Blood clot, PVCs and med

[3dognewt]

Hello,
I have 2 questions.
About 30 years ago, (I was 17) I was on BC pills and developed a blood clot. (this wasn't diagnosed at the time, but later DR. told me thats what is was based on the events and circumstances; 6 hour drive, chest pain. Was hospitalized and treated with blood thinners). All pain dissapeared and have felt great; in good shape, lots of exersize, little alcohol, watch caffiene, but experience from frequent PVCs (3/min. average) Echo, stress, ekg, bloodwork all normal. All occur at lower hr, dissapear at faster rate. No other symptoms, just a little worry about them.
1) Could the blood clot have done some damage to my heart that may be causing the frequent PVCs?
2)  My cardiologist gave me a prescrip for Corderone (amioradone, Sp?) He said: I do not need meds, but if they (PVC) are really messing with my head, I could try the corderone if I wanted to. But he did stress that based on all of my tests, I didn't (medically) need the drug.
2) If I don't use the drug, at what point should I seek further treatment?
Thank You

[nikidoll]

A related discussion, PVC was started.

[zeliig]

Anyone living with some form of Arrhthmia needs to do
some serious reading on fish oil(not cod liver oil).
Scroll down the following page and read ....fish oils protect against arrhythmias
http://www.iherb.com/fishoil.html

Also neem....
http://www.bytheplanet.com/WhatAilsYou/Arrhythmia/Arrhythmia.htm

Also do some reading on Magnesium,Hawthorn http://www.bodyandfitness.com/Information/Herbal/Research/hawthorn.htm    

.......and Potassium

[upbeat63]

Yes, spend lots of time on practice, practice, practice, doing something that distracts you from the PVCs.

PVCs aren't life threatening but can rob you of life. My brother is in northern Alberta and has a four hour drive to his cardilogist for check ups for another condition. And both parents died very young of heart attacks. So my family history pops into my head too from time to time. I guess you could say I'm glad I ONLY have PVCs.

[3dognewt]

I live in northern Ontario. Sometimes when I don't notice the pvcs, I do check my pulse, like you said, there they are. I now try to go a whole day without checking my pulse,but if I do, I compare it to quitting smoking or dieting, only my goal is not another smoke or dough-nut, rather a pulse checking free day. My father died of a heart attack when I was only 11,and I remember it so well. I now tend to overreact to any heart related sensations. While I've had pvcs for as long as I can remember, they have only become frequent in the last year and a half and have, I must admit, gotten the better of me. Now that I have some answers and coping skills, I should, in time be able to react differently towards them. Although I believe it will take some behavour modification.

[upbeat63]

I didn't see anything in your previous descriptions to suggest that you would need to see your cardiologist again if it's benign PVCs, so that's a bit of good news especially when he/she is 4 hours away!! And you'd probably have to wait a good long time for the referral right? What Province do you live in?

The crazy thing about PVCs is that you can get sooo many in a short period of time and feel like your world is spinning out of control, and then, just as quickly, they're seem to go. It's when you focus on them ALL the time that they can make you crazy. I used to do that. When I wasn't noticing them I'd take my pulse to find out, and sure enough they were there. Now I just make sure to enjoy the time I don't notice them and I try to stop looking over my shoulder for them to reappear. After 22 years of PVCs I'm sure they're not going away any time soon!

[3dognewt]

Thanks so much. I always thought that there were no other people like me out there. I too have counted up to 20 PVCs in a minute. This can go on for hours or days and scares the heck out of me.
Somedays, of course, it is less and some hours I have none. I will suggest the beta blocker to my family dr. I live in northern Canada and the cardio is 4 hours drive away, so I doubt if I will be going back to see him. (at least I hope I never have to) This forum has given me so much encouragement and information about dealing with this stressful, albeit benign, condition.
Thanks again

[upbeat63]

catecholamine driven--very basically means driven by adrenaline, you know the stuff of "flight or fight" as in stress reaction.

So if you have an extra electrical site (or many sites) on your heart that is/are sensitive to catecholamines coursing through your blood stream, then under periods of stress you might experience more palpitations.

But stress is hard to quantify because for some people driving might be stressful, running around doing too many errands might be stressful, getting a new job might be stressful. And on the other hand there's another postee on this forum who swears that working night shift as an emergency line operator ISN"T stressful!! Skipping a meal or being dehydrated might be enough stress for your body and you might get more PVCs. It's hard to figure out exactly what the triggers are and there could be several. Beta-blockers might help with catecholamine driven PVCs. But pharmaceuticals are not a perfect science. You can still have PVCs while on a beta-blocker.

I am very glad you have decided not to try the amidarone (sp?) first. I too have PVCs at a lower heart rate. My heartrate is variable between 60 to 80bpm, but I've been as high as 120 resting. Still with 12.5mg toperol my heartbeat has only gone down to around 50bpm give or take a few beats. It's still worth trying a BB, I was against it at first because I was told by a cardiologist BBs could make PVCs worse. But I had to try something. Toperol does seem to help on the days I get 1200/hour and I feel every one of them, then I pop a BB. Hope you get some relief whatever you try, again, glad it's not amidarone first.

[3dognewt]

Thank you so much for your responses. I haven't filled the prescription and now don't intend to. I was worried about beta blockers because don't they slow your heartrate down? and since my PVCs all occur at a lower rate, I just figured I'd end up with more of them.
What is catecholamine driven mean?
Thanks for your help.

[LukeL]

I have found toprol XL to be an excellent drug and with it being a beta blocker it has very few side effects. I mostly notice a little bit of fatigue and vivid dreams but that is about it.

[tickertock]

Amiodarone , I have been told by a cardiologist is an overkill  for benign PVCs, even though some have found relief with it, the side effects don't outweigh the benefits .

Luckily i have found relief in taking a beta blocker, my pvcs and tachycardia are catecholamine driven also.

[upbeat63]

Please take the advice in the doctor's answer, and the previous posts and ask your cardilogist or family MD for an alternative to this very powerful anti-arrythmic drug. It's like hitting a fly with sledge-hammer. The side effects could be terrible. Far worse than PVCs.

[LukeL]

^
To add more confusion I have found beta blockers have helped me with my palpitations. Which means mine are driven my catechlomine levels as I mostly get them under periods of stress or when I dwell on the symptoms.

Each person is different and requires a diferent course of treatment.

Also here is a health warning on the drug you are suppose take: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a687009.html

While I am not a doctor I don't see why you are on an anti arthymatic for a benign condition.

[Cleveland Clinic]

3dog,

Thanks for the post.

1) Could the blood clot have done some damage to my heart that may be causing the frequent PVCs?

Not very likely. If your cardiac evaluation is normal I would assume that the 2 are unrelated. You can see form this forum that the occurence of PVCs is a common problem.

2) My cardiologist gave me a prescrip for Corderone (amioradone, Sp?) He said: I do not need meds, but if they (PVC) are really messing with my head, I could try the corderone if I wanted to. But he did stress that based on all of my tests, I didn't (medically) need the drug. 2) If I don't use the drug, at what point should I seek further treatment?


Amiodarone is a drug with a lot of potential significant side effects. If your cardiac work up is normal, then these PVCs carry no negative prognosis and I would not personally expose myself to the risk of the medicine unless the PVCs were unbearbale. If I chose to treat them I would also probably start with a drug with less side effects such as a beat blocker. You might look back over some of the post in the forum to see how others have dealth with their symptoms. You might look into stress reduction techniques that may be helpful.


good luck