Missed heartbeats!

[Stu32]

Hi all,

Just had an interesting weekend and am hoping that sharing this may help to alleviate some anxiety I'm experiencing today.

On Friday morning I woke up aware of some fluttering in my chest and a little dizziness. I'm a fairly fit and healthy person, eat well, don't smoke, don't drink excessively and have a very relaxed attitude to life. By the afternoon this continued, so I called a healthline provided by my work and they told me to dial 999 immediately. Ok, so this was a little shocking as I didn't feel particularly unwell. So rather than call for an ambulance I drove to the local A&E dept. They hooked me up to an ECG machine and took some blood etc. I (and the staff there) could actually feel by my pulse that every 3rd or 4th heartbeat was missing and this also clearly showed up on the ECG trace. A cardiac doctor came down and they told me that I had heart block and would need to be admitted to the cardiac care unit immediately (not quite what I had expected!). Things were going so quickly that I wasn't even able to call my wife which was actually my biggest concern at that stage.

The doctor then told me that I needed to have a temporary pacemaker fitted to fix the missing beats. He said that this was a quick 15-20 minute procedure and that it would be done under local anaesthetic. So I consented to having this done and so was wheeled into an operating theatre. To cut a long story short, 3 hours later (1 hour trying to insert a central line into a vein in my neck, plus another hour trying to thread a wire into my heart and a further hour trying unsuccessfully to get the pacemaker to work) they decided to call in the consultant cardiologist who took one look at me and said "This is not necessary, we should probably just monitor it overnight and treat you as an out-patient". Which was relief, but the evening had been a tad stressful for me (and my family) nevertheless. So I spent the night in hospital with a painful neck watching my (very regular) missing 4th beat on the monitor.

The next day all the blood tests had come back normal and the consultant was happy for me to go home. I still felt exactly the same way that I did on Friday before going to the hospital and the skipping has continued since then. I'm still a bit worried about the cause, long-term impact etc of it all. It will be several weeks before I will get my out-patient's appointment.

Anyway, reading the posts here (and writing my story) has really helped and it seems that the best advice is to try and ignore the heartbeat and try and get on with things. I'm not expecting to get a definitive answer to why this happens, but hope that I will be able to continue doing everything I was doing beforehand. I'll keep you posted on the outcome.

[alison29]

I get these all the time, i am pregnant at the moment and i get them everyday at least five times so there worse. I have been told they increase with pregnancy i did suffer from them most days before i got pregnant.
I hate them....its like my heart stops a few beats n flutters. Went to docs again last week, he listened to my heart and sent me for bloods to check thyroid and full blood count.
Have had ecg's done in the past, but these still terrify me.

[alison29]

My reply didnt mean to go onto that thread!! It was meant to be on another thread!
Sorry to hear about your horrible experience.

[valleybear]

Ectopic beats are a bummer, but everyone was spot on. They lessen when exercising or when you ignore them. I had a bad bout 8 years ago and used to cry as they were so bad. they disappeared after a 18months and haven't been back untilnow. I don't panic so much about this symptom now as I know they can be beaten........other things send me into sa spin though!

[Hollydog]

I am so pleased that I have found this website. I too suffer from missed beats, have had 2 ECGS over the past two years and they have been normal. I have suffered from anxiety for many years mainly because of events in my life and family problems which to this day haven't been resolved.
The missed beats have started up again over the past 10 days, I am getting paranoid about taking my pulse. Yesterday I had a good day but had a couple this morning when I got oput of bed. I convince myself that I am going to 'drop dead' very soon. My GP said the missed beats are harmless and mainly caused by surges of adrenaline and worrying about them makes them worse. I am on Citalopram 40mg for anxiety. I am 57 and somedays I am convinced that I won't make 58!!
I find it very hard to accept that they are harmless.I also get very very anxious about any forthcoming events especially social gatherings etc.
I do hope someone will reply to this,at least now I know that I am not alone and can share this problem with others. x.x.

[kestral]

hi hollydog
ive had some of the experiences youve had and responded in the same ways, such has constantly checking my pulse. i have blood pressure problems and take 10mg citalopram as well as bp and cholesterol medication. the gp said some time ago the missed beats i have are benign but it does send the stress levels up quite a bit. everyday finds me checking my pulse and feelings which is down to health anxiety.

best wishes, alan

[mel07]

im glad i found this website and although i wouldnt wish these horrible ectopic beats on anyone,it is reassuring to hear other have similar symtoms. Have had mine every few beats all day for several days then a break of a day or two then they return. this has gone on for nearly three months. Any one have similar pattern?

Thanks Mel x

[panicaway]

I have had anxiety/panic attacks for nearly six years now and have pretty well had all the symptoms during that time but one I thought I'd got used to was the heart irregularities but they are worrying me again.
I get a fast heart rate sometimes (in fact I think its fast but my pulse is never much more than about 80) but that is my least frightening one, far more scary are the missed heartbeats which are happening daily at the moment whereas I usually get them once in blue moon.
I've been scaring myself silly about this recently (its not happening in the night or at least if it is, its not waking me). Also my palpitations feel like a muscle twitching/fluttering rather than a fast heart beat.
Over the years I've been a few times to the doctors and he's never been able to hear any irregularity - I did ring last week as I wanted to know if my palpitations were the same as everybody elses and he did feel what I described fell under my anxiety umbrella (it was a phone consultation) and offered to put me on the moniter but we both agreed that the likelyhood of capturing it was unlikely. My doctor does know me well and I like him but somehow I'm still fretting about it.
I had such a good year last year with my anxiety and getting out and about on my own but then had a panic attack in Jan while out, which I have let get quite out of hand and unless one of the kids will come out with me I can't much further than the end of the street.
Does anybody else have a) phases of missed heartbeats that are every few hours over a period of days? b) fluttering or twitching heart muscle/beat lasting a few seconds? c) Does it happen sometimes on movement aswell as when you're still?
Love Piglet (I've used the name piglet as sometimes I find it hard to be brave)!

Hi Piglet

I have been having missed beats for about a year now and they are scary so I know what you mean. There have been times I would take myself off to bed and be scared to even move. I hardly go out without one of my children with me and even get scared at times in the house on my own. Ive had 3 ECGs and found nothing, docs all tell me its anxiety. I feel dizzy a lot too but the best way is just to tell yourself its your mind playing games. Try to push it under the carpet and ignore it as much as you can. My husband has been having them for over 20 years and one day he counted 52 missed beats in 1 day and he is still alive! so although its scary so many people have them and they are all fine too. Take care and keep strong x

[katielou80]

hi people im new to this, I also have severe health anxiety and have had many things this year!! But not!! ( if you know what i mean! lol) Well at the moment i am suffering with the worst skipped beats ever, they have lasted over a month, and they are pretty constant!! Like 1 beat missed in every 10!! I cant help checking my pulse!! But i know it makes it worse. I have been to my dr twice in 2 weeks, and he assured me im fine, they wont kill you, they are very common, and lots of people get them!! (even him, he also gets another weird heart thing too!) Im still so worried. He has prescribed me propranolol, which i AM going to start taking, for my familys sake!!!! I have even written to an online cardiologist and he too says many many people have them, some people every other beat, and they are truly harmless. I find all this REALLY hard to accept!! And it is totally ruining my life, i think about them, feel them and google about them all day!!! People think im truly nuts that i have been to a dr and im still freaking!!! Helpppp!!!!!!!! xxx

[emkhan18]

Yes I do get them I feel the exact same way as u do!