Afib? PAC’s

[Echo24uk]

I have been having a dripping feeling in my chest.

I have recorded this on my ecg on my Apple Watch and the feeling coincided with 2 heart beats close together in quick succession (as shown)

I went to GP (twice in one day - other was with regards to the extensive bruises that have starting appearing on my body !! )

She advised possible AFIB and would write to cardiologist.

anyone else have experience of this ? How serious is it? Just when I thought I was getting better and then now this !

I suspect this may have been brought on by the MYOVIEW scan as I have only been Getting then since then! And was getting a lot of fluttering the day after

Just feel like one thing after another and was supposed to be taking my little boy to legoland this weekend and just wanted a break! No I feel like I will be on edge all weekend!

reqlky fed up and down and wife is fed up of me going on about it all the time !

[Milkfairy Heart Star]

Hello,

I am sorry you are feeling anxious at the moment.

None of us here on the forum are medically trained, so are not in the position to give an interpretation of your Apple watch trace.

Have you shown your GP this recording?

My husband has Atrial fibrillation and I picked it up by feeling his pulse at his wrist.

He had an ECG at the surgery which showed his arrthymia and then was referred for a Holter test.

He was then prescribed a direct oral anti coagulant, DOAC.

He was already on a beta blocker.

Last December he had an ablation and since then has had no more episodes of AF.

My husband managed his AF in other ways too. He reduced his caffeine and alcohol intake.

Also tried to manage his stress too.

Not easy at times as I also live with a challenging heart condition.

Maybe going to Legoland might be a way of taking your mind off your issues?

Perhaps talk this through with your wife?

I suggest you have a look at the Arrthymia Alliance website, they have lots of information which may help.

heartrhythmalliance.org/aa/uk

[Echo24uk in reply to Milkfairy]

thanks for the reply

Gp has looked at it and it is only an Apple Watch ecg but she was counting the squares between each talk wave (r wave)

In terms of lifestyle changes I am in a good place after having a stent in April lost weight eating healthy etc even tried reiki !! I was feeling loads better then this has really knocked me back !

I am once again an anxious wreck

[Echo24uk]

thanks that was my thoughts too !

My heart rate jumps around and is low - will jump from 47 to 64 then to 54 etc not sure if the unwelll feeling is more the fact that my anxiety has hit the roof since this started

[Echo24uk]

ha ha that’s one way to put it !

I seem to have none all day and then they kick in late afternoon! It’s the feeling of them I can’t cope with, like being on a rollercoaster or going over a bump in the road really fast and the tiredness.

It’s more when resting too when heart rate drops to 40’s/50’s. If I start doing more and Herat rate goes up seem to stop

[Echo24uk]

yeah loads

Dilatazium ticegrelor aspirin plus lanzoprosol and Atorvastatin.

[Engineer46]

Your watch recording indicates four ectopic beats, which are beats "out of place", either early or late. In this recording they are early and, if you notice them at all, will probably feel like a double beat. When late, they feel like a skipped beat. They are generally regarded as benign.

Otherwise the recording appears to show a regular sinus rhythm of just under 60 bpm. There is no indication of Atrial Fibrillation on this recording. In AF the pulse is irregularly irregular with no pattern to it at all and there are also no P waves which, as BlossomsInSpring noted, your recording shows clearly. Hopefully your GP didn't suggest that this recording showed "possible AF" but based that comment on her examination of you - checking your pulse, for example.

AF is usually initially a transitory condition that may only occur briefly from time to time and it often evades any attempt to record it! If there are reasons to suspect that you may occasionally be in AF then you will probably be asked to wear a "Holter monitor" that can record a continuous ECG for one or more days. This can then be analysed to check for any episodes of AF, since many people with AF are symptom-free and never notice it.

Just so that you can feel assured that your watch is not showing AF, I've attached a scan of my own ECG. I'm in permanent AF and it's pretty easy to see! Thankfully, I have no symptoms and, other than taking a low dose beta blocker and an anticoagulant, it has had no effect on my life at all.

So relax and go to Lego Land!

Paul

Home ECG showing Atrial Fibrillation

[Echo24uk in reply to Engineer46]

much appreciated the gp made the AF conclusion from counting the squares on the image above between beats

I was sceptical of the Afib comment and thank you you have really put my mind at ease. N

Normally I am not so anxious but since my recent stent my mind is in overdrive!!

They have only just started since my Myoview stress test and seem to be towards end of day first child of days just odd one but had a few over an hour yesterday

Thanks again

[Engineer46 in reply to Echo24uk]

In case you aren't familiar with the ECG wave names, the P wave is the small upward wave immediately before the main QRS complex, which has the largest wave, R, between two small downward waves, Q and S.

My trace never shows any P waves, whereas, on the recording you attached, there is a clear P wave before every QRS complex, except after the ectopic beats, when it gets obscured.

So no AF is shown in your recording and counting the squares between R waves won't change that! It will only indicate what your heart rate was at the time and whether there was much variation. As you can see for yourself without counting squares, any variation was minor and nothing like AF.

Best wishes,

Paul

[Echo24uk in reply to Engineer46]

thanks mate I’ll put it down to tiredness and anxiety and try enjoy my weekend !!

[Echo24uk in reply to Engineer46]

my resting heart rate or rather sat here in the restaurant is 49-55 and tends to be when I feel my worst !

[Palpman]

That is not bigamy or Afib as it is a single odd ectopic beat originating in the atria as it has clear P waves. Seems like a PAC to me.

[Echo24uk in reply to Palpman]

yeah as my reply above I was sceptical of the Afib if it wasn’t for the weird feeling in my chest no other symptoms just yesterday was most of had and all in space of an hour ish

[Echo24uk]

my cardiologist called today (to tell me I have to go back for another angiogram following results of nuclear stress test)

I did ask about the above and he advised that they are more likely ectopic beats and unlikely Afib !!