse problems could be causing you too. So I'd recommend something like guided relaxation audio, slow breathing like Bob recommends, and why not try some hypnotherapy for anxiety perhaps?
One last thing - I've been absent from these forums for a long time until today when I felt your pain - the reason is that until recently, just reading posts here would raise my anxiety levels again, so my best approach has been to do something, anything that takes my mind off the ectopics and anything Afib related. I'm very grateful to those who responded to me over a year ago, and hope they understand why I took myself off for a while!
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