Charlotte

I would please like to ask about multiple eptopic heartbeats.  I have been having these for sometime now and it is starting to get uncomfortable.  Its mostly at night time, that it is bad.  I take Half-inderal 80mg in the morning and today i was told to take 40mg of Propranolo at night.  What causes the eptopic beats and can it be serious.  Thankyou for your time and help.

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

There is no way to know for sure why you are having ectopic beats and to be quite honest, it is not that important.  Knowing the mechanism does not change the treatment and does not change the prognosis, which is very good for people with structurally normal hearts.

Ectopic beats can come from increased automaticity, from triggered beats, or re-entry.  The pathophysiologic mechanisms are very difficult to understand.  If you are interested in understanding them, you can try google searching the terms -- but trust me, it is not easy to understand.

Thanks for posting.