I'm new!

[Miss_L]

Thanks LeeBee - that makes me feel a lot better, not that I want others to go through the same of course, but that people understand

Haven't had any since this morning - touch wood! Going out for a nice meal with my boyfriend tonight and I don't want it to ruin my evening - begone anxiety and ectopics! Such a vicious circle tho :(

[Miss_L]

Having a bad evening guys - had huge run of ectopics and lying on bed terrified am going to die :(

[Cathy V]

Sorry your feeling so bad with these, and not sure if my experience of them will make you feel better...im always a bit wary of telling people ive been getting these missed beats and flutters since i was 22, and im now 55. Ive had all of the tests over the years and the latest one was in the summer (only coz my german doc wanted to just check things out for himself. My uk docs already know im ok!)

Sometimes we have to accept that this is our anxiety weakness, our adrenaline 'thing' like some people get migraines, or stomach problems when they are stressed, we get the missed beats. Because its our hearts it can make us really panic about it, but then of course our fear of these beats just makes them worse. When we produce more adrenaline than we need, exercise uses some of it, but then theres still a surplus, so we feel the effects when we are relaxing as its not being used up so quickly.

I think that whatever symptom we are prone to in anxiety, we might carry with us all our lives. The answer is to learn to live with it. Dr. Claire Weekes was a firm believer in accepting rather than trying to get rid of. And in all her books she talks about these ectopics, and says exercise reduces them.

Ive learned to live with mine and i get them every day. Yes they are uncomfortable because we never want to feel our hearts misbehaving, but after 33 years, i think i can safely say that they havent, and will not harm me.

My cardiologist also said that we should never make the mistake of thinking they will lead to heart disease, or damage or weaken our hearts in any way. True heart disease is normally different from what we go through with these ectopics.

Hope this helps in some way.
Cathy xxx

[Miss_L]

Thankyou so much for replying Cathy - I needed that!

I told my mum I was getting them everyday for the past few months today and she seemed worried, which in turn worried me! But I guess I just have to learn to live with them! :( - they scare me so much though, I feel I get them when I least expect it - i.e. I often don't feel stressed. I am now though!

[Tracy68]

Another way someone said on here once was to drink plenty of water, I tried that and it does help. I've not been too bad on the ectopic front...ok still have them but not as much.
Hope you're feeling bit better


Tracy
xx

[>>andy<<]

Thankyou so much for replying Cathy - I needed that!

I told my mum I was getting them everyday for the past few months today and she seemed worried, which in turn worried me! But I guess I just have to learn to live with them! :( - they scare me so much though, I feel I get them when I least expect it - i.e. I often don't feel stressed. I am now though!

Hi Hun, Go to your Doctor and explain again what's happening.It'll be logged on ur medical records and help build up a picture of ur symptoms.
There are options open to you,medication etc.
Try not to worry,not easy though I know.
Andy.

[Miss_L]

Hello! Well I didn't really think I needed to go to Dr again... I had a good few days with hardly any then yesterday they were back with a vengeance :( - well I had about 10 yesterday evening.

Does anyone have them where it is like a little pinch? Not painful as such but a definite little nip when they get them? I hate that - it really pulls me up short and makes me panic - I thought they were getting better

[LeeBee]

Yes! Like little bites, right? How weird, I was just thinking that this afternoon. I got a few after lunch and they felt just like my heart was nipping at the inside of my chest (oh dear what a disturbing image, sorry!). Mine don't always feel like that, sometimes they're more like flutters, other times thumps, but, yes, sometimes they feel like nipping or biting, like this afternoon. When they do that it takes my breath for a second. Sometimes I cough a bit to "shake" it. Weird .

[Miss_L]

Yup - the same! I don't get it all the time either, just sometimes feel like that - apparently the vagus nerve plays a big role in this and its nerve related - i.e. that gets irritated by something and then fires signal to heart, so its kinda a non-cardiac origin, if you see what I mean? I get the cough thing too sometimes - apparently that is from this nerve being stimulated... interesting eh? I guess reassuring that these ectopics might originate in the nervous system rather than cardiac.. I hope so anyway!

I just hope I have a better day today - I think I got a few last night (started with a nip!) and then I worried about it and got upset that I was getting them after 2 "good" days, and then more came - it's such a vicious circle - also does it make you sit up and get panicy when you get one and weren't expecting it?

[LeeBee]

Thanks, Miss L, I didn't know that .

The first one in a run of ectopics always freaks me out, these days I can usually keep calm after that. The "nippy" ones this afternoon didn't bother me too much. Not sure why. I just coughed a bit and waited for them to go away.

The worst I've had recently came in the middle of my dance class last week. I think because my heart was beating quite fast anyway, the ectopics felt quite powerful. I think I just stood in the middle of the room with my eyes wide, must have looked very odd. Then I clutched my wrist, feeling for my pulse. I remember someone talking to me and not really listening to what they were saying because I was so wound up about the ectopics. I did manage to tell myself to ignore it and carry on eventually, and they did stop after a few minutes.

Good to know that it's not just me that gets these things (sorry you have them though).