Recent PVCs

[Duane S.]

Hi!

I am a 45 year old male, 5'9", 230lbs who doesn't smoke but I do drink scotch.  My BP is 140/95, total cholesterol is 210 with the "good" component 37.

Over the past few weeks I have been experiencing arrythmias, primarily during the day, most frequently after eating.  It seems they occur more when I eat starchy, sweet foods as opposed to pure protein or fat.  They also seem to occur more on days following days where I have had a couple of scotches.

These PVCs onlyu last a second or two and occur in some cases many times in an hour, with many hours going by with none.

Two months ago I had a Cardiolite stress test that was deemed completely normal (although the cardiologist noted on the report to my internist that I had four PVCs during the eight minute stress test with one being an "R on T").

My internist said "R on T" PVCs are "really bad", they are associated with "old man heart" and can result in sudden cardiac arrest and death.  He seemed very concerned (even though the cardiologist told me to forget about it, it was an anomaly and nothing more).

The internist suggested I wear a Holter monitor (I did for about 30 hours, everything was okay, including the one hour of 180 bpm recorded during exertion putting up hurricane shutters - no PVCs at all).

Even though the Holter monitor was "fine", my internist then suggested I have an echocardiogram and that was completely normal as well.

After the echocardiogram was deemed "fine" he also suggested I have a consult with the cardiologist who performed the stress test, which I have not as yet done, but due to these annoying PVCs and the contention that even a single "anomalous" "R on T" PVC is "really bad", I have scheduled a consult with the cardiologist for the week after next.

I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia over 20 years ago (and many times since then) and have had periods of PVCs periodically in the past, and these PVCs feel similar to those.  Even so, I am now far more concerned about these PVCs because my internist scared the daylights out of me.

My question is, with all of the work that I have done recently which has been deemed completely normal, should I be really worried about these PVCs or should I treat them as I did in the past, as annoyances?

I would like to exercise more (I like to walk on the treadmill, but have ceased to do so for the past couple of weeks since these PVCs scare me).

Thank you for your time!

Duane

[CCF CARDIO MD - DLB]

YOu have had lots of testing which has all essentially been normal. It sounds like you have benign PVCs and your risk of sudden death is very low. I agree with your cardiologist.

[Duane]

One additional piece of info:

I have recently started using Flonase for my seasonal Rhinitis.  I started using it about two weeks ago (about the same time I seem to recall this bout of PVCs started occuring).

Thanks!

[Duane]

Okay, last additional comment:

I have also been taking 75mg of Effexor XRT daily for the last two months.

(I added this info since Heather posted a message about Zoloft!)