Long irregular heart rate episode....scary!

[>>andy<<]

Hi, my first ever post here.
I've been a missed beat & palpatation sufferer since 2001.
Been under a cardioligist,but nothing serious was found and was discharged from seeing him in 2003.
I thought I was making some kind of recovery from these wretched episodes,but last night really scared the hell out of me.
I had been to work as normal,felt a bit tired,the usual Monday blues I thought.Later in the evening at home as I sat in the bath a my heart rate just went crazy.It was really irregular and high,now this had happened just for a moment or two in the past,but this was uncontrollable,it just would not stop! I told my wife who obviously told me to calm down and take deep breaths.But to no avail,it carried on and I spiralled in panic and fear.
I rang my Dad to come to our home and take me to hospital ASAP.
The longest car journey of my life! Even though it was only 10 mins.
Still had the symptoms walking into the hospital.
Was just so nervous and uncontrollable, that I was taken through straight away and laid on a bed and hooked up to machines and given oxygen to try and calm down a bit.
As soon a the pulse rate machine was attached they saw straight away that I had a problem.The moniter was going metal with my irregular pulse.
I just could not calm down and my pulse was making me feel like imminent death was around the corner
Well the doctor was amazing,overall this lasted nearly 4 hours was a dodgy pulse.He tried all the old tricks to reset the pulse,none worked! grr!Then had a drip put in my arm and a syringe was feeding a drug into me.
Eventually a cardiac doctor on call was sent to see me.He suggested going onto beta blockers and a referred me back to a cardioligist.
So I decide to go to the toilet,and what do you know,as soon as I get up the rate goes straight back to normal!
They were on the verge of keeping me in the hospital,but sent me home with the beta blockers,I took my first one today and have noticed a slight slowing of my pulse and yes I have taken the day off work just to try and rest and come to terms with what happened to me last night,as I say nothing that irregular has happened to me before and hopefully now I'm on medication for it I can try and get on with my life.
Scared the hell out of me though,I can tell you.

[Cathy V]

Hi there andy, sorry to hear about your scare and hope your day of rest is helping you to feel more 'normal'. Well im afraid you're not alone with this on nmp, alot of us suffer with the old ectopics, and they are fuelled by stress (happiness is also a stress albeit a good one so if you're susceptable to them you can them on a good day too!) and obviously you already know about the caffeine/alcohol thing too. Yuve obviously also been told that some people are super-sensitive to feeling them and we are the unlucky ones!

But your 'episode' last night was a bad one and you'll never know if it was made worse by your own panic...i think it probably was. The docs were happy to send you home with the meds anyway, and i take betablockers also...propranolol 80mg a day. They slow the heart down and make the ectopics a bit less noticable. I say a bit, because for me i do still get them but thats because i habent quite stopped having my red wine at night so i put it down to that ontop of the meds...not a good combination really

You'll get loads of support with this onhere so keep posting and we'll have you feeling better in no time.

Take care
Cathy xxx

[>>andy<<]

Thanks for that.
Funny about alcohol, We went out for a few drinks yestersday afternoon,I'd been wondering about that for a while now,possibly combined with tiredness, stress and work they probably don't all mix well!
Been put on Atenolol, 1 tablet a day for a month to see how I go with them,by that time I will have seen my cardioligist to discuss all this and to see if the meds have made any difference.(hopefully they will)
Cheers for the support !

[Cathy V]

No probs andy and you'll get alot more replies to this post when everyone comes home from work/school run/docs appointments etc.

Just to say though that you dont sound like you're that old, but its a fact that you do have to look after yourself more as time goes on, especially if you're prone to anxiety-related symptoms. Im not saying turn into an old man but just to be aware of what the limits are for your own body.

I know that if i have more than 2 glasses of wine and dont go to bed until 2am then i will def suffer the following day. Its not really about the classic hangover anymore either, its much more than that and you will hear from members of all ages to say they cant allow themselves to get too tired, coz with or without alcohol tiredness is a real no-no for anx sufferers, particularly with the missed beats.

Catch you later
Cathy xxx

[tayside lassie]

hi andy ...i hope your feeling a bit more calmer now ....i get the dreaded ectopic beats as well had them for at least 15 years or so and still cant get used to them ...i get them when im happy/sad/upset/ real bad if ive had an argument with someone and sometimes after ive eaten or eaten too much ..gave drink up as a bad joke years ago ..ive been on atenolol for 10 years and they do help the ectopic beats as you may all ready know they slow your heart down so you get less ectopics sometimes none for days/weeks maybe the odd one here/there ....there is two things i know that helps to stop them is drinking a glass of water slowly and pinch your nose and blow as if unblocking your ears ...oh and forgot coughing hard 3/4 times helps thats what i do ......you ll feel better with the atenolol and if it helps my oh gets them and my 20 year old daughter the only thing is it does not bother them but can cause others great anxiety ..

hope you feel better soon ....sally

[>>andy<<]

No probs andy and you'll get alot more replies to this post when everyone comes home from work/school run/docs appointments etc.

Just to say though that you dont sound like you're that old, but its a fact that you do have to look after yourself more as time goes on, especially if you're prone to anxiety-related symptoms. Im not saying turn into an old man but just to be aware of what the limits are for your own body.

Forgot to mention Cathy,I'm 35/male.

[Dazza]

Hi andy,

I can totally understand how you felt...I've been there myself!

I'm getting better slowly overtime, but I still get freaked out sometimes.

When it happens, I try to do deep breathing to calm myself down. not always easy i know, depending on how serious you feel your symptoms are at the time.

Darren

[Rachey poos]

I get episodes of this at times...i wake up and my heart is thumping and missing and wobbling all over the place...usually lasts about 20 mins...but 4 hrs hun...bless you... What was the dotors reaction, were they saying you would be ok.... and did they put it down to stress? ...Its so strange the way our tickers respond to anxiety...last night i had a whole night with one flutter after the other and i can def' put it down to acid as i was rumblin and burpin real bad then it kept easing off then flutterin again....soooo weird... i am glad you are feelin better hun, I get flutters all the time and it has actually made me agraphobic...but one thing with me is that I cant go to the doctors as i have a terrible "doctor" phobia.....vicious circle!!

[>>andy<<]

I get episodes of this at times...i wake up and my heart is thumping and missing and wobbling all over the place...usually lasts about 20 mins...but 4 hrs hun...bless you... What was the dotors reaction, were they saying you would be ok.... and did they put it down to stress? ...Its so strange the way our tickers respond to anxiety...last night i had a whole night with one flutter after the other and i can def' put it down to acid as i was rumblin and burpin real bad then it kept easing off then flutterin again....soooo weird... i am glad you are feelin better hun, I get flutters all the time and it has actually made me agraphobic...but one thing with me is that I cant go to the doctors as i have a terrible "doctor" phobia.....vicious circle!!

Well the doc on duty at our large a&e was fantastic,he was relaxed and laid back,kept things professional and threw in the odd joke about football teams and stuff.He kept reassuring me that this totally common among many people. Same for the cardiac doc who came to see me,he was totally reassuring and told me things I wanted to know and how we start to try and go about cutting out these awful symptoms. Thanks for the good wishes!

[>>andy<<]

Hi andy,

I can totally understand how you felt...I've been there myself!

I'm getting better slowly overtime, but I still get freaked out sometimes.

When it happens, I try to do deep breathing to calm myself down. not always easy i know, depending on how serious you feel your symptoms are at the time.

Darren

Hi Dazza, So how long have you had symptoms. Are you a similar age to me? i am 35. Thanks for the tip!