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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
Just PVC'S??
Answered by
Cleveland - OH
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Just PVC'S??
by justanothergirl, Mar 16, 2005 12:00AM
Hi,
Basically, I decided to go to the doctors last October because for quite a few years i had been experiencing skipped beats. I had never thought anything of them until our prime minister (i'm in the UK) was on the news with SVT and what he was experiencing sounded like my symptoms so thought i should get it checked. Saw the doc and he did blood tests which were clear and a quick ECG which was also fine he then scheduled for a 24 hr tape because i was still getting these strange feelings daily (it would feel like my heart shuddered for a second and then took my breath away) still wasn't overly worried,had the tape and it recorded 21 ventricular ectopic beats in a 24 hr period and i think maybe one PAC. The doc wasn't concerned and said this number wasn't anything to worry about and put me on a beta blocker. (oh by the way i'm a 23 yr old female, normal weight, healthy)
To try and cut this story short, since all this has happened i've been obsessed with researching online and trying to find out if it is simply PVC's-i don't know why i doubt the doctors, but i'm just so worried that the PVC's could be hinting that there is a sinister problem such as long QT or HCM.
I've had the blood tests, 24 hr tape, lots and lots of ECG's but no Echo until the end of this month (for some reason they don't do echo's or stress tests as rountine tests, i had to practically beg him!) so my question is-do u think i could have HCM or an enlarged heart,would these give symptoms & show up in the other tests? thanx 4 ur time x
Basically, I decided to go to the doctors last October because for quite a few years i had been experiencing skipped beats. I had never thought anything of them until our prime minister (i'm in the UK) was on the news with SVT and what he was experiencing sounded like my symptoms so thought i should get it checked. Saw the doc and he did blood tests which were clear and a quick ECG which was also fine he then scheduled for a 24 hr tape because i was still getting these strange feelings daily (it would feel like my heart shuddered for a second and then took my breath away) still wasn't overly worried,had the tape and it recorded 21 ventricular ectopic beats in a 24 hr period and i think maybe one PAC. The doc wasn't concerned and said this number wasn't anything to worry about and put me on a beta blocker. (oh by the way i'm a 23 yr old female, normal weight, healthy)
To try and cut this story short, since all this has happened i've been obsessed with researching online and trying to find out if it is simply PVC's-i don't know why i doubt the doctors, but i'm just so worried that the PVC's could be hinting that there is a sinister problem such as long QT or HCM.
I've had the blood tests, 24 hr tape, lots and lots of ECG's but no Echo until the end of this month (for some reason they don't do echo's or stress tests as rountine tests, i had to practically beg him!) so my question is-do u think i could have HCM or an enlarged heart,would these give symptoms & show up in the other tests? thanx 4 ur time x
Doctor's Answer
by Cleveland Clinic, Mar 16, 2005 12:00AM
, Mar 16, 2005 12:00AM
Thanks for the post.
Probably not. Usually there are specific changes on the ecg which serve as a clue or a strong family history. However, the echo will be definitive and hopefully put your mind at ease.
good luck
Probably not. Usually there are specific changes on the ecg which serve as a clue or a strong family history. However, the echo will be definitive and hopefully put your mind at ease.
good luck
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dave
Thanks for any imformation.
Dreama
Im from the UK too and was diagnosed with Ectopic Heartbeats (Irregular) Ive only had the ECG which came up with the ectopic theory......like you said you get obsessed with it and read all you can...the trouble is you give yourself more symptons than you actually have! Ive calmed down a little bit now and try to put it out of my mind.......but you cant help but worry occasionally.
Dreama
Dreama
I have noticed that when I'm stressed out they act up.... do any of you find that stress causes them to become more prevelant.
I'm the one who posted about pvcs leading to a cardiomyopathy. I began having pvcs about 25 years ago. I had a TON of them. One of my more recent holters (I've had many) recorded 22,000 pvcs in a 24 hour period. Even that did not concern the doctor. It wasn't until about a year later when my annual echo indicated a developing CM that the red flags started going up. My doctor took my file and data to several conferences and had her staff of echocardiographers review the information. The concensus was that the pvcs were causing the CM. Try not to worry about pvcs resulting in a more serious condition. It is VERY rare and I belive you would have to have thousands of them for a long time.
For me, it came down to being on antiarrythmics for the rest of my life or try the ablation. She figured it would take more than one because I was multifocal and she was right. It has been nearly a year and a half since the second procedure and now I have days/weeks go by with no ectopics. I must tell you that my doctor (and others) did not consider an ablation until things started getting serious. I took beta blockers for about 12 years mostly for symptomatic relief. When I decided to live with the "discomfort," I went off the beta blockers (doctor said OK) and a few years later th pvcs went crazy again and the rest of the story is history.
I have been seeing the same EP for 6 years and she commented that she had NEVER heard my heart beat normally until after my ablations. Yet she was never worried until the CM developed. I should mention that I also have MVP and MR. Perhaps that had something to do with the aggressive treatment of the CM.
Hope that helps to clarify the CM issue and that you can figure out what works to keep you from stressing over those pesky ectopics. Hope you are feeling better : )
Connie
Dreama,
Hi! I’m the one who ended up developing a cardiomyopathy as a result of frequent pvcs. Prior to my ablations, I had pvcs for over 20 years. They were so frequent that my EP said prior to the ablations, she never heard my heart beat normally. Now, it is altogether different…beating with hardly a pvc.
Anyway, try not to focus on complications from pvcs. They are very, very rare. One of my last holters (I had lots), prior to the ablations, recorded 22,000 ectopics in a 24 hour period. That was 24% of my total beats. For me, bigeminy was so “normal” that I became used to it. I was lucky because my pvcs did not cause any pain or real discomfort. They just were bothersome and sometimes made me feel a little uneasy. I wasn’t afraid of them, they were just strange-feeling.
Anyway, my situation was VERY rare and you should try not to focus on what happened in my case. Your doctor knows you best and will guide you in the right direction. Incidentally, I also have MVP and MR so the doctor was being very aggressive with treatment. For me, the alternative was taking antiarrythmics for the rest of my life. Oh, I asked about an ablation a few times before the CM developed, and the doctor(s) did not think it was medically necessary. Hope this helps to ease your mind.
Have a great day!!
connie
Dreama
No problem. I think an up-to-date echo is a great idea. Sometimes just a doublecheck gives us what we need to move past the anxiety. Good luck!!
connie
I've been experiencing skipped beats, flutters, missed beats, panic attacks and so on for years. I've had many tests and spoken to many professionals and given a clean bill of health. There is nothing wrong.
In addition, I have trawled sites like these for reassurance.
I feel very well placed to offer you some advice.
My advice is: if you have been told you are okay after tests, BELIEVE in this. Don't look back. If you doubt, you will waste a long time being caught in a dark world of worry. I figured out that a) you need to TRUST your body (you've evolved over millions of years) and b) manage the underlying causes - in my case this is anxiety. Does chilling out and relaxing, taking your mind off your symptoms and concerns make you feel better? This should tell you something. If you can't take your mind off your problems, attack the cause or try and figure out what they could be. The subconcious is very powerful. I had to sort out my debts to make a start on this.
The mind is amazingly powerful and if you stop to take stock, you will learn a lot about yourself. DO NOT scare yourself by reading about other people who ARE SCARED THEMSELVES. A lot of information is misinformation and will not relate to you, even if you think it does.
You could try listening to your favourite, upbeat track, right now. Put yourself in a positive mood and tell yourself you KNOW you will be fine. Make yourself smile. Remember that moment. Go and get some recent photos of yourself which were taken during the period you have been experiencing your symptoms. I bet in some of them you are smiling and look care-free. Does that seem strange? In your MIND you are probably raging with fear. You can do something about that. Don't focus on the fear in your mind.
If you are worried, try reading Dale Carnegie's 'How To Stop Worrying And Start Living'.
ur comment was wonderful but if we consider ourselves like u said it is possible something happen to us like people died of sudden heart failure. how can we deal with this idea?
regards
Sudden death. How do you feel when you see those two words together? You perhaps feel fear, as I did. You perhaps instantly imagine collapsing and dying. There are other thoughts, as you mention.
Well, if you have had tests and have been told you are going to be fine, believe in that. If you haven't had tests, don't worry. Just get your doctor to give you a check up. The chances are (I'll talk about chances, in a sense...) you are absolutely fine - people always bet on the horse with a high chance of winning, so this means that there is a large possibility you will be fine. So it's not worth worrying about anything.
Trust your body. If you think about it, you are not going to die a sudden death. Why would you? Try this: sit down and think of some GOOD reasons why you would die suddenly. Be honest. They must be logical reasons. I bet you can't think of any. Perhaps you can? I will come back to this.
Ignore people who tell you terrible stories or say something negative. Do not listen to them. If you trawl the internet, you will see that one web page says one thing and another says something different (just like people's opinions). I saw a movie last night which the critics I read about said was rubbish. Yet I loved it. You must believe in what you have been told by people and experienced in situations that are directly related to YOU.
Say a guy drops dead and you hear about it. You worry it may happen to you. But really, what for? There's no way it's going to happen to you. Why would it? You don't know his situation. He may have been born with a defect, been a raging alcoholic for years and years.....anything at all. We only worry about this because we are scared. But don't think about it like that. It happened. It was terrible. And move on. Don't think about associating what happened with you. If you hear about a house fire and somebody dies in that, would you worry about that? There's probably more chance of that happening than you dying suddenly. But there's still no use relating it to you and worrying about it.
I used to hear about people who had died suddenly and then really worry about it. Then, when I was at the doctor's one day, I mentioned a case that had been in the news about somebody who had died from this. The doctor explained that they had been born with a defect and I would have known if I had such a condition because of the very basic tests I had undergone. There was nothing on the news explaining this. When I thought about it, I realised I may as well have worried about being attacked by a snowman.
I don't listen to the news about car accidents and concern myself about people who have been injured or killed in car crashes. If I did, I'd never get in a car. Sure, it's an awful thing and I may well have feelings about car crashes and the victims, but I don't worry that I may be involved to the point that I don't step in a car or when I do, I'm so anxious I can't drive properly.
So, when you see those words 'sudden death' (or 'cancer', or any other negative word associated with ill feeling) remember that they do not, in any way, relate to you. None at all. You know they don't. It's a fact.
I said I would come back to you listing reasons why you won't die of sudden death (or anything else for that matter): let's say you do think of some reasons. Okay, now what? Worry? No:
Now I know it's not easy at all. I really do. But just think logically. Try and step away from yourself for a moment. Even if you do think of some reasons why you may die suddenly, what's to say you will? If I say you 'probably' won't die, that may not offer any reassurance. You need to hear that you 'will not' die. Only you can do this. Think about it. You won't will you. Thinking you will isn't doing anything any good. You have to help yourself here and dig deep and BELIEVE. You have to.
I reckon if you give yourself a good talking to, you will know, deep down, that you will not die. Look at all the thousands of people on sites like this who worry and complain on a regular basis. Okay, it's their way of venting their fears and receiving some reassurance, but they may well be trapped. They are still alive and probably will be for as long as anybody else without their problems. If we step back, it's a waste of time and effort and they may as well worry about those killer snowmen (which don't exist, obviously!). I can say this because I've been there.
Face it, there are thousands of diseases and illnesses and an infinite number of bad things that can happen (I'm sure you can think of enough to fill a book without trying) and we don't worry about them all, if any. In our case, we worry about our bodies largely. But I am sure there is more of a chance that we will die from, say, our house caving in. But we don't worry about that. I know it's not clear cut but what I'm saying is, alter your way of thinking and think logically. Think about what you have been through, what you have been told and believe in yourself - including your body. As I said before, your body (including your heart) has evolved over millions of years. Why the heck would it pack in now? It won't will it? You've been told that, right? So why are you worrying? I don't know why it skips, but it does. People get headaches and aches and whatever else. But they won't die from them.
Sure, some people die from all sorts of things, but that is somebody else, not you. No disrespect to them, but you need to think about you.......and they are not you.
There are so many things that can go wrong with us (Oh, I've got this....I've got that.....and on and on) and there's only one 'I'm fine'. You have one of two choices. I know which one you want to take and I know which one you can take..............