alt Hacker NewsMany (most?) people get ectopic beats, but the threshold for noticing them seems to differ. Being stressed/anxious makes them more noticeable. There's a self-reinforcing feedback loop: the more you notice them & worry about them, the easier you will notice them ...
The thing about arrhythmias is that they can only cause damage while they're happening, but ectopics are only a problem for a single beat, which is not going to impact your oxygenation or blood pressure or anything else. Even a bunch of them every day won't cause any damage.
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Apparently everyone gets them but the burden (% of beats being screwed up) is important. A high burden for prolonged periods means damage accumulation.
I had 2 24 hour monitors and one caught 700 eptopic beats in a day. Another couple months later, 15.000 in a day. The second one was a concern for the cardiologist. She ordered a couple more tests, started beta blockers asked for diet changes.
I still have a high burden as I can feel them but whatever..
> Many (most?) people get ectopic beats, but the threshold for noticing them seems to differ.
This. Some of us have very high levels of proprioception. I can feel my pulse just by sitting quietly - I don't need to put my finger on my wrist to take it. Same with ectopic beats, I definitely feel them. And I find that there's a cycle to it - as you say there's a feedback loop: feel ectopic beat, become anxious, more ectopic beats, more anxious, etc. Then I have to try to actively forget about them. During those feedback times I'll have many ectopic beats / day (many per hour, even), but then some days later I'll realize I haven't had any for a while and I might go for weeks without noticing any.