Advice to get me through, Please

[oscar2]

I am 55 years old & have had bad ectopic beats and skipping and jumping (last August and they lasted around 5 or 6 months all day long, every day). They cleared up again and have been ok for 2 months. Just an occasional one now and then. I have had a monitor on for 24 hours and I only had a couple that day and cardiologist reckons they were harmless but cannot say for sure till she sees them as they can have different patterns. ( I believe her). I have an option to go back for 5 day tape at some point.

My husband had a heart attack last week and I was with him for almost an hour in ambulance(as he had to go 50 miles ) before he got to hospital and was treated with stents. The cardiac team were waiting on him.

Problem is I was terrified for the whole hour ,he would arrest and this has had a big impact on me. I am now having ectopics again, all day long, although I feel ok. I don't want to go back to the doctor just now as I need to concentrate on him. Does anyone have any advice to help me through?

I am on propranolol , have been for 20 years as I used to suffer from tachycardia but that's been fine for years.

[Lucy76]

Hi sorry about your husband. It sounds like a very stressful time which could possibly have increased your frequency of ectopics. Im sure you will feel better when you've completed your forthcoming investigations.

Im no expert but your lack of other symptoms sounds very reassuring .

There is a very informative YouTube video section that I have found to be very helpful and interesting. They are done by a cardiologist in York called Sanjay Gupta . If you search for York cardiology you will be able to watch a number of videos where ectopics and heart arrhythmias are explained simply .

They have really helped me understand and given me a lot of reassurance.

Hope everything goes well with your husbands recovery and with yourself .

[oscar2 in reply to Lucy76]

Thanks for that.I appreciate it.

[pnokio]

Hello Oscar2,

First, your own ectopic heartbeat problems – I have had ectopics for some 40 years – I’m now 65. They started out of the blue one day when I was on my way to work – my journey took me past Kings’ College Hospital, so I called into A&£. The Doctor there said the ectopics were harmless, that he himself often had them. Here and there through the years I’ve spoken to several doctors about them, always with the same feedback – that they were very common and entirely harmless. In 2013 the ectopics became very busy, practically all day long, and at night the pull they made in my chest would waken me. Because of what I’d been told I was never that worried, but when I saw my doctor during this period I mentioned the increase, and she said why not go along to Kings’ for an ECG. It was not normal, and consequently I went to Bart’s’ (because the waiting list there was much shorter than Kings’), and over a period of maybe eight months I had further examinations, ECG tests, a 48hr test, plus an echo cardiogram. Luckily, during the echo cardiogram my ectopics were going full-steam ahead, so any problem would be identified. But everything was okay. I was told all was well, and that my problem was first degree trifascicular block, that I should look out for any dizziness or fainting, when I would be fitted with a pacemaker. Well, that was all four years’ ago, since when I have had plenty of ectopics, which I more or less ignore, and I’m feeling fine. // So, from my experience, I would say that while ectopic heartbeats can cause the individual to worry, that you actually have very little to worry about. Personally, I would take up the offer of a 5-day tape – that can give you total clearance, which will make you feel more confident in yourself. // What happened to your husband was quite amazing really, that the paramedics were skilled enough to insert the stents on the way to the hospital. People complain about the NHS, but the service your husband has was better than first class – it was miraculous – and of course free! But naturally it must have been very worrying indeed for you, and it’s very likely the worry that has triggered the ectopics again.

I hope this has helped, Oscar2. Do go for that 5-day tape test – and good luck!

Patrick

[oscar2 in reply to pnokio]

Thanks for your reply. It is reassuring .It was actually the cardiac team at the hospital that inserted the stents.but the paramedics looked after him and got him prepared on the journey to hospital.