ectopic heartbeats are driving me mad!

Heart health and blood vessels
1

Hi

Can anyone suggest a remedy for stopping my ectopic beats?   They started about 6 months ago, probably due to prolonged anxiety.   I've had 2 ecgs, an eco test and a 24 hour monitor.  My doctor has said everything looks normal but it feels far from that once the ectopic beats take hold.

I seem to  be going round in circles with this, a few days without them, which is such a relief and then back they come for no apparent reason.  They usually start mid afternoon and then continue for about 24 hours.  I dread trying to sleep as they seem to increase once I'm in bed and of course anxiety only intensifies them.

I take magnesium tablets, and have found that cutting out alcohol and caffine doesn't make any difference.  I've read that beta blockers can help, has anyone had any success with these?

Having found this forum, its been quite a relief to discover this seems to be quite a common problem.

Hopefully someone will respond to my post!

2

Hi I take beta blockers which help in reducing ectopics, I think flecanide also can help. I don't take beta blockers for this reason though. My ectopics always appeared worse in the evening and when I went to bed but this may be because you are less active in these periods and notice them more. Any cardiologist will tell you that ectopic beats are normal and can get worse as you get older, but if they are very noticeable and cause you anxiety I would go to the GP and see what he suggests.

3

thank you for replying so fast.  What is flecanide?  Think I will have to make another trip to my GP, although they seem to take the view ' you have to learn to live with it'

4

In my experience for a doctor to catch whats really going on you need to wear an event monitor. This is different thn a 24 hr holter. An EKG<ECG<ECHO<and a 24 hr can only see whats happening at that time. Ask your doctor for an event monitor, same principle just that when you feel the palpitations or the lightheadedness, pounding, what ever your episodes feel like, you will push a button on the monitor. The reading will go back about 20 seconds and ahead 20 seconds of the events so your medical provider will get a better understanding of what is happening. It may be nothing and yet it may be something. You are the best advocate for yourself, you are the expert in you. Hope this helps a little

5

Wow, So sorry that your going through that. I have been a heart patient got close to a decade and have had skips since I was very young. I am now 60.

I occasionally get the skips so bad I feel as if I could pass out.

My Cardioligist tells me that as scary as it feels, it's not going to take my life, but it's scary.

I just recently had my yearly heart exam, Echo, and EKG and everything was normal. I done take Beta blockers which seems to help. I do also suffer from occasional Anxiety which seems to trigger my heart skips, but their not nearly as bad since I've gotten older.

You may have to bug them until they do something to help you.

I live in the US, and highly believe in the Cardioligist and Surgeons in America, so when I feel something strange, I pick the phone up and call the online nurse.

Good luck to you!!

6

Hi Rose

If you wanted to try some alternatives I find that hopping out of

bed until I feel chilly and drinking cold water helps to stop them

because you are causing the expansion of the blood vessels by

doing this. Also, if you remember that the gland that sits on top of the kidneys

called the adrenals, it is this gland that releases adrenaline which

stimulates your heart beat so another thing I do is sit and calm my mind

which has the effect of switching off the supply of adrenaline because the body is

being told all is well. Adrenaline is pumped out when you are

under stress. There is a reason why this happens in the middle of the night

which I won't bore you with. If your are interested look up adrenal

fatigue and that should answer some questions for you since you

have said you were under a lot of stress at one time. Obviously

none of this should take the place of medical advice but I feel if

you know why something happens its not so scary.

Hope it goes soon for you.

7

thank you Kathy for your advice.  it comes and goes so just hope it gradually disappears!  Unlikely I know, but I try to take an optimistic stance

8

May years ago someone I worked with was told by his specialist that if he had a bad attack and did not have a beta blocker to drink ice cold water.

Others have said that cold drinks brings on an attack.

9

I had ectopic heartbeats ("whumps&quot a few years ago and cardioman told me other people had them 100 times more frequently and still lived, so to put up with it. Then I read a bit and found lots of people saying I needed more magnesium and/or potassium. Since I eat lots of bananas I thought I was OK for potassium, so I started taking magnesium orotate.  Whumps stopped in a couple of days.  Now go to different cardiodoc!  Oddly, had a few big ones when taking a lie down an hour or so back, got up and popped a magnesium, and they stopped.  Which Mg compound are you taking?  I've been told the orotate is most effective for heart - works for me.  I also have a hiatus hernia and I suspect that I feel the whumps more acutely because the aorta is jammed up tight against the oesophagus and a loop of bowel (sometimes hard to tell whether my tummy is rumbling or the heart is going whump).  Could that apply to you too?

10

Hi. I haven't been suffering as long as many on here and I am still waiting to be referred to a hospital for a monitor, but already I am sick of them. I have started taking magnesium tablets and also one thing that seems to have helped is drinking water. I know it sounds stupid but I always have a drinks container with me and when they start I drink that. If they are quite bad I go for a walk and that does some good too. I know mine are a manifestation of anxiety, I worry about everything, we'll I am hoping so anyway.

11

Hi there, I have suffered with ectopics for years , i suffer with anxiety .I went to cardiologist and had a holter monitor , I was getting an extra 20,000 beats a day , yes 20,000.. he put me on flecanide , and it worked fantastically , I haven't been on anything for the past few years. But they have returned with a vengeance . I've had a lot of stress the past 3 months. I'm At that stage of taking myself to hospital to check if it's anything worse . I need to go back on flecanide because I can't handle it any longer .hope you get results soon