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View Full Version : Consultant Vist - Ectopic Story Continues



Jinkus
10-05-07, 23:15
Hi Guys N Gals,

Well i have been to see another consultant today who advised me that Ectopics are common and i should try to gice them much thought blah blah blah. Nothing i havnt heard a million times.

However - he did say that if felt i couldnt continue living with the fear of these ectopics he could recemend to my gp to put me on a low does of Beta-Blockers.

I wanted some peoples advice on these as i have heard negative reports about Beat - Blockers??. Has anyone been on these?? Do they get rid of the dreded ectopics that i live in fear of??????? Why have Beta-Blockers got such a bad rep??????

Also I am now experiencing really bad arm/shoulder pain,, alongside the ectopics this causes me great anxiety as im convince its a heart/artery problem??? Does anyone else experience arm/shoulder pain????

Look forward to any replies

Sean

looking4answers
10-05-07, 23:35
OK here is the deal sweetie.. the long version..First of all I can say yes yes yes beta blockers help a lot if nothing else its psychological ..Ill try to keep this to a short version though ok? First of all when I was in my 20's I was hopitalized for major organ shutdown.. due to yes dehydration.They kept me there for a month doing every test known to man.The put me on machine after machine..My pulse had been clocked at over 200 several times..I had been working outside and not drinking water and it started making me have tachocardia and missed beats..exactly what you are describing..Long story short..They didnt find anything other than dehydration..but told me I had tachocardia..

Now this was years ago.. I had wore a holter and showed them where I had at least a hundred missed beats yet the cardiologist told me that my heart was perfect and they didnt see one on the recording..

I was confused and needed answers they gave me a threapist and he told me to calm down and get over it.As I left the hospital the doctor gave me a prescription for beta blockers and librium..The beta blocker at the time I didnt know what the lowest dosage they can give..its not actually considered meds..the librium the same..

My regular doctor told me that what i was taking wasnt amounting to a dose of meds..The cardiologist gave me a condition .. so that I was satisfied and told me that I had tachocardia.. and they were treating me for that..

Ok..here is the clincher..remember thats been almost 30 years.. ok..The cardiologist was smart..he knew that I was anxious and at that time they were experimenting with beta blockers and anti depressants to give to anxious people to calm them so they didnt have tachocardia.. So well instead of making me feel like there was something mentally wrong with me he gave me a condition and treated me for that condition in my mind..

Although here years later I have found that beta blockers and anti depressants are common treatment for anxious people..I went to numerous other doctors because I moved around over the years ,none ever told me that it was anxiety that i was being treated for they just listen to my explination of the tachocardia and kept prescribling me the meds..

Its helped my heart most of the time no longer runs away with me and the beta blockers do in fact for the most part keep my heart regulated with a regular beat and the anti depressants keep my mind in check...

So i continue to take them year after year as long as I dont have to suffer with accerated heart beat and etc.. It works for me and thought I would plug it to you ..There is only one thing that makes the skipped beats really bad..Thats gas.. keeping rolaids handy or a soda when you feel missed beats can help take that gas off your stomach and keep those awful beats away..

I am in the habit of when i eat drink soda..I dont even like it but it helps.. the less stress and worry you have the missed beats go away too.. Try not to get to hungry always eat light and keep something in your stomach that doesnt irritate it ..and when you feel like your stomach is burning and you have gas ..its probably causing those beats. .Try a swallow of soda or a rolaid or if you are hungry eat..But most of all when I get those beats
the main culprit is worry and being upset and also not sleeping enough..

Hope this helps you some..its years of experience with exactly what you have.I still have them from time to time but I just try not to think about them and I worry and then I just try to forget and well they go away ,but im sure unless you completely do away with anxiety you wont really ever get rid of them.I have a great friend that is a nurse that swears that everybody gets them just some notice them more than others and that they are normal cardiac events..Take care and God bless

looking4answers
10-05-07, 23:37
PS.. yes i do get a lot of shoulder and neck pain and chest pains all normal stress and tension and gas occassionally .. I have heart disease that runs in the family .. so well im still here after experiencing what you are talking about most of my life.. Please take care and try not to worry ..Michael

beadbabe
11-05-07, 09:42
Hi there
I have thousands of ectopics a day and they make my life a misery. I am trying beta blockers for them but to be honest they don't lessen the frequency. I am on a very low dose, when I went on a higher dose the ectopics became worse and the cardiologist said that unfortunately that sometimes happens.

I have really looked into this subject, and have the same answer as my cardiologist (not that I am an expert!) but basically current medical opinion is that vpc's need no treatment at all unless you have any heart abnormalities. Beta blockers can be given - they may help - but then again they may not. But it won't make any difference to your lifespan either way as long as you have a healthy heart.

Hope this helps

cazza
11-05-07, 09:49
Hi i have ectopics all the time my cardiologist said sometimes beta blockers can make them worse also slow you down. But i think its down to the individual if you have had the all clear echo etc then trying to just ignore them is the only answer i know easier said than done:) carol

Jaco45er
11-05-07, 09:58
Hi Sean

I take beta-blockers purely for situations (e.g. meetings etc) although I get eptopics too (sometimes some real heavy thuds) I haven't used BB's to treat them.

From an anxiety point of view, BB's only work on reducing the hearts pace, and lowers blood pressure as a result (I am no expert btw) and I find it can take the edge off anxiety but I have only took 3 in 6 months.

The only negative I have heard about BB's is that they can slow people down, cause aches and pains and make you letharic. But then again, show me any med (regardless of what its treating) that doesn't have a side effect or a horror story attached.

P.S. Good reply looking4answers, I see you have a wealth of good advice, keep it up.

TC

Jaco

beadbabe
11-05-07, 10:00
Yes, it seems our cardiologists are in agreement then. I can vouch that a higher dose made my ectopics even worse than they already are. Because they slow down the main heart beat that apparently can give extra time for the nasty little ectopic B*gg*rs to sneak in some extra beats and scare you out your wits.

But there is a really full article http://heart.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/92/11/1707?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=ectopic&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT which my cardiologist recommended which outlines current thinking on treatment for benign ectopics. Trouble is you have to pay for it.

Good luck and if anyone knows the secret to ingoring and not worrying about 'harmless ectopics' that happen all day and night be sure to let me know!