Ventricular ectopic runs

[stoneyhouse]

Just been to the GP over the palpitations I've been having for a year or so and he said they are (from the way I described them to him) "ventricular ectopic runs" and I'm wondering what this community has to say about them...?

They do feel ectopic as I get a 'missed' beat followed by a bigger one and then a few more normal ones and then it repeats. The sessions are occurring maybe once a week at the moment and once they start fully it lasts for many hours - usually from sometime in the evening to sometime the next morning. I often have shorter periods of a few seconds/minutes more often which tend to stop fairly quickly. HR is fairly normal during the sessions as far as I can tell (not so easy to count them when not regular), 60-70 maybe. Normal resting for me is 50ish.

GP checked my heart beat and said all was great, slow & regular and no sign of valve problems (I'm fairly fit), he didn't do any other tests like blood pressure or HR which I kind of expected. His take was to reassure me all was OK and not to stress over it - which I mostly don't to be honest I think. He didn't suggest going further with tests as he thought there would most likely nothing to find and to carry on as normal with exercise & life etc. Is this a normal outcome to this sort of issue? Should I be pushing for more tests (even though it might well be hard to catch a session on a recording device)?

I realise these beats are basically harmless but I'm curious about the length of time that they go on for. I've watch the vid from York on these beats but he seems to be talking about the odd one - not them going on for many hours. Does this make any difference? They are pretty distracting but I seem to sleep fairly normally (as far as I can tell!)

Thanks for any input.

[BobD Volunteer]

Yes they are benign but can be quite irritating. Some years ago I had almost constant ectopics for nearly three months until I learned the slow deep breathing trick first offered by Dr Gupta. Breath form the diaphragam not the shoulders and slow to six or fewer breaths a minute for at least five minutes, longer if possible. It took me a few days to get the hang of it but by the time I got down to 4 Breaths a minute the ectopics ceased.

[stoneyhouse in reply to BobD]

Thanks 😊 I've seen the breathing idea mentioned on here from time to time, will give it more of a go now. Will check how his vid (if he has one)

[bantam12]

If you are symptomatic and they bother you it never hurts to get further testing.

I was told for several years my ectopics were benign, stress related, nothing to worry about, all the usual blah blah blah but eventually after much pestering was diagnosed with problems that did need treatment, felt good to be proved right !

[stoneyhouse in reply to bantam12]

Will see how it goes, if I can't control them a bit more with maybe breathing I'll go back to GP

[Alphakiwi]

If your sleeping well and dont feel unwell then accept what your doctor says. You will know if you need further attention with this because you will feel absolutely crap mostly. All the best and dont expect your body to be perfect forever. Enjoy what you have now.

[PoorlyWifeHeart]

Before my wife's AF became the big(ger) thing she used to have periods where she'd get ectopics pretty much constantly, or at least for hours at a time day after day. When she was like this she could almost guarantee they would start when she laid down to sleep, sometimes they'd stop again as soon as she sat up. Sometimes they were random, other times we could see bigeminy or trigeminy patterns.

We already had a little Kardia 6L and the pattern that ectopics make (for her) is very distinctive, bit it was useful to get reassurance from the cardiologist thr first time.

Whilst she said they were sometimes annoying she got used to them and just ignore them. Only the other day she said she wished she could go back to only being annoyed at ectopics instead of regular AF 🙂

[Dudtbin]

i wore a holster for 48 hours and the results came in with 11 per cent burden ventricular ectopics. I had no idea! Have low heart rate so wonder if this is why I don’t feel it.

[stoneyhouse in reply to Dudtbin]

My HR is fairly low, resting 55 or so and they are very noticeable for me... Maybe your HR is even slower...

[Dudtbin in reply to stoneyhouse]

Last ecg it was 49 !

[stoneyhouse in reply to Dudtbin]

😮

[Ppiman]

Did they show on an ECG at all? I get "runs" of them regularly (I attach a recent ECG just to show you what they look like). They can be both PACs and PVCs and, in my case, are clearly linked to my atrial conductivity problems that also bring on AF.

They are called "benign" since they don't cause the risk of stroke as AF does, and thus don't require any anticoagulation. It's also most unlikely they will lead to anything else, but if they were very frequent, I would be asking for an echo-cardiogram to be sure all else was fine with the heart.

I use a home ECG that can run overnight and which uses AI to determine the nature of anything it finds. It's excellent and made by Wellue. The Kardia is also a lovely device but runs for a very short time and, it seems to me, is really at its best if you actually do have AF.

Steve

Wellue ECG strip showing ectopic beats,

[stoneyhouse in reply to Ppiman]

No testing at all, just listened to my heart and asked questions, so he only has my word/descriptions to go on. He said testing would most likely be hard (to catch the runs) and so produce little or no evidence.

[Ppiman in reply to stoneyhouse]

I have lots of them, as I say. Whether they are worth testing for (i.e. with an echocardiogram), only a doctor can tell.

If they are a "missed beat", i.e. a premature ectopic beat followed by a "compensatory pause", then I suspect they might go away eventually, largely, only perhaps to return again. I had this happen for some years. Sometimes, I'd reflect and think to myself, "Well, they've gone away!" And then they would come back; and now they have returned again and have never been worse, although as I type this, all is calm.

If they do bother you, I would ask for an echo ultrasound scan, myself. If you have a sphygmomanometer, you might also like to be sure your BP is in the normal range as hypertension is, I gather, the number one thing to keep well controlled if possible.

The handheld Wellue ECG monitor with screen is on their website with a discount at present, and works out at about £80 inc postage. That will measure for up to five minutes. Would that be long enough to catch them?

Steve

[stoneyhouse in reply to Ppiman]

Thanks! Once it sets in fully its missing beats constantly for 12hrs or more, mainly starts in the evening and then stops at some point the next day so 5mins is plenty! Which one are you talking about? There seems to be loads on the Wellue site... Looks like a Chinese site/company, I try to avoid these due to shipping issues

[Ppiman in reply to stoneyhouse]

They are also on Amazon, and yes they do originate in China, but I believe all of this kind of thing does. I have ordered two (the 24-hour version and the handheld one. Both use an AI analysis offered freely with the purchase). The company seems to be a part of a large R&D based group specialising in hospital equipment called Viatom. The Wellue offshoot seems to be an attempt to capture the non-medical market. Their website isn't the clearest I have seen. A few here have bought from them and the shipping is amazingly quick, with both of mine (different times) coming in a week or just over.

The one I was referring to on the website is called "Touchscreen Monitor" but on the back of mine it is called, "Pulsebit EX". Also, I notice that if you put the code "CART" into the box after adding the product you your "basket" it seems an extra 10% can be had (this is what I did but the code was WELLUE10 back then), making it £64.47 plus postage.

Steve

[Qualipop]

PAlpitations are very normal and usually harmless. They ar emade much worse by stress and anxiety. When I had tests to check what kind mine were it took a year No monitor or ECG managed to catch them. FInally I had a stress test ( treadmill) and luckily they left me attached to the machine when I sat down to rest because I suddenly had a huge run of ectopics and they were able to see where they came from. Once I knew they were harmless I slowly stopped worrying about them and over the next year they reduced in number ( I'd been having over 5000 a day which a later holter monitor picked up) until finally they pretty much stopped. I now just get a few every few months or so.

[stoneyhouse in reply to Qualipop]

Thanks, not really stressed that much - not generally in life and I don't (think) I stress/worry much over the eptopics, but maybe I do subconsciously... Not had a overnight run now since 22 April (which is a long time for me!) so maybe I am not so concerned over them now. Frequently have much shorter sessions from a few seconds to maybe 30mins but if the big runs stay away then great!!

[Qualipop in reply to stoneyhouse]

Good luck. I just don't really get palpitations now. However since a certain vaccine I've now developed a complete arrhythmia which seems to flareup around every 6 to 8 months. I just had an awful b out from last Friday to last night (Monday). Non stop, 24 hours a day. Chest hurts and it's impossible to take my BP because pulse jumps from 4bpm to 160 and back down again in seconds and the machine just shows "error". Cardiologist not worried at all so I now just wait for it to settle down.