ectopic heartbeats [Archive]

nicci23

21-03-08, 19:23

i have been diagnosed with ectopic heartbeats i was sort of learning to live with them until 2 days ago when i started getting runs or them it feels like one normal beat then a massive pause (with ectopic) then another normal beat and the pattern continues for around a min!!! i get really really scared ut try not to think aout it does anyone else get them so close together and does anyone else get breathless and dizzy with it i really feel like im gonna die or its gonna cause something more serious and i will die ive had bloods a ecg and a 24 hr heart monitor and am awaiting the results of the second one ive also had a chest xray the dr said the ectopics were benign due to stress but im not stressed plz help

kimmiepie

22-03-08, 00:48

I have also been having this lately and I am really panicking!!! My hubby is on his way home from work now because I'm so bad.

For the past few months they come really fast right after each other, lasting for a long time. It feels like I don't get a break for a while. I also get dizzy and breathless with these. I am so tired of them. :scared10: :emot-crying:

Oh I've had all the heart tests too. Normal.

nicci23

22-03-08, 10:42

:( its horrible hun u sorta feel like your going mad and your the only one with this problem, i find drs are very unsympathetic :(:(:(

Rachey poos

22-03-08, 19:37

I am gettin runs at the Mo...it is like it goes out of sync for a bit with bumps, thuds and flutters ... then just goes back to normal... Its a vicious circle with these things..you deep down are worrying about them which encourages them.. seems never ending!

Piglet

22-03-08, 20:02

This has always been one of my most common anxiety symptoms and yes happens even when I don't think I am particularly anxious. I have been getting them for about 10 years now so I'm getting ever so slightly better at coping with them.

Please read my very first post from a few years ago because it is what brought me to the site in the first place.

You can find the thread by clicking on my name and then finding all threads by Piglet - you may find the thread reassuring.

Love Piglet :flowers:

DIZZY BIRD

24-03-08, 17:14

oooh yeah! Am in a very similar situation and the skipped beats are driving me demented. Am also driving a variety of Doctors and my very lovely husband to the point of slapping me! Symptoms started about 6 weeks ago and to date I have had 2 trips to A&E, 4 ECG's, 2 sets of blood tests, a full BUPA Health Check, an Echcardiograph and a 24hr heart trace. All normal to the point of being given a less than 1% chance of heart disease in the next 10 years.
The mind is a powerful tool and my fear seems to be my biggest enemy - realise I'm not alone though and am determined to get the old me back.

shaz01

24-03-08, 21:28

Hi there,

Just wanted to sympathise with you, I have also had them for years, today I was lying down watching tv, calm as anything and off they went....nightmare............I often get them when Im calm. Although to be honest I am a anxious person, I cant deny that!!!!

Shaz x

angiebaby

24-03-08, 21:51

Hi guys. Oh boy do i know what you are on about!!
I have been having them now for 13 years. I get them near enough every day, although i don't get them as bad as some people. I have had heart tests and they came back with sinus arrhythmia and sinus tacchycardia, all normal! They are so annoying and i would love them to just go away and never come back, never ever. They still scare the hell out of me, especially the multiple ones, like your heart does not have one normal beat at all in the whole time of the run of it. I had a run of this on Friday night and i got so very scared, i just thought that this was it and they would never go and my heart had finally flipped into this and it was for keeps. I was so dizzy, it was awful and i haven't had a bad run like that in a few weeks, single ectopics mostly. I coughed and coughed and coughed and it made no difference at all. I walked around and tried to take my mind of it, still there! Eventually they stopped and my heart went back to normal rhythm again, thank goodness, but it freaked me out no end.
They are nasty and pointless and they have no place in the 'perfect' world, lol. xx

Rachey poos

25-03-08, 17:54

thats how i get mine angie always xx

angiebaby

25-03-08, 21:50

Rach, i can't cope with mine how I get them so how the hell do you manage that ALL the time hun, it is so awful isn't it? It frightens the hell out of me all the time.xx

kimmiepie

28-03-08, 02:48

Yes, how do you cope with the "runs" all the time Rach? I'm getting to the point where I just want to cry. Well, actually I have cried! I will have a days where they happen ALL day, with a few in a few, then a few normal beats, then a few ectopics and the cycle goes on. Then the next day I won't have ANY. Go figure. Then they come back. It has no rhyme or rythm to it and when they come in runs for long periods sometimes I feel dizzy or breathless and I just want to stop doing everything I'm doing but I can't! (3 kids)

*sigh* :weep:

DIZZY BIRD

28-03-08, 09:37

Morning all!
I'm finding distraction techniques to be really good. It's taking a lot of practise mind you but the Dr's have now confirmed benign ectopic beats and categorically told me not to worry as my heart is healthy and I have no underlying risk factors. I am trying my best at Yoga but am finding the quiet is giving me time to worry! When I feel a run starting I make myself go and do something that needs total concentration and by ignoring them and so removing the fear I'm gradually finding they are more and more under control.
Have also taken up pole dancing and have bought my own for home. I am way too old, too fat and totally the wrong shape to do it but am having such a laugh swinging about on it that my seratonin levels are coming up nicely. Am feeling a bit wobbly this morning so will put my hot pants on and hang upside down for a bit. Maybe try to find something you enjoy that's all for you and will help to calm your mind and raise your spirits?? It hasn't made my ectopics stop but it's made them less frequent and nowhere near as scary xx

kimmiepie

29-03-08, 04:17

Have also taken up pole dancing and have bought my own for home. I am way too old, too fat and totally the wrong shape to do it but am having such a laugh swinging about on it that my seratonin levels are coming up nicely. Am feeling a bit wobbly this morning so will put my hot pants on and hang upside down for a bit.

:roflmao: I'm sorry, I had to giggle at that one! I'm glad you're having so much fun, I just didn't expect that.

Glad you're finding ways to cope with it. :D

DIZZY BIRD

29-03-08, 12:06

Am so glad it made somebody else laugh as I find it hilarious!
I've got as much of me outside the hot pants as inside and can't even interest my own husband in watching me (he hoovered around me whilst I was a heap on the floor after falling off the damn thing) but it seems to be helping in some strange way. I asked my CB Therapist who - after she'd stopped laughing - said it was a fine way of a) using up the excess adrenaline and b) distracting my mind. I put my music on, draw the curtains and prance about like the 6 foot blonde I'm not - but I'm finding I can't help but smile the entire time. My goal is to do at least 2 lots of 20 mins a day plus the odd fling around it when I feel the need and use the respite it gives me from my anxiety symptoms to boost the rest of my day. Should I end up with less wobble and more wiggle along the way then that would be a nice added bonus! xxx

cookyfemale

29-03-08, 15:45

Dizzy Bird you have made me soooo laugh.... you sound like you have a good sense of humour... I am overweight but i dont think i would like to even try pole dancing as this is a rented property... I dont want to have to pay for a new house to be built in its place, after i have demolished it...haaahaaa
I am sick of getting a fast heart rate, more at night when I'm wanting to settle down for sleep ( have now started taking Nytol). I too have 3 kids Kimmiepie, but only 2 of them are under the age of 5, the other, daughter of 13 yrs....i find it hard at times to continue going when all i want is someone to take me in their arms and say ill take all the panic attacks and anxiety away for ever. But until that ever happens ill try the distraction, deep breathing, positive thinking, Bachs rescue remedy and hope ill come out of it without dieing. I'm having blood tests on Monday to see if im at risk of anything bad.

DIZZY BIRD

29-03-08, 16:10

Yes, it's not a good idea if you don't own the ceiling! My mother in law thought we'd gone all posh and paid for a chrome prop because it was inside and there must be something structurally wrong with the house!!
I've had loads of tests done and all have come back perfectly normal and I think the waiting for them was worse than the getting them back. Anxiety is a wicked little bugger that causes all manner of chemical changes which in turn make the body you think you're so familiar with do strange and scary things. Keep reading these pages and take heart from all the others who are feeling just the same as you are as well as those who are well on the way to recovery. Be content with running at 75% for a while, give yourself a break and keep reminding yourself that you are NOT going mad and there's a fair old chance your not dying either. I have 2 beautiful small people who are the centre of my world and a rabbit with special needs (he's epileptic bless him) and particularly as parents I think we forget how much responsibility we carry. So we've fallen down for a bit - we'll get back up there. Or.... for sheer entertainment value alone you could do as I did and burst into A & E at daft o'clock in the morning, in pyjamas and Eeyore slippers, with bed hair and your school run coat on inside out and try to convince a rather dashing young Doctor that you're in the throws of a heart attack. It's funny now but it was terrifying then I can tell you. Have you tried reading a really good book at bedtime? One that you can get totally absorbed in so as not to pay any attention to your heart beat? Pick a rude one with you as the heroine and your current fave bloke as the love interest xxxxxx

shaz01

29-03-08, 21:57

Hi Dizzy,

Your so right about the whole distraction thing, lol the rude book is a good idea!!!!! And I so want to try this pole dancing!!!!!

They are a nighmare though, I have just got Claire Weekes book and I started reading that yesterday so Im hoping that miracles are going to happen!!!

Its also true that we have alot of responsibilty and cope with a muititude of things so no wonder we are prone to a bit of anxiety...and these blinking ectopics or whatever the correct name is for these weird beats!!!

Shaz x

loopy loo

29-03-08, 22:45

Hi,
Just read the posts on ectopics and wanted to say i have them constantly. No let up, no 'normal' beats. Doc says fine, nowt to worry about. He should try it hey!!! Had this for a year now and very fed up but am trying to chill about it. Its really hard though as my heart never feels normal anymore. I get fed up with hearing that i am just noticing it too. Rubbish!! You can not not notice them. It's not like i am sitting at home with my finger on my pulse! If anyone knows of a way to get rid of these i would be very pleased to know.Think i will give the pole dancing a miss though!Dont want to scare anyone!!!
Loopy Loo

Rachey poos

29-03-08, 23:43

loopy loo.... that must be awful for you... constant flutters... is this every day all day or does it come and go..... do u get them with excercise/ i do horrid xx

DIZZY BIRD

30-03-08, 11:45

I have now been diagnosed with an underlying benign ectopic beat and so the hard bit, as you say is pretending not to notice them and not to mind that they're there. Distraction is really becoming a favourite with me but it has to be personal - something that distracts you as an individual. At CBT I was told to try to take notice of things when say, out for a walk. Notice nature, read number plates, study faces and objects in detail for at least 3 minutes for any effect to kick in. Boring!! I don't want to look at cars or faces or nature. I want to make the 25% of the time my mind does as I ask to be full of things I want to distract myself with. So, whilst I walk I have a good 3 minute conversation with Hugh Jackman as to why I can't see him tonight. I pick how tall I am, what colour my hair is, what I weigh, what I'm wearing and plan carefully how I'd let him down gently whilst not breaking his heart. It can go on for ages and by the end of it I've noticed any thuds or flutters so much less and I know I've had a good excercise session and still been ok.
I've started running again and get more ectopic runs on the cool down but am trying my hardest not to freak out about them and just enjoy being outside plodding along again. xxx

scouser1959

16-05-08, 17:15

Edith

02-04-11, 22:06

Hi Nicci23
Yes I get ectopics like you at times very close together they are dreadful, I have managed to try and ignore them the last couple of days by relaxing and keeping my miind on other things, it is not easy but I got to the stage I felt what ever happened it could not be as bad as I felt with the ectopics.