Iron supplement and increase ectopic heart beats

It is always possible that something started makes something unforeseen happen. However, there is also a problem with what is called the 'post hoc, ergo propter hoc' fallacy, meaning something happened after I took this, so it must be because I took this. I ate an apple and then my dad died. Silly, yes, but it does illustrate the fallacy well. Your ferritin is low, so the initial first, and medically sensible, step was to start you on a weak dose of a drug normally well tolerated. It's safe, widely prescribed. It may still be what set your heart off, so I'm not dismissing the possibility, but on the basis of probability, this was most likely going to happen about now anyway. If you're getting on in years, the chances are your heart will start acting up, whether from ischemia/blockages or due to electrical disorder. Happened to me, and there are literally millions of us with electrically disordered hearts.

You need to see a cardiologist about this, so maybe get referred by your GP. He/she should be sympathetic and also want to ensure this isn't just a one-off. The fact that you have been plagued by arrhythmia for days now suggests to me that this is a new reality for you, and that it is almost certain not to be due to the supplement. I believe your GP will probably agree. In fact, and not to put too fine a point on ....umm....my point....sorry...please see this:
https://www.cardiovasculardiseasehub.com/archives/21680
It turns out that iron deficiency is most likely the culprit, and that you developed the arrythmia at the same time that your heart threw in the towel and that your GP put you on the low dose supplement. So, coincidental. Happenstance.

@gloaming
I started having these darn heart skips in my late 30's after mom had her first heart attack. I wore a 24 hour holter monitor and I only had a few ectopic beats, nothing else. Well, I had them off and on and some PSVTs (Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia)as well, but nothing major, but they scared me. I was fortunate that I never had a lot back then. After mom died from complications from vascular surgery, they started again and this time a lot more and more atrial runs. I wore 7 day events monitors , and had a couple of echocardiograms
This was when I was 49 to 54. Daddy died from cancer, and then the skips got worse again. I married a man from New Zealand and I moved there when
I was 55(I live here now)and the ectopic heart beats and PSVTs have taken a turn for the worse. I am now 68 and I live every day in constant fear of them. Every little strange best sends me into panic and I cry. I have worn two 7 day monitors once a few years ago and one a couple of months ago. I had an echocardiogram a year ago. All "normal" results. I have lost track of all the times I have gone to the ER, again, I am always discharged because all blood work and EKGs are normal. I just now had a short run of PSVTs, at least I think it was that, I am petrified of having A fib. I am sick with fear, no matter how hard I try, I can't stop being frightened. I am going to see my GP tomorrow to see if she'll refer me to have another echo done. I wasn't happy with the first as it said on one part that the image quality was only fair and poor subcoastal windows. I paid a lot for the exam, I want it done right. I should have said something earlier, but I didn't think about it. Lately, I have been having the ectopic heart beats all day and night which are horrible, they are not sustained but persistent all day. I don't know how much more I can take. That's when I really studied the echo report a few days ago and it concerns me, I am surprised that I haven't been called for another actually due to the fact of what it said about the images. Also, the cardiologist said it was "an essentially normal echocardiogram" It did show MAC-Mitral Annular calculation, but no stenosis and just very trivial MR. The aortic valve had some thickening valves, but no stenosis or AR. The rest of the report was OK. I am concerned that he didn't mention another review as it's been a year. I am so scared I can't think straight. I didn't think much about it when I got the report, but now that AI answers questions, I feel like I know more and I am doubting my doctors. I just can't stop being scared. Oh, ejection fraction good, it was 72.
I also have fibromyalgia, a hiatal hernia and costochondritis, I get sternal chest pain at times and that scares me. Again, all blood work and EKGs and time on the monitor while in the ER are "normal".
I have to have relief from these ectopic heart beat fears. I am feeling weird again in my tummy and chest, this usually precedes the skipped beats, I am scared. The doctor told me to take Ativan,but I am scared of it, I am 68 and have glaucoma and those are two things that the warnings on the drug say to watch for and to not take it. She said to cut it in 4ths, but I am still scared. I know lots of people that have these horrible heart beats take Xanax, but I don't feel safe in doing so. Beta blockers really aren't an option as my blood pressure is low normal and heart rate in the 60s to 70s even during the skips, it is elevated when I have PSVTs.
I also get them after I eat or drink water. I probably don't drink enough water due to fear of the skips starting when I do. Bending over and lying down can also be a catylist. I am a mess.😭

@susieq1957 Sorry to see all this. A lot of what you relate is in my story as well. Bending over, belching, sometimes eating a bit too much and having a distended stomach that makes things tight down there around my heart, and...bam....off into AF I go.

I had an ablation in 2023 that stopped it. I have been free of AF since Valentines Day of 2023. While your heart is still in its paroxysmal stage, that is the best time to have an ablation.

You should probably have and wear a smart watch. If you can feel the onset of AF or PACs, immediately make the watch take an ECG. Then, download it from your watch to the associated health app on your phone (this is usually done automatically via Bluetooth). You can send the file as an attachment to your cardiologist and he/she'll soon see you aren't pulling anyone's leg about this. It's what I did, and my electrophysiologist didn't ask for anything else or call me to question me. He had his clerk schedule me for a second ablation immediately based solely on my Samsung Galaxy watch's ECG....which very clearly showed I was in AF.

@gloaming Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, my GP doesn't have email options. I have to call and then I have to wait for the RN to call and schedule an appointment. I had asked my GP about my wearing one of those watches and he was not open to the idea at all. He said I would drive myself crazy and continuously be checking it.

@susieq1957 Well, I can't argue with that. It's true, the watch can, by being handy to you, become a source of compulsive activity. A short story:
I was just six days post-ablation and in the local ICU with an erratic heartbeat, and feeling thoroughly cheesed off because it was clear my ablation had not worked. I was anxiously checking my watch all the time, mostly because the monitor was behind me and it was frantically alerting all the time due to my ectopy. I was just about to look for the umpteenth time when my wife held out her hand and said, 'Gimme.' I removed it from my wrist, gave it to her, we called the nurse to shut off the alarms, and I was able to relax. So, again, there's something to what the doctor says.
However, the watch is with you...he ain't. You are the one with heart issues, he isn't. You have to convince him with veridical evidence that your heart needs attention, not his heart. My advice? Get the watch, or get a Kardia mobile (which will be a lot cheaper, and every bit as good), and when you know you have the evidence, get a printed copy to him. The Kardia can be in your pocket, bedside, by your chair, in the kitchen...it's a small item that you must place two forefingers on, two pads on its top, and it will take a recording. It can be downloaded.

@gloaming That's a good idea, I will check the Kardia out, it just may be what I need.
I have worn 7 day monitors, they show the usual PACs, PVCs and some atrial runs, no burden percentages and never anything sinister. The last echocardiogram I had a year and a half ago, my heart was structurally "normal" and the cardiologist that interpreted it was satisfied with it. I guess I am a chronic heart issue worrier which can bring the exact issues I fear to act up. When I am happy and doing things I like, I don't even notice them.

@gloaming I have a question. My atrial runs and ectopic heart beats only last seconds, I doubt if I would be able to record any unless holding the machine all the time. Even when wearing the 7 day event monitor it showed they only lasted noire than 6 seconds for the longest and a few seconds for the shortest.

@susieq1957 Okay, thanks for that. Well.....................................................the way I look at it, and this is strictly from an objective viewpoint as an observer (yes, I was miserable when in AF, and it was getting noticeably worse and more frequent, so.....been there!), the way you describe its frequency suggests to me that you are in a good place...IF...you must be a an arrhythmia patient. My reasoning is that you are apparently in the early stage where it can be managed the most easily. It is in the 'paroxysmal' stage that the least amount of substrate changes have taken place and you probably have only one, at most two, foci where the spurious signals are entering your affected left atrium. This is the easiest to locate and then to ablate. If you are a candidate for ablation (and you feel you might have one after learning a lot about the procedure), then you have some time to figure it all out, to find a good EP, and to get in line. Ideally, not many months from now, but soon enough that you are easily ablated.....AND...that the EP can get your heart to act up when you are unconscious. They challenge the heart at first to get it to move into arrhythmia, and this points out the foci. Then, when they think they're about done, they challenge the heart again (usually with isoproterenol), to see if it has tricked them. If it stands the challenge, then you're wheeled out and on your way in a few hours. I had two (first one didn't work).

So, I'm guessing you're quite symptomatic, or at least sufficiently aware that it bothers you with anxiety and restlessness. I had all that in spades. If/when it all becomes too much, is happening more frequently, and you can call for an ablation inside of three-six weeks, that would be best. Right now, with such short runs and not that often, you are probably quite okay on meds. Depends on your emotions and on your state of arousal. If it really bothers you, then you need more meds or to get in line for an ablation. My opinion, of course.

@gloaming The GP for cardiologist would never even think of an ablation. They say I do not have enough PACs or PVCs to warrant any kind of intervention. When I wore the seven day monitor I had a total of 2 PVCs, 329 PACs
9 sessions total atrial run beats
Longest Supraventricular rate was 20seconds at 107 beats per minute
Max heart rate 160 for 4 seconds.
No A-fib
Total PAC burden 0.05%
Average heart rate 68 beats per minute.
Slowest 47
Maximum 112.
Ending diagnosis by the Cardiologist that read it and met me once: "Healthy Heart". Could try bisoprolol if the ones I feel bother me. This was done May 2025

So you see, I really don't need any intervention. I admit I get scared easily, I have cardiophibia, even a tiny blip feeling sends me into panic mode. I am very high strung and admittedly have health anxiety at times.

Yes, I can see that your rate of ectopy is very low. Exceedingly low. And I would happily defer to an expert cardiologist who says that I should find ways to live with it until/unless it becomes dangerous or sufficiently burdensome that something must be done. Your worst 'symptom' is your anxiety....dread....fear of onset...fear of deterioration...etc. If it interferes with your rest, your sleep, you may have to seek a medicine like Ativan that can help take the edge off.

I'm just trying to help here. I know it's hard, and worrying. But you seem to have a solid grasp of your real circumstances cardiology-wise.