ectopic not sure

[Eddie64]

so where to begin,I’ve been feeling awful for quite some time now .Been having lots of severe chest pains in the back and down left arm for quite some time now,also felt like my heart is missing beats making me dizzy,anyway long story short,been to dr sent me for chest X-rays,waiting on results which I know will show nothing.But last week ended up going to a and e ,bloods done all ok but ECG showed abnormality s,so they kept me in .4days I was in there 2 of them hooked up to a monitor,while on the monitor I noticed when I got the awful feeling inside the beats went down instead of up ,I asked the nurse but no one seemed bothered..Then they took me off that and put me on another ward,they took my blood again,ran another ecg for 5 minutes and that was that.No I depth procedure nothing.Cardiologist came round I told him what was happening.,he said probably ectopic beats,I asked him what do you do for it ,and he said give stronger beta blockers,but as I’m already on bisoprolol 1.25 and my heart rate and blood pressure are low they can’t do that ,then proceeded to take me off them all together.Then basically discharged me with a view to seeing me as an outpatient,which we know will never happen.So now I’m sat here having no where to turn to ,still suffering the same thing ,I also have an ilr fitted which is picking up extra heart beats,sinus tachycardia the works ,and no one seems to be doing a damn thing,while I sit here and suffer,feeling scared,chest pain on and off and dizziness is driving me round the bend,sorry for the long post but I have just about had enough

[DodgyTickerMum]

Hi Eddie,

Sorry to hear you’re not feeling great. I also suffer with a chronic low B.P and ectopics both pre and post open heart surgery last year. Have also got a Loop Recorder implanted.

My advice to you wld be - if you’re able, to see a Cardiologist (that works out of your local N.H.S hospital) - privately. An initial consultation is around the £250 mark + a current E.C.G. You can self refer. They can then review your case, access your N.H.S records and take over your care and refer you back to the N.H.S if required. You will then have a contact point (and email address) for any queries or concerns, together with some continuity of care.

Alternatively, there are B.H.F Cardiac Nurses on this site, that you can refer your concerns to. I hope you managed to get something sorted, some peace of mind and feel better soon. Take care.

[devonian186 in reply to DodgyTickerMum]

Exactly the advice I was going to give. The sooner the better for peace of mind and so treatmemt can start asap.

[AspiringVet]

Hi Eddie, I was told by my GP that the NHS is in such a state at the moment that you often have to do a bit of jumping up and down and making a fuss to get the process going. If you’re still experiencing all of these symptoms, which affect your quality of life it may be worth a trip back to A&E and creating a bit of a fuss by pushing for more diagnostics to be done. We all know the NHS is under pressure and we don’t like to rock the boat, but at the end of the day you have to look out for yourself in a big dysfunctional system. You should trust yourself and push further and seek additional care, if that’s what you feel you need. After a prolonged hospital stay with all sorts of diagnostics and procedures I can honestly say I had to push for every single one of them to be done and for them to take the next step. What my GP told me rang true in my case. Don’t sit back and let them come to you if you feel that you need care now. Best of luck

[PinkMarshmallow]

Hi Eddie.I was taken off bisoprolol due to my heart rate being too low & making me feel terrible.

I wasn't given anything for my blood pressure. My heart sometimes feels like it's pounding in my chest!

Just got to wait to see a cardiologist. Which is going to be months & already has been. I am suffering from palpitations, breathlessness & dizziness & like you, just left to get on with it. I've already been in A & E, that's where I was told not to take any more Bisoprolol.

Hope you will soon be seen Eddie.

I think it's diabolical that we should have to wait all this time to get things sorted...After all the heart is the most important organ in our body. Good luck & let us know how you get on.

[Henri33]

My GP says do not worry about ectopic beats which I get. The worry is arrythmia which is what my bisoprolol is for.

Your treatment seems appalling to kick you out like that, surely you can complain to your GP

[cazada]

so sorry to read your journey so far but I feel your frustration. In the end I paid to see private cardiologist (nhs one?) dud tests and funnily enough hit an appointment with my original consultant. New drugs feel lot better but not fully …. With a try …. Best of luck x

[Qualipop]

Ectopic beats are most often completely harmless and you just have to learn to live with them. The less you worry the fewer you get. The difficulty is finding out exactly where the ectopics come from and whether they actually are harmless. Since you also have pain I'd say more tests need to be done. It took me a year of tests before any test actually picked up my ectopics so they could find out if they we re harmless. In the end it was a stress test that showed them but that was before the NHS became so bad and I was easily able to get the tests . I think the only answer these days is, as others suggest, having a one off private consultation. I would also ask your GP to explain in detail the discharge letter they must have sent to him which should explain which tests were done and exactly what they found and why you were taken off your tablets. Like you I was admitted some months ago for 4 days with a very bad arrhythmia. I was simply put on a monitor and nothing else was done apart from trying to double my statins. The acute car de pt referred me back to cardiology last October. My GP did another referral in February. I've heard nothing about either although the booking centre did tell me they were only just getting round to referrals from June 2023.

[Nokey]

Hi Eddie. I'm sorry you're going through this. I was having bouts of rapid heart beat for years and because I have anxiety, any GP I seen put it down to that because it didnt happen all the time, they didnt witness it. After years of not being listened to, during an episode, my heart was beating almost 200 bpm and I couldn't move. I managed to dial 999 with my thumb and tell them what was happening. They told me to count my heartbeats but it was so fast, I couldn't keep up. An ambulance came and I was hooked up to the ecg machine and the paramedics said this isn't anxiety and blue-lighted me to hospital. I was kept in for 5 days and it was discovered I have SVT. I was put on bisoprolol, discharged and referred to a cardiologist. I've since had 2 ablations but they didn't work and my gp changed me to propranolol because its got anti anxiety properties. I didnt need to be taken off bisoprolol as it was working fine.

My advice is to annoy. Ring an ambulance if you need to and go to hospital. Explain to 999 that you've got pain in your left arm, have a history of heart problems and low blood pressure, and that you're afraid. The more you go on at them, the more they will listen.

I also suggest filing a complaint against the hospital for not properly informing you of your care and neglecting to offer proper care while you were an inpatient. You can contact PALS which is the hospital patient advocacy department and they can advise you on how to file a complaint. If you've had issues with your GP not helping, file a complaint to the practice manager.

You know your body better than anyone and we know when something isn't right. Keep fighting them. They're overworked and underpaid, but that doesn't mean they can neglect you and the care that you need.

Good luck