missed heartbeats

[wbekim]

please can somebody help I have periods of missed heartbeats lasting days 10 per minute keep being told they are benign and of no significance but I can’t stand them any more and seriously considering my options

[R2958]

Sorry to hear about your issue of missed beats, also known as ectopics. I developed them a few years ago, and they very disruptive and frustrating even though my docs have told me the same thing, they are "harmless". Research is your friend, as these skips are very common. For some people cutting out caffeine and/or alcohol does wonders to stem them. For me it was a combination of beta blockers and magnesium glycinate supplements. Of course, stress can bring them on too, but how one avoids that completely is beyond me. If you haven't already, talk to your doc about options, there are many things you can do to help with these skips. Stay positive, and have faith you will find something that works for you, it is out there.

[Midnight21]

hi…..re your missed heartbeats…..called “ectopic beats” they ARE benign …everybody gets them occasionally and I’ve had them for years ,I also have Brugada Syndrome and a defibrillator in situ. They used to frighten the life out of me but you get used to then honestly . Most people don’t even notice them but some are more pronounced. I used to smoke (gave up years ago) and enjoyed the occasional social drink and found them to be worse then ,si if you do either see if stopping helps. Certain foods and over activity seemed to start them off too so keep a diary of occurrences and see if anything triggers them . I’m not sure what you meant by “considering other options” ,but believe me,I think you’re worrying about nothing and the more you look out for them the more you notice……RELAX.

[TracyAdmin Partner ArrhythmiaAlliance]

Thank you for your post to the Forum, it is understandable to feel anxious. Please follow the link to our 'Know Your Pulse' Campaign on the Arrhythmia Alliance, you will find step-by-step information about the importance of checking your pulse to ensure it is not irregular, this is often the first signs of an arrhythmia. For further details visit heartrhythmalliance.org/aa/... or alternatively, contact our Patient Services Team on [e-mail] or call 01789 867 501.

Please do not ignore the symptoms to you are experiencing.

[Marty0001]

They can be awful and frightening as well mine started in early 2017 now I take flecainde and a calcium beta blocker Verapamil. I rarely have any issues now.

Maybe talk to a cardiologist and see the best options for you.

Good luck and take care.

Regards Marty.

[wbekim in reply to Marty0001]

thanks for all comments you all probably know reassurance is temporary I just cannot get my attention off my heart in general either beating too fast or too slow or irregular I am not too bad with occasional ectopics but when they are every 4th beat for days it is overwhelming hoped the loop recorder I had fitted would help but apparently it only transmits excessively fast or slow heart rate which I do not particularly experience

[Mugsy15 in reply to wbekim]

Don't despair, hundreds if not thousands of us on this forum have suffered exactly what you are experiencing. In the early days we are 'heart hypervigilant'. If it was an eyelid or a biceps twitching we wouldn't take much notice, but it's the ticker; that precious organ we perceive as having the power of life or death in an instant! So we listen to it's irregularities all day and all night, unable to sleep except in fits and starts and becoming stressed, which in turn can make the arrythmia worse.

Like many here I've had various arrythmias for decades, including periods lasting several days of two beats then a pause. It hasn't killed any of us and it's not going to. Eventually your brain will adapt and accept this truth, and you will become far less aware. Meanwhile there are all sorts of options for you to explore, both alone and with your cardiologist or arrythmia nurse.

Lifestyle and dietary changes and supplements; procedures such as cardioversion and ablation (I've had both and they're nothing to worry about).

So please don't think you are stuck in a never-ending loop of worry about this, or that you have a life-threatening illness. You aren't and you don't.

If you haven't already, watch a few of Dr Gupta's YouTube videos under 'York Cardiology' to get a better understanding of what's going on.

There is light at the end of your tunnel!

[wbekim in reply to Mugsy15]

thanks for your message you are correct that I am obsessed with my heart it’s just so difficult to accept there is nothing wrong when so many irregularities occur and out of the blue I am having them as I write and feel so incredibly anxious but don’t know how to stop giving them attention as it’s like a thump or squeeze over and over again and almost waiting for the inevitable outcome

[Mugsy15 in reply to wbekim]

Yes, I and hundreds of others have had exactly that experience.

Now imagine that instead of this being a recent thing, your heart had been thumping, lurching, hesitating, fluttering and sometimes even hurting, for, say, twenty years. You wouldn't be frightened by it, because it's been going on so long without harming you.

You have realised that all that weird activity is an electrical anomoly and nothing to do with your plumbing, which tests will probably have shown is healthy and normal.

You have learnt that millions of other people have the same condition.

You may have found lifestyle changes or a procedure or both, that reduce your burden or even eliminate it.

And you learn to accept it as just part of you, relax and get on with life.

[wbekim in reply to Mugsy15]

mugsy I have endured various irregular symptoms for 40 years I am now 63 and still find it impossible to accept my problems started when I was 20 and suffered severe panic attacks which my gp shrugged off as a virus back then mental issues were taboo which I think has led to my current situation as with probably yourself and others i have been to er on numerous occasions had ecg echo angiogram diagnosed with af and currently have a loop recorder just changed from bisoprolol to veramapil but still seems no end to the hell of self diagnosis and obsession with heart functions will have to try cbt and see if that helps

[Jeff1943]

Two years ago I began to get 10% missed (ectopic) beats. After tests the cardiologist told me they were not the dangerous kind of arrhythmia: they would not affect my health or how long I live.

I was told they could give me tablets to stop the irregular beats but only if they worried me and "do you really want to take extra tablets each day for no medical gain?" So I declined the tablets.

Months passed and I read on this forum a post from someone whose cardiologist had started him on a course of two 100mg. Magnesium Citrate tablets a day and very quickly the ectopic beats stopped and normal heart beat resumed.

So I began taking these non-prescription supplements - and within 2 weeks my missed beats stopped and my heart beat returned to normal. It remained normal for 6 months, then the missed beats returned for a few months but I kept taking the Magnesium Citrate tablets and after about 3 months the missed beats stopped again. It is now 9 months later and they have not returned.

Was it coincidence or autosuggestion? I think not so I intend taking the Magnesium Citrate 200mg tablets daily from now on.

Whether it works for everyone I don't know, all I can say is it works for me and others on this forum have in the past also found them beneficial.

I do know that missed heart beats can be a symptom of general anxiety.

It's still important to continue to take the advice of your cardiologists, it would be wrong to suppose that Magnesium Citrate replaces the treatment your doctor advises.