Ectopics, sinus rhythm or AF?

[plantman]

Hi all

My names Andy, ive had ectopic beats all my life, not concerned by them as i go to the gym 3 times a week and am active ect, however recently i started getting more of them, especially in a row, then on the 22nd of dec i got between 5-7 thuds in a row, then nothing for 10 seconds then another 7 thuds, so i started to get a bit anxious.
my wife is a nurse and she took my pulse and went white as she said it was atrial fibrillation, we called NHS direct and they called an ambulance for me.
The multiple thuds were making me feel dizzy, especially when they came after each other in sets.
the ambulance-man arrived and put me on an ecg, it didnt catch anything until h laid me down and they caught it, he said immediately they were small runs of AF and wanted to take me in.
I got to A+E and they caught it on an ecg when i was laid down, the initial doctor said AF too.

Now when they got me up to CCU they went apart from my ectopics, the registrar looked at my ecg and said it was sinus and normal, even the on duty nurse said it was normal fast heartbeat.

Now im not looking for a diagnosis but ill post my ecg here because i dont see it as normal at all, i knew in myself it wasnt right, im booked in to the doctors ans going to show him anyway.

i do know a bit about hearts and waves ect and this oesnt look normal to me.


has anyone else seen or had this?

Thanks

Andy

edit i cant post the ecg as i dont have 10 posts



//imageshack.us/photo/my-images/585/ecgcj.jpg/

[nomorepanic]

Hi Andy and welcome

I think the problem is that none of us can interpret that ECG. I looked at it and thought umm ok what does that mean lol

I am sure the doctor will know best though so let them see it.

[plantman]

Thanks for the reply

yeah i just though if anyone had an ecg and knew what they were, or had the same symptoms ect they might be able to let me know what caused theirs.

basically the beat to the far left with two little hills is normal, then when it thuds it goes like the run towards the right, but im sure its atrial fibrillation, they said it was sinus fast heartbeat.

Thanks

Andy

[crystal17]

Hello Andy, wow its good your wife took your pulse that day! I was just wondering whether it is AF without a fast heart rate but still palpitations?

I get palpitations quite alot, and they feel like yours sound - runs of them then nothing and occasionally they make me a bit dizzy.

But my heart rate is normal,a nd I remember reading that AF usually presents with a high heart rate as well as irregular heartbeat.
My worry is now, am I experiencing palpitations/ectopics, or are they actually runs of AF?!

[plantman]

Bit of a late update but i had my full trace looked over and it was confirmed as AF although it corrected itself and i have not had anything like it since, the only thing i put it down to was a protein shake i started using so i have stopped it.

Still get heavy ectopics though :(