Missed Heart Beats

Question

Hi, I too have skipped heart beats regularly throughout the day, worse with stress, I would say sat 10 times an hour, it doesn't hurt but is unconfortable and worse after I have eaten - any comments, just to add I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks too.

Look forward to your thoughts

Anna x

This discussion is related to Skipped or Pause in Heartbeats.

Mom2four85 · Answer

Oh yes it was distracting to say the least...daily; nonstop for 6 mths - 1 year.  I had no clue what they even were until June, I think i just got so used to them I didn't pay attention.

Although it was cool to freak my grown children out when they felt my pulse lol;  almost as much as feeling the PM/ICD I have now hehehe

I still remember sitting in the ep's office and he read my chart and said WOW! believe me I've never said wow to a patient before, but I'm amazed you're sitting in my office.  It made lively conversation the 1 time I went to the ER and dr's / nurses came in & out looking at my monitors asking questions...the one joked I should have charged admission.

ireneo · Answer

Ick! That's a lot of ectopics. Talk about distracting. I had a 5 month period of having 15-25 a minute and I was one grumpy person. Hard to sleep with all that racket.

Mom2four85 · Answer

I guess I should have mentioned about average pvc's per min/hour lol my mind just doesn't work sometimes...I need some stronger coffee :P

I had 37 pvc's per minute which is roughly 2250 per hour; before I had my ablation :) pvc's were wrecking my life - 42% of my heartbeats were pvc's

My EP told me rates rates of around 6,000 - 8,000 per day; they would think of treating with meds.  About 20% of your total heartbeats 24/hr is when they start looking at surgery options if meds don't work or other cirucumstances are involved.

Have you had a holter monitor to make sure just how many you're having? I would have never imagined I had over 54,000 in a 24 hr period.  Testing would be good check if all is well structurally.

ireneo · Answer

Ten times an hour is still considered "rare ectopics." I average 1-5 a minute, some days more than that if I'm tired or not feeling good. Some folks on the rhythm board have tens of thousands a day. In their case their cardio tries to treat them.

Have you had your heart checked to see if it's structurally normal? If so, then a few ectopics a day are not unusual or dangerous. Many people have them and don't even know it. Other people seem to feel almost every one and it can be a bit annoying.