Arrhythmias at rest

[kathyw]

I am a 51 year old female  who has always had fairly low blood pressure, but a moderately fast pulse  (about 90-100).  Over the last few years my blood pressure has gotten higher, but still in normal range most of the time.  I had never had any irregular heartbeats except for an occasional "skip" until last September.  I was getting ready for bed and I felt this strange sensation in my neck which fluttered into my chest.  My heart rate went extremely high and then chaotic.  I felt dizzy and had a strange warm feeling all over.  This would stop for a few minutes and then start again.  It lasted all together for about 30-45 minutes.  I was frightened so I went to the ER.  The "palpitations:" had stopped by then, but my heart rate stayed between 90-100 the time I was there even after being given an antianxiety medication. (I also got several of the strange feelings during the night after going home)   They said that the EKG showed some abnormalities suggestive of ischemia,  and my potassium was  Iow.  I had a stress test the next day which also showed some abnormalities, but I didn't have to stop and had no pain. . I had another stress test a few days later with the cardiolite .  Again  I did fine, but I remember the cardiologist who administered  it, said it looked "funky," nothing specific, but strange.   I asked him about it, and he said that he couldn't do a thorough evaluation in that setting.  Later, I was told that all the results were normal and that my heart looked fine, and that many women have false positives.  My internist put me on ½ dose of Lopressor twice a day.  I did OK with some occasional flutters in my neck until a couple of weeks ago.  This time I had just gotten up and the strange sensations started again, but my heart rate didn't go up this time.   But when it hadn't stopped after 40 min. I went to the ER again and of course, they had stopped by then and the EkG looked normal.  My doctor increased the Lopressor to a whole tablet twice a day.  Two nighst later, I had them again in my sleep, but they subsided in about 30 min. so Ididn't go to the ER.  I've also been taking allergy shots for a couple of months and the allergy doctor said I couldn't get them any more on the Lopressor so my doctor changed me to verapomil
     Since my father died of an apparent heart attack at 52 and two of his brothers also died in their 40s, I've been quite concerned.  I've read many of the questions and answers about arrhythmias, but don't seem to be able to find anything that correlates to my situation.    They don't seem to be associated with caffeine, stress, or activity, since they have all occurred during time of inactivity and hours after ingestion of caffeine..   If stress was causing them, I should have had some terrible attacks during the time I had to wait to find out whether I had any blockages, because I was really stressed then.
Now for my questions:
  1.   Does it sound like that this is something that I should pursue further or should I just try to ignore it?  If it isn't anything serious, I don't want to take these medicines, but I'm afraid to  quit taking them now.
2.    Is it possible I could have a congenital defect or other problem that didn't show on the  ultrasound and is just   now causing symptoms?
It seems  strange, but this seems to happen with severe weather changes and both episodes have occurred then, twice  in the fall and now again in the spring.

Thanks in advance for any input.
      

[CCF CARDIO MD JMF]

Given the information that you have provided, you may have isolated PVC's or a more significant arrhythmia.  However, i cannot determine this nor diagnose this in this forum.  I would suggest pursuing this further and consider a full arrhythmia evaluation with a holter monitor or a King of Hearts (more long term ) monitor to determine the specifics of this arryhthmia.

If you require additional information or a second opinion, you may contact our electrophysiologists here at CCF for further information.

[Greg]

look up psvt on this forum....