Does ectopics eventually damage the heart?
Ectopics damage?: Does ectopics... - Atrial Fibrillati...
Ectopics damage?
Written by
Padayn01
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34 Replies
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BobDVolunteer
Ectopics are a perfectly normal function of a healthy heart. Everybody gets up to 200 a day I am told but seldom ever notice. We AFers, however notice every single one of them! The medical profession consider ectopic beats benign and generally do not treat them
Oh I wish I believed that I hate these ectopics just trying to get use to them but I can’t
Your right about every single one I notice
in reply to Padayn01
I have found that if you swallow excess air by eating or drinking too quickly, they tend to worsen. If this applies to you, try belching to bring up any trapped air. Also avoid stress, as this, too, worsens them.
Padayn01 in reply to
Yes stress does not help anxiety to very bad
Cumbremar5 in reply to
Me too especially a cold drink from the fridge another trick I try to stop af is coughing !
polopblue in reply to
I totally agree with what you say. Eating and trapped wind brings on my ectopics. Stress also is a trigger.
Just ignore them
I have woken up with them this morning. They are not bad ones. I checked my pulse, don't believe its A fib, so I am doing other things and concentrating on those rather than the ectopics. If they get back in my consciousness I will go for a bike ride or a walk that gets me breathing heavier. That also distracts.
Apparently they are benign if your underlying heart health is good. But if you get more than 20,000 a day there might be a case for treating. See the section about treatment and prognosis here by Oliver Segal, who's based at UCLH and Barts Heart Centre.
There are many different types of ectopic beats I was getting pvc which are dangerous depending how long they last.
How are the PVC now?
Ectopics are normal, feeling them not so normal but not unusual. Ectopics happen when the electrical signals in your heart are not co-ordinated for numerous reasons and the heart misfires. Think about it this way, you have a car, this car misfires, an occasional misfire does not have a detrimental effect on the car, however the misfire may become too regular or too sever at which time it can cause a problem. Best to try and fix the misfiring in the first place.
And you mentioning before trying to sort out your electrolytes to sort the problem out?
Search on Google for York Cardiology ectopics, everything you need to know about them is there and explained by Dr Sanjay Gupta.
Jean
Guptasuptas
Yes, it often is, finding the right balance can be tricky. It can be other things as well such as your nervous system, thyroid etc or even a minor inherent problem with the heart but I think electrolytes are a good call for most. It can take weeks or months to get them right and magnesium does do a good job of orchestrating them to keep the balance right but if your too low on any one them then all the orchestrating in the world will not get them right. I am afraid that there is no straight forward answer as we have all found out.
Its also worth pointing out that if your say taking potassium supplements and you potassium levels are already good then the potassium supplements will do you no good, or even make you condition worst.
Is it worth getting blood tests to check all these levels
It would be difficult getting the tests as its the electrolytes in your cell that count, you may have adequate electrolytes in your blood but still be deficient in your cells. Nothing is easy or straight forward. That said if you can get a cell county and it does show your deficient then you have likely found the right treatment to your condition.
Many many things can cause ectopic beats I’ve had MRI scans / CT Scans / Angiogram / pet scan / ECG . I’ve had every blood test done known to a cardiologist. If your concerned then you really need to speak to someone professionally because until you get all the tests done you will never know if what your feeling is dangerous and needs treating. I started off about 16 months ago feeling strange beats from my heart and chest area I had an holtor monitor fitted for 7 days which picked up a run of VT. I had all of the above tests done that I mentioned but they all came back clear other than the MRI which showed late enhancement which they thought was cardiac sarcoidosis but they couldn’t diagnose it because the pet scan didn’t show any inflammation. My heart is normal with a LV ejection fraction of 59% and a RV EF of 61 %. I ended up having an ICD fitted for a safety net just in case the VT becomes sustained. My symptoms of PVC are still present but not as bad the next step for me is an ep study and ablation. Other than the pvc I get I’m fit and healthy.
How bad are the PVC now are they manageable for you?
I had two ablations to fix my contant ectopics which ruined my life they didnt make any difference! I am now on Nebivalol and Flecanide which has helped, I have tried everything and apart from the meds nothing worked for me, I could barely move they were so bad, but now I am left with huge pain in my chest when I take ectopics doctor says not to worry but I do! I dont know anyone with this, had scans 24 hr holter but was told it was RVOT cant be bothered to chase any more doctors to get answers
RVOT is right ventricular outflow tract tachycardia is exactly what I was diagnosed with. luckily for me mine is none sustained but it can still be life threatening if it becomes sustained and causes ventricular fibrillation when the heart actually stops causing cardiac arrest. I chose to have a ICD defibrillator fitted for safety reasons it’s like having your own paramedic on board at all times.
Do you have any issues with your heart any damage from heart attack ? Do you have heart disease ? Or have you got a normal heart ?. My ectopic beats are rubs of extra beats which sometimes makes me feel light headed. I’m currently taking 15mg of Bisoprolol but they make me feel very tired and weak. I’m waiting to be put on the meds you mentioned Nebivalol they are meant to have less side effects
Oh good old ectopics what a hassle they are. I loath them, ignoring them isn’t easy in fact they won’t let me ignore them. Some are so strong they literally cause me to physically step back as they can feel as though a donkey has kicked me in the chest they are so hard and harsh. My EP found that description a good one.
Others are more insidious low level relentless thuds which are distracting and go on and on and on. Each one reminds me of their presence and in my case they have been a precursor to an af or svt episode on a number of occasions but certainly not always.
I asked my EP if that could happen or if it is just a coincidence, he said yes it could be a precursor but having ectopics doesn’t mean I will automatically go into af. I also asked why I felt them in different parts of my chest and he said that it depends where in the heart beat cycle that they occur.
He doesn’t seem overly concerned about them and as he is one of the top ten Eps in the uk as rated by their peers I tend to trust his word. Non of it makes the feeling any easier though when going through them, they are nasty things. Hope you find some help for yours.
I’ve never experienced those kind of ectopic beats you describe. My cardiologist would laugh at me if I described what you feel. If they was that strong they would be causing your heart serious damage. An ectopic beat can either be a skipped beat or a run of extra beats none of which would make you feel like you’ve been kicked in the chest by a donkey. I know other people that have the same ICD defibrillator fitted that I’ve got and when it fires to restart your heart they describe the feeling as being kicked in the chest by a donkey. No ectopic beats would feel like that.
My EP would disagree, I prefer to trust his diagnosis.
My cardiologist says he gets 400 per day! I said "you're not a very good advertisement!". He's nice, got an excellent soh
Mine jiggles and jumps and cardio said it was normal....ha ha to us afibbers it doesn’t seem normal does it...but we are sensitive now!
Sue
Just keep taking the meds and hope a cure is found but not hopeful if anyone has any ideas I am open to anything!
I agree with what Coco said above. Too many ectopics confuses your heart and it doesn't know when to beat at the right time. It can get half way through and then get another signal that either stops it completing the cycle or tries to get it to start another one too soon. All four chambers have to work in a co-ordinated fashion, so if they are all getting rogue signals it can be very distressing. Pauses, donkey kicks, dizziness and weakness, etc.
I was getting so many ectopics that I ended up with Heart Failure at level four.
The good news is that the damage can be reversed (According to Sanjay Gupta) if you can stop or reduce the number of ectopics.
I've already posted about how I sorted mine out.
How did you sort your's out? Was it only grounding, or was it more than that?George
I was told by my EP that ectopics don't damage the heart. It does not put the same stress on the heart that an AF rate of 190 BPM can do after numerous episodes. Have you ever tried drinking any electolyte drinks to see if they help your ectopics? Could be a deficiency? Another thought...do you suffer from acid reflux, indigestion or stomach pains? A friend with AF and frequent ectopics had an endoscope for stomach pain that sometimes was accompanied by acid reflux. They found out she had moderate gastritis. They put her on medication for the gastritis and after a couple of months, her ectopics improved greatly. She is no longer on the medication and still has ectopic sometimes, but not as bad. They blamed her gastritis on stress (she had just been through a job loss and a death of a family member). We know that the stomach and the heart are related, so I guess I wasn't that surprised by the possible connection of her gastritis and the ectopics.
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