Change in how they feel

[Vicki]

Hi all, I'm quite new to the forums still, although I've been browsing for a while, and I've found all the information about ectopic beats and palpitations to be very helpful for me, as I have suffered from them badly for a couple of years. I've had a 24 hour ecg which detected one ectopic beat but it is the result of anxiety and not heart disease.

But that was 2 years ago and in the last couple of months the ectopics have got worse. I'm having them several times a day, the range from feeling a bit fluttery, to being a hard thump, once was so hard it was painful and I got so scared I went to A&E, but there was nothing wrong. They even did a blood test to check for hyperactive thyroid, which I don't have.

Thing is that today I just had one that felt really strange. It felt almost like the heart was sucking in rather than pumping out, if that makes sense. There was a weird kind of pain, but not a sharp pain, it was a sort of bruised feeling.

Now of course my heart is racing and I can feel that horrible nervousness and numb feeling in my whole body and I'm fighting a full-blown panic attack which is why I'm writing. And I've been feeling good today and the last couple of days so this has freaked me out quite a bit.

But has anyone else felt ectopics like the one I just described? And did anyone else go ages with them feeling a certain way and then suddenly get one that was different?

* scared * :(

[amandaj]

hi i been getting different feelings everyday this week also , thudding .numbness,breathlessness , choking , so many sensations there really hard to describe
hope you feel better soon
amanda xx

[cleverzippy]

Hi Vicki,

I've had ectopic beats since a short hospital stay when I had AF. I have been stable since then but suffered a couple of PA's which I didn't realise at the time what they were - I thought I was dying. Anyway, they stopped after I realised what they were and that I wasn't dying. I have still suffered with anxiety and I reckon that's what triggered the ectopics. I have had all the different feelings, from flutters to thumps and bangs in the chest to that sinking feeling in the chest. All the tests are negative and they are benign. Right now they are fairly occasional and I can only put that down to trying to relax and de-stress about my health, but I have had days when I have had thousands of ectopics a day that lasted weeks. I think what has helped me is realising that I have no structural heart problems and trusting what the doctors say, that I'm not going to die and that every time I get an ectopic to try really hard and ignore it. I know it's not easy, and I hope you feel better soon. Can I give you some advise that I have found really, really helpful.
1. Whatever you do, don't Google.
2. Please don't use a blood pressure monitor or take your pulse - I became fixated with it and it made things a whole lot worse.

Take care,
Adrian.

[Jaco45er]

Adrian is spot on, I use to google terrible, and still have a BP monitor and take my BP almost daily (I am cutting it down lol).

I get ectopics now and again. I find that if I am fitter, going gym regular, they tend to disappear.

I get different sensations, but the most bothersome "extra beat" for me, is when I get a huge thud in my chest (probably not huge but feels like it) and I get the feeling that I am in a lift that stops suddenly.

Ectopics are very common, and for the most part harmless so try not to worry.

TC

Jaco