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Heart Disease Community
This patient support community is for discussions relating to angina, angioplasty, arrhythmia, bypass surgery, cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease, defibrillator, heart attack, heart disease, high blood pressure, mitral valve, pacemaker, PAD, stenosis, and stress tests.
Connie
Sorry in advance for the length of this post. I used to post on the Heart Forum all the time, but stopped for a couple of months because it can be a bit consuming : )
If you search the Heart Forum you'll find lots of posts from me (momto3). Some people confuse me with momto3girls, but there really are two of us : )
My palps started when I was about 19 (a LONG time ago..haha) and like most others on the board I was told they were benign.I took BB's for symptoms. For years I was on/off BB's for symptomatic relief. I was on several different regimens, but when the LA version came on the market, it really made life simpler. Taking the RX once/day was easier and side effects were negligible. BTW, my daughter took Inderal LA 80 for migraines and had NO side effects and it worked wonders for the chronic migraines.
One time, the doctor prescribed atenolol but about 20 minutes after I took the first pill, I started shaking all over...I don't know anyone else that had that reaction, but I went back to my trusty Inderal. I found it to be pretty effective.
...moving forward 20+ years. I was increasingly bothered by the pvcs, but they were still benign!! Oh, I have known for 20+ years that I have mitral valve prolapse and mitral regurgitation so I have regular echos to watch the valve. The arrythmia was an "a la carte" problem : )
In 2000, because of increasing SOB I was sent for a TEE to determine if I needed valve surgery....YIKES!! Fortunately, I was not a surgical candidate.
A year or so later, my holter monitor recorded 22,000+ pvcs, lots of couplets, some triplets, too many bigeminal episodes to record...still benign!!! Despite previous holter exams, I never knew how many pvcs I was having...I guess a LOT!
Oh, eventually, Inderal became less effective. However, I am able to use it now for breakthrough episodes and it helps. Yes, the Inderal helped right away. For me, within 20 minutes of taking it, I noticed improvement.
Several months later, a routine echo revealed that I had developed cardiomyopathy; my ejection fraction had dropped over the course of less than a year from 60 to 40%. That's when all #@$$ broke loose. Long story short...there was speculation that my pvcs were causing the cardiomyopathy. Apparently, it is a rare, but potential side effect with high frequency pvs. The pvcs were no longer benign!!!
I was prescribed flecainide and then rhythmol and they both worked to control the pvcs. However, I did not want to be on antiarrythmics for the rest of my life.
I had two ablations in 2003 (each targeting different foci) and both were successful. Today, I have fewer pvcs and nsvt, but they're still tracking that pesky leaky valve. I go in for a stress echo in November and my fingers are crossed for another good report.
Panic attacks wreak havoc on those of us with arrythmnias!! I tend to be an anxious person, but when it came to the pvcs, I was never really worried about dying or anything. I just hated that "jumpy, jittery" feeling. I had the opposite problem as you - exercise settled my extra beats. I just couldn't keep running all day!! I didn't really experience the racing heart feeling, mine always seemed to be puttering and jumping...
Trust your doctor or find one who you do trust. My doctor actually gets pvcs, so I felt very comfortable with her. She is an EP and gets it!!
Hope you have a great day!! Let me know how the Inderal works for you.
connie
Thank you for sharing your story with me. I'm glad the ablations worked, someday you'll have to tell me about it, right now I'm so scared of the word that it puts me in a panic attack. (Although, from the majority that I read, they all work and it was a piece of cake.) I am 35, have had pac's and pvc's for the last 6 years. Sometimes I don't get any in a day, and some days I get 200. Dr.'s said they are nothing in my case, as people, such as yourself, have thousands in a day and are (usually) ok. I was told before that I could try a beta blocker for them, but never have. I've always have had anxiety disorder, and until this year have been able to manage it. Unfortunately, for some reason, when I get scared, my heart rate goes up to 150-180 and skips. They said I have SVT, which was caught on a holter strip, but the rate was 154, and it was a 6 second episode. I will at some point go see a specialist to look at the strip and tell me if it was really SVT or just sinus tach, but either way, I need to get my pulse down, and the Xanax is not doing it, plus, the skipping scares me worse than anything. That is where I'm at. I've had 2 previous holters in the last 3 years, all normal, except rare pac's and pvc's, and a normal echo with a possibly mild mvp. So I have one Dr. telling me to just work on the anxiety, and the SVT is not that big of a deal since it always comes down by itself within 15 minutes and it isn't a daily occurence, all the way to the other extreme with my friend, who is a heart nurse and used to work in a very big heart hospital that I should go get an ep study done and just get it ablated. WOW, that is a little scary for me just yet. My Dr. is in the middle, she thinks I should try a low dose beta blocker first and see if it relieves my symptoms, AND work on the anxiety. The Xanax does nothing for my pulse, so obviously I still need something for that. Hence, the bb. My only concern with the Inderal is that I have mild asthma, and I know Inderal is not a good choice for that, so I have put in a call just to make sure she remembers that I have asthma, in case she might want me on something else. I'm just not sure which one to take. If she wants me on the Inderal, I think I will ask for the 40mg first instead of the LA 60mg, I was thinking that way in case it doesn't suit me, it will be out of my body quicker? I don't know, see my anxiety disorder showing? :) Michelle
Good luck!
connie
I don't recall any dizziness from the Inderal, just kinda tired and sluggish. Everyone is different and it could be the Inderal, or it could be the combination of the meds. Try to rest and just relax for the evening...maybe it'll help with the dizziness.
Two years ago, when I started on an ace inhibitor (lisinopril), I experienced dizziness for 4 months...eventually, it went away...But, jeez! You may want to wait a day or so, and then try the Inderal in the mornings. Did your doctor tell you to take it at a particular time of day...sometimes it makes a difference.
I am not sure how long it will take for you to notice a difference. When I started on Inderal in the early 80's, I was taking it a couple times a day b/c there was not time release available. Now, I take it only on BAD days and it usually (not always) works within 20 minutes.
Hope I've been able to help and that you have a better day tomorrow : )
connie