Difference between ectopic and Afib or other?

[HappyMeatloaf]

Hi all, new here. Last Thursday I had three episodes lasting about 20,10, and 15 seconds of erratic heartbeats. No pain, but I felt like there was a hole in my chest or something. The pulse was all over the place. An ambulance was called. And all had stopped by the time the paramedics got there and nothing occurred at the hospital. Cardiac enzymes normal. BP and heart rate all normal. I have had this feeli g before but never for that long (usually just a few seconds). I see a cardiologist on Monday, but any ideas? Burping tends to help relieve them.

Thanks!

[JohnEagel]

Hello mate,

Yeah I know this feeling. Aweful. A few seconds and then it is gone. Sometimes it comes on when I feel very stressex and sometimez out of the blue.

One can get paranoid over them. I am dealing with ectopic since years, before my ablation and after. But these erratic beats feel different to the "normal" ectopics. Its not like the single missed beat and then a strong one. Really strange.

Last time I managed to get a reading on my Omron HG 801 single lead heart monitor. Will ask the cardio next time when I see him.

Will try to post a snapshot from the reading.

Cheers J.

[CDreamer]

If you have a Kardia you can identify ectopics quite easily - they are benign skipped beats but when you have a lot together they can feel uncomfortable and actually they made me feel icky in a way that AF doesn’t. AF is an irregular fast/slow/fast rhythm which looks very different. As I now have a Pacemaker it’s rarely a problem but I do have the odd atria ectopic - you can have atria or ventricular or ectopics or both.

They used to be a precursor for AF for me so if I ever felt them when I was active it would be a sign to stop and go rest as if I didn’t AF would be the next step.

They are common after ablation and some people seem much more prone to having more than others. If they are very bothersome then I believe you can have an ablation for the ectopics - I think several people on the forum have had such.

[HappyMeatloaf in reply to CDreamer]

Are cardiac enzymes elevated during AFib or after?

[Madscientist16 in reply to HappyMeatloaf]

Cardiac enzymes are only elevated when you have/had experienced a heart attack. I don't believe AF causes elevated heart enzymes. They always check for elevated enzymes when I was in the hospital with an AF attack. They were never shown to be elevated.

[Padayn01]

I get exactly like you, when I’m lying down I can get a little flutter of a few fast beats that tend to get better after lying up and burping