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Event Monitor, PVC, and Rythmol
I have had PVC's for 15 years, last fall I started getting a block of PVC's maybe everyother beat for minutes. I have taken corgard or nadolol for years. This usually happens when I set down or lay down, and they leave with exercise. This seem to get progressavely worse with just this past month and even now I am wearing an event monitor the event monitor showed runs of PVC's and my Internal Med. Doctor put me on rythmol 225 extended release. I have looked at articles that it is best to live with PVC's than to take strong meds. was this a wise choice for me? I have been on rythmol for 7 days now and get a little dizzy when I first stand up and a little sluggish. I have had a stress test with pictures of my heart it was excellent, both the stress test and the pictures of my heart. When you look at form 1 to 20 PVC's pr minute that could be as high as 1200 PVC's each hour. Does rythmol seem the best direction now that my Dr. has rulled out other problems with tests, ekg, stress test with pictures, echo ekg or should I try to ignore the PVC's althoough I feel each one. What is your recommendation at this point?
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Has anyone taking RythmolSR suffered from EXTREME FATIGUE. I have been on this medication for about 5 months and am now experiencing terrible fatigue. I get up tired and can't do a thing I am so tired.
From what my Dr. told me beta blockers are a good safe med. for PVC's they slow the heart rate and in some people they no longer feel the PVC's which is the cause of the anxiety anyway ( the feeling not the PVC)in most people with PVC's they have ruled out other heart problems and it's just the scary feeling of having the PVC's that makes them so bad for some people, for example try to sleep having 1 to 10 every minute, even though your Dr. has said they are not harmful, if you don't feel them then that is a good thing, they are harmless anyway.
I was jsut reading through this post and the Dr said Beta Blockers usually don't decrease the PVC's. Why take them then???
The original question mentioned a "block" of PVCs - does anyone else get this with their PVCs? It seems like I'll get one, a few regular beats, then another, then a few more regular beats, then another, and then I can go an hour with none. Suddenly an hour later, I'm back to getting another "block" of them - maybe 4-5 a minute and then nothing for an hour or so. Is that "normal"? I know, none of this is really normal - but today's a bad day for me. PVCs are high, so anxiety is high, which is making the PVCs high, making me more anxious...you get the picture. I'm not an anxious person - but these PVCs are literally ruining me. Anyway, just wanted to know if anyone out there gets the same thing. You can email me at ***@**** if you don't want to post here or if we run out of room. Benign, benign, benign....blah, blah, blah...if only I believed it. When they're this frequent, I can't trust anything the doctors tell me.
Great news!! Here's to continued success.
Wow, that's great news! I know how hard it is to function when you are getting so many pvc's, and it really affects your quality of life. Sounds like taking the very small risk of side effects from the Rhythmol is worth it. I will keep it in mind for the future if mine ever get really out of control.
Well this time last thursday I started taking 225 mg rythmol while still wearing the event monitor. I sent in sever recordingsthe first few days and each day less yesterday none and today none. I felt probably 4 skipped beats yesterday and so far today none. Now that is quit a change form last thursday of probably 10,000....every other beat or so I lay down and a nice smooth heart beat ...wow that is something great. I guesss I should take the event monitor off now... I just wanted you all to know and I will keep you posted and I hope the next report is a good!!!!!! Thanks everyone!!!!!!
I've been using Rythmol for four years and it has worked very well for me. No a-fib, no SVT, and almost no PVCs. I take Rythmol SR 325 twice a day. My experience has been that it works better than the generic propafenone. As others here have mentioned, it requires a structurally normal heart. Apart from that caution, my cardio tells me that it is the safest of the anti-arrhythmics. I also take Toprol XL 50mg and Altace 5mg for mild hypertension.
Have you tried Inderal/Propranolol (or other beta blockers?) This is considered safter than the antiarrhythmics and is what I take. Helps most of the time at 20 mg's and causes slight tiredness but it's better than having runs of pvc's.
fox2780
I'm on a BB right now for PVCs. My cardio said that if they get much worse he will put me on flecainide. He didn't sound too concerned, but he did say that it would imply some small risk. The risk must be very small though, if he's considering this med for me - I'm 35 with excellent cardiac workup. So I wouldn't worry too much, but I tooam anxious to read the doctor's reply.
Hi Upbeat,
so you switched to Inderal! Do you find it works better? I think 10 mg as needed is a very very low dose. I was taking 10 mg twice a day and my cardio just raised it to 20mg twice a day to see if my PVCs would disappear. Just for the symptoms as my workup was great. So now I'm taking 40 mg divided and I feel wonderful. I'm not sure if it's just a good period or if it's the BB, but certainly Inderal must play a role. I also feel the PVCs less. Sometimes I feel a strange sensation in my chest, and if I take my pulse I realize I was having PVCs! My sinus tachy is also almost gone...I hope this continues for long....But with these bloody things you never know...
Fran
I'm on a BB right now for PVCs. My cardio said that if they get much worse he will put me on flecainide. He didn't sound too concerned, but he did say that it would imply some small risk. The risk must be very small though, if he's considering this med for me - I'm 35 with excellent cardiac workup. So I wouldn't worry too much, but I tooam anxious to read the doctor's reply.
Hi Upbeat,
so you switched to Inderal! Do you find it works better? I think 10 mg as needed is a very very low dose. I was taking 10 mg twice a day and my cardio just raised it to 20mg twice a day to see if my PVCs would disappear. Just for the symptoms as my workup was great. So now I'm taking 40 mg divided and I feel wonderful. I'm not sure if it's just a good period or if it's the BB, but certainly Inderal must play a role. I also feel the PVCs less. Sometimes I feel a strange sensation in my chest, and if I take my pulse I realize I was having PVCs! My sinus tachy is also almost gone...I hope this continues for long....But with these bloody things you never know...
Fran
Hey Fox,
The dizziness is normal and will get better as you body adjusts to the medication. I've taken it for over a year for PVC's. I'm 29 and even had an attempted ablation for the darn PVC's.
As for being an antiarrhythmic....as long as you have a structurally normal heart as it sounds like you do then these meds don't pose much more risk than the beta blockers that your already taking. All the scare surrounding the antiarrhythmics stems from tests involving people who were post heart attack and shown to have poor outcomes when given these drugs...but this certainly dosen't sound like your situation.
My advice is to at least try the rhythmol....it's made a big difference for me. I also hate to be the negative nelly but I also feel the need to point out, that in a very very small percentage of PVC sufferers who have 1000's and 1000's of PVC's a day some studies have shown that long term heart enlargement can occur...why risk it and why continue to have these ANNOYING but not lethal palps if the pills can stop them.
Good Luck with whatever you decide to do...there are alot of us on this board who can "feel your pain"!!
The dizziness is normal and will get better as you body adjusts to the medication. I've taken it for over a year for PVC's. I'm 29 and even had an attempted ablation for the darn PVC's.
As for being an antiarrhythmic....as long as you have a structurally normal heart as it sounds like you do then these meds don't pose much more risk than the beta blockers that your already taking. All the scare surrounding the antiarrhythmics stems from tests involving people who were post heart attack and shown to have poor outcomes when given these drugs...but this certainly dosen't sound like your situation.
My advice is to at least try the rhythmol....it's made a big difference for me. I also hate to be the negative nelly but I also feel the need to point out, that in a very very small percentage of PVC sufferers who have 1000's and 1000's of PVC's a day some studies have shown that long term heart enlargement can occur...why risk it and why continue to have these ANNOYING but not lethal palps if the pills can stop them.
Good Luck with whatever you decide to do...there are alot of us on this board who can "feel your pain"!!
Why do you see a cardiologist every 6 months if you have a structurally normal heart?
You ask my age I am 55 year old male in excellent health otherwise. It is really hard to do the things you want, like trout fishing in the mountains of WV, while having several PVC's pr. min. you think to yourself there is no hospital for lots of miles out here so you avoid these things that you enjoy because of them. Thanks everyone for your interist and help.
Pat
Pat
I forgot to mention I was having 20,000+ pvcs/day when I was prescribed the antiarrythmic. However, the frequency was not the issue for me...I developed cardiomyopathy as a result of chronic, very frequent pvcs, so the rhythmol was to reduce the frequency of pvcs and look for improvement in cardiac function.
I agree with Upbeat63 in that antiarrythmics are not the preferred treatment by most docs. Despite a very high frequency, my EP was NOT in favor of trying them until I developed cardiomyopathy. Up until then, I had the option of using BB's for the symptoms.
Good luck!
I agree with Upbeat63 in that antiarrythmics are not the preferred treatment by most docs. Despite a very high frequency, my EP was NOT in favor of trying them until I developed cardiomyopathy. Up until then, I had the option of using BB's for the symptoms.
Good luck!
I have high frequency PVCs in the range of 20,000+/day. This has been constant for over a year. Previously it was about 10,000/day for 10 years, and prior to that, while it wasn't recorded by any specific number, I had them for about 12 years.
Only last year did they get bad enough (meaning I was scared of the change and just plain fed up) that I agreed to try medication. Up till then the recommendation by the cardiologist who recorded the 10,000/day on holter was not to take medication, even beta-blockers
Well, I thought this time I had to try something. So I've tried toperol XL 25 mg divided, but that made me really tired. So now I'm trying inderal 10mg as needed, and while it makes me feel a little spacey it does decrease the sensation of the PVCs, but not the frequency.
I did see a cardiologist about 3 weeks ago now, and his opinion was that anti-arrhythmics are toxic and could lead to more rhythm problems. That's his opinion. But I'm of the camp that says least invasive approach first, so I agree with him. I've read posts here where anti-arrhythmics are prescribed for less frequent PVCs than mine or yours.
I know some people have terrible symptoms with their PVCs, I hope it isn't too bad for you. Would you be able to tolerate the PVCs without any medication? I'll be looking forward to the response by the forum doctor. Best of luck to you with your decision.
Only last year did they get bad enough (meaning I was scared of the change and just plain fed up) that I agreed to try medication. Up till then the recommendation by the cardiologist who recorded the 10,000/day on holter was not to take medication, even beta-blockers
Well, I thought this time I had to try something. So I've tried toperol XL 25 mg divided, but that made me really tired. So now I'm trying inderal 10mg as needed, and while it makes me feel a little spacey it does decrease the sensation of the PVCs, but not the frequency.
I did see a cardiologist about 3 weeks ago now, and his opinion was that anti-arrhythmics are toxic and could lead to more rhythm problems. That's his opinion. But I'm of the camp that says least invasive approach first, so I agree with him. I've read posts here where anti-arrhythmics are prescribed for less frequent PVCs than mine or yours.
I know some people have terrible symptoms with their PVCs, I hope it isn't too bad for you. Would you be able to tolerate the PVCs without any medication? I'll be looking forward to the response by the forum doctor. Best of luck to you with your decision.
I to have a lot pf PVCs you did not mention your age I am 47 and have had these for 10 years some days are better then others. I wore a 24 hr monitor and had about 4,000 of them and my doctor said it was up to me if I wanted to go on meds and I said no I just deal with them. Some times night I do get a string of one every 4th beat but I do not let it bother me and when I wake up Im good to go. You have a healthy heart and will live a long time.
I see a cardio. every 6 months he has me on the bata blocker cogard (nadolol) but my local internal medicine Dr. looked at the event monitor strips and put me on the rythmol also. So I do take both. And thanks for the info...........about the dizziness.
Hello.
Great news on the good test results! Sorry to hear about the increasing palps. A couple of years ago, I was prescribed flecainide and then switched to rhythmol (for high frequency pvcs). My doctor mentioned that I should get up slowly as the medicine can cause dizziness until you adjust to it. It took me a couple of weeks and the dizziness pretty much disappeared. It was never really bad, just noticeable.
When I was prescribed antiarrythmics, I was told they are safe with a normal cardiac workup. Do you also see a cardiologist?
I'm curious as to why you are taking corgard and a BB. Does the BB help with the pvcs?
Hopefully, the forum doctors will be able to provide you with some assistance and reassurance. In the meantime, you may hear from others (patients) who may be able to share similar experiences. Have a great day!
Great news on the good test results! Sorry to hear about the increasing palps. A couple of years ago, I was prescribed flecainide and then switched to rhythmol (for high frequency pvcs). My doctor mentioned that I should get up slowly as the medicine can cause dizziness until you adjust to it. It took me a couple of weeks and the dizziness pretty much disappeared. It was never really bad, just noticeable.
When I was prescribed antiarrythmics, I was told they are safe with a normal cardiac workup. Do you also see a cardiologist?
I'm curious as to why you are taking corgard and a BB. Does the BB help with the pvcs?
Hopefully, the forum doctors will be able to provide you with some assistance and reassurance. In the meantime, you may hear from others (patients) who may be able to share similar experiences. Have a great day!
Hello,
As you know by now, PVCs are a tough animal to treat.
was this a wise choice for me?
It is really a personal decision. Class Ic drugs like flecainide and rhtymol (propafenone) are some of the best available drugs to suppress PVCs. Beta blockers usually do not decrease PVCs. The risk of serious side effects in the absence of coronary disease is very low.
I have been on rythmol for 7 days now and get a little dizzy when I first stand up and a little sluggish.
Rhythmol has some beta blocker effects that make people feel sluggish. you are probably on a beta blocker or calcium channel blocker with the rhtymol, this can also make you sluggish.
What is your recommendation at this point?
If you can't live with the PVCs, flecainide and rhtymol are good choices. If you can live with them, take a beta blocker or nothing.
I hope this helps. Thanks for posting.
As you know by now, PVCs are a tough animal to treat.
was this a wise choice for me?
It is really a personal decision. Class Ic drugs like flecainide and rhtymol (propafenone) are some of the best available drugs to suppress PVCs. Beta blockers usually do not decrease PVCs. The risk of serious side effects in the absence of coronary disease is very low.
I have been on rythmol for 7 days now and get a little dizzy when I first stand up and a little sluggish.
Rhythmol has some beta blocker effects that make people feel sluggish. you are probably on a beta blocker or calcium channel blocker with the rhtymol, this can also make you sluggish.
What is your recommendation at this point?
If you can't live with the PVCs, flecainide and rhtymol are good choices. If you can live with them, take a beta blocker or nothing.
I hope this helps. Thanks for posting.
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