Palpitations and upcoming surgery

[Wackybody]

I am one of the many that suffers from, what is considered, benign cardiac arrhythmias.  I get PVCs ,PACs, and probably some other kinds.  I am taking 50 mg per day of atenelol, which helps my tachycardia, for the most part, but does nothing for my palpitations. I have times in my life where they are much more bothersome than others, of course.  I have had full cardiac workups with my heart showing normal function.  I have scheduled upcoming surgery where I will be sedated using Versed and, I believe, Fenyl (sic).  Once I had an endoscopy and was sedated.  They told me as I went to sleep I had an episode of bigeminy and trigeminy (I have had this while awake on occasion).  I am currently in an "active" phase, where I get many palpitations a day.  My question is whether there is any danger to being put to sleep (it will NOT be general anesthesia), and why this occurred while I should be very relaxed.  I have had other surgeries in the past and they said my heart was regular throughout.  Should I be concerned?  I know I will be anxious that day....

[elizz]

Thanks for the encouraging words. The drug combo you rec'd is the same one I will get. Hopefully it will work well for me, as it has for others. Just knowing that others have been through this with no problems is so comforting. Thanks again!

[Momto3]

Hello!!

I had a colonscopy one month prior to an ablation for frequent pvcs.  I had nsvt and the gastroenterologist could not understand why I wanted to be monitored!!  Just a precaution on my part...hook 'er up please : )

I was given Versed and Fentynl and had no problems.

Oddly enough, during the ablations I was given the same drug combo for twilight sleep and the doctor said the Versed worked miracles on my pvcs!  He said if only I could walk around with a pump...only problem was he said I'd be asleep all day : )

Good luck with your upcoming procedure....

Oh, everyone is right, the prep is the worst.  I had no pain, but the medicine (Fleet Phoso??) was really, really salty tasting......Good luck.  Hope you get great results!

Connie

[elizz]

Thanks so much to everyone who responded and offered encouragement. I am feeling better about the whole thing and I know that Karen is right when she says that worry just brings on more PVC's. That is so true for most of us with this problem. I am going to inquire about the heart monitoring, b/c that will also help to make me less nervous. Thanks again to all.

[mmfd]

Not to worry!  I have had about 5 colonoscopies b/c of family history of colon ca.  They always put you on the monitor for the procedure, and sometimes with oxygen also.  If they didn't use the monitor I would wonder about the safety of the place.  Besides, you can always ASK to be placed on the monitor...they can't refuse you.

[Wackybody]

Thanks, everyone, for your comments.  It is nice to hear I am not the only one with this question.  I am now going to look forward to this surgery, as it will correct something very bothersome for me...(I hope).  I am also afraid of new meds because everything seems to give me palpitations, so I've suffered through severe colds, bronchitis, and a lot of other nasty stuff with no meds.  Maybe this has made me a stronger person.  We can only hope it is doing SOMETHING good for us.  Come to think of it, after my other surgeries (about 8)I have usually had LESS PVC's for awhile.  At least the first couple of days.  Go figure.

[karie]

I am so appreciative of that question. I have put off procedures and actually had a endoscopy with no sedation, just deep breathing through the nose and a clear view on the screen of the test.
You would only feel that there is more risk in that we have cardiac issues and see a EP for routine visits that were more suseptable to complications. I do feel scared when any medication or procedure is suggested.
Do you have mvp? or heart murmurs?
What about heart disease in your family, these are all good reasons right?
thanks

[karen23]

The colonoscopy is no big deal.  My brother was diagnosed with colon cancer at 47, so we all had one.  The prep. is really the worst part, but I have PVC's and it didn't affect them or me at all.  The sedation wasn't heavy for any of my brothers or sisters or me.  And my brother with the colon cancer, who just had another scope recently, said they are using some new anaesthetic that made him feel like he was hardly sedated, but he felt nothing.  I completely understand how you feel re: being sedated with PVC's, but better to know about the health of your colon!  Good Luck, and try not to worry, because that will bring the PVC's on more than anything (in my case, anyway!)

[elizz]

I am so happy that this topic has come up. I, too, have PVC's, and other weird palpatations. They think maybe SVT or atrial flutter (very rarely), but never caught on monitor. I do have palps daily. I am scheduled for a colonoscopy next month and I'm terrified.  Wondering if anyone else has been through it? I am worried that the prep will leave me weak and with a heart beating very irregularly. I am also worried about the sedation.  Mostly worried that if my heart does do something weird, they won't know about it, and I'll be too sedated to tell them. I understand that there is no EKG during the procedure. I do feel a bit better after reading some of the other posts, so thanks for sharing. And if anyone else has done the colonoscopy, would love to hear from you. THANKS to all the wonderful and supportive people on this site!

[tickertock]

I had major surgery while going through a bad episode of PVCs, coventional gallbladder surgery 7 inch scar, due to extensive gallbladder stones over 300 and very advanced gallbladder disease i was under for over 3 hours as they had check my bilary tree and pancreas after they found my gallbladder in such a diseased state. I woke up with hardly any PVCs for over 4 years that has been over 12 years ago, I was scared because of the PVCs also, nothing bad happened. Surgery and being put to sleep always carry a small risk but not because of PVCs.

[Cleveland Clinic]

wacky,

If your preprocedure cardiac evaluation is normal, then there no increased risk associated with your procedure.

good luck