Ectopic Heatbeat?

Hi

Im a 46year old female and in tip-top shape. Whilst at the gym I was having an assessment when the trainer noticed my heartbeat was irrigular....to say I was panicking was an understatment! I saw my GP that afternoon and was sent to the hospital the next day for an ECG which confirmed I had "ectopic heartbeat" I was told to cut down on the coffee & alcohol, which I have done. What I want to know is how serious is this? and is it something that will gradually get worse? I only feel my heart "thumping" when Ive had alcohol and Im not breathless. What can cause this Ectopic heartbeat and should I be concerned? I had lots of blood tests, kidney, liver, cholesterol, thyroid and glucose all were fine but the glucose was only slightly high and I have to be re-tested for that. My dad had an irregular heartbeat but I dont think Ive had this for a long time as I had an op a couple of years ago and the anaesthetist gave me the all clear.I have a very social life so its hard to avoid alcohol totally but I only have a couple of glasses of wine....is that ok?

Thanks so much for your help.

Liz

[Cleveland Clinic]

lizee,

thanks for the post.

1) What I want to know is how serious is this? and is it something that will gradually get worse?

Without knowing exactly what rhythm you had its impossible to say. From what you describe, you most likely have extra pacs and pvcs which in the context of a normal heart would not portend many negative consequences.  Alot of people suffer from palpitations from these heart beats. I would discuss the

I only have a couple of glasses of wine....is that ok?

Alcohol can precipitate abnormal heart rhythms. It depends on what you have. I would talk to your physician. Either way, moderation of alcohol intake is important for your overall health.

good luck

[LizeeeH]

Hi

If anybody else has been diagnosed with Ectopic Heartbeat I would love to hear your comments.

Thanks

Liz

[LizeeeH]

Hi

Thanks so much Pluto! Its nice to know Im not alone on this....it was such a shock for me because Im so fit and love all the physical sports etc. I know I was drinking too much alcohol and coffee! so I suppose in a way Ive been "shocked" into drinking in moderation......do all you other guys have a drink? The doc didnt say what type they were...just ectopic...Im going to see him soon so I'll ask. Thanks again.

[Clenn Camp]

Be glad you do not have the pvc's, premature ventricular contractions, that takes you to your knees like I experience. Yesterday was a bad pvc day for me and today is worse.
I called the Electrophysiologists' office hoping that I could get a Holter Monitor installed today while they are so bad and all they would tell me is I have to make an appointment.  It's the biggest mess to try to get something done anymore. I told the scheduler I need the monitor now, today, not sometime in the future. No, by the time they install the monitor I probably will not be having pvc's or a lot less of them.

Glenn

[Rocko1]

Glenn, Do you have pac's also? The reason I ask is that sometimes Ill have a premature beat and there is only a very very slight feeling of the following beat. Then at others I will have the skipped beat, a little longer pause and a big thump that I can feel in my chest. Have you learned to distinguish the difference in a pac and pvc? Or is it possible. thanks...

[Rocko1]

Hi Liz, Your experience sounds almost exactly like mine. I was what i consider a moderate drinker. I also have been extremely athletic and work out religiously. But out of the blue one eveing I noticed these ectopic beats. So to make a long story short, I had an echo run, Holter etc. The cardio said the results all came back normal. But I do wonder if my bp of 145/95, along with the moderate drinking and heavy excercize, all 3 over a period of several years, has led to this condition. Actually I was fearful that i had a mild cardiomyopathy starting. Since then the ectopics have drastically diminished to around 10 too 20 a day from 100 to 200 which btw were occurring only in the evening after meals. ???

[I'mallheart]

drink green tea..its what worked for me and a few of mine friends..

[dquenzer]

1.  Ectopics are generally benign, but should have a stress test or further tests to make sure.  After all you are 46, and it would be good anyway.

2.  PAC's/PVC's are found more often in athletic or well conditioned people.  Theory:  larger hearts tend to create foci where extra beats may originate.

3.  PAC's can develop into atrial fibrillation (mine did).  Mine turned into paroxymal atrial fibrillation.  A successful pulmonary vien ablation took care of the AFIB & most of the PAC's.  That is why you should have tests to make sure that AFIB is ruled out.  AFIB should be medically treated.

4.  Most people have PAC's and PVC's to various degrees.

5.  If you read the forum you will find that most on this forum either suffer from ectopics, tachycardias, atrial fibrillation.  But if you can't feel them and are not annoyed by them, then I would forget about them.  Actually by getting upset over this it actually exacerbates them.  If you look at your situation you might find a stressor that "put you over the top".  Ectopics are often signals that a lifestyle change may be appropriate.

6.  Women often find that they have more ectopics during certain phases of life.  I'm not a woman, but I would talk to a gynecologist about this.

Take care.

[jimmyb]

This is funny...You know I've suffered from palpitations, PVC's or PAC's and PSVT since I was a kid...and I've never heard them referred to as "ectopic"...Learn something new every day! I quit drinking four years ago because of the problems it caused with irregular beats. I was always a light/moderate drinker...no problems with the booze...mainly beer. But sometimes I would feel my heart punding when I went to bed...Or I could wake up with my heart racing. Just scared me too many times. Since I quit, no problems. I still enjoy caffeine, because it's the only vice I have left! Sometimes it gets my heart going a little whacky...but I can live with it. I also stay in shape. I jumprope about a half hour a day and it really is the best workout I've found. I used to run, but my heart rate goes up so much faster with the rope...also, I never leave my driveway and it is a lot easier on the knees! Sometimes I miss the alcohol...but it got to the point where the hangover was so much worse than the buzz. Best to everyone!

[Lamar1]

Hi Liz,
just wanted to say you certainly are not alone. Lots of people have ectopic beats! As many have pointed out, they are nearly always benign. Just see a cardiologist to rule out any heart abnormality - which I think is unlikely since you are in such a good shape - and then only resort to treatment if you develop symptoms. Symptoms and quality of life are generally the only concerns about ectopic beats.

[Lamar1]

This is very interesting! Nice to know extrabeats might indicate good shape...Is it better if the heart is larger? Thought it was the opposite. I too have heard that sinus tachycardia is typical of healthy hearts...

[LizeeeH]

Thanks everyone, great to hear all your different stories. Yes when I'd had a drink, which was mainly a weekend thing, I could feel my heart thumping when I went to bed. Now instead of a bottle of wine I have a glass....big difference! Yes I have been drinking green tea (awful stuff!) and Ive cut the coffee intake too.When I dont drink alcohol I cant feel my heart beating...unless Ive been in the gym....so Im lucky in that respect. The GP did say I could wear the holter or go for the stress test but he didnt insist, so I'll just see what he says the next time I see him.Im sure their are loads of people out there who have this complaint and dont even know, like me I wouldnt have realised had it not been for the trainer at the gym.Yes I think lifestyle plays a huge part in this and I reckon my old heart was telling me to stop drinking so much...I mean a bottle of wine on Friday, saturday & sunday is pushing it a bit! and you know I dont really miss it....strange! I find that 1 glass of wine is enough.I dont know what its like for you guys over in America but here in the UK the doctors are really good (most of the time!) and you dont have to wait long to see one.

Cya

Liz

[jimmyb]

Interesting comments about UK doctors. Here in America people love to bash socialized medicine, especially in Canada. Yet the Canadians I have spoken with have no complaints. Here in the States the cost of health care is going thorugh the roof. You have to have insurance, but if you don't qualify, either because of your job or your health condition, you are out of luck. The insurance companies dictate everything. My wife has Cystic Fibrosis. She is doing well, but we are starting our own business and nobody will underwrite us because of her condition. Basically it means that the people who need health insurance the most are the ones who can't get it. That is the problem with making health care a for-profit business. I can understand it if a bad driver has trouble getting car insurance, because driving is a priveledge. But to deny someone health insurance because they are ill is unconscionable! I hope the system changes here...I believe John Kerry will address the issue if elected. Hate to make this political, but President Bush has completely ignored the problem, except to give it lip service in the State of the Union address. Glad to hear your heart pounding has subsided for the most part. I hate being so aware of my heart beat. Stay well!

[LizeeeH]

Hi Jimmy

A lot of brits complain about the NHS here in the UK but you know I think its damn good!It must be awful to have to get health insurance....what on earth happens if you cant get it and you fall ill? it must be an awful worry........how can you put a price on your health! Sorry to hear about your wife's problems Jimmy...its no wonder your hearts pounding with all these worries!

Take Care

Liz

[Tommygun]

I'd like to know what you guys experience in terms of PVC frequency. I too have had these since I was a child, however I would get them only once in a blue moon, or when I was really stressed out or drunk.

For the past three weeks I have them nearly non-stop. I
m undergoing all the tests and have yet to hear anything alarming from my doc, but I would guess a rough average of 7 PVCs per minute. More when I'm stressed, less when I'm not. I am on toprol xl now which greatly helps the anxiety associated with the increase, however doesn't do much to decrease the frequency. How often/many do you regulars experience?

[glassheart46]

I sincerely beleive that pac's and pvc's are caused not only by alcohol and coffee, but many of the additives, preservatives and dyes found in processed foods.  A few bad ones in particular that I have found to cause mine are: yellow dye No.5, red dye No. 40, MSG, and aspertame just to name a few.  A real bad one for me is unbeleivably, decaf coffee.  There is a chemical in the processing of the coffee that does it to me.  When I was on the Atkins diet (which consisted of mainly meat (no cheese for me) I had virtually no etopics what-so-ever.  As I started to add back processed foods I started to have problems with etopics again.  There are even additivies in vitamins and not to mention that there is aspertame in foods that have real sugar already in them.  So, I watch what I eat very carefully and know almost within an hour if I have eaten something that will cause me problems.

[kellebelle]

I have wondered the same thing....I currently too have been having a lot of palpitations.Actually this week I have been wearing an event monitor to catch my heart in action. I have had a couple of good days with only a few palps but it was acting up the beginning of the week, hopefully they will catch what is going on.

My episodes started in October and have been off and on since then.I can go a month or so no problems then boom they hit.So you are not alone.Just wonder why this is so???

I also agree with the perseratives, I have been watching everything I eat and noticed the other day after eating smoked fish my heart started to be jumpy........Like you say perseratives are in everything, uggh! But it is something to think about. Good luck to all who deal with these, you give me strengh and hope.

[bigmick]

Re. alchohol,

This is one I constantly battle with. I LIKE a drink or two of an evening - usually half to two-thirds a bottle of white wine. If I have a day of ectopic activity (say 50-80 single ones and a run or two of them), I can sit down of an evening and have a drink as abovementioned and everything settles down nicely with hardly an ectopic in sight! So much for alchohol causing ectopy (in my case anyway). OK, so I accept that the alchohol might well have an irritating effect on cardiac cells from a chronic point of view, but I sure do enjoy the RELAXING effect it has on me. So, on one hand I'd like to kick it into touch (and I could EASILY do that), but on the other hand I enjoy the (important) relaxation it affords me. A bit of a dilemna if you like.

BM (43 yrs young, 6'4" 230 lbs otherwise-healthy-heart anxious perfectionist!)

[LizeeeH]

Hi Bigmick

I like your attitude! I only really drank at the weekends and I really did enjoy sitting down in front of the t.v with a glass of wine, like you said nice and relaxing! but all this ectopic stuff has completely thrown me!The trouble is I'd start off with one glass and before long the whole bottle had gone(hic)so now I really do stick to the one glass but its so frustrating and when you go out and everybody else is having a good old time you tend to feel like the odd one out! I dont smoke, Im a fitness fanatic and I have a healthy eating regime, so would it really do that much harm to have a relaxing drink at the weekend.

[Central Illinois 1001]

I first noticed skipped beats at age 37.  Now I'm almost 52 and have had some bad years with PVCs although I realize it's a benign condition.  1990 and 1991 were awful; I estimate I had at least 2 million PVCs in those two years combined.  

Most, but not all, years since then have been bad as well.  

The other day I gave blood and while the nurse was feeling my pulse, I made a silent "uh-oh" because I felt around 4 PVC's while she was checking the pulse.  She remarked, "Do you know you have an irregular heartbeat?"  I told her sure.  

I still don't know what particular food or lifestyle activity is doing this, but I like the advice about food additives.  That could be it.  


I seem to always get PVCs a week or two after I get on exercise kicks.  I used my exercycle around 8 or 10 times within a two week period, stopped for around 5 days, and then noticed I started having doozies like you wouldn't believe.    

[flubdub]

I am a 52 year old male in good physical and have been all my life. 4 years ago I started getting all kinds of "flub dubs" diagnosed as PACs. They started during a heavy set of inclined presses and went away w/in 1/2 hour. The frequency increased w/ time and generally hit me during heavy exercise. The local cardio doc started me on toprol. Sort of helped but knocked me in the dirt both libido and energy. Then went to flecanide, sort of helped but had some bad side effects; when exercising, my heart rate would increase to a certain bpm and then it would hit a wall. It felt as though someone was squeezing my heart. I had to stop all exercise imediately and slowly regain heart / lung function - pretty scary. This went on for over a year, very frustrating. I finally said the heck with it and stopped all meds. I continued working out carefully especially with weights - no more overhead lifts or any exercise that constricted my chest which would set off PAC episodes. I switched to more stairmaster and cardio, stopped all caffeine and minimal alcohol. The symptoms lessened, the cardio seemed to help as long as I didn't push too hard. I still got flub dubs after a meal and lying on my left side at night.
Then a BREAKTHROUH!! - I was reading various medical articles on the web and came across a series of articles on the incidence of mitral valve prolapse (and arrhythmia) and asthma and a magnesium deficiency; something like 80% of all MVP patients have a magnesium deficiency (in one particular study). After an 8 week course of 500 mg of magnesium daily, the symptoms subsided in a significant number of patients. I tried it; it worked!!! No flub dubs after meals any more; no flub dubs at 2:00 pm after a lunch workout!! No flub dubs on my left side. I have gone 2 weeks now w/ no serious flub dub episodes. I feel wonderful to be able to just lie on the sofa after dinner and just breathe and relax and no PACS!! I had to share this w/ the group. I'm sure it won't work for everybody, but after 2 years of frustration w/ toprol, flecanide, it was so simple and it worked.

[jimmyb]

Great story! Glad you got rid of them. Here's something interesting...I was having some bad PVC's or PAC's for awhile...I started taking magnesium and they disappeared like magic! However, a couple of weeks later they were back. They were with me for more than a year and I finally gave up of ever getting rid of them...It was ALL the time. Then all of a sudden they went away about a year ago and haven't come back. I hope they stay away. Life is so much better without them. I wish I understood what makes them come and go. I guess if I did, I would be a wealthy man!

[flubdub]

I've given up trying to understand what makes them come and go also. Prior to the daily magnesium, when they were bugging me routinely, about a year ago, I paid a visit to the cardiologist where I was scheduled for a stress test on the treadmill. They hooked me up to the EKG and I started running as they cranked up the speed and the incline. 10 minutes later at full speed and incline, no flubdubs! I figured then they would hit me as I sat down after the stress test and wrong again, no missed beats. I couldn't believe it. There I was trying to make them happen and no luck. The next day and they were back. Frustrating.
They are not completely gone w/ the magnesium, but enormously reduced. I'm sitting here w/ a full belly after dinner and no flub dubs, I love it. I hope I don't repeat your rather interesting experience with the magnesium; I am so glad they are pretty much gone. I still don't understand what gets them going. Sometimes it seems like an anxious thought will trigger them; or is it the flubdubs start on their own and then you feel anxiety? I am certain there is a mental link somewhere. Thanks for your comments.

[LizeeeH]

Hi Flubdub

What a great story and name! Its so strange...ive just been away for a couple of days holiday and no pac's or pvc's...well I couldnt feel them anyway as soon as I got back home their they were! Like you said, you just have an anxious thought and BANG! Im off to the gym tomorrow, Ive been going in the gym at home but I do more at the local gym ....... Ive come to the conclusion life is for living! and if you enjoy it DO IT! :)

[broggie]

I wouldnt worry about extra beats, I have them the same and they come and go...sometimes when I drink alcohol its all fine, another time and rapid heart beat...
Well I could wrap myself in cotton wool and never do anything, but life would be pretty miserable, so I drink when I feel like it and get on with my life.
Over the years pvc's will come and pvc's will go so just tolerate them when they are here and have fun when they aren't...if you do they will get bored long before you do.


Ray.

[LizeeeH]

Hi Raymond

Well said! my thoughts exactly.....as my old grandad used to say....your a long time dead so enjoy life! I have cut down a lot on coffee & booze but like you if Im going on a night out then I'll have some drinks and enjoy myself. I went to the gym today and had a really good work out and its amazing how much better you feel, lets face it, if you can't do all the things you enjoy doing life will be very boring!:)

Take Care Raymond!
Liz

[JayneToo]

I am so pleased to find this site and find myself coming back to it time and again for reassurance.  I am a 46 year old woman from the UK and have been experiencing skipped hearbeats for several years.  They seem to have got worse of the last couple of years and are a constant annoyance every day.  My mind tends to focus on them all the time which makes them worse.  I have seen a consultant twice and what I am feeling has been caught on an ecg.  An echo cardiogram showed I have what the consultant called a 'floppy' valve.  The consultant saw the look of horror on my face and said this was more of a variation on normal and nothing to worry about.  He likened it to pleats in curtains but I didn't really understand what the connection is!  He also said he could prescribe pills but they would only mask the condition and not cure it.  I know that alcohol is supposed to make things worse but I have found that a couple of glasses (or three) of red wine in the evening relaxes me and the missed beats either go or I just don't notice them.  I see that a few other comments agree that drinking seems to help.  Trouble is it encourages me to drink more which can't be good.
Not sure about Doctors in the UK.  American's seem to be more educated about health issues and American doctors more thorough.  I had to ask my doctor to refer me back to the hospital for more tests!

[LizeeeH]

Hi Jayne

Im a 46 female from the uk too! I was diagnosed with irregular heartbeats after a trip to the gym a couple of months ago and like you my mind is on them all the time....waiting for the slightest "thump or bump"! At the mo Ive only had an ECG, my GP didnt insist I had the holter or stress test but I can if I want.....Its so funny because when Im away in the caravan like I was last weekend, I dont feel the flutters or bumps...or even the lightheadedness that I only somtimes get when standing up....but as soon as I get home BANG! off we go again! Which goes to show my "anxiety" is getting the better of me! Its amazing how your mind can do that!

Take Care

Liz

[JayneToo]

Lizee, did you only start to notice your ectopics after you had been assessed at the gym and were told about them??  Bet you wish you never had that assessment!!!! I wish I had the 'don't care' attitude but I am a worrier.  I guess the more I worry about them the worse they get so it's a vicious circle.  Do you get ectopics occasionally or a lot??  I find that if I am distracted by something I don't notice them at all but must admit there aren't many minutes go by without my mind drifting back to them and off they go again!!!

[broggie]

I wish uk government departments would get themselves sorted out.  Currently I'm training for a large good vehicle licence, DVLA are really messing around with my licence application...first they said they had issued the licence, then they said thay hadn't, then they wanted to see a copy of the holter report...so I faxed it to them.
It says 'Sinus rhythm with occasional atrial and ventricular ectopics...The patient had 8 symptomatic episodes of "skip" all of which correlated with an isolated ventricular ectopic beat'.
Now they want to see the hospital notes....My God it was a test to check them out, not a hospital stay.

My other figures on the report for ectopics are 165 premature normals and 344 premature aberrants in a 22 hour period....no couplets, no triplets, no salvos, and no vt's

How much more normal do they want it to be...currently I have no signs of pvcs and when I do they come and go...I've just finished a stint of driving 7.5 tonne trucks all over the uk...

PVC's are a walk in the park compared to the stress of dealing with pen pushing jobsworths in Government departments...


We all know who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes :-)



Ray.

[LizeeeH]

Hi Jayne

I noticed my heart would thump quite a lot after consuming alcohol but apart from that I never really noticed them until I had that assessment and then I was fixated on them! even feeling my pulse every 15mins or so. Ive since relaxed a bit more and cant feel the ecotopics, I still get lightheaded if I jump up to soon....but again not all the time? You get to a point where the more stressed you get the more symptons you have!

[JayneToo]

Hi Lizee. Thanks for the reply. Sounds like your pvc's aren't too bad.  I certainly wish I didn't notice them.  There doesn't seem much you can do about them.  I have seen the doctor several times, been to the hospital twice.  I seem to get an early beat as opposed to a missed beat, sometimes two in a row.  I guess you just have to try to live with it and hope it doesn't get any worse!!!!!  It's comforting to have this site to know I am not the only one.

[adamkurn]

i posted in another topic area that was related to irregular heart rate and gastro. but some of your comments i could relate to ... below is my post

http://www.medhelp.org/perl6/Gastro/messages/C36654-15.html

I too suffer from very similar symptoms and situations:
- irregular heart rate (double

[zabo]

I had 2 bouts of palpatations April and July which lasted for about 2 hrs each time.  Since then, I have been having ectopics.  I have had all the usual tests done and a stress test, all of which were normal.  I am a very fit male of 42 years, I have always kept fit and do some form of fitness training almost every day.  My cardiologist has told me that I have free floating adrenalin, which is caused by anxiety.  I was suffering quite badly with stress at the times of the palpatations.  I have since made drastic changes to my lifestyle, by the way of meditation and sharing my anxious thoughts with my wife and close friends.  I still get ectopics almost daily.  I have noticed that they are definately linked to my feelings.  The one thing that has made a massive difference to my state of mind, is cutting caffine out of my life. It took about 4 months of no caffine before i felt as good as I do now.  My ectopics are there, but not as severe as they were. My cardiologist told me to ignore them and not to worry about them as 95% of the population have them.

[zabo]

I had 2 bouts of palpatations April and July which lasted for about 2 hrs each time.  Since then, I have been having ectopics.  I have had all the usual tests done and a stress test, all of which were normal.  I am a very fit male of 42 years, I have always kept fit and do some form of fitness training almost every day.  My cardiologist has told me that I have free floating adrenalin, which is caused by anxiety.  I was suffering quite badly with stress at the times of the palpatations.  I have since made drastic changes to my lifestyle, by the way of meditation and sharing my anxious thoughts with my wife and close friends.  I still get ectopics almost daily.  I have noticed that they are definately linked to my feelings.  The one thing that has made a massive difference to my state of mind, is cutting caffine out of my life. It took about 4 months of no caffine before i felt as good as I do now.  My ectopics are there, but not as severe as they were. My cardiologist told me to ignore them and not to worry about them as 95% of the population have them.

[jumpinjen]

hi everyone...new to this site but need you all.  Have been diagnosed with atrial tachycardia, pac's, pvc's.  Went to hosptial to try rythmol....made a-tach sooooo much worse.  went back to beta blockers, great for 2 weeks now constant pac's/pvc's they seem to come in clusters..  They are making me crazy and a very non depressed person very depressed.  I don't want to go anywhere or do anything.  help