Ectopic and odd heartbeats.

[Ottika]

I have had all the tests and given the all clear.
I am 51, slim, fit and eat a decent diet. It has been put down to possibly meno and stress.

I am stressed but it has been a slow burn (end of relationship, having to face moving house, etc), but nothing extreme. Or is it? My life sure is shit right now.

Never, ever had any heart related anxiety in my life.

This started in January, I got a weird convulsion-like flutter that took my breath away for a few seconds. Then turned into regular palpitations and eased off in a few minutes.
Since then I have had more episodes, almost daily, of my heart doing a little flip thing or seeming to miss a beat only to kick back in a moment or so.

It happens any time, but mostly at rest, and always seems to feel as if I need to burp or cough. It feels really good if I actually get a huge burp out!
I have read about vagus nerve and ectopics, so wonder if there is a connection with digestion?

My dad developed angina at 50, although he had been a smoker and drinker previous. I do drink moderately, but never smoked. He lived to a good age and didn't die of heart disease as took medication and changed his lifestyle. I presume angine meant clogged arteries?

Of course I am concerned that I might develop that?
Everything on paper seems ok right now but it did seem to come out of the blue. I also know that with anxiety, once you are scared of a thing it carries on!

Any advice welcome.

I've had this for as long as I can remember but never heard anyone else say the cough bit, it's almost as if the cough makes the heart go back into normal rhythm. Never investigated it but years ago when on an operating table, that I had insisted on being awake for, i was watching the monitor and there was no heart beat for ages. I said I presume that is broken, the surgeon said 'no your dead' (hasten to say I'm NHS too and we do have a dark humour). He then explained that it was perfectly normal for the heart to stop like that, then restarts I haven't worried about it since then, I presume some people are more aware of the sensation than others🤷‍♀️ that was about 15 years ago and I'm still alive if it's of any reassurance to you💐

Thanks @Mossstitch I am new to this, although not new to anxiety. I have been told that it can be quite normal, but it isn't normal for me.

Have also heard that it can be an effect of meno, as I haven't had a period for 2 yrs - presuming I am through it now.
I do have an incredible amount of things to worry about but keep it in, generally.

The cough sensation is strange, like a bronchial urge to cough or a burp in the windpipe. Sometimes it does a quick flurry of fast beats then goes back to normal steady rhythm. I am generally at around 60-70bpm.

The flutter sensation bothers me, it is like having a butterfly in my chest. But when this happens my heart rate feels normal.

What did "all the tests" include?

Have you had an extended monitor?

Yeah, I get the heart flutter, urge to cough, cough, back to normal thing too. Ectopics and up to a minute or so of irregular beats a few times a week. Same 50ish age, had it very rarely all my life but got more often when I was about 46. I've been in for investigations and it's all well within normal bounds. It gets worse if I stress, or if drink too much coffee (so I don't any more).

While I was in for investigations the first time and panicking about it, a lady from PALS came and held my hand on her wrist, and she had a far more irregular hearbeat than me, continuously. She'd had it all her life she said, so now she uses it to reassure patients in the cardiac ward! Splendid woman.

If the cardiac docs say you're showing normal variation, trust them. There's a ton of research on it.

Try this OP take your pulse so you know what you are doing, look online.

When you next get one of these 'blips' take your pulse, then take as big of a breath as you can and hold it while you take your pulse.

Your heart is close to your lungs, so close they touch and that means your heart rate can change with your breathing. That's quite normal, a big inspiration actually lifts the lung away from your heart and makes the beat regular.

Even if it is ectopics, they are quite normal to have occasionally, it means the electrical system of your heart is doing its job.

I have similar palpitations. After ECGs and lists of tests I had an ECG ( scan of heart) for another unrelated problem and the technician pointed out that I had PVCs premature ventricular contractions. They occur when the contraction originates from a different part of the ventricle. They are common but mine were happening every 4-6 beats. Most of the time they are not a problem.

A common cause is hormone changes. I was going through menopause so it fitted. I had been taking calcium channel blockers to maintain my blood pressure ( it became unstable when I had pregnancy induced hypertension during pregnancy) at the beginning of the pandemic the drug I was taking was discontinued and it was difficult to get an alternative so I stopped taking them. I’d been on the calcium channel blockers for 15+ years and I suspect that coming off them coincided with the onset of palpitations. GP put me onto a new calcium channel blocker and the palpitations disappeared.

Because I have a long history of endocrine problems my GP is open to discussion when I have odd symptoms.