Skipped beats

[Beelights]

I've noticed that when I wake up in the early hours of the morning I can feel a skipped heartbeat, sometimes as often as one every minute. My heart rate is slow and steady other than that. I believe my breathing is quite shallow at time. As an aside, I am currently experiencing insomnia andvery broken sleep. I'm taking an antihistamine, magnesium and a little CBD before bed to help with this and it's given me four or five broken hours of sleep at night. Are these skipped beats afib? My previous experience of afib ( am a newcomer) has been a few episodes of very fast heart rate and completely irregular rhythm when I have had extreme stress or illness and these episodes are very distinct. For information I am 59, fit, exercise daily and average weight. I drink 1.5 litres water a day (no caffeine or alcohol) and try to finish drinking/eating by 4:00 p.m. so I don't get up in the night too often. Overall Im an anxious person and more so now as moving house again, and hyper aware of my heart at night.

I am extremely conscious now of my heart and how it is beating and I think that might be a negative feedback loop. I very occasionally also notice a skipped beat when I'm reading quietly at my desk in the evening.

So my questions are: are these early morning incidences of skipping beats afib itself? Or are they normal... something else?

Thanks,

Emma

[CDreamer]

Unlikely to be AFib - more likely to be ectopics but without analysis by ECG it’s really impossible to say. If you have a device such as smart watch with ECG capability or mobile ECG monitor such as Kardia you can print out and ask your cardiologist for analysis.

Ectopics beats unless they multiples and persistent are considered benign and if they cease as you rise and move around I wouldn’t worry duly. It would be worth watching your resting HR which drops during sleep and with some people has a tendency to drop really low and this could be linked to your shallow breathing. Have you been tested for Sleep Apnea? Certainly worth mentioning to your doctor.

[Beelights in reply to CDreamer]

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I'm also wondering if I might be getting dehydrated as I tend to stop drinking by 4 pm and have usually done the bulk of my drinking by 3 pm (water) and my last meal of the day by 4:00 p.m. as well.

I do have a KardiaMobile but I find that once I get up into the sitting position the ectopic stop and trying to take a reading when I'm still lying flat hasn't proved successful so far 😄

I appreciate your response 🌱

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Beelights]

Goodness me you are getting dehydrated if you are going sixteen hours between water! You must change this.

[Beelights in reply to BobD]

Thank you! I appreciate your reply. I seem to get up three or four times a night to pee so I have been trying to avoid that but clearly counterproductive! I'm usually a sleep by 10:30 or 11 so perhaps I should try last drink by 8pm. I'm really not very well informed about the mechanics of hydration!

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Beelights]

It is very important for all organs. As one with no prostate I am well aware of night visits but not drinking merely aggravates things as the urine just gets stronger. Good hydration is vital at all times . In 2017 during a cardioversion, my heart refusd to respond and I needed several minutes of CPR. An extremely rare reaction which I believe was due to dehydration as I had been nil by mouth for around 13 hours in a hot hospital ward.

[Cavalierrubie in reply to Beelights]

I take a jug of water and cup to bed and have a swig when l get up for the toilet or wake up. I have low blood pressure so it’s essential. Essential for many things AF and kidney function as well as the heart and circulation. Dehydration can give you heart attack as Bob has pointed out. Very important, so please get drinking constantly. Take care.

[Beelights in reply to Cavalierrubie]

Gosh. Thank you! 👍🏼 I've learned a lot from these responses.

[Buffafly]

4pm 😯 So dehydrated and hungry/low blood sugar? Peeing at night is a pain I know but I think you would be better drinking small amounts at regular intervals. Water alone doesn’t hydrate you, for hydration you need electrolytes added especially if you are sweating when exercising. Too much water can dilute electrolytes I believe. Why the magnesium and how much? If you don’t really need it it could also be stopping you absorbing other necessary elements. I know only too well how stressful house moving is so I wouldn’t be surprised if you aren’t eating well.

Hope you get better sleep soon