Funny rhythm for over 30 hours.

[Rob1984]

Hi guys,
I know there are endless questions on this topic and I have read lots of them but I'm not sure what to do. I'm a 33 year old Male. Non smoker, no caffeine, no non prescribed drugs, the odd beer here and there but not more than a couple a month if that.

About 4 years ago I was rushed to hospital one late evening in aFib and a heart rate of over 200bpm. I spent the night there and they gave me various meds and I was sent home the next day. Shortly afterwards they did some tests and prescribed me 1.25mg bisoprolol although at the time I hadn't had any more issues. I have been taking that every day since and have rarely had any issues.

From time to time I would get a random beat or 2 here and there, maybe once every few days and even less frequently I'd have an episode where this would trigger my heart to speed up for s few minutes before calming down again although this has been getting gradually worse over the years. On no more than 4 occasions have I had any longer periods of aFib or ectopic beats (I have been told both) and these have been on and off with a funny beat once every 10-20 seconds or so for maybe a couple of hours at the most.

All was well until yesterday morning. Shortly after waking up I started having these rhythm issues, a felt a bit dizzy and the major concern was significant chest pains. I went to hospital (the chest pains being the deciding factor if nothing else) and awaited tests. They said they were ectopic beats and all the blood tests came back normal first and second time. I was still dizzy, still had chest pains and still couldn't catch my breath with the rhythm but they were short staffed and short of beds. 30+ hours on from when it started and just over 24 hours after being discharged it is still exactly the same.

In any given minute I'm getting 15 seconds or so if normal rhythm, 10 to 15 seconds where I get 3 or 4 or 5 extra beats then 15 seconds of normal etc etc
This has been going on since 8am yesterday.

One doctor mentioned they were ectopic but the discharge note says Paroxymal AF.

Part of me wants to relax and hope it goes away but with most episodes of this I've had only lasting an hour or so it is more of a concern. I have spent most of the time in bed frightened to move but I have had a little walk around the house which whilst it didn't alter the beats it made me feel very out of breath. I have noticed I have a lot of gas and have read a lot of things linking the stomach and the vagus nerve and the heart. I went from around 4.30pm Friday without food so was quite hungry when I went to hospital but didn't eat until I was discharged. Every other time I have had prolonged episodes of this has been on a full stomach, be it food or lots of fizzy drinks but this time is very different.

I feel my local hospital isn't in a position to help me and I do feel very on my own with the whole thing which is not helping the situation. My cardiologist who I see for 4 minutes per year does not appear to listen to what I have to say nor does he write anything down.
I've had 24hour ecg which came back fine, I've had lots of other tests there but of course if the rhythm is normal when they test it they won't find anything.
I personally feel they couldn't wait to get rid of me yesterday despite me being no better than when I went in and despite them doing nothing but a couple of blood tests and an ecg on a machine they admitted hadn't been working properly

Sorry for the very long post, I do waffle a lot.
If anyone has any advice especially if it includes more urgent medical attention then I'd love to know.

Rob

[ankietyjoe]

Hi Rob

Were you given no reason for the high initial HR (200) at that hospital visit? Has any medical professional ever talked to you about anxiety and/or panic attacks?

If I were you my first port of call would be to get yourself seen by a new GP, as further treatment would be led by them.

It's clearly not a life threatening issue as all the tests have come back 'fine', but I have been in a similar situation to you a couple of times before where I had an inexplicable heart rate of 120 (minimum) to 150 or so for about a day, slowly reducing over that period. In both cases all my tests came back negative, but in both cases I was also under an enormous amount of stress.

Do you have stressors in your life that could be causing a cycle of physical reaction? My experience is that you don't necessarily have to 'feel' stressed for your physiology to take over and react.

Skipped beats, shortness of breath and chest pains can all be part of a panic/anxiety reaction, they're pretty common. I would still like to have my GP investigate further though seeing as you felt the hospital were short staffed. It's encouraging that nothing was picked up when you were there though, it's unlikely anything was missed given your apparent low risk factors.

[Aaahhfreakout]

Long runs of atrial ectopic beats and atrial fibrillation could appear very similar, since atrial fibrillation is effectively just atrial ectopic beats firing from more than one location.

It's always hard to tell what's a heart issue, what's an anxiety issue and when one is caused by the other. All we can say for sure is your heart is irritable. Did they mention your blood oxygen levels?

There is a cardiologist who has been making videos which many people have found helpful. He frequently talks about Afib and ectopics and sometimes chest pain, including talking about the vagally-mediated atrial fibrillation which it sounds like you get:

https://www.youtube.com/user/YorkCardiology/videos

He is happy for people to contact him for advice.

[Catherine S]

The only way we can tell the difference between organic heart issues and benign heart issues is by being examined and hooked up to the machines that give the experts the readings. If a cardiologist sends you home with a benign heart issue then please trust him/her.

I'm in the middle of a run of ectopics at the moment. Mine started last week around mid week and I'm not sure how long they'll go on for this time. The long runs of them happen much less frequently these days thanks to the Bisoprolol that I also take, and I take an extra dose at times like this. I've suffered with these erratic beats for many years and I know how very unpleasant they can be.

They are most definately linked to my digestion alot of the time and I think this time is no exception. I also find that fizzy drinks can relieve them to a certain degree too, so I drink glasses of fizzy dissolvable magnesium tablets as the magnesium is also good for regulating the heart beat.

ISB ☺

[Rob1984]

My main concern is why unlike every other time I've had these issues it hasn't gone away in a few seconds or minutes to a couple of hours on very rare occasions. It eased a little bit overnight, infact I probably had less than 1 a minute from 8pm until a similar 20 minutes to half an hour after I woke up this morning. It's now back exactly the same as it was a short period of time in normal rhythm followed by a period of time with random beats, maybe 1 every 2 beats or every 3 beats, then normal rhythm again.
I even tried laying on my left side which has always aggravated these in the past to see if it made it worse and it doesn't seem to make it worse, but certainly not better. I'm going to TRY to book an appointment with my gp in 7 minutes when it opens but that in itself is usually a lost cause as by the time you get through all today's appointments will be gone and that has been known to go on for 3 or 4 consecutive days before even if I stand by the door and wait for it to open they sometimes can't give me an appointment and they won't book for another day. It all adds to my feeling that nobody is too interested but I've had too many friends and family let down by doctors and hospital staff that are no longer with us because of this sort of thing to brush it off as nothing.

[Catherine S]

You sound very defeated. I don't know how many times you've seen a doctor or cardiologist about your ectopics up to date, but from your lack of trust in them, i'm not sure how you'll come to terms with the erratic beats in the future...what's the point in seeing the doctors if you've already decided not to believe them? People here who have this problem...including me...can tell you its not down to organic heart disease, it's simply your irritated nervous system or digestive system but again, how many of us will it take to convince you?

That the pattern of them has changed, and this is your first experience of the ectopics lasting more than a day, doesn't mean they have turned into true heart disease, it just means your heart is being much more irritated....perhaps try to figure out why. For example, I'm a Spring hayfever sufferer and some years the ectopics have been quite bad around this time so im assuming pollen could be one of the irritants for me. The others are caffeine and anything that aggravates my acid reflux. But sometimes also there is no obvious reason for their increase so I do what I can to relieve them and wait it out.

You are right to have any changes checked out, but if you're still told all is fine will you believe it?

ISB

[Rob1984]

I am happy to believe and accept that things are generally fine and take advice from people who suffer from similar things. I have just found the attitude in the hospital on Saturday to be worrying. I was openly told they had no staff so there wasn't anyone to do anything whether it needed to be done or not, to hear them say they don't think their ecg machine is working properly, this kind of stuff. I have been to the doctor this morning and he used the term "dropping beats" which I have never heard before in relation to my issue. Is this the same as ectopic beats or something different? He said that it was the part of my heart that triggers the beat was not working properly but I just had to live with it and he couldn't change my medication. I am due a review with my cardiologist this month apparently which they have yet to contact me about (I'm not sure how they work that out they seem to be random) but I'm not sure what to do in the meantime. I can't catch my breath, and I feel dizzy so I'm worried about trying to do my job which includes a fair amount of driving.
I really really want this to be related to my digestive system and I have normally found links, large meals, lots of fizzy drinks, bloating and gas but this time it has been going on so long that I have been in various states of hungry and full but I do still notice some bloating and gas hence me trying to link the two. The doctor today completely dismissed the potential link of course as many do it seems. I'm going to have a read through and find out some things I can eat or things I can try to take to minimise any stomach issues and we will see how that goes.
Thanks for all the replies so far, it may not seem it but it is appreciated and it is reassuring me, more than the hospital has if I'm honest.

[Seffie]

Was going to post then i saw that Aaahfreakout had already made my suggestion. Def have a look at dr sanjay gupta's videos on youtube. He is a cardiologist working in the private sector i think. Not sure if you're in a position financially to do this but I think you can have a telephone or private consultation with him, definitely check out his videos though, think they would really help you. Good luck!

[Catherine S]

Rob, not catching your breath and feeling dizzy could be your fear adding to all of this. When we're in a constant state of fear we shallow breathe and this upsets the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in our system, in other words we are over breathing and this can lead to all sorts of random symptoms including..but not exclusive to...lightheadedness and palpitations. In fact, if the fear came first it could be a reason for producing the ectopics, like the 'chicken and the egg' situation.

I know it's horrible and to be honest, in the past when these ectopics were really bad like yours are now, i'd turn to alcohol to try and calm myself down. Obviously I know it's not the answer, especially once I'd figured out the reasons for them happening.

Going back to the digestive connection. I know it sounds simple but it's something I discovered by accident a few years ago. I'd gone to the doctor about stomach problems and he'd recommended a product made by Rennie called Deflatine which is an antacid. I remember thinking "yeah right, like that's going to help if 12 yr old children can take it too" but was amazed when not only settled my stomach but also eased the ectopics. But it has to be Deflatine as this is the only one with an active ingredient called Simeticone and that's the important part. I still take them from time to time and still get relief from them.

Also, in Lidl they sell tubes of dissolvable effervescent multi vits, calcium and magnesium tablets. I buy the magnesium ones and have discovered that they can help ease the ectopics too. Anything is worth a try yes?

ISB ☺

[KaylaR88]

I read this post yesterday (against my better judgement) and it totally triggered my anxiety about my ectopics. So I didn't want to be the anxious poster, but I'm curious about how you're doing now.