Ectopic or what

[Kia62]

Hi all

Had 2nd ablation 3 months ago, all was going well until Saturday when I started to get ectopic, missed beats or palpitations, I'm not sure which.

They are now at a level of about 15 to 20 a minute whilst at rest. Oddly enough they disappear when under any exertion. I hope this is only a blip and not something I'll have to live with. Has anyone else experienced anything similar, and if so what was the outcome?

[CDreamer]

Hi Kia - I think you will find that many people experience ectopic beats after ablation. Ectopic means literally out of place so it is normally an extra beat or premature beat. They can feel very heavy and uncomfortable and many people worry about them but they do normally pass in time. Many find they are at their most frequent after eating so be careful to eat slowly, upright at table and to take your time. If they are particularly worrisome for you then talk to your specialist.

I found I had ectopics during or after exertion and they disappeared at rest but everyone is different. It took about a year for mine to disappear, I occasionally still feel some of the many ectopics that everyone has every day but it is so minimal that it doesn’t worry me.

Some people find that taking a Magnesium supplement helps.

I’m sure you’ll get many replies.

[CDreamer]

PS - suggest that you read this thread, if you haven’t already, posted yesterday healthunlocked.com/afassoci...

[KMRobbo]

I developed a lot of ectopics about 8 months after my ablation. I say that that time as it was a period where I had a lot of long runs some of which lasted days. I still get ectopics 4 years post ablation. The good news is I have not have any Afib since the ablation, so don't think that because you have ectopics your ablation is failing!

At first my ectopics were a concern , the fluttery feeling in upper chest / neck being similar to that which I used to get ( for a few seconds only) as I went into high rate afib.

However after a couple of months of this on and off I never caused me any issues , apart from irritation if the "missed" beats were more averaging more frequent that one in 15.

I also manually checked my pulse during ectopics. I do it on my neck, left side, 1 inch below the back corner of my jaw. (Using fingers not thumb). If the "missed " beat is followed by a number of regular beats I assumed it was not AFib , Afib is totally random.

Similar to you I found that if I raised my HR, the ectopics disappeared.

At the time I was running a couple of times a week and I ran with the ectopics and they were not an issue. ( not noticeable during exercise) .

I had a slight discussion on them with my EP at my 12 months post ablation review and he was totally unconcerned and did not even think of doing any investigations. So I totally stopped worrying at that point.

Now the other thing is that EVERYONE has ectopics (extra beats) . It is just that people who have not had heart issues are not so focused as to notice.

We afibbers notice everything , then we stress / worry about it. Stress releases adrenaline , adrenaline affects your heart , and so can cause palpitations! So too much worrying has the possibility of being a viscious circle. ( I am not medically trained , just my view based on my experience).

So best not to worry.

In order to do this you may want to discuss with your EP to get his view .

Finally I have noted I am more prone to ectopics if I get a virus or a bug . 2 weeks ago I had one and had a run fir a few days on and off.

Pre afib this also probably occurred, but never noticed, it would just have been a part of being ill!

Best wishes.

[RichMert in reply to KMRobbo]

Only thing I can say is ditto. Sometimes my Ectopics are 1 in 4 which is a concern but changes back to 1 a minute or less in minutes, hours or days. The more I worry about it the worse they are. Seven years since second ablation and no AF detected during tests.

[Kia62]

Thanks for the responses, today the ectopic have been a lot less, very few this morning but more this afternoon. Still nothing like they were. Still puzzles me why they came on so suddenly and with such intensity three months after the ablation.

[Bennera513]

My chief complaint has always been ectopics. Though I did have an ablation 12 weeks ago that seems to have been successful. Immediately after, the ectopics were MUCH worse, then they almost entirely resolved at week 5. I had several glorious weeks without them but after a ski outing with my Son over the holidays, I am back to those nasty buggers. Not as bad as before ablation, mind you, and still in sinus rhythm. One thing I can say with certainty, this recovery period post ablation,....anything and everything can happen. Good one day, not so much the next. I'm clinging to the 6 month blanking school of thought and reminding myself to take it easy on myself. I will say that I have read many forum posts from folks who do stellar or otherwise fine a stable place, only to have things act up in the 10-12 week timeframe (me included). Someone summarized nicely saying, "the first two months were for recovery and the next two were for remodeling. I totally buy into this concept. Initially the heart deals with the burns/freezes/inflammation with acute symptoms. When those resolve, we seem to enter a period of adaptation as heart rate and the autonomic nervous system recalibrate. This could send HR into orbit, or flip flops or wonky rhythms, but it seems most of these cases 'iron' themselves out. I suppose we are waiting with much hope and optimism.