Is this ECG normal? Do I need to go to a&e?

[Ecghelpplease]

Hi

I have been experiencing frequent heart palpitations for 3 days. Google says not to worry! But I've taken an ECG using my husband's apple watch and it records the palpitations. Does this look concerning? This is a snapshot. It happened 4 times in 30 seconds.

Anyone? X

It’s a bit of a misnomer to call that an ECG - they normally require a number of leads all over your body. It’s reasonable to be concerned about palpitations but I’d be booking in an emergency GP’s appointment or settling in for a VERY long wait at A&E if I were you. Do you have other symptoms?

I would cal 111 or your GP, Junior Doctors strike for 3 days starting today in UK, so I wouldn’t go to A&E unless advised to.

That's not an ECG. Call your GP surgery for advice. It's most likely an ectopic beat which is harmless

As others have said - that's not an ECG and if you go to a&e on that basis it is a total waste of resources. If you are concerned about palpitations call 111 or your GP.

Do you have any symptoms? That looks like inverted t waves.

I used to get these sort of palpitations showing on my Apple Watch very occasionally. Are you menopausal? Mine started around that time and then settled down

What did the apple message say after?

As others said not an ECG.
Do get checked out and ideally you want to request a 24 hour halter.

They are ectopic beats. Normal, but if very frequent stop caffeine and see your GP

The OP is correct - it is an ECG - a single lead ECG.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Sorry if I used the wrong term - I did say I had taken it using my husband's apple watch and that calls it an ECG, so I thought that's what it was.

I have seen my GP and had bloods done which were all normal. They've booked me in for a 'proper' ECG next week.

The palpitations are continuing. I haven't been anxious, but I suppose I am now anxious about the palpitations, so who knows what's causing them.

I haven't had any other concerning symptoms, but I'm now worrying there's something seriously wrong with my heart!

I've started taking supplements because Google says it could be a mineral deficiency of some sort.

I just want them to go away.

When I had palpitations my Dr told me that I was dehydrated. Drink 2L of water a day and see if it’s still bad.

Ive had a fair few ECGs over the years and they’re always a little different with inversions etc but they always tell me that ECGs are different for everyone and not to worry. The worst one was my last at the GP surgery. The Dr insisted I get an ambulance to A&E where I waited panicking for 5 hours then was sent home.
Don’t worry!

They are ventricular ectopics. Everyone has them, some people are more aware of them than others. I would suggest that a 24hr heart monitor could be requested to look at the ammount of them, how they are occurring, correlating your symptoms etc.
But... if you were experiencing your usual palpitations while taking that particular ecg then there is nothing of major concern on there.

As @MrsEvedder says Those are single ventricular ectopics, they are perfectly normal.

Even a couple together are fine. The fact they are identical in shape means that they are coming from the same part of the heart so you have a few cells that are 'irritable'.

Every part of the heart muscle can 'beat' that keeps your heart beating if part of the conducting system is not working properly.

@CeciledeVolangesdeNouveau it's fine as a rhythm strip, if the OP was having a holter monitor it would be two rhythm strips or if it was an event recorder it would be identical.

@BubblesGalore81 it looks nothing like that.

Thank you for the replies. It seems to have calmed somewhat but I'll still go for my ECG tomorrow and see what they suggest. The description of a few cells being irritable has helped a lot to alleviate my anxiety about it so thank you @sashh

Glad to reassure you @Ecghelpplease. The heart is an awesome organ.

Just another thing to reassure you, the first pacemakers relied on this. They had a single lead that went into the ventricle, the pacemaker would send an electrical signal that caused what is basically a ventricular ectopic.

The straight lines are the pace spikes, there is a red arrow to one.

You can see the beat after is a similar shape to the ectopics in your ECG.

I hope it goes well for you today OP.

@sashh thanks so much for all your help. I was SURE it wasn't anxiety (other than I got anxious about the palpitations 🤣) but now I'm wondering if it maybe is. Perhaps my body is anxious, even though my mind isn't! Christmas day the palpitations were AWFUL, but then a few days of lie ins and relaxing at home and they've calmed down, which makes me think anxiety. I'll still definitely go to my appointment later to double check everything is ok. The thought of it just being a few irritable cells and that the rest of my heart is working (and isn't about to stop and give up) has helped a lot.

Hi OP, I agree with others that they are most likely ventricular ectopics, I’m pretty sure the guidance is that anywhere up to 10,000 of them a day are normal/safe and don’t require investigation. I had a period where I was getting runs off 8 or 9 of them in a row, and whilst they were uncomfortable, the GP wasn’t concerned.

I get palpitations and am otherwise healthy. I had investigations and they found nothing wrong.
The main thing I’ve noticed is I need a lot of water, I play a lot of sport and if I’m not very hydrated I get them a lot when I’m playing intense sport.
Water makes a huge difference so one to try! You don’t need to be very dehydrated at all to get them.

I used to have palpitations and ignored them, and then one night they turned into SVT and I ended up in Resus in A&E. My heart was was 195bpm and stayed that way for just over an hour until they got it under control.

I was given a drug to very temporarily stop my heart (and I mean for about a second, probably less) in the hope that when it re-started the heart rhythm would be normal again, but it wasn’t and so I had to have a second, double dose, of the medication again. Thankfully the second dose worked otherwise they would have had to sedate me and shock me with the paddles they use when people have a cardiac arrest.

My heart rate went down to 101 and they let me go home.

A week later it happened again but thankfully it self-resolved without me needing that medication again.

I was started on beta-blockers and referred to see a cardiologist.

I had standard ECGs, a 24 hour ECG and a heart ultrasound. None of them raised any concerns.

I also was referred for a cardiac ablation procedure which was not pleasant (they got my heart beating at over 210bpm) to try and induce palpitations but not such luck. They did find out I had a really bizarre cardiac pathway and I had some nodes there that shouldn’t be that were affecting my heart rate but there was nothing that could be done about it.

So to cut a long story short, I was discharged from cardiology with no treatment required but I did remain on the beta blockers.

You are absolutely doing the right thing getting checked out early. I often wonder if I’d acted on it much quicker than all the SVT episodes could have been avoided.

If this kind of thing worries you, some cardiologists suggest this small device that specifies the arrhythmias more precisely - it doesn't identify every arrhythmia, but it identifies the more common ones and it's very easy to use.

store.alivecor.co.uk/products/kardiamobile6l?_gl=1ubwe3c_gcl_awR0NMLjE3MzYyNTc4MDguRUFJYUlRb2JDaE1JOUxtV28tRGppZ01WazBUX0FSMWY4d0dyRUFBWUFTQUFFZ0lsLXZEX0J3RQ.._gcl_auNDk5Mjg3MjM4LjE3MzYyNTc3ODc._gaNjY5ODQ1ODE5LjE3MzYyNTc3ODc._ga_583Y24F5NF*MTczNjI1NzgxNC4xLjAuMTczNjI1NzgxNC42MC4wLjA.

What a waste of money, it's still a rhythm strip which the OP recorded with her husband's watch.

Oh and the ECG it shows has one lead upside down.