Ectopic heartbeats

[barbieVSdinosaur]

Does anyone have any experience of ectopic heartbeats?

I have been listening to my heart beat a lot and it seemed irregular. So I downloaded an app that allows you to monitor it.

It often shows me that I'm having ectopic beats. Sometimes trigeminy.

I'm wondering how often it would have to happen for it to be considered a health issue.

I have ectopic beats, including trigeminy, with a burden far higher than is "acceptable". However, after many tests ( including a 7 day monitor, stress testing, ECGs and echo) the cardiologist has decided that there is nothing to be done ( bar propranolol, which turns me into a zombie) so my heart and I are left to our own devices.

I feel them but since they are not considered dangerous, I'm ok about that.

Have you had any tests?

Hi, thank you so much for taking the time to reply.

That's really reassuring for me.

I asked the doctor about it, she felt my pulse through my wrist for a few seconds and said my pulse is fine. Obviously it didn't happen at that moment.
She also prescribed me beta blockers, because at the time my pulse was high (stressed!) but my resting heart rate is naturally in 50s so I don't think I should take them

I am considering paying for a private 48 hour ECG but the cost would really stretch me.

On the app it shows about 10 per minute. Is that what you was having?

My daughter has one, the dr says he can see it's in the bottom part of the heart and isn't concerned but I do feel a bit wary about them.

I think I have had them. It started two weeks ago and for a few days I felt a weird sensation in my chest about two seconds long. It happened over the course of a week or so. Many times in the day. I thought it was ectopic beats because after walking up some stairs it happened and I could hear my heart beating and missing a beat at the time of the sensation. It seems to have stopped now. I have a resting heart beat of 56 according to my Fitbit. I am 3 stone overweight and though I walk a bit I don't think it's enough to have such a low heart rate. Hoping to get s dr appointment next week.
What app are you using?

OP, I had these years ago when I was smoking, stressed or drank too much coffee. I had one about every 5/15 mins

I stopped smoking and gave up coffee. Now I rarely have them.

They can be very distressing. Most people don't notice the quicker beat but notice the gap as the heart is regulating itself. The gap allows the ventricle to fill more and when the heart contracts again it does so more powerfully and there is a 'thumping' sensation in the chest.

If your resting heart-rate is 50 bpm that is very healthy, (unless you are having fainting episodes) so I don't think taking beta-blockers will help. - Please note that I am not a doctor.

I would suggest you go back to your GP and ask for an ECG and a 24 hour heart monitor.

HTH

@Norachance it's the Fibricheck app. I looked it up and it says the NHS use it, seems very credible. It checks for AF.
It can alert you that something might be wrong (which is terrifying) but then they send the readings to a doctor to look at , and you get the result back in 48 hours. I have had lots of warnings, for it to come back as ectopic beats- which they say are no harm.

Finding myself constantly checking my pulse with my finger as well. It's scaring me

@Thesefeetaremadeforwalking thank you for your post.

I eat reasonably healthy. Healthy weight, don't smoke, hardly drink, excersize a lot. 32 years old. But I do often feel lightheaded and faint.

Cut my coffee to 1 a day (from 2/3) and it hasn't made a difference.

Just worried that something is wrong and it will get missed.

GP really writ me off because I am an anxious person in general.

Also just to add, my app is saying I am often having 10 per minute !!

I've always had them, they used to scare me but turns out every female in my family had them. My lovely gran had them at 98 when she died (not from the heartbeat, from misjudging a road crossing, whilst it sounds awful they think it was the first sign of dementia which she would have hated) so now I don't worry.

OP,
"But I do often feel lightheaded and faint."

Sounds like bradycardia - slow heartbeat.

You need to see the GP again (can you see a different one at the practice) for further investigation.

@Ducksurprise your poor nan!

@Thesefeetaremadeforwalking I just had a look through my app results and it appears I'm getting the Ectopic beats only when my heart rate is under 60. So that is interesting! I will go back to a different GP with that information and see what they say. Thank you

Mine presented as bradycardia...BPM went down to 36 at one point, and measured at 45 several times on 7 day monitor. After further investigation it was deemed that the monitor doesn't pick up the ectopics so the gap between "proper" heartbeats is long.

I was ok on the stress test, ie the ectopics were not worse during exercise ( which I was told was more of a concern) but showed up again in recovery.

I don't have an app- for me, that would just increase any anxiety. My GP arranged all the tests.

Oh, mine did show up on the original, standard ECG that the GP did, which obviously triggered referral to hospital.

@FuzzyPuffling and how are you now? Do you still get them? Did they do anything about it?

I still get them just as often. I live with them and they don't really bother me, apart from noticing " oh there's another one!". I think, having been thoroughly tested and deemed " not dangerous" I feel ok about it. It's not AF.

The only thing offered was beta blockers, and knowing how sluggish they make me feel, the cardiologist was happy for me to say no to them.

I'm fine!

That's great to hear. Thank you

I have had them for a long time. They have come and gone over the years - sometimes a few every minute, sometimes none. Cardiologist said they are harmless, so I don't worry.

I have these - I was wearing a Holter monitor for a few days for tachycardia and they commented on the ectopic beats but didn't feel the need to do anything about them. I do feel them as a sort of tiny "Glop!" and then back to normal.

If your app is telling you you are getting 10 ectopic beats in a minute I think the app is just unreliable tbh.

They are very, very common. You've probably always had them and not noticed.
I get them. DS26 gets them, he also gets tachycardia at times. He has been thoroughly checked out and nothing of concern was found.

This cardiologists from York posts on YouTube about all things heart related.

Thank you everyone.

I don't feel my app is not working, because I can also feel my pulse in my neck or wrist and they are extremely obvious.

If it's trigeminy, it's every 3 beats. So that's why there is so many

I’ve had them (trigeminy- sp?) pretty much my entire life, more noticeably in my adult life.
They were particularly bad in the 2 weeks leading up to my coronary artery dissection… really haywire. My dissection caused a heart attack/cardiac arrest. I’m ok 2+ years on… mild heart failure and I’m on lifelong beta blockers. At least I don’t need a pacemaker yet… maybe down the road.
Ectopic beats are manageable and usually harmless but can be a sign of something bigger. Try not to be too scared but do get some investigations done.

@BeechFairy just watched that video, it's great and very helpful. Thank you.

@TheVanguardSix oh I'm sorry you are going through this. Does frighten me, your right I should get it investigated.

💐 Try not to be too scared, OP. On the brighter side, it took 47 years for my heart to take a bad turn. Up until that dissection, my ectopic beats were just part of me. I lived a totally normal, active lifestyle.
Are you tall by chance? And how old are you, if you don’t mind my nosiness?
The heart works harder if you’re tall which is why you can hear stories about tall, usually thin, seemingly healthy people with cardiac ‘things’ like ectopic beats (this is certainly not a given for tall people though but it can be the case). My artery dissection was, consultants feel, related to the hormonal flux that the body is dealing with at that age (47 at the time). Dissections are rare but when they do happen, they tend to be more common in women who’ve either given birth or are menopausal/peri-menopausal women.

Sorry if my writing is a bit rambling! 🤪 I was woken up 3 times in the night by my meowing cats! I’m feeling it today. 😆🥱💤💤💤