Ectopic beats

I had my ablation almost 5 months ago. It's been great. No afib!

Recently I've been under stress and have had some ectopic beats. (My Kardia ECG still said "normal" though.)

Are ectopic beats (esp when under stress) normal? Anything to be concerned about?

Everyone has ectopic beats (PVCs and PACs). What distinguishes normal from abnormal is the number of them. If they're frequent enough for you to notice them and be bothered by them, then that's not "normal." But it's also nowhere near enough to be concerned about. Doctors will tell you there's really nothing to be done about them until you're having upwards of 20,000 PVCs per day, and for PACs (probably what you're experiencing) there isn't really a limit because they're not dangerous. For example, at one time I was experiencing bigeminal PACs (meaning every other beat is a PAC) 24/7 for weeks at a time, which means I was experiencing over 40,000 per day. My EP offered sotalol to try and tame them but that didn't work, so I basically just had to live with them. They suck, but they'll do you no harm.

Thanks as always Carey. I think it's stress related.

It's well-known that stress depletes magnesium stores...so it can be helpful to add more magnesium and maintain a higher intake level during stressful times.

Jackie

Great idea Jackie! Thanks!

I agree...don't wait until you have problems to take the Mag and potassium supplements. After my ablation (Cleveland Clinic), I went off them because like you, I was not getting any more afib. I started having ectopics finally, and my doc told me I was low on Potassium, (from my ecg)...and was I still taking them. I said...uh, no. Went back on the mag and potassium and no more ectopics, (for the most part anyway).