Are these ectopic beats?

Hi,

I have a few questions I'd like to ask so I can try and understand what is happening with myself. So if anyone could give any advice then it would be really appreciated.

First off, I have bad anxiety concerning my heart, after someone in there early 20's who I knew died suddenly from an undiagnosed heart problem. I'm male by the way. Many of the heart symptoms I now get I think I may have had before this, but never thought much of them.

I don't know if it's okay to put this on the forum, so sorry if it is. Everytime I masterbate I get a very irratic heart rate. My heart speeds up, which I guess is normal, but every few beats I get a pause then a few very slow hard beats, before a few more normal quick ones and maybe a couple more slow hard ones with big pauses. There doesn't seem to be any particular pattern to it, and it maybe lasts for about 30 seconds before it disappears again. The strong beats feel like a really hard thud against my chest which I can feel without checking my pulse. I only get it in this circumstance and not with exercise or anything else as far as I'm aware. Recently and sometime back I had woke up suddenly with it, maybe after a bad dream, which had a bit of a choking feeling too.

I'd been to the doctors a few months back with elevated heart rate and chest pain, which I've had on and off for ages. He sent me for a blood test and I had an ECG done, which is said were both fine and that it's only anxiety. But symptoms like this make me think otherwise. (I've not told my doctor about this particular symptom though.)

Thanks again! ali

[spratty]

it sounds like your having PVC's or PAC's. I have loads as im pregnant at the minute but i did have them before. If your not having them when u have an ecg they wont show up so ask ur doc for a 24 hr monitor. The first one i had, sods law i didnt have any palitations so obviously it came back normal. Then i had another recently and it showed these as PVC's and PAC's. What happens is your heart fires off a beat too quickly which then gives the pause ane the thud as the heart goes back to normal but you could then get another and so on so it can feel like an irregular heart beat but its just a few in a row. In a normaly structural heart they are not dangerous so maybe ask for an echo just to put your mind at risk.

[ireneo]

I have various arrhythmias and do experience something similar. Normal? Maybe not but it's not unusual I guess. During stressful times (it can be good stress) the heart can flip-flop or race a bit but reverts to normal pretty quickly. An ECG won't tell the doc much unless you're having symptoms at the moment. Perhaps an echo would be good to make sure your heart is structurally normal (no valve problems, etc.) and you could use a Holter monitor that records all the heart beats for 24 - 48 hours. Then if you did "it" you could catch the rhythms and the doc could see what's happening.

[tam31]

I'm now 33 years old and have been plagued with what my doctor calls "PVCs". They started late in my pregnancy and I've had them ever since.  It's like my heart pauses, then beats really hard. Sometimes they come 3-5 in a row--which feels like I'm losing contro. Usually however, they come and go without giving me much trouble, but lately I've had episode after episode. They seem to get worse when I'm stressed out-as my current episode began after an argument with a co-worker. They are quite scary, although I've been told that they are benign. Sometimes I feel like my heart isn't going to get a regular beat and then what? They seem worse when I breathe in, or sit a certain way. Even certain movements seem to induce them. I'm thankful for the times that I don't feel "the big ones", which I have to say is most of the time. But, I know when I do feel them, they seem to go on forever. However, I've had them for about 10 years and so I guess my doctor knows what he's talking about. Take care, and hope this helps a little.