Which Arrhythmia could this be?

[tomp94]

Symptoms were:

Feeling sick,jelly legs and an odd sensation in stomach 30-60 minutes before nearly fainting. I also remember feeling agitated I was fine prior to these symptoms.

When spinning, a low heart rate, partial loss of vision, I could feel thuds in chest. I did not pass out.

Persisted for 5 to 10 minutes, before returning to normal.

Happened on three occasions in the past. One when waking up first thing in morning, one mid-morning, and the other about an hour after I'd awoken, although symptoms started after a bowel movement.

These three episodes have happened over a 15 year period

I do get fairly frequent palpitations, be it a couple of "skipped beats" a thud in the chest, or a rapid pulse that lasts for a second. I feel find before, during, and after these.

I am on no medication, am otherwise a healthy weight, do not drink or smoke, and I'm 28 years old.

What heart issue could be the cause? A list of all the possibilities would be great,

Thank you.

[pasigal]

tomp94 I have no idea, however I have been getting the exact same sensations since my latest heart attack in April 2021 (not to worry you!). I have had such incidents three times, but twice this month. I am currently investigating with my cardiologist, who ran the standard tests (ecg, blood work, stress test) and said my heart is fine. Of course, I am not so sure...

Tomorrow I am meeting with my GP to see if he has any ideas. I am on bisoprolol, a beta-blocker which can cause varied side effects, as well as very high doses of statins, which ALSO have varied side effects.

On top of that, I have GERD/reflux that seems to be getting worse, and basically my intestinal operations are a bit wonky. Interesting you mention bowel movements, as that seems to be either a trigger or a result!

At any rate, these episodes leave me fatigued, with shaky legs and a bit of pain around my chest/abdomen, but not necessarily the pain that comes with a heart attack (believe me, I know what that is!), so I'm really hoping it's related to the GERD somehow and not some kind of latent restenosis (I have 4 stents) or new arterial blockage.

[Hephzibar]

Hi, tomp94. Way back in March I had a wierd episode - thought I was going to faint, but didn’t, but by the time I checked by pulse and BP they were both high! Felt very shaken afterwards. GP saw me and sent me through the TIA route, which was clear, but the Dr there called it Pre Syncope and advised keeping my fluid levels up. I have had a couple more episodes which were much milder and as I recognised them I coped better.

All episodes were around 9 am, the first one being after my breakfast. There were concerns regarding my tachycardia so saw a cardiologist privately ( 7 month wait locally in NHS) and have been using a KardiaMobile to check whether it is tachycardia or AF. Atm it is just my usually tachycardia!!

I now make sure that I have a large glass of water before I get up and have a slower start to the day.

It is really a good idea to get all this checked out, as I did, if only for reassurance. I phoned 111 after the first episode and they were really good at getting me a same day appointment with the Gp.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!

[EMBoy]

I am not medically qualified, but what you are experiencing is almost certainly pre-syncope. The "missed beats" and thumping in the chest may be ectopic beats.

I had one episode of pre-syncope, and it was followed up a few weeks later by complete syncope while I was loading some heavy shopping into the back of my car. I collapsed and split the back of my head open, but a kind person called the ambulance and looked after me until it arrived. After wiring me up for an ECG, the paramedic noticed that I had an arrhythmia, so took me off to hospital. The following day, I was given a pacemaker for an arrhythmia known as Mobitz type 2 heart block which causes my heart to miss beats.

At your age and with a healthy lifestyle, you probably feel too young to have heart disease, but you seem to have had some sort of problem for many years, which may suggest you have a congenital illness. I would urge you to get it checked out as soon as possible - you don't want to have a syncope while driving. Modern treatments for arrhythmia allow us to live long and healthy lives.

All the best.

[Abbyroza]

Sounds like atrial fibrillation.