What should I do?

[Emmlou75]

Hello I’ve joined this group in need of advice. My husband has been having problems since March 4th. His heart skips beat continuously. Normally only beats around 16 times before missing a beat. He can’t have a monitor fitted due to covid19. The hospital said to wait till it’s over . He’s been to A&E and they said it’s showing on his ECG but he needs to see a cardiologist but the clinic isn’t open. Nobody seems to be interested and I’m getting stressed . Xx

[Maisie2014]

Try not to worry. It will make you ill too. Tell the GP how you feel and ask their advice on what to do. My GP emails my cardiologist and gives me ongoing advice over the phone. As them to do the same for you. Any chest pains call an ambulance. Take care.

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Plenty of good advice so far. Extra or missed beats are known as ectopic beats. A friend suffers from these and was on medication. Sometimes they can be caused by triggers like caffeine, alcohol, chocolate and spicy foods. After eliminating these from his diet he is now off medication and can go months without an episode. Another trigger is stress which is harder to eliminate particularly in the current climate.

[sasswa]

Hi Emmylou

My partner was diagnosed with ectopic heartbeats. His pulse feels really alarmingly irregular with missed beats but the cardiologist at Edinburgh did not give him any treatment at all. Said it was harmless, quite common and nothing to worry about.

Hopefully that will reduce your worry a bit, obviously a cardiologists appointment is best and it won't be long now till things start to get going again.

Take Care x

[EMBoy]

As others have said - try not to worry too much. I your husband's condition had been serious, he would have been treated immediately.

I'm afraid I have to contradict what some of the others have said, because ectopic beats are not missed beats, they just feel like it. Your husband may be suffering from a heart block (as I do) and this does cause missing beats. As long as he has no other symptoms, such as fatigue, shortness of breath or dizziness, he will probably be OK for the moment, but you should try to get an appointment with a cardiologist ASAP. The NHS should be open for business as usual, so please persevere. If your husband does have heart block, it is easily treated with a pacemaker.

Good luck and don't be too concerned. If you take Thatwasunexpected's advice and call the BHF nurses, you should get all the help you need.