So scared of skipped heart beats.

[DoveofPeace]

Hello. This is my first time posting here. I will share a little about myself and skipped best history.I have been having them off and on since my 30's, I am now 66. I have worn a couple of holter monitors and a 7 day king of hearts monitor, results usually show PAC's, PVC's and atrial runs. I have had a couple of echocardiogram as well, all good results. Well, that was all back home in America. I moved to New Zealand in 2012 after I married a man from New Zealand, that was 11 years ago. Anyway, since being here, I didn't have any major heart skips for the 6 years. I did have one episode the first year here but it was due to Hormone Replacement Therapy due to menopause. As soon as I stopped it, the skips stopped too. I hate drugs. Well, fast forward to 2018, they started after my husband was diagnosed with Colon cancer (he's cancer free now though) it was awful, he had all kinds of complications and almost died, he was in hospital over 85 days. Well at first the skips weren't so bad, but when we had to move to a different house due the rental being sold, that was pretty upsetting, that was 2019. My skips stated to increase and by 2022, I even started going to the ER because of them. Now, since January 2023, I am having them more and more. This August alone, I have gone to the ER 3 times. I am petrified, they get worse when I eat (I have a hiatal hernia). The skips sometimes will come in couplets, bigeminy and trigeminy and sometimes randomly. They used to only last a few hours or less, but this month they are coming off and on all day. I cry all day, it's taking over my life. I begged the doctor to refer me to a cardiologist so I could wear a monitor, but they refuse as they say the skips are not dangerous and the ER only catches a few PAC's. Well, I DO need to wear a monitor. So, since I can't get a referral, I have to pay (in New Zealand, if you're referred, you don't pay, but if not referred, you go private and pay.) I have set up an appointment to wear a 7 day patch and the price will be astronomical, if it weren't for help from a relative, I couldn't do it. I have to have peace of mind. I am scared what I have at times is V-tach or A-Fib. I know I have PAC's and PVC's already. I especially hate the little "blips" I feel in my throat. I am miserable and so afraid. The more scared I get, the worse they get, it's a vicious circle. The only thing my GPs say is to take beta blockers, there is no way I will take them. My normal resting heart rate is between 68 and 78. My blood pressure is normally 115/75. Naturally, in the ER, the heart rate increase lots as does the b/p but even then I will usually end up with a heart rate of 85 and 130/69 pressure. My EKG is always normal as is blood work and Troponin levels. They send me home, I am OK for a day or two, then they act up and I am petrified again. I can't take it any longer. I am constantly looking up heart skips on Google which is not a good idea. Usually the articles scare me more. I should know better as I have Medical Assistant training.

My dear mother had heart issues, she had a major MI when she was 72, she was in and out of hospitals for the last 8 years if her life. I never left her side and stayed in the hospital everytime she was admitted. She had a triple bypass and later on, the last year of her life, she had her right leg amputated from the knee due to vascular disease. My daddy stayed home taking care of our many pets. She died in 2005, she was 81. Daddy was never the same, they had been married 61 years. He died in 2012 from cancer and CHF, he was 91.

My mom's side of the family has heart issues, my daddy's side, cancer

So, that's my story. I am having skips as I type this and am so scared. I can't wait for August 29 when I get my 7 day patch, I hope it helps to calm me down.

Are any of you petrified of skipped heart beats? Has your doctor said how many a day are dangerous?

Thank you for reading this

[Evaluna]

Dear Dove of Peace,Really sorry to hear you are feeling so low; you will find a lot of support on this site.

I have a similar story to you as my ectopics started in my 30s and I am now 74. They have been much worse over the last 18 months and I too have had atrial tachycardia (picked up on a monitor). When I started getting odd episodes of 3 to 6 a minute all day long, I really couldn't cope and so reluctantly started taking 2.5mg bisoprolol. This has seemed to help. I still get ectopics but most of the time less than 30 a day... that I notice. My BP was usually around 120/80 and that hasn't particularly altered and my resting heart rate which was around 58 to 60 can now be 48 to 50 but I can still walk up steep hills and cycle. Everyone can respond differently so maybe worth trying 1.25mg. dose.

I find it hard to accept ectopics are not harmful but everything you read will tell you that unless around 15 to 20% of your heartbeats are ectopics for several weeks they will not damage your heart. It sounds like yours are stress related as you have been through a lot so they may well calm. Try looking at videos on you tube by Dr Sanjay Gupta of York Cardiology. He is very reassuring. Good luck.

[DoveofPeace in reply to Evaluna]

Thank you so much for your reply. I agree, it is so difficult to believe that they're harmless especially in a structurally normal heart. It's the ones that I feel in my throat and make my throat feels constricted for a second, that really scare me. They're extra bad after I eat and also when I am out in public talking. I had them almost during the entire church service today and singing made them worse. I almost left because they scared me so much but I made it. I am extra nervous tonight as I will be having my very first mammogram tomorrow, so that's probably one reason they're acting up. I have watched Sanjay Gupta's videos, he's outstanding.

[CurlyPretzel]

I am hardly ever on here, just came back to ask about what I find is a weird sensation in my throat when I have a bout of ectopics. I had mentioned this to my GP and cardiologist and they basically ignored me.

Anyway I just saw your story... I have only had PVCs for the last 2.5 years. Whilst in retrospect I had had the odd one for a few years before that, I woke up one morning with every 7th beat skipping. That went on all day every day, although it wasn't every 7 all day - the holter showed it was 4%, but it did not stop for 6 months. In my case it seems to be related to perimenopause. They had mostly gone away now apart from times of high stress although I have had to change my HRT due to shortages and they are now back. I am much calmer about them this time though and consequently find them less awful. So I know what you are going through but if your heart is healthy try to trust that it's just yuck but you will be OK. I did find the cardiologist to be totally unaware of how unwell ectopics make you feel 😢. I think you have to have them to understand.

[DoveofPeace in reply to CurlyPretzel]

Thanks for your reply. I hate that feeling in the throat. I have it more and more lately. I am starting to think that it could be a form of acid reflux as I have a hiatal hernia. Hiatal hernias can sometimes cause that feeling. I noticed that when I drink warm water I can actually feel that mucus lump sort of leave. It doesn't burn my throat though. I do know that a hiatal hernia can cause skipped beats especially after eating. I looked up some symptoms once of having one and it did say something regarding a lump in the throat caused by acid reflux even though you don't experience heart burn. Maybe that might be part of your problem as well. I don't think many GP's or ER doctors know much about the correlation of hiatal hernias and ectopic beats. They usually look at me like I have two heads when I ask them or tell them my symptoms. I hope you can get your HRT sorted out. I couldn't take the synthetic ones, they made my skips worse, when I switched over to bio-identical progesterone cream it seemed to help. I am 66 now and don't use them, but if I did, it would be bio-identical again.

[Mugsy15]

I have lots of ectopics of various kinds most days and unless I'm consciously listening to them I don't tend to notice them any more, I've had them so long They are very alarming when they first start, but I've come to accept they don't really matter and aren't going to kill me. My initial sense of doom was misplaced. Once you get to that point mentally and relax a bit, they lose their power to cause anguish, which in turn denies them some of the the stress hormones they feed on!

Don't think I'm trivialising your anxiety. You have had a lifetime of a silent Rolex ticking away silently in your chest and now it's a box of frogs. Of course it's alarming! You have a condition shared by millions and you have the empathy of hundreds of them on this forum. You have the same life expectancy as you would without arrythmia, and there are lots of different treatment combinations to lessen the symptoms, one of which will eventually suit you.

Meanwhile, look for possible triggers in your diet and lifestyle. Alcohol and caffeine are two well-known culprits, along with any food that causes bloating or gastric disturbance. In my case, and I know this is very common indeed, the one sure way to guarantee arrythmia is to forget to drink plenty of plain water every day.

For the next week or so, may I suggest that you make a point of drinking 2 litres per day (if you don't already), and seeing what effect it has? (I always have a 500ml bottle to hand and refill it at least twice). If you do this, please let us know whether it helps or not.

[DoveofPeace in reply to Mugsy15]

Thank you so much for your reply. I would love to be able to ignore them, but the flash of fear they bring happens so quickly it's difficult to do so. I have never drank coffee, alcohol or smoked. I do fail in the amount of water I drink however. Again, I am afraid to drink water because it causes the skips to act up, just like eating does. I guess I will just have to do it anyway. I will let y'all know how it goes when I do.

I am eagerly awaiting for next Tuesday when I start to wear the 7day patch. I hope it helps to resolve my fears.

[bantam12 in reply to DoveofPeace]

On and off I’ve had 1000s of ectopics a day for many years, I do have a pacemaker which records everything and my recent check showed continuous ectopic runs of 6 seconds which is to long as it stops my heart pumping efficiently.

Annoyingly Drs brush ectopics off as benign, normal, nothing to worry about but if the burden is high they can cause damage which I’m now experiencing.

It does sound as if yours are anxiety driven so taking meds is probably your only solution in calming things down, beta blockers are nothing to be worried about and if they sort the problem then surely worth a try.

[Kris1976]

Wow! This could have been written about me!!! I hear you, I understand you and totally validate everything you say. Unfortunately the doctors and cardiologists I have seen are very dismissive of this condition. I was actually told by my cardiologist when I said "I cannot live like this anymore!" that my ability to just ignore my symptoms will be more powerful than anything they can do. Hang on! This is destroying my life!!! I have had high frequency pvcs for a year. Every 5 or 6 beats over and over day and night. proved by holter monitor. However I am under the 30% threshold for corrective ablation.

Mine are very symptomatic. My breathing becoimes shallow. I go weak and move slowly. Really bad headache. All I can do is lay in bed, day in day out. Missing out on life with my family and kids!!! The anxiety is off the chart despite reassurance from my doctors that my heart is good. I did a good stress test recently after a 4 day stay on a cardiac ward. I am on bisoprolol 2.5mg twice a dayu and candersartan for bp. I am bradycardic with the meds and they dont do a damn thing to help the pvcs. They wake me in the night and are there first thing. If they arent there when I wake, when I drink or eat there they are. I am convinced they are gastric related. I am on omeprazole for gerd symptoms, but doctors laugh and say gut and heart are not connceted......um yes they are!

How do we live a normal life guys! I am 47 years old. Full time carer for my son who has cerebral palsy and scoliosis. I have 7 children in total. My marraige is suffering as even my wife disbelieves me as she has latched on to the "benign" saying the doctors love......however just because this isnt caused by heart disease.....it has all the same symptoms and is very debilitating! Trying to live normally but I am reaching out to anyone for advice as to how to go on!!! i really cant cope much longer!!!

Kind regards Kris

[DoveofPeace in reply to Kris1976]

I agree, I think these horrid skips are related to digestion. I am afraid to eat or drink water as both can start the darn things with a vengeance, sometimes worse than others. I also can't bend down because that can start them. As I shared, my GP doesn't seem to care and when I go to the ER, the triage nurse sure doesn't seem very compassionate. They don't know how I suffer or how awful the fear is. My GP is also irritated that I refuse to take a beta-blocker. So, I think I am getting punished because they won't try to push for the monitor, hence the reason I have to pay, but if it sets my mind at ease, it will be worth it.

I wish I had words if comfort, but I am looking for some too.

[Kris1976 in reply to DoveofPeace]

Well to offer you some reassurance, I have just had a 4 day stay on a cardiac ward in the UK. I had a stress test which yielded good results so no blood flow issues. These seem to originate from the outflow tract. These are nearly always harmless but annoying and debilitating. I suppose we have the assurance that these won't kill us or harm us. But we are left with these symptoms. My last conversation with my cardiologist he said my ability to ignore the symptoms and carry on will be more powerful than anything they can do to stop it. I'm working on that as that's all I've got. So on a positive you are going to be OK. They aren't harmful. Try to limit caffeine and stress, change to an anti inflammatory diet ie lower carbs, I find exercise suppresses them.so maybe try that. Hope your doing OK. Let's stay in touch and try and help each other through this difficult period. Brighter days will come!

[DoveofPeace in reply to Kris1976]

It's good that you got some tests for reassurance. I can't get any unless I pay. At least when I go to the ER I get an EKG and blood work.

I never drink coffee or eat anything with caffeine. I would love to be able to walk again, but I have Plantar Fasciitis so I can't even do that anymore.

I am OK, had some skips, the kind that you feel in your throat, I hate those. Other than that, not too bad. Hopefully they'll behave when I go to bed tonight. My husband is fortunate, he has never felt any.

[Kris1976 in reply to DoveofPeace]

I see. They do the same here in the a and e dept. I've been in 15 times this last year when they were constant. Everything they do an ecg, blood test for tropin and then leave you sitting there for 16 hours to tell you your all well. I actually went private and paid a lot of money to get things moving a few months ago as the NHS weren't helping me. It was my private cardiologist that got me into hospital this time on the cardiac ward for tests under the NHS as I really was struggling to cope and he could see that. So im grateful for that. But the outcome is still to live with these. I really hope you get some reprieve from your symptoms. Mine used to come in waves. I could have weeks without any or just a few. Then bang, constantly for weeks. So let's hope with a healthy lifestyle you get some well deserved rest from them. I'm hoping to learn on here from people who have been living with this for many years and how they coped etc. All the best and take care.

[Bikica1234]

Dear DoveofPeacd ,I'm reading your life story and I sympathize with you because I have the same symptoms as you. My PVCs are terrible, I feel them a lot. The doctors say it's not dangerous, but they bother me a lot. I'm 55 years old and I've been struggling with it for 10 years. I'm taking beta blockers and they don't help me. I'm going to have a heart magnet soonand on my initiative. I'm angry and disappointed because I have PVCs every day and the therapy doesn't work. Do you have shortness of breath for a moment when you feel PVCs?

[DoveofPeace in reply to Bikica1234]

Hi, Yes, I sure do have shortness of breath for a moment when I feel the PAC's and PVC's, I also get a weird feeling in my throat and chest, it is awful. I would think by now I would not be afraid, but I am more afraid than ever. I won't be happy until I can get an echocardiogram, but I can't afford it, and the doctors would approve it so I can go "public" and not pay. It isn't fair. You would think that they would rather do that than have me in the ER almost every month due to fear.