Ectopic Heartbeat....
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Caporegime
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Yes, thats why some people tend to get them, including myself, when they have a full stomach.
I've had them since I had a heart valve replacement 12 years ago. They get worse if I'm tired or my anxiety kicks in but they're nothing much to worry about. Unfortuantely the prosthetic valve makes them feel worse than they actually are, that gets irritating after a while.
My other half had this, it was medication that was causing hers, propranolol and contraceptive pill.
She hasn't had a single ectopic beat since coming off them, but now she has ever lasting anxiety because of the mental trauma she went through with them.
She hasn't had a single ectopic beat since coming off them, but now she has ever lasting anxiety because of the mental trauma she went through with them.
can sympathise with that, they can be very scary when you first get them - I had extra beats and a bunch of chest pain... got stressed which didn't help as got more erratic/extra beats, chest pain got worse... went to A&E but ECG was fine... later got referred by my GP for an endoscopy which found inflammation in the stomach and oesophagus - had gastritis and acid reflux - the symptoms of which seem to be rather similar to a heart attack which is what made me rather worried initially...
I got prescribed propranolol when I was looking into these, but they made me crazy tired and didn't really help with the main issue which was actually my anxiety about them. Didn't really help with that side of things either.
It's just one of those things where the best thing is the impossible thing : don't worry about them. They feel pretty serious when they happen even if they aren't!
Had a few last night when trying to get to sleep but they were spaced out.
Don't feel great this morning though, pulse doubled getting out of bed and walking around and have an uneasy feeling in the top of my abdomen and a prominent pulse there.
Don't feel great this morning though, pulse doubled getting out of bed and walking around and have an uneasy feeling in the top of my abdomen and a prominent pulse there.
I'd forgotten about this little thread.
Same here, I find that if I get tired or anxious they become much more frequent and severe. Unfortunately I had another small Mi at the end of 2013. (Heart attack count is up to 3 now and still here so I shouldn't bleat about it.) But following the last one they've been worse; not terrible but pretty much daily now. Booked in for a heart MRI on the 20th. I think they're starting to consider pacing as I'm pretty bradycardic now too.
Caporegime
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Just sit tight until you see the cardiologist mate. I know more than anyone how hard it is to try and relax with them, but it's the best you can do. If there was anything imminently dangerous, I'm sure the ECG would have picked it up.
Try and stay away from triggers like alcohol, smoking and caffeine. Definitely no energy drinks. Also, try eating little and often rather than huge meals. This can help if it's anything gastric. Also, if you have them at night, most people find it more comfy to lie on their right hand side.
Try and stay away from triggers like alcohol, smoking and caffeine. Definitely no energy drinks. Also, try eating little and often rather than huge meals. This can help if it's anything gastric. Also, if you have them at night, most people find it more comfy to lie on their right hand side.
Good advice there for potential 'triggers' And the lying on your right and side does help.
Caporegime
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Don't forget, magnesium and potassium are important for the hearts electrical function, so try and keep your levels of those up. Veg is important and I also eat a banana a day.
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The French have a water called Hepar that has loads of magnesium in it. I wish we had it here.
I've changed my diet and tried supplementing with magnesium and get plenty of potassium from fruit and coconut water. When I get the ectopics now though they feel stronger than they did before I did anything to try and help.
It could be down to being more sedentary now, I've cut out strenuous exercise till I get tests done as obviously I don't want to make a potential issue with my heart worse, my GP advised this as well with them occurring during and after exercise.
It could be down to being more sedentary now, I've cut out strenuous exercise till I get tests done as obviously I don't want to make a potential issue with my heart worse, my GP advised this as well with them occurring during and after exercise.
thing is adrenaline can trigger them, so experiencing them after exercise isn't uncommon
a regular ecg can often be normal as, if your heart is otherwise fine, you'd have to have one of these events in the few seconds the ecg was recording so in terms of getting them checked out, if you're getting them regularly then you can be fitted with a monitor 24 hour or 7 days even... tis like a portable ecg. The doctor might even tell you to go and do some exercise while wearing the thing(or he might send you to go have an ecg taken when running on a treadmill) hopefully you'll then experience one while the monitor is on and they can check it out... and most likely it will turn out to be something harmless, just the same ectopic beats etc.. loads of people experience from time to time, often as a result of stress, anxiety etc..
the other thing is that worrying about them can make them worse and being aware of them can mean you're then much more conscious of your heartbeat and notice them more often, which in turn can cause you to worry more
a regular ecg can often be normal as, if your heart is otherwise fine, you'd have to have one of these events in the few seconds the ecg was recording so in terms of getting them checked out, if you're getting them regularly then you can be fitted with a monitor 24 hour or 7 days even... tis like a portable ecg. The doctor might even tell you to go and do some exercise while wearing the thing(or he might send you to go have an ecg taken when running on a treadmill) hopefully you'll then experience one while the monitor is on and they can check it out... and most likely it will turn out to be something harmless, just the same ectopic beats etc.. loads of people experience from time to time, often as a result of stress, anxiety etc..
the other thing is that worrying about them can make them worse and being aware of them can mean you're then much more conscious of your heartbeat and notice them more often, which in turn can cause you to worry more
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Just started getting these myself last week, never had anything like it before. Sh@t myself when I first noticed it 
After a couple of days I guessed it wasn't a heart attack etc but still went to see the triage nurse who did an ecg, a doc read the resulting graph and said 'its normal'. It can't be I said, its been skipping beats for two days or more now.
But obviously during the short test it was ok. I left the docs and sure enough as soon as I got home it was skipping again,
In my case my heart will skip every 3rd beat for a few minutes, then be fine for 20 beats then starts skipping again. Others times it will seem fine for an hour or so then go back to skipping. I get a bit of a headache behind my eyes sometimes and definitely have more brain fog than before this thing started.
I'm on my 7th day of what seems like eptopic beats now, seeing the docs again in a couple of days. No doubt it'll require further tests and perhaps the 24hr monitor which my Dad had. He suffered from heart disease (smoking related) but had arrhythmia too. With an even heavier heart I can remember taking his pulse and blood pressures.. His heart would literally miss a few beats at a time, then fire up again with weird rhythms etc, even though he was on meds for it.
Anyway just wanted to say thanks for the thread guys, its the middle of the night now and I can feel my heart skipping again. But knowing so many others have it has relaxed me a little bit
.. Cheers guys
After a couple of days I guessed it wasn't a heart attack etc but still went to see the triage nurse who did an ecg, a doc read the resulting graph and said 'its normal'. It can't be I said, its been skipping beats for two days or more now.But obviously during the short test it was ok. I left the docs and sure enough as soon as I got home it was skipping again,
In my case my heart will skip every 3rd beat for a few minutes, then be fine for 20 beats then starts skipping again. Others times it will seem fine for an hour or so then go back to skipping. I get a bit of a headache behind my eyes sometimes and definitely have more brain fog than before this thing started.
I'm on my 7th day of what seems like eptopic beats now, seeing the docs again in a couple of days. No doubt it'll require further tests and perhaps the 24hr monitor which my Dad had. He suffered from heart disease (smoking related) but had arrhythmia too. With an even heavier heart I can remember taking his pulse and blood pressures.. His heart would literally miss a few beats at a time, then fire up again with weird rhythms etc, even though he was on meds for it.
Anyway just wanted to say thanks for the thread guys, its the middle of the night now and I can feel my heart skipping again. But knowing so many others have it has relaxed me a little bit
.. Cheers guysMissed this thread the first few times. I get this too, had a 48 hr monitor to diagnose. Apparently nothing to worry about. I generally only notice it at night when I'm still.
I've had one episode where it was happening constantly and that did worry me, I thought I was having a heart attack. Paramedics came for that one after my description over 111. They took me to a heart unit after monitoring me as they weren't completely happy but I eventually got the all clear.
I've had one episode where it was happening constantly and that did worry me, I thought I was having a heart attack. Paramedics came for that one after my description over 111. They took me to a heart unit after monitoring me as they weren't completely happy but I eventually got the all clear.
No medical advice!