A. Fib

[lynstone60]

Hi people ...Just thought i would post my newest experience with my HA. so this Friday just gone around late afternoon i took my blood pressure ,i regularly take it not because i have been asked to by my GP but because i like to to make sure its ok ,so i took blood pressure which was perfectly fine but my pulse rate was only 60 BPM and on my monitor i had that little symbol come up on the machine telling me i had an irregular heart beat ,OMG i checked it again and their it was again but my heart beat was just over 60 ,so i checked my pulse with my fingers and their it was skipped heart beats going on everywhere ,i immediately panicked as we do and my husband said call 111 so i did ,i spoke to 3 people about my missed heart beats and was told to go straight to AE to get this checked out ,by this time you can imagine i was in such a state of complete anxiety i could hardly breath which was making the palpitations even worse ..arrived at AE and was seen around half hour later ,i explained to the nurse i suffer HA and she was really nice and caring ...she did a ECG and would you believe it was perfectly normal nothing was showing up what so ever which i was so surprised because whilst i was having the ECG i could actually feel them in my chest missing a beat and because i also have pulsatile Tinnitus in my left ear only i could also hear the ringing stop as my heart missed a beat ,then the ring began again when my heart started beating again ..i eventually saw a doctor who did a blood test to rule out infections around the heart magnesium deficiency etc and to rule out to see if i had had a heart attack at some point ,this test all came back clear so she wants me to wear a heart monitor for i think 48 hours to see if that picks up anything ,as i am typing this my heart is skipping beats ,i just dont understand how the ECG did not pick skipping beats up whist i was actually having skipped beats whist wired all up .....so i was sent home with hubby and told to wait for a week to see if they go if not ring my GP and get a herat monitor put on ...i know they wont go because i have had them for what seems like for ever ,i have always suffered palps but never skipped beats so i am really worried about this ,..all this health crap is really getting to me ,it seems to be one thing after the other ,first ringing in my ear now skipped heart beats ,i asked the doctor if this could all be linked and guess what she didn't know . does anyone else have skipped heart beats ? if so has it been investigated and what was the outcome? i have heard of Afib before but how does this get diagnosed if heart machines do not pick them up ???????????..HA through the roof once again .sorry for the long post and thanks for reading x

[Natsteveo]

I used to check my heart rate constantly I actually became a bit ocd with it and I would check it mainly during a panic episode which was obviously through the roof .. you did the right thing and got it checked it will be you’re HA making you worry and fret just try and relax and watch films today I know it’s easier said than done with HA I suffer myself but don’t let it take over you’re entire day

Nat

[lynstone60 in reply to Natsteveo]

hi nat .thanks for your reply ...i will try but as you know its so hard to just RELAX ..just hate all this x

[Natsteveo in reply to lynstone60]

It is very hard it makes you manic I too hate it it’s so overwhelming and it’s horrible to live with everyday I’ve been doing things that keeps my occupied even if it’s just a few minutes or hours it really helps with you’re HA but as we’ve dealt with a lot it doesn’t last long and go back to square one again

Take care

Nat

[lynstone60 in reply to Natsteveo]

Yes totally agree NAT .I am 61 and have had HA since 17 so you would think I would of delt with it by now .no such luck .since turning 60 it's got worse

[Natsteveo in reply to lynstone60]

I'm the same im 45 had this for 20 years and got worse when I lost my mum infact I became abit ocd with my health anxiety I literally scan my body for everything thats different its nit nice to live like that ive spent so many years worrying I know its all been proven theres nothing g wrong but then I think but what if they've missed something 🤔 and with the pandemic its gotten worse because we can't see our drs so I get frustrated with them when they say oh you have this and that over the phone so im like well how do you know you can't see me so it just starts all over again..that what ifs and the bedding reassurance its awful

Nat x

[lynstone60 in reply to Natsteveo]

You are just like me ...all I want is to be seen face to face but all that's gone now ...I have to phone up GP again tomorrow morning to get a heart monitor put on me ...don't see how their going to do that over the phone 🤔😁where you from nat and sorry to here you lost your mom ..mine is still here god bless her at 86.x

[Natsteveo in reply to lynstone60]

I'm in the UK yeah my mum was only 56 your so lucky to still have ya mum its been 13 years now xx

[lynstone60 in reply to Natsteveo]

Me 2 in the UK .Northamptonshire .oh bless ya that is no age ...my dad died age 54 also x

[Natsteveo in reply to lynstone60]

Its horrible aint it im in Nottinghamshire no there isn't any age x

[Secret4706 in reply to Natsteveo]

45 are you sure you look like you're 21!!! X

[Natsteveo in reply to Secret4706]

Awwww thankyou nice compliment ☺ x

[Secret4706 in reply to Natsteveo]

If that's you in your profile pic I'm being super serious! Hash tag natsababe x

[Natsteveo in reply to Secret4706]

Yes thats me lol thankyou xx

[Lauriem4]

Ive had these during a panic attack and they were diagnosed from an ecg as ectopics which can feel like a skipped beat x

[Agora1]

Hi lynstone60, I am not a doctor but have had medical training in all departments of the hospital. It so happened that when I was in the hospital for another issue, I diagnosed my own A-Fib during the middle of the night. Called the nurse told her what happened, had an EKG and is was confirmed that's what I was in.

The heart doesn't skip beats it goes into Atrial flutters. I am on medication as well as a blood thinner. No side effects, doing well and living the good life w/o worry about my heart.

Good Luck on your heart monitor, I don't think they will find A-Fib but keep us updated.

The important thing is to not worry. xx

[lynstone60 in reply to Agora1]

hi agora1. Thank you for your reply , i was not aware that AFIB dont present with skipped beats ,i always thought AFIB was skipped beats ,thank you for this information which is good to know . however my heart is doing something which to me is not normal and i was very surprised when i had the ECG done that it did not show up these skipped beats to which i can feel if i take my own pulse ...we call it ECG here in the uk .so i suppose this is why i am going to have a heart monitor on,. Incidentally while i was at AE nobody bothered to take my pulse i was just hooked up to the ecg machine and blood pressure taken ,maybe this was because of the current situation right now (covid ) perhaps they didnt feel it necessary to take my pulse if they had they would of felt the missed beats . I could actually feel the flutters (skipped beats in my chest as i was having the ECG .

take care x

[Annie2609]

I started having daily skipped beats - ectopics 10 months ago.. out of nowhere. They are very annoying, my anxiety goes thru the roof when I get them. I went to A&E a couple of times but they couldn't see them. They were able to see them on the 24 hr heart monitor I wore. On my bad days, when I check my BP at home, I get that ❤ symbol on my machine too, all day.. it makes me nervous but since the hospital visits, I don't think going there will resolve anything. I am on a beta blocker which still doesn't make a big difference in my symptoms. I totally understand your feelings as even now I sometimes think I should go to emergency.. I do suffer from anxiety and thought my skipped beats are A Fib but my cardio reassured they are not. Take care.

[lynstone60 in reply to Annie2609]

Hi annie .sorry for the late reply and thank you for replying .

wow you sound ex actly like me ,which beta blocker are you on ? I have been on propranolol for a while now . i take 3 40mg a day ,they seem to help but i still get the palpitations even taking them ...i did try and stop at least one of them and tried to go down to just 2 a day but i think this just made me worse so i am now back up to 3 a day ....i also tried to wean of Prozac which i have been on for 7 years for menopausal reasons ,maybe this caused the palpitations so my doc suggested i take the Prozac as normal just for now anyway .my appointment to get the heart monitor put on is November 2nd and take it back the next day .so what did they actually find on your results ? and are you feeling any better ? x

[Annie2609 in reply to lynstone60]

Hi Lyn, yes I thought we have very similar symptoms and I suspect many women our age (I just turned 50 and started getting perimenopausal).. Funny you mentioned the antidepressant.. I was on one too and didn't have palpitations while on it. I stopped taking it last year and then boom 3 months later the palpirations started. And now I'm a mess cannot sleep and stressed out because of these palpitations but cannot take the antidepressant now either.

I am on Bisoprolol initially 5 mg now increased to 7.5. Still get them every day. 2 holter monitors, 6 months apart showed around 100 PVCs / PACs which the doctor said they are "rare" and benign.. I guess their definition of "rare" is different than mine.. i certainly didn't think 100 skipped beats per day can be classified as "rare" :). But I hear some people have 10000 or more.. cannot imagine how bad it feels. My cardiologist here in Canada would not refer me for ablation. He said it's an invasive procedure and suitable for people with A Fib. So I am left to deal with these. I also have vasospastic angina, from 10 years ago, I don't think its related to the palpitqtions but imagine when I get both chest pains and palpitations how fun it is

Hope you will find some answers, do the holter as they should be able to clearly see what is going on. Let us know how it turns out. Stay safe.

[Guzman13]

I’ve had these “palpitations”

For me theyve always been skipped beats

It feels terrifying. It’s crazy how doctors havent gotten to the bottom of this if so many people suffer from it. My heart palpitations consist of a stop, a hard thud and then fast for a few seconds because I panic. I feel them even more because i’m tiny and i’ve always been aware of my heart. Hope you feel better!!

[lynstone60 in reply to Guzman13]

hi guzman13 . yes mine seem like skipped beats ,if i take my own pulse with my 2 fingers i can feel it miss then restart again....really is quite scary ,i get a heart monitor put on 2nd november and hopefully find out whats going on .

stay safe x