I was taken into A&E about 8 weeks ago with a fast heart rate along with lots of ectopic beats. After tests, they have said I have AF. It’s bizarre as the day I went into hosp I was ovulating. I also have ectopics at other times of the month as my hormones fluctuate. I’m 44 and wondering if it linked to the perimenopause? I hate the feeling of ectopics and think I’m going to drop dead when I have them! I’ve written a couple of posts on here about my diagnosis but am now starting to think it’s linked to hormones. My anxiety is awful when these skipped beats take place.
Julia
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Julia7
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definitely can be linked to hormones, and it’s one of the many potential effects of the perimenopause. What joy!!
I don’t know if there’s any science behind my wondering if it affects women more who have already had some benign arrhythmia earlier in their life (eg ectopics) but that’s certainly my experience!
Some people say HRT helps their arrhythmia. (I can’t take it, sadly, due to other health issues.) Making sure we have a good balance of nutrients and electrolytes is helpful and a healthy lifestyle. I’ve just had a glance at your previous posts (sorry I wasn’t around to read them at the time!) and I see you’re ahead of me on all of that stuff 😊
Like you, I understand the power of anxiety (which incidentally can also get worse during the perimenopause). And I know how important it is to find ways to combat it. Anxiety is an evil little bugger ... like a thief coming at us to steal away every bit of the joy and peace in our life, isn’t it? Making us dread the maybes and the what ifs. So (and I’m talking to myself here too) the more we can do to take back our life from its grasp, the better I don’t know if you’re getting any support in that?
Sending love, and best wishes for a happy heart, Jane xx
Thanks for your lovely reply....MRI is on the 23rd Sep. I really hope it’s just a thorough check and nothing comes of it. I will wake up feeling great in myself and then, at some point in the day, an ectopic will happen and I panic....which brings on another. Then they go away again. Like I said the anxiety worsens on the day of ovulation and day of period. I was away in the caravan over the summer and one night I was shivering and shaking, my heart skipping beats etc...I calmed myself down by repeating to myself “it is only hormones”. My 13 year old daughter also calmed me down. I’m having the odd ectopic typing this! I’m on the last day of period so hormone levels are dropping again. It’s madness. I really appreciate your support.
Oh I feel for you so much! It really does sound to be tied up with hormonal stuff for you. It very much has been for me too.
That’s great you could calm yourself down like that - and your daughter too, bless her
‘It’s only hormones’ and ‘it’s only ectopics’ is a great mantra! Ectopics feel SO wrong (especially when they come along like a group-booking rather than singletons) and it’s hard to believe you’re actually ok, isn’t it? But they really are harmless. Having read through your previous posts, if I were you I’d be massively reassured that I’m absolutely fine 💜
So sorry to read of your experience and the way hormones affected your heart. I guess I am fortunate to have reached 73 before being diagnosed, well after the menopause and not having taken HRT. Lovely to hear how your daughter was so supportive- that's brilliant for someone at that difficult age- she must be very special.
No mine is paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and occasional ectopics Now I've started taking flecainide regularly rather than as a PIP, though I haven't had any episodes of AF, my blood pressure (which used to be fine) has shot up considerably today after just being slightly active and is very worrying. And stress is really bad for AF!!!
This is what I’ve been diagnosed with...after only one episode which I think was due to panic because of ectopics. I had also drunk a lot of Diet Coke that day along with exercise. It was also the day I ovulated. I’m finding I get the ectopics when I ovulate and when my period is due (also during my period). I’m not sure I have Af and neither is my GP. Xx
I should lay off the diet coke and just drink good old water- plain from the tap or filtered if you can get a filter as we did many years ago. I have always preferred it and now it turns out to be the healthiest option. Good luck!
Thanks for your reply. Thyroid is normal from bloods but he hasn’t checked hormones...I’ve booked to see him on 12th so will ask then. What is TSH and T4?
Thanks for your reply....yes, I’m on a very low dose of Bisoprolol 2.5g. I haven’t been in AF since (not sure if I was and think it was a run of ectopics which they picked up on ecg.)
....just watched it! Absolutely superb along with watching the section on “ectopics and conquering the fear”. Thanks so much for this. I may even contact him.
I hadn’t seen this either, Julia! - Sanjay Gupta amazing - he’s done so many helpful videos on YouTube (you can follow him on FB and Instagram too). I’d definitely recommend you watch all the ones that might relate to you - learn all you can - and contacting him sounds a great idea He has a really wonderful ‘holistic’ approach, and understand what things are like from the patient’s point of view. Xx
Hi Julia, also for me there is definitely a connection hormones-AFib and/or hormones/ectopics. My period has always been stressful for my body, often had labial herpes during it. I am also in perimenopause and will have often tachicardy as well. I hate all this.. Really.. I do not want to go for HRT due to weight issues
Thanks for replying....sounds like it takes a real toll on your body, bless you. If my ectopics are from hormones I feel I can cope a little better knowing the reason, rather than thinking it’s a problem with my heart. Apparently, if you got 100 people together, a high percentage would complain of ectopics, so they are common. It’s the sudden heart fast rate I went into that I hated...only happened once on the day I ovulated. I was also doing a very low carb diet which didn’t help. But, like yourself, I think my hormones are very much to blame. Heart MRI in a few weeks just as a precaution.
Girl, you are telling my story! I am 42, was diagnosed last year with AFib. Since going on a beta blocker I haven’t had any runs, but I get ectopics twice a month, on the day I ovulate and the first of my period. Like clockwork! I get the shaking and sweating thing too. If it helps, I’ve taken ekgs with my Kardia several times when this has happened and shown them to my primary doc, he’s reassured me that he doesn’t see anything dangerous. I’m going this week to see my cardiologist about it just in case, will keep you posted.I definitely think stress has a lot to do with my heart issues, it’s great that you can see that and work on managing it.
Another thing that’s helped me some is changing position when ectopics start. I’m often lying down when they kick off, so sitting up or walking around can calm things down. I’ve had to sleep sitting up a few times, but it beats that awful feeling.
Wow, that’s incredible but also reassuring. I can’t understand how there hasn’t been masses of research into the fact that hormones affect heart rate / performance. Let’s stay in touch to see how we both get on through the next couple of months. If I know what’s causing the weird beats, I can handle it a little better. Also have terrible anxiety on certain days of the month, again, I’m sure linked to perimenopause. If I lay on my left hand side, this will often start them off. We are like the same person!
...this is what I don’t understand. They picked up the ectopic beats on the ecg in the hosp when my heart was racing. They said I had an irregular heart beat and p. AFib. I don’t have a clear understanding of it. I had to take a tablet to bring my racing heart down....but I think it was racing as I was so scared after so many ectopics.
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I don’t know if you’re getting any support in that? 
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