PVC'S

[quiet4us2]

I have PVC's mostly when I walk. Not very many when rested. If I get up to use the restroom or just walk somewhere I'm needed at work....here they come. 3-4 in a row sometimes. On average about 30 a min. I am so tired of this. I take Tenormin 50mg twice a day for HBP. And was told it will help with the PVC's. Cardiologist says they are harmless. Dye test shows nothing either. I have had these for years. I go back to my cardi on Tuesday July 3 2012 and if he doesn't have any new ideas then I'll stop them for good. It has gotten to that point.

[CCFHeartMD 15]

Hello. A high percentage of the population has PVCs during the day, but is hard to define why only some of the patients can feel them. It is presumed that this is related to an increased awareness of the arrhythmia and stress. Usually the PVCs come from spot in the heart's ventricle that acts as an extra pacemaker and that can cause a change in the sequence of our normal pacemaker (sinus node). The activity of the extra pacemaker may be increased by different factors like stress, hormones and medications. Now why can we feel these extra beats? Just because the strength of every heart beat depends on the amount of blood that fill the heart before the next contraction. Every time that you have an extra beat, the normal pacemaker makes a pause to regain its normal rhythm, and that's when the chambers get filled with more blood. So the beat that you feel is not the PVC, is the beat that come after that one that is usually stronger. Symptoms that are red flags w/ PVCs are sustained PVCs (i.e. sustained or non-sustained ventricular tachycardia; multifocal PVCs during exercise; or passing out b/o an arrhythmia). If the patient is otherwise healthy with a normal echocardiogram and no other symptoms, PVCs are in general harmless. In your case, you tried with atenolol and it did not work. There are 2 options in my mind, to change the beta blocker (Tenormin) or visit an electrophysiologist (cardiologist that sees the electrical problems of the heart) to arrange an ablation or "burning" of this extra pacemaker and make the PVCs disappear. Why a different beta blocker could help, because atenolol is one of the few of these meds that do not has an effect in the brain. It is believed that there is a significant neurological component in the PVCs driven by stress hormones, so beta blockers that act in the brain and in the heart (e.g. propranolol, metoprolol) could be more effective. Good luck.

[CCFHeartMD14]

Hello,

I am sorry to hear about your distress.
If your PVCs are so severely  symptomatic, Tenormin can be changed to a different drug. Additionally, PVCs may originate from single focus in your heart and ablation of the PVCs (invasive procedure) could be effective in permanently treating your PVCs, I would recommend seeing cardiac electrophysiologist (specialist in cardiac arrhythmias) who are an experts in treating abnormal heart rhythms and who perform ablations procedures.
Hope it helps and if you think these symptoms caused  too much distress for you please talk to your doctor ASAP
Best regards