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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
Concerned about irregular heartbeats.
Answered by
Cleveland - OH
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests
Concerned about irregular heartbeats.
by Lynn8889, Dec 03, 2005 12:00AM
On Monday I started experiencing irregular heartbeats (skipped beats) and since then they have become more and more frequent). They have concerned me enough to where I went to my Dr. yesterday. She of course asked me several questions as to any new medication I have/had taken, any caffeine, etc. Nothing whatsoever has changed....I avoid caffeine, only take my ususual meds (synthroid, loppressor (for tachycardia)). She did an EKG and it showed the irregular beat. However when I was laying there, I didn't feel the irregular beat.....but managed to show it on the EKG. Now, the ones I feel are uncomfortable weird beats....like it's skipping. My Drs. words were "I THINK it may be PAC's, however I want you to wear a Holter monitor" (which I won't get until Monday). In addition, she ran several blood test). FYI - within the past year, I had a stress test - it was fine other than my cardio. was somewhat concerned I got out of breath so soon after the test started, and an echo - which was fine. These irregular beats are a new thing to me. My questions are:
1) Nothing has changed in my diet, meds, no stress whatsoever, etc. What could cause these?
2) I was awoken in the middle of the night last night with these and still having more frequent - my chest hurts (left breast area) and sometimes underneath my breast bone area. Is the pain anything to be concerned about? Any info. that you may think might help would be appreciated. I'm concerned, esp. with the great increase in frequency. (I am a 35/yo, F, non-smoker, non-drinker, 115 lbs.) Thanks so much!
1) Nothing has changed in my diet, meds, no stress whatsoever, etc. What could cause these?
2) I was awoken in the middle of the night last night with these and still having more frequent - my chest hurts (left breast area) and sometimes underneath my breast bone area. Is the pain anything to be concerned about? Any info. that you may think might help would be appreciated. I'm concerned, esp. with the great increase in frequency. (I am a 35/yo, F, non-smoker, non-drinker, 115 lbs.) Thanks so much!
Doctor's Answer
by Cleveland Clinic, Dec 03, 2005 12:00AM
, Dec 03, 2005 12:00AM
Lynn,
Thanks for the post.
PVCs and PACs are very common 'extra' heart beats. Each cell in the heart has the ability to initiate its own beat and is connected to all of the other cells in the heart. When one of these cells gets out of the normal cycle it can initiate an extra beat. When the cells of the top chamber cause this it is a PAC, when the cells in the bottom cause it it is a PVC.
When you consider all of the millions of cells that make up the heart, it really is surprising that it doest happen more!
While some identify specific triggers, most people nver can figure out why they have them.
Overall, with a normal cardiac evaluation, they carry no significant negative prognostic value. As you will quickly see here, there are A LOT of people who suffer from them.
good luck
Thanks for the post.
PVCs and PACs are very common 'extra' heart beats. Each cell in the heart has the ability to initiate its own beat and is connected to all of the other cells in the heart. When one of these cells gets out of the normal cycle it can initiate an extra beat. When the cells of the top chamber cause this it is a PAC, when the cells in the bottom cause it it is a PVC.
When you consider all of the millions of cells that make up the heart, it really is surprising that it doest happen more!
While some identify specific triggers, most people nver can figure out why they have them.
Overall, with a normal cardiac evaluation, they carry no significant negative prognostic value. As you will quickly see here, there are A LOT of people who suffer from them.
good luck
You have definetly come to the right place.
Most of us here have PVC's or PAC's -- I have PVC's which feel like skipped beats. Sometimes you don't notice them, and sometimes they fell like a big thud in your chest which scares the hell out of you.
We are all told the same thing too by the Dr.s we have seen. That they are beign(sp) or nothing to worry about in people with healthy hearts. Read all the posts you will find a lot of great information here that will help relax your mind.
Non of us are Dr's though, so Make sure you see your DR and ask questions
I wish there was something I could tell you that would help. I have been having my "skipped beats" and runs of extreme tachycardia for 2 months now. As I sit here and type they PAC's are about every 30 seconds. Oy.
Hopefully you will get some answers with the holtor monitor. With my holtor they found nothing but with the event monitor I just finished they found PAC's and PSVT's? It is very stressful to have these things happening and it feels like it takes over your life. I have had health issues for 2 years now and it seems one system after the next is going down. I am only 36yo (only one year older then you and I have 2 small children and sometimes I am so scared I will not see them raised).
Hopefully they will be able to tell you it is benign. Do you exercise? If you do do you get SOB with exercising?
Good luck.
Maybe everyone knows this already, but just in case
bookmark the following pages
Scroll down the following page link below
and read the following articles.
Fish oils help prevent sudden cardiac death and
fish oils protect against arrhythmias....
http://www.iherb.com/fishoil.html
http://www.fatsforhealth.com/library/libitems/Fish_Oil.php
Use Omega 3's only, don't use cod liver oil or any other oil made from fish liver as a source of omega-3s because these can result in too high of doses of vitamin A!!
You should notice a real difference after only
one month of use.
"Omega 3 fatty acids benefit the heart of healthy people, and those at high risk of -- or who have -- cardiovascular disease."
-- American Heart Association
The studio on the site you mentioned said that it was beneficial for men and unconclusive for women.
The other that I found said that it is benefical to both men and women (oh good)
But they mentioned Ventrical Tachardia and possible cardiac arrest. Does anyone here know enough about this. Some people here mention Tachardia. And it seems that some (sinus) tachardia is good and some can be fatal. How do you know when it is happening where it is coming from? I guess that is why we are all walking around in fear all the time.....And that is the ****** part of all this.
Fish oils supplements are not recommended now in persons with coronary heart disease, recent studies have shown it can actually trigger ventricular tachycardia in this population.
It is better to eat fresh fish twice weekly. Always check with your doctor before starting supplements some can be dangerous, some doctors are still unaware of these latest studies regarding fish oil supplements and are prescribing(recommending) them hand over fist to their cardiac patients unware that the effects can be adverse to them.
glasselkj: Thanks for your comment. Actually, I do get pretty short of breath easily....just short distances make me SOB. Like you, I also have 3 small children and I too worry and wonder if I'll be around to watch them grow. I share your same thoughts.
In the last month i have added magnesium ( Magnesium
is a natural calcium blocker that helps maintain normal heartbeat. One study shows a reduction of irregular heartbeats by 70%.Also helped normalize rapid heartbeat (tachycardia.)
I have also added Co Q10 (Q gels only...200 to 300 mg daily)
http://www.holistic-online.com/Remedies/Heart/heart_CoQ10.htm
http://inno-vite.com/index.html
Also Hawthorn
http://www.zhealthinfo.com/hawthorn.htm
Selenium and Potassium are also very important.
7 Months later....some days i get 4 or 5 pac's a day,
some days there is none. I have completely changed my diet,
making sure i get salmon at least twice a week along with the
fish oil and have added olive oil daily.
What i got from the doctor 6 months ago was a statement saying that is was benign pac's,a nerve pill subscription and a pat on the back saying "You'll be fine"......It's funny, laying in bed every night feeling my heart go flip flop didn't feel fine to me!
Im still trying new things weekly....
I Thank God every day for the information i have found on the internet, if i had not given the fish oil a try i would still be lying in bed listening to my heart go flip flop.