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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
Refractory PVC's
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests.
Refractory PVC's
by Kathy__0__0, Jan 19, 1999 12:00AM
Hi. My name is Kathy. I am a 23 nurse with a 4 year history of very symptomatic pvcs as well as vasodepressor syncope. I currently see an EP doctor once a month. I feel like I am 80years old some days. I have up to 30 pvc's a minute and become quite dizzy, short of breath, and unable to live a "good life". I seem to be a medical mystery. I have had 2 ablations (one in Colorado and one in Boston), been on 19 different medications, and unfortunately now have a pacemaker to overdrive pace at 95 bpm to try to suppress the pvc's. Sadly, this, too, is not working. My cardiologist is unsure of what to do now. The vasodepressor syncope makes things much worse since my blood pressure is already low and drops 20-25 points orthostatically! I am now to the point where i cannot even lay flat in bed to sleep due to sob from pvc's , have difficulty exercising, etc. I would appreciate any advice or recommendations for research centers and/or physicians who may be able to help me! I would like to lead an active life at 23, but am unable to at this point. I look forward to your response. Thank you for your time. Feel freee to email me at ***@****.
Sincerely,
Kathy, RN
Doctor's Answer
by CCF CARDIO MD APS, Jan 19, 1999 12:00AM
Dear Kathy,
Two major points for you:
1) It sounds as if the vasodepressor syncope is more a than just another diagnosis, and I believe it
could be playing more of a role in your symptoms than you think. For this reason I would refer you to
Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. as this is a research center for autonomic dysfunction, vasodepressor
syncope type syndromes, etc.
2) You need to investigate stress reduction techniques as this can only help your
situation; this can be anything from taking up Yoga, to consulting a psycologist.
People who exercise on a daily basis often have the least stress because the exercise provides
relief of the stress in many ways (it is your time to yourself, it gives you time to ponder the
activities of the day instead of worrying about what needs to be done next on your list of things to
do, it allows daily time for listening to music, etc.)
I hope you find this information useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for general
purposes only. Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies. Please feel free to
write back with additional questions. Good luck.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call
1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at
www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that
can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.
