Frequent ectopic beats

[Best2]

Hi everyone hope your all doing well, please can anyone advise me about ectopic beats I’ve been diagnosed with these in the summer and am on bisoprolol to try and reduce the burden ! Please does anyone know if frequent ventricular ectopic beats are dangerous as I’m struggling with anxiety at the moment Thankyou Julie

[Hidden]

Dear Best2

So sorry that you are suffering with anxiety and all that it can bring to your day to day living.

As for the ectopic beats I to have them and was told that they were basically harmless .

But I am not medically trained and each to there own, meaning that they may be more important to you.

Only your heart nurse/ GP can give you those answers .

I see that you have posted in the Arrhythmia Alliance forum and have received some good advice.

I wish you well

[Best2 in reply to Hidden]

Thankyou Blue1958 for your kind words I have been told not to worry but I sometimes feel anxiety about my health gotta try and be a bit more positive I suppose !! Wishing you good health my friend !

[Scout2017]

Hi Best2 I’ve got them too, remember feeling a bit worried when the consultant and registrar were bent over a screen saying ‘can you see the ectopics’ and ‘yeah…’. But they were very reassuring and said it wasn’t a thing to be concerned about. That was a couple of years ago now and I’ve never been aware of them or had any issues.

[Best2 in reply to Scout2017]

Thankyou Scout2017 for your reply, that’s reassuring to hear , I wish you good health for the future!

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

This may or may not be of use. A friend has virtually eliminated them by removing triggers from his diet. These were, for him, caffeine, chocolate, alcohol and spicy foods.

[Best2 in reply to MichaelJH]

Thankyou for your reply MichealJH please to hear your friend managed to eliminate his ectopic beats! The only one of the things on the list that I have is occasional chocolate! I’m gonnna try to stop feeling worried and anxious about them and hopefully they might reduce!! Wishing you well and well done to your friend!

[EctopicAnnie]

Hi there.l am so sorry that you are having these problems.As far as l understand it if you have a structurally normal heart ectopic heartbeats are seen as benign.However they can be very tough to live with .l have had them for 25 years and they do fluctuate .Trying to limit caffeine,alcohol and any other stimulants is a good idea as is some regular moderate exercise.Some people find a trigger and are able to modify them but others are never able to identify what sets them off and you can drive yourself mad trying to.The best advice l can give is to try and accept that you have them and acknowledge their presence but don’t let them dominate your thoughts.Unfortunately anxiety releases adrenaline which can stimulate more of ectopic beats and it can become a viscious circle.Easier said than done l know but you do get used to them eventually .l take a very low dose of beta blocker too.leave never been that sure that it modified the ectopics but it has helped to keep me calmer and made me feel like l am doing something to ameliorate their effects.l do hope that you manage to find some peace soon.All the best,

[Best2 in reply to EctopicAnnie]

Good morning EctopicAnnie , thankyou so much for your reply and reassurance I’m going to try and think positive about these things and if I’m told they’re not dangerous or life threatening then I can stop feeling anxious and maybe that and the bisoprolol will help calm them down and reduce the burden a bit !! Wishing you good health for the future!

[Tessie28]

Hi, watch Sanjay Gupta on youtube. I actually had a monitor with him... worth every penny and very reassuring. I still have ectopic beats but now I don't worry.

[Best2 in reply to Tessie28]

Good morning Tessie28 Thankyou for your reply , I’m a big fan of dr Sanjay gupta his videos are very reassuring! So pleased you got help from him and are now doing ok.for me it’s a lot about anxiety making them worse , hopefully by reaching out on this forum and getting support I can improve ! Thanks again and I wish you well

[Chillydipper]

I've been interested to read the answers given to you as I have ventricular ectopics with almost every third heartbeat. I am finding it most disconcerting and the breathlessness is also annoying. My GP is totally unconcerned and told me that cardiologists are not worried about them. Looking at the advice of dietary of changes I have very little caffeine and haven't had alcohol in 5 weeks. However the thought of giving up spicy food is unimaginable ... I would rather live with the ectopics! I hope that you find a way to make peace with the condition. Have you tried any relaxation techniques to help with the anxiety? I found that CBT was helpful but when anxiety is bad it is often difficult to use the techniques that we know we should. Good luck

[Best2 in reply to Chillydipper]

Thankyou for your reply, I too feel breathless at times but I think it’s the bisoprolol side effects! I’m sure mine are down to anxiety which I’m trying to address with the breathing exercises ! Cardiologist has said I have a high burden 10 per cent of the beats a day are ectopic which over time can cause the heart to become enlarged which is the worry for me ! I have recently been put on 5 mg bisoprolol too try and get the burden down if not I can have a cardiac ablation which I’d rather avoid if possible!! I wish you good luck with you health for the future and thanks again for your response!