Frequent palpitations making me feel rough

[Norfolk_spaniel]

I had a successful ablation for AF in October but I'm still suffering considerably with PVCs. My EP has said that they are okay but they are making me feel ill. Sometimes it is every other beat, sometimes one in seven. I hadn't had many for 4 weeks but over the last 4 days I've had several episodes lasting several hours. I feel breathless and dizzy whilst experiencing them. I don't have alcohol, caffeine or chocolate but I have done some strenuous walking and I've been feeling tired. I'm going to try to speak to my GP tomorrow. I'm a 70 year old overweight female. I don't take any medication as I've tried several AF medications but can't tolerate them. Any advice which might help me get my life back please?

[Ern007]

I have had SVT - VT in the past and live with AF - I take 100mg of Amiodarone as 200mg made my pulse way to slow, and attacked my Thyroid.

I am 77 and have heart problems, my breathlessness Dyspnea and not sure if heart or COPD is causing this.

I am used to AF to be honest - it's like a pest on my shoulder,

When you see your GP. yell her just how bad you are and name the meds that you could not tolerate, and see what he'she come up with,

Not always but at times AF needs treatment.

Good luck.

[Espeegee]

Have you had your thyroid checked? There is sometimes a connection between heart issues and a malfunctioning thyroid. There's a very good thyroid forum on HU, you could search or ask on there. Specialist medics don't seem to ever consider another cause when dealing with their subject matter. I have AF, I have had bouts of supraventricular ectopy, I am overweight in my 70s and I know my thyroid doesn't work properly; because my blood results were still in "range" I have not been offered any help. An Echo shows my heart is structurally sound and my latest blood test shows my T4 is below the bottom of the range, their response? Test again in 8 weeks 🙄 It might magically get better ha ha. I just live with it all even if I spend most days falling asleep.

[Norfolk_spaniel in reply to Espeegee]

Thanks. Your condition sounds so similar to mine. I also have a lot of hot flushes when the ectopics are bad so I thought it could be hormonal in some way. Will try and discuss with my GP.

[waveylines in reply to Espeegee]

If your ft4 is below range according to the Nice guidelines they should be treating you. They need to understand that not treating your thyroid puts stress on your body and your heart. I have hypothyroidism and I had to fight to get proper treatment. Generally GPs know very little about thyroid and often leave things and under treat. Do you know what your TSH was? Ask for copies of all blood test results you are entitled to them. Ask your GP to check b12, vit D, ferritin and folate.... Often low with am underactive thyroid.Gen up, an informed patient can fight their corner, politely more effectively. Living with your thyroid by Barry Durrant Pestfield is a good book to start with.

[Norfolk_spaniel in reply to waveylines]

Thanks. Had a conversation with my GP this morning and she is doing blood tests including thyroid which hasn't been checked for 2 years. Apparently, my palpitations are Atrial and not ventricular and she says there is little that can be done for them. She won't prescribe beta blockers as I have asthma and my resting heart rate is only in the high 50s.

[bassets in reply to Norfolk_spaniel]

I have asthma and have dilitiazem - a calcium channel blocker -rather than beta blockers. My resting heart rate was the same was yours before medication so perhaps a low dose might help?

[Espeegee in reply to waveylines]

Sadly I'm not new to this battle. I've been trying since 2015. My sister and mother both had PA and were hypo, I've got a lot of symptoms but they lose against blood test results. The good folks on the Thyroid forum pointed me toward central hypothyroidism where T4 is low though TSH is lowish, even with research papers provided this was brushed aside. Folate is low, B12 has been dropping steadily. I can access all blood test results and have frequently paid for private tests. Ferritin is always at least twice the top of the range and never mentioned. I have read Dr Peatfields book and several others, I now know more than they do lol but you can't get past being in range. Symptoms apparently are trumped by test results. I have a low pulse rate mostly, I tried taking my temperature, it never got as high as normal, I can't lose the 4 st extra I carry, I tick a lot of the boxes but they refused to even trial me because of "practice guidelines" nor would they agree to monitor me if I self medicated. We'll see what happens if a. They actually remember to send me for another blood test and b. My T4 comes in under range again. I'm quite looking forward to it lol.

[healingharpist in reply to Espeegee]

So sorry you are suffering this way. I have subclinical hypothyroidism that I think is affecting my AF but I don't get any treatment at the moment for the hypo. There is an interesting website & book by Janie Bowthorp called "Stop The Thyroid Madness" that describes how many women esp. have subclinical thyroid issues, can't get proper treatment, and what to do about it. Might be worth a read on your Kindle...

[Espeegee in reply to healingharpist]

Thamks, I think I have it on my Kindle but can't remember if I've read it or not lol. I shall revisit it.

[DawnTX]

palpitations, etc. will make you feel lousy especially if you focus on them too much. If you’re checking them in someway I would stop that’s what I was told to do and it was a good idea. If it’s bad enough you will notice it no matter what. As far as not taking meds I don’t know how badly they affected you, but at some point you need to decide what feels worse, because there is no magic wand best of luck

[Mortjulien]

I take The amino acid Taurine and L Arganine in supplement form. The Taurine has helped my AFib episodes to not be as frequent and the Arganine has helped the PVC’s tremendously.

There has been a study on these two for AFib and PVC’s. Please look up the study, you will find it quite interesting.

[Bluetonic]

I had the same issue following a successful ablation 6 plus years ago.I started taking magnesium as suggested in this forum and it really reduced the palpitations I've time.

I still have runs of bigeminy and trigeminy from time to time, but I have come to realise that this is an early warning that I have picked up a cold or virus as within 2 days I'm sick as a dog.

Another thing is to realise and teach yourself that they are not going to hurt you.

Everyone will have missed beats daily, just unfortunate that some of us A fibbers feel every flipping one

[Norfolk_spaniel]

I'm desperate now to get some help. My blood test for thyroid has come back okay. My EP wrote to my GP suggesting either beta blockers or dronedarone as I can't tolerate anything else. However, as I'm asthmatic and my resting heart rate is 55,she won't prescribe either. I've completely cut out caffeine, alcohol, chocolate and red meat. Yesterday evening, I had a really bad and frightening bout of ectopics. Started just after my evening meal (cheese quiche salad). Went on until I went to bed. One in 5 beats was ectopic. I was breathless, dizzy and nauseous. I was on my own and frightened. What can I do?