I recently went into AF after being free for 2.5 years and a precursor to it was that I was having strong palpitations even though my rhythm felt normal. After I went into AF I went to see my GP who confirmed AF and referred me to cardiology. I have since been lucky enough to revert (checking my pulse) after taking medication (Sotalol) but am still feeling strong palpitations especially at night when I am trying to get to sleep. I have neve experienced this before and am finding it a bit disconcerting and wondering if something else is wrong.
Anyone else experience this?
Thanks,
Stuart
Written by
Stucoo
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I always felt strong palpitations and had pulsaltile titinus to boot. Without an ECG you could not say. Have you got a Kardia or iWatch to check? Only way to tell. Is it only when you are lying down?
Thanks for your reply. I have a BP monitor that detects irregular rhythms as well as a fitbit. Both detected my AF but are now not detecting anything irregular. I notice it mainly when lying down in bed, and it takes me some time to get to sleep because of it.
Before my formal PAF diagnosis and treatment, ectopics (palpitations) were the pre cursor to an Afib episode; every time. As such, I was always very wary and conscious of them.
Initially, despite my Afib being well controlled with medication, ectopics did trouble me. I did suffer badly from ‘ectopic storms’, which drove me ‘mad’, robbing me of sleep. Anxiety just enforced a negative feedback loop that descended into more ectopics. They were investigated by my cardiologist, the burden was actually not that high and he wasn’t overly concerned but it was affecting my QoL. In his opinion, the anxiety was the catalyst. I turned to a course of cognitive behaviour therapy and for a period, an evening sedative. This worked for me, it broke the cycle and it all settled down.
I have now been ‘Afib free’ for 3 years and counting. I still have some ectopics, which is normal but I can just cope with/ignore them and they don’t escalate into storms or Afib.
If they are troubling you and a cause of concern, I’d recommend speaking to your cardiologist again.
I do have a Kardiamobile too and found it very accurate with the Afib determination. It doesn’t have a default pvc or pac determination but you can usually recognise them on the trace. It is a very good tool but, in my case, with ectopics, it just told me what I already knew. I had to speak to someone to find a solution.
Similar to you I have had a few episodes of ectopic storms which was basically constant bigeminy for hours. On other days I simply have ectopics multiple times throughout the day. Really disconcerting and drives me mad too. The health anxiety button is then pressed which just makes it worse. I’ll be polite and say that trying to get a face to face appointment with my GP is difficult and as I don’t have a cardiologist per se then I just get on with it. QoL is becoming a real issue for me and am really interested in self help like CBT.
4 months ago I had occasional ectopic beats which I’d had for years but never got worse. Since then ectopics have gone nuclear together with a diagnosis of PAF and now I spend every waking minute thinking about this, checking my Fitbit, pulse and googling any and every symptom. I often just want to give up. Sorry for the unload.
Reading your story here really gives me some hope that it can improve. The next google search will be for CBT as it seems the way ahead for me.
They definitely mess with your head.?? Iv had them 30 years now on and off I can get them every day for up to two weeks a time 2 to 4 times in a minute 😡 and it drives my anxiety up to sky level.!!! I can quite honestly say that they are worse than my AFIB.!!
Hi, I said something similar in a recent post. The ectopic situation was miserable, I had to find a way forward. Admittedly, I was always a bit sceptical about the whole area - talking therapies/mindfulness but it did help; don’t ask me how 😀 The sessions covered how to spot unhelpful patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours and techniques on how to deal with them. It’s hard to explain, I just don’t look at it in the same way.
I still have ectopics, even runs of them occasionally but they just don’t bother me the same. Ok, ignore it, I tell myself, calm, breathe in, carry on (or in bed rollover), my heart is not going to stop. As I mentioned previously , it just broke the cycle of catastrophic thinking (especially at night ) which descends into anxiety and promotes more ectopics and storms; the mind is powerful. Yes, there was the sedative initially for a few months, which was good. I like my sleep and feel awful without it. This is a number of years ago now and its still fine.
My Afib has been really stable for a while too, along with ectopics. hope I’m not being overly confident; I think not.
I think you’ll get to a point and just accept them.? Iv had them 30 years but it’s taken me 25 years to realise they not going to kill me. Although they still mess with my head I know deep down their just a total pain in the xxx and Iv got to try carry on as best I can because I also know they will eventually stop.👍👍
You will be ok. It just took me alot longer than normal to realise because my anxious behaviour started when I lost my eye as a child in an accident and I started to be frightened about anything that involved my health, but unfortunately it carried on through rest of my life.!!! I can’t have a simple headache.? It’s something more sinister in my mind.?? I get an ache anywhere and it’s something that is much more serious.? So 25 years actually isn’t bad for me.!!! At least it’s sunk in.😂👍
Etopics are so scary and hope I can come to terms with them too !! Hard not to worry and be obsessed with your heart beats 🥹 Still waiting to actually see a cardiologist.
Hi Stuart.. i mainly had episodes of palpitations and flutter overnight, and when AF episodes came on would usually wake me up with a sense of dread. It's a double whammy that a symptom of AF is anxiousness, and anxiousness and stress can trigger AF! But yes, my palps usually came on when lying down also, and it's also hard not to notice when you are just lying there in your own thoughts. I have a Kardia for spot checks (though i always knew when i was in AF)..but more useful has been the Wellue chest band that i can wear for monitoring up to 24 hours. Sort of a poor man's Holter Monitor if you will. I've worn it overnight many times when I've been feeling unsettled and having more ectopic type behavior. But i like knowing. Some people would rather not, and figure they can't do anything anyway. But at the very least it may reassure me that AF did not occur, or at least let me know if it did.
I don’t take magnesium regularly but when I start having ectopic, I take one and it usually settles my heart down. Also do the slowing breathing. I get both pac and PVC’s. My EP told me pac’s usually come before AFib. For me, not too sure about that
Well, no one can tell if there’s anything else wrong but I expect you’ll learn that very many people suffer these palpitations on getting into bed. They are very disconcerting but you do, eventually, find a way to partly ignore them. I suspect all that you have wrong is circuitry in your heart that is errant and that causes ectopic beats, palpitations and, sometimes, fibrillation.
I occasionally use a Wellue AI ECG device to check what is happening as it produces the most marvellously detailed report and can be run from 5 minutes up to 24 hours. Bought direct from the company it’s good value for what it offers I think.
I have had ectopics since 1986, when having major surgery they used a central line through my left arm but it went too far into my heart and everytime they lifted my arm I went into VF. They had to pull it back a little then it solved that problem
I was in ITU and only know this as they told the surgeon later that day.
I had funny fizzy feelings in my chest and ectopics for a few weeks afterwards. Since then I have had ecoptics over the years, but I do think the line has done something to a valve although the echo is clear, as I was once sent into hospital by a GP when having an ectopic episode and an ecg he said it looks like a valve problem. I was 30 at the time.
Before the AF started, I had ectpoics with a chest ache and was sent again into hospital, as my ecg looked OK but it was below the midline. I wish I had asked the GP what he thought was wrong.
I am getting them now, but only after teatime and evening, and as I am 4 months post ablation, and had Covid 4 weeks ago and it seems to have upset something. The anxiety that the ablation has failed is getting to me now.
Are you just feeling strong heartbeats at night but they are regular? Is your blood pressure up as I get this also but docs never concerned
What an unpleasant experience to go through. Worsening ectopics were definitely “prodromal” for me, and started with a severe respiratory virus in the pre-Covid era. After a long period of being AF-free, Covid triggered AF and mega-ectopics. It may settle down for you as you recover.
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