Ectopic heartbeats

[cookie25]

Hi all, just wanted to share my experience in case anyone else has similar. At *16 weeks(ish) I mentioned to my midwife I was having an ectopic heartbeat occasionally - like my heart was skipping a beat but I didn't feel breathless or in any pain. It was happening every few minutes or so. She said I should get it checked out by the Dr. Dr couldn't find anything on examination but said I should get an ECG, a thyroid test and referred me to the hospital for a 48 hour ecg and an echocardiogram (like an ultrasound of your heart) in case i had a murmur or anything. I had this all done at around 27 weeks (ironically the heartbeat, which would come and go in phases - some weeks fune, other weeks it was back again, was fine during the tests). Anyway I then met with a cardio consultant who said all tests came back fine and the heartbeat was preg related due to extra blood flow but that my heart was fine. He told me to stay away from caffeine, fizzy drinks (even caffeine free ones) and hot baths or showers as this can trigger it. Since then I haven't had any symptoms. The gynae consultant also happy and says they see at least 5 women per month with this.

Just thought this might help if anyone else has a similar thing *

 

[TaraMum]

Thank you for sharing I have an appt for an ECG next week and a cardiology appt for October 5th as I've been having a *lot* of ventricular ectopic beats/palpitations/breathlessness etc. My consultant says pregnancy can trigger heart arrythmias and because I've been medicated for them in the past they just want to keep an eye on me, which is good.

 

[cookie25]

Hope your ECG and tests go well. Yes I was told same thing that pregnancy can trigger arrythmias due to us carrying more blood in pregnancy.
Hope everything goes ok for you. x

 

[evansmummy]

Hi there, Thanks for your post. What does an ectopic heart beat feel like? I am 35 weeks pregnant and went into hospital yesterday coz i felt terrible and blood pressure was up. I've been having these really out of the blue random periods of strong heart beats that are about 110 beats per minute, whilst resting. They just start out of nowhere. Midwife said not to worry but when i mentioned it to doc she gave me an ECG. They found lots of these ectopic ventricular heartbeats and a she could hear a heart murmur. They didn't seem too worried...well, they sent me home so it cant be that bad. I just wondered what it feels like and how you can tell? Is it something I should be concerned about for my baby?

p.s. I feel your pain with the timing situation. Its infuriating when you are explaining symptoms that they cant observe and you just dont know when they are going to come again! I was just really lucky that i told the doctorabout the palpitations, she left the room and minuted later it started so we called her back in immediately. That when she heard the murmur. It had gone by the time I had the egc though. Stick in there. Hope it work out ok for you x

 

[cookie25]

Hey, sorry to hear you have had problems with this too.

For me, the ectopic heartbeats just felt like my heart skipping a beat. I didn't feel breathless or in pain or anything and it would be over as quickly as it came on. I wouldn't know when it was coming and at it would happen every 5 mins or so at its worst.

Try not to worry as its not harmful to the baby and you wouldnt have been sent home if they had any lasting concerns. i was discharged from the consultants after all the tests and am just under normal mw care. They said its not dangerous to me or the baby and just to carry on as normal (minus the caffeine, fizzy drinks and getting too hot!!) and I'm now a week off my due date.

Hope it all goes well for you x