I have had ectopic beats for some years but it was always infrequently. I recently started getting them more often and had a 24 hour holter monitor. I was told there were isolated PAC and PVCs totalling 50 in 24 hour period. They are now happening much more frequently I would say every 2/3 minutes which is causing me concern. Two weeks ago I was sent to A & E because I had fast heart rate 160bpm that lasted for 30 minutes. I was told ECG and bloods was normal and I am now waiting for paperwork to be sent to my Dr before I go back and discuss things.
I had been under an awful lot of stress over the last few months and suffer with anxiety. I was checked out 2.5 years ago for similar problem and also had an echocardiogram which was normal for age… I am 66. Doctors don’t seem unduly concerned but I am worried because they have increased in number. Your comments would be appreciated.
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Naillig
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Ectopic beats are extremely common and a popular question on this forum, so you’re not alone in experiencing these.
You don’t mention whether you’re on medication to control the ectopics however, they are treated as benign which is probably why your doctors don’t seem too concerned.
Do you have any way of measuring your ectopics at home? Such as using a watch, oximeter or another type of device? Logging your episodes may help give your doctors a better understanding into their frequency and how they are affecting you on a daily basis.
Others will be by to share their experiences I’m sure. Please try not to worry too much for the time being as stress can trigger these too.
Hi Tos, Thank you so much for your quick response. I am not on medication at the moment, perhaps that’s what will be suggested. As I mentioned I have been under an awful lot of stress and think this is probably contributing to it. I appreciate your reply and thank you again, you have reassured me.
Hi Naillig, medical progress is moving fast in this area. 8 years ago routine GP new patient screening included an ECG which showed a low heart rate, around 42 from memory and the health care assistant referred my result to the GP. I was referred to cardiology for intensive screening, treadmill etc and had the diagnosis Sinus rhythm bradycardia with ectopics. Told a benign condition. No further treatment. Seven years on I had a severe stroke out of the blue. Post discharge investigations included 24hour and 7 day ECG Holters, echocardiogram etc still confirming SR Bradycardia with ectopics. But in the past couple of years epidemiological studies have moved on and risk assessment for strokes linked to undetected arrhythmia are understood sufficiently in population data for NICE to develop guidance on preventative management. First step is a recognition that Holter data is unreliable and there is now a recommendation to fit LINQ ECG implants to remotely record your heart 24/7/365. I brought this to the attention of my GP and indicated an adjacent NHS Trust fitting was already routine. Earlier this year I had one fitted, very simple process. This action was very reassuring as I felt for the first time my heart was being actively monitored for what might be a rare event but if there was a condition that explained my stroke this was the best chance of finding it.
2 months on from fitting sure enough, an AF event was detected. I was unaware of this until I had a phone call from the hospital!!
This triggered an immediate change in medication, also a consequence of new NICE guidance for reducing strokes and death in the population.
I guess if this level of investigation had been available 8 years ago there was a chance my stroke would have been avoided.
Yes I have the knowledge I feel fine, I'm aware of having a heart performance at one end of the bell curve range , but I do have a detected AF condition that raises my risk of a stroke event which is now being treated with anticoagulant medication. (Edoxaban)
I find uncertainty is a huge contributing factor to anxiety. These investigations although resulting in permanent medication interventions have reduced anxiety. There isn't a day that goes by without spending time thinking what if's etc but for the most part the disabling anxiety after my stroke has largely been mitigated.
But I did have to engage with the GP and do some of the work for them from my own investigations. My GP was quite supportive of 'the worried well' but informed patient!
Keep focused on the likely, not the unlikely, do read around HU past posts which might be helpful. The anxiety, remember, is an 'incidental' signal for concern and shouldn't become a distraction from the real issue you need investigating. You will see many HU posts where the focus is the anxiety (understandable) and I sometimes think GP's see this and end up treating the anxiety if that's what the patient talks about the most!
Hope this helps and hope you can work with your primary health care team. If they suggest lifestyle changes to help your management work with them on this and try to make any changes they recommend. This will definitely help to get them on board. I've lost some weight and exercise more which has had a noticeable improvement on my cardiovascular system.
Medical progress not moving fast enough in my opinion. The drugs used used to treat arrhythmias don't seem very sophisticated and all seem to have weird side effects. Ectopic' beats still causing misery to millions and there is still no simple cure. We simply don't know enough about the human heart. At times it seems to have a mind of it's own. Maybe one day they'll discover that it actually does!
The current NICE guidance and plan is aiming to provide anticoagulants for 600000 extra referrals over the next two years with the aim of saving 6500 lives and 20000+ strokes. I'm grateful to have moved from Clopidogrel, antiplatelet standard post stroke treatment to Edoxaban anticoagulant a month ago. I think I had some minor skin irritation/itch for the first few days and some calf muscle ache which might have been down to the medication. Okay now.The DOAC anticoagulants are easier to take compared with the monitoring etc with warfarin.
It's clear that the research and adoption of new treatments is behind the curve in the UK. Nice used foreign data to validate the above policy, ie where the policy had already been in place. LINQ devices have been available for some time but are now only just being routinely used here.
This is where talking to your GP might be useful as they are not always right up to date with even local commissioning changes.
Post my stroke I talked to the cardiologist about atrial flutter as opposed to AF and perhaps this was why nothing was showing. Research in other countries is more advanced. I was dismissed..... The cardiologist reviewing the first alert generated from my LINQ said it might be atrial flutter!
I am going to the Drs today to have an ECG regarding the same. I will let you know the results later, my heart beat goes up and down from 43bpm and then up to 102 bpm, the Dr said I have a musical heart beat, I have been stressed about it all weekend which hasn’t helped as I stresss easily.
Sorry to hear that you're going through this. I have posted in the last few days as my ectopics, which I have had at increasing levels for over 35 years, have gone crazy recently. I was getting several a minute for 20 hours and then they suddenly calmed to more manageable levels. I have also had tachycardia episodes. I think stress is well documented to make these worse (tho seems to make no difference in my case). I wish I could offer a solution as they really inhibit my life when they get so bad. Have you looked at the YouTube videos of Sanjay Gupta York Cardiology. He is very reassuring which helps me a bit. Also I go back to the website of Oliver Segal another cardiologist who explains why ectopics are usually benign although, as he acknowledges, they can be very uncomfortable. The medics only start to worry if you're getting more than about 10,000 a day continuously !! Good luck with your follow up and do let us know how you get on.
Hi, Been there done that and after reassuring words from cardio doctor they have gone away again. I religiously take MG375, CoQ10 and aspirin 75mg all with a huge cup of hydration. Try not to be a worry monkey and avoid Dr Google like the plague. And walk regularly. Best wishes,you'll be OK.
I was in exactly the same position as you and it was only when I paid privately for a 28 day monitor (a patch) that my AF was detected among innumerable ectopics. So I would say it’s worth getting a longer monitor so that you can be sure what you’re dealing with. Now on medication, I feel fine. But I’m so glad the AF was diagnosed , otherwise I wouldn’t have been put on anticoagulants to avoid a stroke.
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