Question Title: Caffeine and palps -- reality check??

I've posted a few questions here before and I do so appreciate the information
I've received.
I'm one of those nutsy people who are driven even NUTSIER by palpitations..
Mine started back in l982 , at least on a daily basis.. back then I also had inexplicable runs of tachycardia
with my heart racing near 200. that , once again inexplicably, stopped several years later with the exception of
some "bursts" of fast beats , lasting only a few seconds. I've had a ridiculous
number of EKGs, holters ( at least 7, I think), stress tests( last one a year ago) and
even a month long event monitor ( in l995). The diagnosis was always -- pvcs ( iincluding a couple of runs of 3 ), pacs, those bery short runs of fast atrial beats. bottom line: supposedly nothing
life threatening. but, certainly, in my case, life style threatening
as I am now cardiophobic, scared to exercise and feel every doggone
skipped beat ( often I have a "weak" sensation that just lasts for a moment but scares
the you-know-what out of me.

I'm taking a low dose of prozac and xanax for the panic and anxiety.
here's my question: years ago, I went totally off caffeine. I can't remember
if it made much of a difference in the palps. it did lower my, at the time
fast, pulse rate. Now i drink 4 - 5 cups of instant, fairly weak, coffeee a
day... I tend to have low blood pressure ( 90 / 60 isn't unusual) and feel tired a lot and so I rely on
my drug of choice, caffeine.
Yep, that is DUMB if I want to eliminate the palps, right?
Soo, I'm trying to convince myself that it's worth a shot to give up all caffeine.

My question: Realistically, is there a good chance it will help? And how long
without coffee before I see if it is making a difference? one or two days?

Thanks so much in advance......

---

Dear SherryB,

Thank you for your question. From a strictly scientific point-of-view there is not a lot of evidence that caffeine is related to PVC's. That being said there are many, many people who will testify that stopping caffeine greatly reduces their PVC's. If I was suffering from PVC's I would certainly try stopping completely (i.e. no decaf, chocolate, etc.) for a month and see if I noticed a difference. Good luck.

I hope you find this information useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only. Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies. Please feel free to write back with additional questions.

If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.

---