I have had nightime ectopic heart beats for over 5 years now and have had a real torrid time... I only seem to get them when I am in bed and trying to go to sleep...during the day I get nothing.
To be fair to my consultant(s) they have given me every test and investigation possible including many ecg's, halter monitors, angiograms and calcium scoring, but still nothing changes......however just this week I saw my fourth consultant who is from a private hospital but contracted to the NHS who has told me that they have come to the end of the line with investigations and basically they can do no more...he has concluded that my heart is in good strong condition with no problems and that my recent echo scan was better than average.....so my heart is fine!
But, he went on to say that the ectopics/palpitations seem to be a sympton rather than the cause and the problem may well be something else that will need investigating by another department.
Hey ho....all good fun !!
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Mgs333
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Well that sounds like good news regarding your heart. It may well be the mind itself triggering them when it's quiet on a night. I know myself that I can trigger them by focusing on my pulse and when I'm worrying about my heart as I have heart failure.
Last week I had a phone consultation with a cardiologist who advised having an MRI and a Holter test for 24 hours as I complained of frequent ectopics. If the frequency is over 10-15% then they might do an ablation as very frequent ectopics can lead to heart failure. The cause of my ectopics could be scarring of the heart caused by a bypass procedure 9 months ago, or idiopathic. I have noticed that if I lie on my left side I get ectopics but on turning to my right side they stop. Sometimes I get them following exercise. I don’t think their frequency is 10-15%, more like 5% but I cannot be sure.
You could request an MRI, although they might not go along with this. Sometimes magnesium taurate or citrate is recommended and might improve things. I’d be interested to know how many ectopics you get per minute on average. Also, do you get them during the daytime too?
I have ventricular bigeminy. It is very severe. I have it in in episodes. For example, my last episode lasted for 8 weeks. I also have the all day every day. My cardiologist said it will start to weeken the heart after around 6 months without a break.
Then perhaps you should consider having an ablation. Why wait until your heart is irreparably damaged? I would ask to see an electrophysiologist and find out which part of your heart the ectopic beats are coming from and how many you are having everyday. The location and frequency largely determines the potential success of an ablation.
Thanks...Yep I thought that that would be an option but my cardiologist is insisting that my heart is fine and that the ectopic beats are a symptom and not a the cause...I had a full echo cardiogram about a month ago that showed that my heart is working perfectly with no issues.....so the mystery continues....
I have actually asked for ablation, but the liklihood of anything being granted by a cardiologist who, despite all the evidence proving it, won't admit to there being a problem. He just passes everything off. I wonder if I would have the same doctor issues if I were male. Just a thought.
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