Ectopics suck 😔

[LadyZ13]

Just looking for sympathy and others with similar experiences for reassurance.

Since my OHS and cardioversion, I've been feeling some weird 'bumps' in my chest. Some of them feel like they're my heart, others are more like a big 'butterfly' in my stomach. I told my cardiologist about them and she said they were ectopics, the heart being a microsecond out of a beat and not to worry about them, and my cardiac nurse said they'd calm down. So I have tried to ignore them and get on with my life.

On Christmas Day these 'bumps' went from 2-6 per day to about 20, and the last 4 days have been full of them. 😔 They are very unsettling. At no point have I felt dizzy or breathless - I'm able to run, cycle and do gym workouts unimpeded, but they are causing me anxiety and I'm sure this quiet time of year gives me more time to dwell on them and fret. They have hampered my enjoyment of Christmas for sure.

I don't know why they've suddenly got more frequent and they come out of nowhere or go quiet for a few hours before jumping back in again. I have tried to do relaxation exercises and deep breathing.

I suspect if I flagged with my cardiology team they might put me on a holter at best, which I guess might pick them up, and then they might up my Bisoprolol... I have another appointment for an MRI in spring and I'll mention it then (again)...

Does anyone have any words of wisdom or tips for making these more tolerable? And sympathies if you also experience these - they're no fun!

[devonian186]

I suspect your Christmas activities disrupted your usual health. Drinking prosecco? Rich food? Staying up later and not sleeping as well? Not getting exercise? Taking medication at a different time?

Hopefully once you get back to normal activities then things will calm down again.

[LadyZ13 in reply to devonian186]

Thanks for the reply. I've tried to keep to my routine as much as possible, avoiding alcohol, keeping up with my exercise etc but yes, there's been plenty of foods that I wouldn't normally eat and I've gained a couple of pounds as a result. I hope you're right about it calming down next week!

[NannyPat1]

I’ve had them since childhood, I used to call them boom booms 🤣 They’re horrible, I find making myself cough makes them stop for a bit. Over the years, I get bouts, sometimes for weeks at a time and then huge gaps where I don’t notice them, I’ve come to realise they’re harmless but still very disconcerting.

[LadyZ13 in reply to NannyPat1]

I appreciate you stepping in to offer this reassurance - I sometimes find myself growling or coughing over them, so perhaps that's a common response!

[devonian186 in reply to LadyZ13]

Things like Pringles are especially bad and are known to cause palpitations. I dare say there are many other things we don't normally eat that fall into the same category.

[LadyZ13 in reply to devonian186]

Isn't that weird?? We've mainly eaten out, but there were lots of crisps and nuts out on Christmas Day. This is partly why we normally try to avoid processed food, those additives are tricksy!

[Stuartc100]

Yup fellow sufferer here, you might find its actually being caused by your stomach (gastro) and not your heart, ive had all the heart tests, just had my angiogram results back and its all good so mine dont seem to be heart in origin, i do have a hiatus hernia and GERD so the thinking is its gastro, vagus nerve being over stimulated or the HH, ive had the massive boomers 4 of them twice (they are called salvos) thats what set me off the trouble is anxiety just feeds the beast so you get into a vicious circle, ive had them for a week where they were just like "internal hiccups" and easier to deal with found doubling up on my PPI's helped to ease them.

[LadyZ13 in reply to Stuartc100]

That's interesting as some of them do feel like they're below my heart and more like a hulking butterfly extending its wings in my stomach. That said, I've no history of any gastric issues. I'll try some vagus nerve breathing and see if that helps - thanks!

[Hidden]

Well the good old ectopics. Being me I read up about them and the vast majority are normal and benign. However I possibly agree that some foods can cause issues, but the ectopics are just the hearts electrical signals just firing wrong . If potassium levels go up then this can disrupt the signals. Also magnesium. The heart needs these suppliments but as usual not too much not too little. Being an electrician I imagine my heart as an electrical circuit. I know it is more comlexed than that but it is still an electrical circuit. When I had a 24 hr holter last year I had 21 atrial ectopics and 88 ventricular ectopics and all in all, any other issues worked out at less than 1%. However I have not had a holter since but I can feel them now and again. But stress and and anxiety can cause them as many on here have said the vagus nerve gets over stimulated. And there is a large tie up with the nervus system between brain, heart and stomach but I agree that they are quite off putting

[LadyZ13 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for sharing your experience, it's good not to be alone with this sort of thing. They are so very weird and unsettling! I will try some vagus nerve stuff and see if I can get it to settle.

[Yumz199725]

I agree they are no fun to experience! I had a horrible experience with them few years back I had chest pain and it was a joke how many I was getting so I did 111 and it suggested I go to A&E which I did they did blood work ecgs and chest Xray, everything came back normal but was still glad I went because of my history of heart problems. I mentioned to my consultant and I had sooo many holter monitors and stress tests and then one of them picked up ventricular Tachycardia so I'm on verapamil 40mg x2 for it but that's only because it was making me lightheaded when I was getting the palpitations. I found that stress was a massive trigger for me and for a while it was pretty much anything that set it of was annoying I would try and sleep and it was like my heart was dancing around in my chest was well scary and stressful which probably contributed to it getting so bad. I hope yours settle down soon and hopefully a holter monitor will show what's causing them x

[LadyZ13 in reply to Yumz199725]

I'm so sorry to hear you've had that experience, it sounds really rubbish. I don't know at what point you should declare that you're getting a lot of them and ask for investigations - and the stress just feeds itself, doesn't it? I'm not sure if I should demand a holter now or wait and see how things go... X

[Yumz199725 in reply to LadyZ13]

I literally just kept on and on at them about it till they had to look into but it took a year or so before they found anything. Definitely keep on at your cardiologist about it sounds like it's interrupting your daily life which is what started happening to me X ❤️

[LadyZ13 in reply to Yumz199725]

I feel like I'm letting them interrupt my daily life by getting wound up about them! Very chicken and egg.