Irregular heartbeat

[s'nic]

I went out today and I didn't feel right, which isn't unusual, but I felt a bit light headed with it.
About two hours after after getting home I decided to check my blood pressure ... from 5 attempts 4 of them registered an irregular beat picked up while trying to measure.
Disregarding the two most dodgy readings (one said diastolic was 58), the average of the remaining three was 114 / 69.

I'm still waiting on an appointment for another heart monitor, and I've experienced some disturbingly strange heartbeats in the past couple of weeks. I'm wondering if it's worth phoning the hospital and trying to find out how long the wait is, and if I should be seen sooner.

 

[Leadinglights]

I went out today and I didn't feel right, which isn't unusual, but I felt a bit light headed with it.
About two hours after after getting home I decided to check my blood pressure ... from 5 attempts 4 of them registered an irregular beat picked up while trying to measure.
Disregarding the two most dodgy readings (one said diastolic was 58), the average of the remaining three was 114 / 69.

I'm still waiting on an appointment for another heart monitor, and I've experienced some disturbingly strange heartbeats in the past couple of weeks. I'm wondering if it's worth phoning the hospital and trying to find out how long the wait is, and if I should be seen sooner.

My other half was getting occasional spells of atrial fibrillation and had several ECGs at the doctors but it never picked it up so he bought a little hand held device so he could monitor and record it when it happened and then sent the printout to the GP. As a result he was referred to cardiology but the wait was 9 months. It was concerning him immensely especially as he had it continuously for 2 weeks when he was in hospital with a Crohn's flare up. I had imagined that the gastro team would get the cardio folk to come and see him but not a bit of it. Anyway after that he booked a private appointment with a cardio consultant who reassured him but ordered an echocardiogram on the NHS which was all good, changed his medication and prescribed what they call a 'pill in the pocket' which he is to take if he gets an episode which lasts more than a few hours. He hasn't had to use it and has had only a few mild symptoms since.
I know at the time the monitor wasn't too expensive but I'm not sure now.
If you have the name of the consultant you are due to see you could try contacting his secretary to try to get an earlier appointment.

 

[s'nic]

After the last heart monitor the consultant prescribed a beta blocker as my ectopics were so frequent I was at risk of heart attack. He then basically passed me back to my gp, so I think all I can do is phone the department.
Apparently my heart is healthy and normal, apart from the ectopics 🙄

I'm taking a lie down now, I'll try redo my BP later or tomorrow. My weight loss will lower my BP, and beta blockers also do that, so I have some concern over increased meds causing low BP. Also my resting heart rate is already reported as 43 by my Garmon watch, I'm not enthusiastic about that going lower.

 

[rebrascora]

I sometimes get a spell where I have an irregular beat and it gives me a real wave of nasty nausea, just for a fleeting second and then it is back to normal. The other thing I get which is different and happens more frequently is that my heart seems to lose it's steady rhythm and it seems to be a faster, shallower beat which feels weird and quite fluttery. What I have found is that if I take a deep breath in and then let it out and really empty my lungs of air, it seems to fix it and it goes back to normal straight away. I have done this multiple times now and it works every time. No idea what it is or what causes it, but I assume I am just getting older and things don't work quite as well as they used to.

 

[Leadinglights]

I sometimes get a spell where I have an irregular beat and it gives me a real wave of nasty nausea, just for a fleeting second and then it is back to normal. The other thing I get which is different and happens more frequently is that my heart seems to lose it's steady rhythm and it seems to be a faster, shallower beat which feels weird and quite fluttery. What I have found is that if I take a deep breath in and then let it out and really empty my lungs of air, it seems to fix it and it goes back to normal straight away. I have done this multiple times now and it works every time. No idea what it is or what causes it, but I assume I am just getting older and things don't work quite as well as they used to.

Interesting as my OH says if he sneezes when he has an AF episode it will often go.

 

[rebrascora]

Interesting as my OH says if he sneezes when he has an AF episode it will often go.

That is interesting! It is the same action I suppose although a sneeze is obviously much more violent and can't really be done on demand. 🙄 I wonder if a cough might work too.
Might be worth suggesting he tries a deep breath in and then really blowing it all out and emptying the bottom of his lungs. Very occasionally I need to do it twice to stop the episode but most times it works the first time. I haven't bothered the doctor as it happens relatively infrequently and I have found a way of dealing with it. Just thought I would mention it on this thread as I thought it might be relevant.

 

[s'nic]

My heart normally seems to miss a beat, followed by approx 3 faster beats as tries to play catch-up. If I happen to have an oximeter clipped to my finger I can actually watch the heart indicator pause on it.
Other times the beat may feel oddly laboured. And other times I only know it is worse because I feel rough.
The ectopics always get worse when I've been busier or when energy levels are lower (particularly at the end of the day).

 

[Leadinglights]

My heart normally seems to miss a beat, followed by approx 3 faster beats as tries to play catch-up. If I happen to have an oximeter clipped to my finger I can actually watch the heart indicator pause on it.
Other times the beat may feel oddly laboured. And other times I only know it is worse because I feel rough.
The ectopics always get worse when I've been busier or when energy levels are lower (particularly at the end of the day).

My other half was prescribed medication by his GP rather than the consultant, have you been offered anything yet.

 

[s'nic]

I had a whole bunch of heart tests and saw the consultant in august 2021. He prescribed nebivolol (beta blocker). The appointment I'm waiting for atm is so they can get a new baseline off the heart monitor. I strongly suspect my meds need changing, but the doc wants the heart readings.

 

[s'nic]

An update on this, it seems like I'll have a 48 hr heart monitor sometime in May.

I did set of morning and evening BP readings for 10 days , it was fairy low
.............. systolic .... diastolic .... pulse
avg am ... 100 ........ 66 .............. 48
avg pm .... 111 ........ 72 .............. 51

I've also had an ultrasound of my liver, they found a hepatic haemangioma. They want to do a second test to look at it in more detail
These are known as a non-cancerous tumour, but more accurately are venous malformations. When they do present symptoms it's the pain I've been having since 2021.
They can also make people feel full / affect appetite, which may explain why I do not tend to feel hungry.
I have not had an evening meal yet, and while a stomach feeling tells me I should probably eat, I would not actually say I felt hungry.

 

[s'nic]

hmm, just WhatsApp'd a friend to tell them the results and re-read the text from the doctors surgery
It actually said the ultrasound "has found a probable haemangioma" which kinda made me rethink things ...

My appointment for the scan was 2:10 pm yesterday
I was told the results would take a week
9:07 am this morning I'm sent that text, and told they want to do another scan

We all know the normal speed of the nhs is slow, dead slow and stop, so I am now feeling a bit concerned as to if this is a haemangioma, what size it is (small ones don't give symptoms, and I've had symptoms for over 3 years), or if it could be something else.