Heart seemed to stop ...

[MoyB]

Yesterday, I was having breakfast with family. Someone at the end of the table was telling me something so I was listening intently as the children were being quite noisy. Suddenly, I felt my AF start then it felt like my heart stopped for a few seconds. It started again with a jolt. When it happened, I thought I was going to pass out, but it started again before I did so.

I have been having quite a few SVEs in the past few months so am used to the sensation of the 'missed beat' but this was different.

I've been fighting a viral infection for about 10 days now so I think that's what caused it yesterday. I felt 'off' for about half an hour after it happened but was then ok for the rest of the day, albeit I was resting as still recovering from the virus and not feeling up to doing much.

I'm waiting to have an ILR fitted as I sometimes have falls. The cardiologist doesn't think the falls are due to any heart condition but has agreed to do it at the neurologist's request, 'just to rule it out', he said. After yesterday's episode, I'm wondering if he's wrong.

I'm wondering if I should make contact with the cardiologist again and ask for the ILR fitting to be expedited but perhaps I'm over reacting.

What would others do?

xx Moy

[BobD Volunteer]

Yes had similar over the years especially when switching from AF to NSR or back. Its like somebody stole a second of your life. Not sure you will have much luck getting your loop recorder any earlier but might be worth contacting your EP's secretary. My EP insisted I had a pacemaker after seeing something on one of my ECGs but I still occasionaly get the same effect.

[MoyB in reply to BobD]

That's interesting and also reassuring. Thank you. Xx Moy

[Palpman in reply to BobD]

I often have an extra beat which is followed by a long pause and then a strong compensatory beat. This feels like a thud in the chest but is quite normal for some people.

[MoyB in reply to Palpman]

Thank you. This was a longer pause than usual and I felt as though I was going to faint as everything started to fade, then the thump and I've been OK since. It was a bit unnerving. Xx Moy

[bantam12 in reply to MoyB]

I experienced the same and it was eventually diagnosed as 2nd degree heart block and I now have a pacemaker.

You should be careful about driving !

[MoyB in reply to bantam12]

Wow! That must have been a shock for you.As it happens, I had to give up driving 8 years ago due to spontaneous vertigo attacks. Now I have spontaneous falls every few months so the only driving I do is my mobility scooter on pavements!

The falls have been investigated for over 3 yrs but no answers yet which is why I'm having the loop recorder. The cardiologist said he is 99.9% sure my heart is not causing them.

Xx Moy

[bantam12 in reply to MoyB]

It was a relief more than a shock because at last after years of being dismissed I finally had an answer and proved the Cardiologist (who swore not heart related ) wrong ! my husband already had 3rd degree heart block and a pacemaker so I wasn’t worried about it.

The falls could possibly be related as my husbands only symptoms of heart block was sudden falls.

[MoyB in reply to bantam12]

According to my cardiologist, I'm having 'the wrong sort of falls' as 'cardiology patients don't fall backwards.' Hmm!

I'll follow this up. Although I feel reassured by some posts on here, others, like yours, remind me that cardiologists are not infalible. They are only human, after all.

My neurologist couldn't understand why I wasn't fitted with an ILR three years ago, given that I have PAF which was becoming more troublesome and required ablation.

My current cardiologist has never met me, to my knowlege, although he may possibly have been the person who did my ablation, in which case I saw him for two minutes before the procedure and two minutes during recovery when I was suffering from severe toothache and jaw ache which I was told was most likely referred pain from the heart.

We'll be away for a few days next week, but I'll get on to it as soon as we get back. With luck, I will have got rid of the virus by then and will feel a bit more like being assertive.

xx Moy

[Lenaropes in reply to MoyB]

I bet your heart is. My mother in laws AFib presents that way. Keep us appraised of outcome and good luck.

[JaneFinn]

Horrid I feel for you. I’ve only once (so far) had that, and it was hard explaining how different it is from normal ectopics. Very much more extended. It felt like I was shutting down. Scary.

That was many years ago, and many years later I did have a loop recorder (for other reasons) but didn’t catch that kind of pause, though it caught all sorts of other things, including PAF, so I’m very grateful to have had it.

I know the transition back into NSR can have a pause/ thump, and I imagine the virus will be having a big effect, they usually do, don’t they? But there’s no harm in telling your cardiologist and asking if its possible to have your loop recorder sooner, as you say. I know there are long waiting lists, but maybe you could say you’re happy to be contacted/ available at short notice? I discovered that lots of people do cancel last minute. I got a phone call one morning to have my procedure the same day! (Unfortunately it was my husbands 30th birthday! But he was v understanding!)

Good luck- do let us know how you get on xx

[MoyB in reply to JaneFinn]

I didn't think about the short notice cancellation thing. Good idea! I do have a diagnosis of PAF which I've had for years, but what I felt yesterday was quite different. Like you, I felt like I was shutting down or fading away. It was very weird! Xx Moy

[Silky57]

Happened to me. Pre-AF. Over course of two days, heart would miss roughly every 7th beat, then start again. Stopping for a couple of seconds at a time. 111 sent me to A&E and they caught it on ECG. Neither they, not the cardiologist, nor EP particularly interested. Said it was part of the course for palpitations but it was new for me. Felt like I was a car whose engine was stalling. Awful. Anyway turned out ok - I’m still here and it hasn’t recurred fingers crossed.

[MoyB in reply to Silky57]

Well that is reassuring to hear. I find it difficult to know what is of interest to a cardiologist and what isn't.

I had lived with PAF for as long as I could remember. I presented at the GPS regularly with palpitations, chest aches and pains. Then one day when he was listening to my chest for an unrelated reason, he heard it go, got in a fluster and referred me urgently to cardiology. After a lot of tests, I had 'the talk' and was advised that I was at high risk of having a stroke so would always need medication. The way I was told, it was made to sound as though life as I knew it was coming to an end.

I expected regular follow ups at very least due to the 'seriousness' of my condition, but all I got was a prescription!

Years later, I was re-referred by my GP as the AF had become troublesome and I had an ablation last July. No follow up!

I'm having the loop recorder as the neurologist investigating my falls has requested it. It will be interesting to see if I ever have it and whether it will come up with any surprises.

Xx Moy

[Buffafly]

I had the same and was able to record it because it was happening on and off for 20 minutes. It was terrifying and was taken seriously (hooray for Kardia). I was having pauses up to 5 secs and offered choice of AF ablation or pacemaker, chose the first, and have mostly been ok ever since although I’m not allowed to take a high dose of meds to slow HR. If necessary it has to be done in hospital. So yes, report straight away ❤️‍🩹

[MoyB in reply to Buffafly]

Thank you. Xx Moy

[DawnTX]

yes I think you should contact your doctor immediately we can’t tell you what’s going on

[meadfoot]

I have these pauses and near fainting, they are horrid and scary. Push for your loop recorder. You can only ask, see if they respond. Anything which progresses things will be helpful. Best wishes.

[MoyB in reply to meadfoot]

Do you have any treatment to help with yours?Xx Moy

[JOY2THEWORLD49 in reply to MoyB]

Hi

My pauses were at night for 2 secs and as asleep didn't feel them.

It showed on the 24-hr monitor when I was taking metoprolol.

Other 24hr-monitor didn't show on Bisoprolol or CCB Diltiazem. For me anything Metoprolol is on the DON'T PRESCRIBE.

Therefore it proved that medication can cause pauses.

cheri JOY. 74. (NZ)

[MoyB in reply to JOY2THEWORLD49]

That's interesting. I'm on a lot of medication for other conditions so I guess something could be interfering with my heart rhythm. I think I'll follow it up as whatever is causing it, it doesn't feel right.

xx Moy

[meadfoot in reply to MoyB]

Only my long standing beta blocker and anticoagulant treatment with flecainide as a pill in the pocket for if my arrhythmias kick in ie afib and SVT. Wish I had something to ease the pauses and ec topic beats. My EP says I can try flecainide if I wish but somehow I feel I need to keep that for my big events when hospital is needed. He has me wear a holter monitor for a week every couple of years but largely seems unconcerned unless I black out altogether which he then says is a different matter altogether. I would like to have an implantable loop recorder but my EP seems to think they have plenty of information on my heart currently.

[MoyB in reply to meadfoot]

There seem to be so many different choices for treatments, or whether to treat or not.I suppose we have to accept that knowledge of how the heart works and medication have made huge advances but there must be so much more for them to find out in the future.

Maybe in our lifetime there will be further advances into the world of treatment so that no one has to black out first.

It's interesting how they bandy around the term 'blackout'. Before my husband had his new heart valve, I asked the cardiologist if he felt it was still safe for him to drive. 'Oh, yes.' he said, ' But he'll have to stop if he starts having blackouts.'

I thought, 'Flipping heck! I hope he doesn't have a first one if he's behind the wheel!'

I hope they find something that works for you and blackouts never enter the equation.

Xx Moy

[meadfoot in reply to MoyB]

Thank you. I hope your husband doesnt have blackout issues at any point now or in the future, fingers crossed.

One of the first questions my EP asked me at my first consultation when I said about fainting was do you actually black out altogether as that is a very different ball game to almost passing out and then feeling better again from a fainty type of feeling.

Its very wearing dealing with all of this ongoing, like living with a time bomb strapped to the chest wondering if and when it will go off. Oh to be free from the worry of it all and how awful it makes us feel and on edge. Best wishes, x

[MoyB in reply to meadfoot]

👍❤️Xx Moy

[OldJane]

after following the stories of two friends I’d say the cardiologist is mistaken… do press for more tests . Can be hard to pin down but both friends found that they had sudden drops in blood pressure or heart rate and the falls were dangerous and the “stops” grew longer. Both have pacemakers now. One’s issues started after Covid, the older one had them for years before diagnosed.

[MoyB in reply to OldJane]

That's really interesting. I feel it could be related to the virus I'm still fighting, but also I have a friend who was given a monitor for two weeks and heard nothing for some time. After a few weeks she was told to go to hospital urgently and report to cardiology. Once there, she was told she shouldn't have been walking and was put in a wheelchair. She saw the cardiologist who apologised, explained he'd been ill himself and hadn't seen her results, then said that she could have died any time in the past few weeks so they were operating immediately to put in a pacemaker! It was discovered that her heart was stopping for up to 8 seconds at a time. They said if it had happened at night, she may not have woken up in the morning. I'm pleased to say she's recently had her pacemaker replaced and is good for another 10 years!

I bear this in mind ie yes, you can stay alive even if your heart stops for 8 seconds, but equally, there are procedures available that can make SURE you stay alive if it happens.

My perceived 'stoppage' was only two to three seconds at most but was very unnerving and I think if I hadn't been seated, I may have fallen as I felt everything fading away.

We are due to go away for a few days at the end of this week but when we get back I will contact the cardiologist's secretary to see where I am on the list for the ILR and whether it can be expedited.

xx Moy

[MummyLuv]

saulger has shared with us he experienced these pauses when converting from afib to NSR and the feeling of fainting, intact I think he may well have fainted. Have tagged him so he may respond with more detail.

[MoyB in reply to MummyLuv]

Thank you! xx Moy

[saulger in reply to MoyB]

So Sorry !!!! For some reason I didn't get a notification and missed this and many others.

Yes, I had many dizzy spells just as I was converting back to NSR from an AFib episode. Usually it was just a feeling of an "electrical whoosh" through the body starting at the feet, I think, and rushing to the head. I would immediately know that I was back in normal rhythm. On three occasions over my 5 year AFib journey I fainted. Once in 2020 and twice just before I travelled to Japan for my WOMM (Wolf Ohtsuka Mini Maze).

When I was at the hospital, they recorded an 8 second pause at the inflexion point.

I am glad to say that it is all behind me and I am looking forward to report my progress for my 8 month anniversary in less than three weeks.

[MoyB in reply to saulger]

Thank you. I've had no further episodes since my original post so think it was virus related, but your post is reassuring and I will be less anxious if it happens again. Xx Moy

[Magson]

I used to take Flecainide and on a number of occasions when my heart decided to revert to NSR I had this split second feeling of fainting. My Cardiologist said it was normal! I am thankful that I don't take it anymore. Best wishes going forward.

[MoyB in reply to Magson]

👍❤️Xx Moy

[diannetrussell]

I get heart stoppings that follow premature ventricular contractions, the big thump feels different from ectopics and AF! For viral infection I take zinc, vitamin D3 and ivermectin (proven for virus blocking).

[diannetrussell in reply to diannetrussell]

P.S. I use an Alivecor Kardia mobile device on my iPhone to check the different arrhythmias and provide ECG records to my doctors….

[MoyB in reply to diannetrussell]

I also use a Kardia mobile but this was out of the blue so didn't capture it. I wish I had. Xx Moy

[Silky57 in reply to diannetrussell]

Gosh - wish I could get hold of ivermectin! May I ask which country you are in?

[lovetogarden]

Seems like many of us have had those scary pauses, I know I have too. Getting the ILR is a great idea. And mentioning it to your cardiologist surely can’t hurt, they might be able to reassure you.

[MoyB in reply to lovetogarden]

I'll get on to it in a couple of weeks as I am going away for a few days. I know it's unlikely he would ask me to go to the hospital to be seen (extremely unlikely!) but sod's law says that if I am away and unavailable, that might happen!Thankfully it seems to be a one off so far. Xx Moy