Afib or ectopic's ?

[Paulbounce]

Hello everyone. I hope you are having a good weekend - as much as we can at the moment anyway !

OK - just a little question here. I use a Beurer heart monitor to check for any signs of afib once a day in the morning. 4 days ago it showed 'irregular heart beat'. First time in ages. It does a 30 second reading so I instantly checked again - all was normal with the second reading (and the next).

The Blue Tooth mode isn't working for some reason so I can't do a full ECG.

Since then I've gone in to 'obsession mode' and keep checking. It's like this - most of the time it's reading 'OK'. However (at a guess) it will come up with an irregular reading once an hour. Everytime it does there are a couple of instant beats on the screen light showing your heart rate. So it's totally normal then it's like 2 or 3 instant beats (one right after the other - so quick) then it beats normally again. It's like normal / normal etc followed by bang / bang (real quick successive beats ) then back to normal again.

I thought ectopic at first but after 4 days I'm not so sure. My resting heart rate goes slightly up when it happens too. 80 was the highest (which is fine at rest) but my average is in the mid / high 50s (at rest in the day time) so something is not quite right.

I know afib is going to kick in again for me at some point - that's to be expected and I accept it (don't want it though). I guess my question is has this happened to you ? Afib coming back or ectopic's ? I'm being gloomy and thinking any day now I'm back with it. However surely afib will last longer than a few seconds / then go / then return etc. Or does it ? For me in the past it lasts a while rather than showing up as irregular then just passing.

Thanks in advance for any help or answers.

I'm a little worried as somethings not quite right - whichever way it goes though I'll accept it. I hope it's not kicking in again though. Time will tell !

Paul

[Finvola]

Hi Paul - I get little blips like you describe and they are too short for me to catch on my Kardia. I think they are an ectopic triggering a few fast beats but that’s only my impression. When it happens, I instantly take a large belly breath and exhale slowly - so far that seems to work.

Anything like this breeds on anxiety and I was determined to be in control of it if I could. Difficult not to concentrate on it but try not to, if you can. Finding a coping mechanism such as belly breathing has helped me enormously.

[Hidden]

Probably ectopics of some sort. As BobD says, if it's less than 30 seconds it doesn't count.

Try not to let the anxiety get the better of you

[BobD Volunteer]

A very famous EP once said if it lasts less than 10 seconds it doesn't need a name. I think the first sentence of your fourth para says it all Paul. . Relax its a lovely day. What will be will be. My number one reason for not having any such gismos.

[RexH in reply to BobD]

So true, I stopped wearing a Garman for that reason, so much less anxious. My heart never seems to be even beat, except in bed at night.

[jeanjeannie50]

Paul, you must know that even people with normal hearts have missed or extra beats at times. Dr Sanjay Gupta did a talk on it, but unfortunately I can't find it for you.

Are these abnormal beats making you feel ill?

Jean

[5195]

Hi Paul, I know exactly how you feel as the same thing happened to me yesterday, I got out of bed fine then felt some ectopic beats - I decided to capture it on my Kardia device (big mistake) as during the minute it took to record, my pulse shot up to 114 then immediately back down to 62 and the reading said ‘possible Atrial Fibrillation’ I checked it again twice with the Kardia device and both times it said ‘normal’ but that was it for the day, I was in initially in such a state that I had palpitations and my stomach really played up but then I was just so fed up all day..like you I know AF will come back at some point but I really don’t know if it was AF or PACs with tachycardia? I know some will say it doesn’t matter just get on with life etc and their right but it’s unbelievable how something so small can ruin your day!

[Lamadre in reply to 5195]

Hi, you could email the reading to Kardia and they send a report back quite quickly. It doesn’t cost much and might give peace of mind. I have done this a few times and it’s helped with the worry if I'm not sure what’s going on.

[Morzine]

Mine does that,,,,,,,I get normal then a couple of quick ones.. happens now and again.........I told the cardio and he said it was nothing......sometimes mine goes on for a while.....yes it does make u feel uneasy....I keep taking my pulse! Then relax when it’s normal again....!

[Paulbounce]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I really appreciate each and everyone of them.

I feel easier today reading them BUT I'm turning off the computer (and the heart monitor!) right now for the rest of today and just going to relax and chill.

Tomorrow I'll do a little research on etopic's and stuff and reply to all of you individually about the points you mention.

Once again thanks for the reassurance and enjoy your Sunday.

Paul

[BRHow]

When you are having PACs etc Kardia always reads it as “possible AFib”. My Apple Watch doesn’t. I live with PACs about 35-45% of the week. It’s normal Sinus with PACs. My Apple Watch doesn’t even mention inconclusive, when I’m in constant PACs, although I can clearly read them. I go in to actual AF about once every 2 months. When I do hit into AF and my Apple Watch tells me, I then resort to the Kardia 6 lead, and send the readings to my Docs. The Kardia readings are clear and use diff leads. My docs like those readings better.

I guess what I am saying is the Kardia is a bit more sensitive and calls PACs “Possible AF” thus tripping us out more, when in fact it’s not AF.