PVC and soreness in ankles

[hampfire]

Hi everyone,
I am in my early 30s and have been having PVCs. It used to have absolutely no effect on me, it was just happening inside and I didnt even they were happening.

I've been talking to my doc and he said there's nothing to worry right now. But over the last week, I am having a little stiffness around the ankles in both legs. I keep applying sports medicine and it goes off for a while, but I seem to have a little bit of trouble standing, when it comes back. I just wonder if it's because of the sodium drugs they injected into me while testing.

Also my doc says a leakage in the aortic valve might be triggering those PVCs. Now how fatal is that? Is it possible to have a fatal heart attack? I have been keeping the purest body composition possible, absolutely no intake of any harmful substance like tobacco, alcohol, drugs or colas for years. Right now I'm just wondering how threatening PVCs are, my biggest fear is whether I'm living on a powder keg and if my heart can stop any moment! Just to be sure :)

Thanks a lot for your help, appreciate it heaps :)

-FH

[CCF-M.D.-MJM]

Hello hampfire,

You sound pretty worried about this.  You are very young. It is very important that you understand that PVCs are not a risk factor for heart attacks.  If you have normal heart function on echo or stress test, a normal EKG, and not family history of premature sudden cardiac death, your risk of sudden death is that same as a population without PVCs.

The biggest problem you have is that you feel your PVCs.  There are people with 10,000 PVCs a day and don't even know they have them.  I have also meet people with less than 300 per day and feel everyone of them.  PVC make some people feel like they are going to die or makes them panic everytime they have a PVC.  My recommendation is to get a second opinion.  If that doctor agrees with the first doctor, then you need to accept their opinion and move on with your life.  We see people all they time that convince themself they are on the verge of sudden death and live their life scared.  Do you best not to become that person.  You may not be a nervous as your post reads, but it sounds like you are pretty scared.

If leaking aortic valve is not causing symptoms and you have normal heart size and function, it is just something that needs to be followed over time.

I hope this helps. Thanks for posting.

[hampfire]

Dear Dr.MJM,
Thanks a lot for your reply. I'm sorry if it didn't turn out clear, but I CANNOT feel that any PVCs happening to me. They only show up on the EKGs.

No, I am not as tensed as my earlier post sounds. The only relevant thing is that my dad passed away in a cardiac arrest 8 years ago. It happened in his sleep. He had had a cardiac arrest about 3 years after I was born and the next one came 22 years later. The weird thing is he had no history of smoking, alcohol or caffeine. I've never seen him take tea, coffee or coke. I have pretty much the same food habits. I wonder how much of an effect the hereditary factor can play.

Thanks again for your comment.

[hampfire]

Thanks a lot Al Dente for your inputs. I will follow this up with a second input. Thanks a lot :)

[Hiker in Hawaii]

I to had a father die of a heart attack, he was 48 (this was over 20 yrs. ago)...He definitely was a type A, perfectionist, smoked cigars....I see doctor regularly, & I had a recent post RE: HDL as mine is low & I'm having the hardest time trying to raise it....And as I mentioned in my original post, I love my Coca-Colas, drinking about 8 cans a day, but I feel that my other habits are good...

Have you had a lipid profile & cardio CRP test done?...All these can be checked via blood & can give a good starting point as to your overall heart health......

[kitcurious]

You may want to at least consider trading some of your regular colas for decaffeinated ones. Try maybe two decafs and then maybe you can work your way up to a greater % of decafs. I can't imagine the caffeine adds much to the flavor (smile)
Truly, stimulants are not a good habit if you suspect you are having heart trouble. My father did not heed this advice and fell out in cardiac arrest ( at age 43) while gulping down an RC cola, he loved that cola.

[kitcurious]

Sorry about the typo

[madgrad92]

Not sure how off topic we're getting with these colas, but my EP once told me a really interesting story about a guy who could induce his SVT with a sip of cold Mountain Dew. Not Pepsi, not Coke, nothing but Mountain Dew. In fact, during his EP study, they couldn't induce any arrhythmia. They had him alert enough to ask him to drink some Mountain Dew and literatlly, within 5 seconds of sipping it, he had an SVT. Crazy how our bodies work in reaction to certain things.

[kitcurious]

My best friend in college used to drink Mountain Dew every morning instead of coffee. He had read that it contained more caffeine than other sodas and he chose it specifically for that reason. I just spoke to my mother, I was a preschooler when my father died, right after my birthday party actually, and she said, not kidding, that he swallowed his Rx with an RC cola the day he had his last heart attack. I asked her what Rx he was taking and she said "the thing he dissolved under his tongue".
I assume this is nitro?

[stlcard1521]

yeah, probably nitro

mountain dew doesnt have that much caffeine in it really, most pops are around 40mg and mountain dew is like 50mg. a cup of coffee has ~100mg and most over the counter caffeine pills have 200mg, to put it in perspective

[stlcard1521]

i looked up caffeine content and found a chart

http://www.cspinet.org/new/cafchart.htm


mountian dew has 55.5mg caffeine, most other pops range from 20-45. good little tool if youre trying to minimize your caffeine intake for arrythmias

[kitcurious]

Thanks for the info. Interesting chart. Dark chocolate was nixed by my doc, now I can clearly see why. Not as much caffeine as cola, but more than I thought it had. That Ginseng Tea is a real zap. 200 mg!!! It's not the Ginseng pepping them up. Mountain Dew,was number two for soda. More than regular cola, but not as much as my friend imagined he was getting.

[cristabelle]

Tell me about dark chocolate??  It's the only small indulgance I imbibe in.
  My cardio said it's probably ok, and actually contains some anti-oxidants.  I'd like to know more.
Thank you
cristabelle

[madgeOwens]

MOUNTAIN DEW IS LOADED WITH CAFFEINE!I THINK MORE THAN COLAS ...REAL BAD...

[stlcard1521]

i dunno, im not a choclate expert. chocolate also has theobromine in it, which is another stimulant like caffeine which is another reason doctors tell you to eat it in moderation or limit intake if you have PVCs or other arrythmias. i dont know much about the benefits of dark chocolate, i know there are supposed to be flavanoids, antioxidants, etc that are suppose to be good for you, but im sure if there is any significant health benefit to eating chocolate. my personal guess (but poorly informed on the subject) is to get any real benefits youd have to eat a ton of chocolate to see benefits, and youd gain 50lbs and contract type 2 diabetes before it reduced your risk of cancer or anything like that. i dunno though, im not that well educated on chocolate. do some research on it if it interests you.