question for you ectopic sufferers.?

[Jetcat]

hi you lovely people. I have a question maybe someone can shed light on.?? Iv had ectopic beats on and off for about 30+ years. But

somedays they are more powerful and noticeable than other days. and so for me they are not as mentally draining as other days especially when they’re weak.

But when I have an AFIB episode it’s always the same sort of force when it presents itself. So what would or could cause strong distressing ectopics one day and more subtle easier tolerated ectopics the day after, then go to strong again day after that.???

I can’t seem to find any logic in it.!!

hope some of you can shed a little light on it.?

best wishes all.

Ron.x👍

[Finvola]

I find the same thing with ectopics Ron. At the minute my chest is jumping and uncomfortable - other times not so much. I haven't investigated but I wonder if the pause before the thump is very slightly longer sometimes, making the ectopic feel worse?

The other thing which amazes me about them is their timing. For the last fe weeks mine have started every evening at 5 and continue for a few hours - then they'll go away for months - until the next time.

Logic isn't something we can apply to ectopics!

[Jetcat in reply to Finvola]

Thankyou Finvola. Iv actually had them most of the day today but they are the milder ones thankfully .!! Iv just come back from my holidays in Spain and Iv had quite a few over there for a couple of days they were the strong ones with some AFIB thrown in for good measure.!! I’m actually waiting to see a cardiologist but had my appointment cancelled and waiting for another sending. But I’m definitely going to ask the questions and try and find some sort of reasoning for it.??

Hopefully anyway.?????👍

[Hidden in reply to Jetcat]

Question… did you drink any alcohol whilst in Spain? .. did you sweat a lot… both alter your electrolytes… namely magnesium.. try a small dose of Magnesium Taurate during ectopic episodes and see if these actually go away when you do… had ectopics for 40 years after a viral infection.. and the only thing that helps me… is magnesium.

[Autumn_Leaves in reply to Hidden]

Alcohol can definitely provoke ectopics, not always, not for everyone, not on every occasion, but it’s definitely something to be wary of. Most people who are troubled by ectopics will have tried magnesium. In my experience magnesium supplements did nothing. Some people say they help but I thought they made my ectopics worse — objectively speaking, they probably didn’t, but mg isn’t the be all and end all for ectopics.

[Hidden in reply to Autumn_Leaves]

Yes I agree that magnesium can be hit or miss… what most people do not realise is that if you “get” a reaction to Mg it s due to the those 300 or so enzymes switching back on… if you are low on Vitamin D you will be low on magnesium… they go hand in hand…one really important factor of magnesium is it is THE switch within the cell that governs ATP… to help sodium ions move out of a cell to let a potassium ion in.. .. when you are low on Magnesium. you retain sodium in your cells.. hence bloating and heavy legs….

I tried several magnesium supplements before I found Magnesium Taurate actually helped.. you see Taurate (taurine) is found in the heart cells more than anywhere else.

Sadly some people never stick with the protocol and insist magnesium does not help.. Dr Carolyn Dean explains this very well .. I do believe some people have more calcium channels in the heart area and this creates an imbalance .. and why they end up on calcium channel blockers when all they really need is Magnesium…. hope you find another way to reduce your ectopics.

[Jetcat in reply to Hidden]

I did sweat a lot jomico. It was alot warmer than usual sept/ October though but I did take my electrolytes with me. I drink fresh lemon juice and cream of tarter mixed with water daily even when away.

[Jetcat in reply to Hidden]

I will try taurate though. Thankyou

[Domino49 in reply to Jetcat]

I too, out of desperation, tried magnesium taurate three years ago after reading articles by Dr Sanjay Gupta. For me it worked after just a few days. I still take it.

[Jetcat in reply to Domino49]

Iv been taking magnesium for a few years now but it’s not taurate. It’s says 350mg magnesium capsules from Holland and Barrett on the container. But I think I’m going to try taurate because this normal capsule has actually improved things compared to how I was. Thankyou Gorden.👍

[Jetcat in reply to Domino49]

What dosage do you take gorden. And what brand do you use.?

[Domino49 in reply to Jetcat]

I take one of the ones mentioned by Dr Sanjay Gupta, ie the one from Cardiovascular Research Ltd. I take one capsule twice a day, morning and evening. The dosage per capsule is 125mg. It is quite expensive. but I buy the 180 capsules bottle so it does last 3 months. I used to get it from Amazon but they haven’t had it for quite some time. I now get it on line from iHerb. They are based in USA but I have now got it from them 3 times and it arrives in less than 10 days with no problem. Cost me two weeks ago £28 including delivery. I really do swear by Magnesium Taurate. I believe it not only alleviated my ectopics but really helps the afib too. Anyway wherever you get it from I hope you get some relief too. It’s worth a try and won’t do any harm. My cardiologist knew I was taking it and didn’t have a problem. All the best.

[Jetcat in reply to Domino49]

Thankyou gorden. I shall google it and give it a go. Small price to pay if it helps.👍👍

[Autumn_Leaves in reply to Finvola]

My experience too, Finvola. A year or so ago I was going through long periods of trigemeny, mostly in the evenings, and loads showed up on the 24h ECG. When I had my most recent 24h ECG I had 0 trigemeny! When I had Covid I had a very prolonged episode of bigemeny that went on for hours, and then it just stopped out of the blue. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. I’ve been in “permanent ectopy” (as I called it) which was all day every day for month after month, and then it all went quiet (relatively). Last year I was picking up mostly PVCs on my watch. Now it’s mostly PACs. I’ve had several 24h holters but ectopics are considered a variation of normal!

[Autumn_Leaves]

I don’t think there is any explanation, really. I have found that ectopics can be very frequent at times, or they may fall into a pattern for a while eg lots of trigemeny or lots of bigemeny, and then it all settles down. I can have good phases and bad phases, I can have a very bad hour on a good day, there’s just no predictably to it nor is there any way to control or influence it.

It riles somewhat when people suggest it can all be shoo’d away with a few breathing exercises. Those of us with a fairly high ectopic burden know this. Breathing exercises are a great thing to incorporate into one’s daily routine and stress management is always a good thing, but it may not influence your ectopics at all. A healthy lifestyle in whatever way works for you is important but the same caveat applies. If I could do xyz and make ectopics disappear I would have cracked that secret years ago!

[Hidden in reply to Autumn_Leaves]

Trigeminy and bigeminy respond to potassium more than magnesium…again the potassium ions cannot exchange with sodium within the cells .. I did have a period of bigeminy which stopped upon taking potassium.. that was 5 years ago.. never had issues since…

I wish there was a magic formulae to banish ectopics but in the main… they respond to magnesium… or a reduction of calcium… some people with thyroid issues can produce too much calcium in short bursts which will cause ectopics then when a blood test is done.. calcium levels fall back to normal ranges.. why? Because serum magnesium is only 1% and during a spike of Ca the body will automatically leech Mg from the bones or tissue to restore balance…hence ectopics lasting a few hours at a time then levelling out… 40 years of playing around with remedies and it always comes back to electrolytes and magnesium.

Btw .. stress depletes magnesium in short order… as does illness and binge drinking… ppi ‘s … low stomach acid..holiday heart occurs when people low on vitamin D go off to hot countries and quench thirst using a alcohol which as a diuretic .. loss of serum Mg and K recipe for an event.

[ETHEL103 in reply to Autumn_Leaves]

Yes I get a bit cross where breathing is concerned.I wish I had a fiver for every time I set my timer for 5 minutes of deep breathing.No help with ectopics whatsoever.

[Jetcat in reply to ETHEL103]

Yes same here Ethel unfortunately.!!!

[MaryCa]

Co enzyme Q10, absolutely phenomenal for my ectopics. It reduces inflammation. Loads of research on google scholar about it. Shouldn't be taken with warfarin. And obviously check with your pharmacist. I take 200mg daily

[Ppiman]

I feel that the electrical activity of the heart waxes and wanes for reasons it would be impossible or difficult to understand, causing these differences as I have much the same. Fingers crossed, these past few weeks have been nice and calm for me, well relatively!

Steve

[Jetcat in reply to Ppiman]

Long may it last mate.👍

[Tigger_2]

Ectopics started for me this year for sure but might well have been there before.Where it manifests is with a pacemaker and cause havoc.

I'm seeing the pacing consultant this afternoon.

The net result is that the pacemaker does not maintain the minimum rate, blood pressure drops and shortly after, so do you, usually on the floor.

No medic has ever suggested a remedy, but I'm on the maximum dose of Bisoprolol to try and swamp the ectopics and give the pacemaker a chance.

They always are at the most noticeable when I relax, evening or sleeping.

What I do know is that pauses waiting for the pacemaker to kick in is always scary.

ECGs plus the pacemaker confirm that I get an average of 100 PVCs per hour.

You think everything is fine until something else comes along.

[Qualipop]

I don't think there is any logic to it. I've had ectopics for years and some I barely notice while others leave me feeling as if I've been kicked by a horse

[Jetcat in reply to Qualipop]

Yes it’s very strange isn’t it.!!