Aa
how long is too long?
I'm 59 yrs. young, I've had pvc/pac's for that come and go for almost 12 years. But last week I ended up in the ER because my pvcs started at 3:00 in the afternoon and were constant with every beat upon arrival at 11:00 pm. They sent me home and to follow up with my MD in a few days. He was on vacation and it's been 8 days in a row with 24/7 skipped beats with every beat. Today is my appt. What tests should I be asking for? I've had enough already!!
UPDATE:
Today is Aug. 31.....I have doubled the dose of the Altenolol from .25mg's to .50mg's since Aug. 14. I think this did the trick. I have not felt any of the PAC's since. I don't know if they are gone or if I just don't feel them anymore. But after talking to the Dr. he did mention that if I did feel them later on in the day that I could take another .25mg's. So far I have no need for it, but it is reassuring to know that I would be able to do something if they start again.
Thank you all for your concern and suggestions.
Today is Aug. 31.....I have doubled the dose of the Altenolol from .25mg's to .50mg's since Aug. 14. I think this did the trick. I have not felt any of the PAC's since. I don't know if they are gone or if I just don't feel them anymore. But after talking to the Dr. he did mention that if I did feel them later on in the day that I could take another .25mg's. So far I have no need for it, but it is reassuring to know that I would be able to do something if they start again.
Thank you all for your concern and suggestions.
Thank you for posting and your concern. I have been on .25mg of Altenolol for quite some time now. By doubling up at one time per day would put me at the .50mgs that you also take per time. I tried it this morning and so far does not seem to affect my blood pressure. As a matter of fact, I'm please to say that my PACs do not seem as noticeable as they have been since this whole attack started on July 21. Hopefully this is not just my mind playing tricks on me with 'wishful' thinking, but if it does continue to 'calm' them down, then I will be very grateful.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing.
I have been on altenolol for years and take two a day..I was told by my doctor to take one in morning and one at night twelve hours apart so the heart rate is kept the same over the 24 hrs..my dose is 50 mgs twice a day..I think to take two at once could lower your bp and heart rate too quickly..Just my experience anyway..hope it helps!
Thank you both for your posts.....@jrbon-I will start to double up on the Atenolol today and take as one dose. I try to get in an hour of walking per day and take a 20-30 min. nap in the afternoon.
@Mom2four85-I live in Wisconsin... and it is impossible for me to be able to go anywhere anytime soon because of the situation with my daughter, as I have mentioned in my previous posts. But the Mayo clinic in Minn. is only about 4-5 hours away so I will have to check into that for the future.
Thank you both, and if you have any more suggestions I am always open to try anything.
Take care...God Bless, Sharon
@Mom2four85-I live in Wisconsin... and it is impossible for me to be able to go anywhere anytime soon because of the situation with my daughter, as I have mentioned in my previous posts. But the Mayo clinic in Minn. is only about 4-5 hours away so I will have to check into that for the future.
Thank you both, and if you have any more suggestions I am always open to try anything.
Take care...God Bless, Sharon
Sharon; I'm not sure what county/city you live in but if you're in the US Cleveland Clinic has a patient assistance plan; my pc died so I'm on my laptop and don't have the link but you can call their info desk and ask to talk to someone. Mayo clinic may also have assistance programs for their clinics also - it's worth a shot and you may get some help for the tests, treatment and doctors you need to see.
Sharon,
As I read it, Atenolol should be taken in a single dose per day, if you want take 2 but together and watch your BP because it can drop, so if you feel dizzy this will be most probable the reason.
Try to learn a relaxation technique ... just 20-30 minutes / day can help a lot.
Jesus
As I read it, Atenolol should be taken in a single dose per day, if you want take 2 but together and watch your BP because it can drop, so if you feel dizzy this will be most probable the reason.
Try to learn a relaxation technique ... just 20-30 minutes / day can help a lot.
Jesus
Thank you so much for replying in a very timely manner, lol, (lately that hasn't been the case, as I noted above).
The problem is, I do not have insurance and all these tests and the Dr. visit is very expensive. So I will increase the Atenolol from the .25 mg 1 X a day, to 2 X a day since that is what the Dr.'s notes suggests.
If there is no noticeable difference in a month, I think I will try to find a cardiologist then. These tests and monitor were ordered by a regular MD.
I have 1 cup of decaf. coffee in AM and I drink Green Tea during the day...I'm wondering if this is too much caffeine? I do not drink alcohol (not that I'm against it! lol) and I do smoke 1 pack of cig's a day.
Last year I left my full time job and I now am a home health care provider for my 29 yr. old Down Syndrome child born with a congenital heart defect, who is now on Hospice. I know I have stress in my life....but unfortunately there is not much that can be done because of it. I feel blessed to be able to care for her. I am a CNA, so I am use to stress anyway. I refuse to take any mind altering drugs( that they say are for stress), so that is why I smoke. (I do know all the bad effects of that also). But that is my way of dealing with everything.
Enough of me, thank you again for your concern and explaining my results. I do feel better knowing that this is not live threatening and that you understood when you mentioned that the 16,000 is enough to make me feel uneasy, because that is so true.
Take care and God Bless.......Sharon
The problem is, I do not have insurance and all these tests and the Dr. visit is very expensive. So I will increase the Atenolol from the .25 mg 1 X a day, to 2 X a day since that is what the Dr.'s notes suggests.
If there is no noticeable difference in a month, I think I will try to find a cardiologist then. These tests and monitor were ordered by a regular MD.
I have 1 cup of decaf. coffee in AM and I drink Green Tea during the day...I'm wondering if this is too much caffeine? I do not drink alcohol (not that I'm against it! lol) and I do smoke 1 pack of cig's a day.
Last year I left my full time job and I now am a home health care provider for my 29 yr. old Down Syndrome child born with a congenital heart defect, who is now on Hospice. I know I have stress in my life....but unfortunately there is not much that can be done because of it. I feel blessed to be able to care for her. I am a CNA, so I am use to stress anyway. I refuse to take any mind altering drugs( that they say are for stress), so that is why I smoke. (I do know all the bad effects of that also). But that is my way of dealing with everything.
Enough of me, thank you again for your concern and explaining my results. I do feel better knowing that this is not live threatening and that you understood when you mentioned that the 16,000 is enough to make me feel uneasy, because that is so true.
Take care and God Bless.......Sharon
Your Holter seems O.K. except for the PACs.
For your info:
"Premature atrial contraction (PAC or premature atrial impulses). A common and benign arrhythmia, a PAC is a heartbeat that originates away from the sinus node, which sends electrical signals through the upper chamber. It typically occurs after the sinus node has initiated one heartbeat and before the next regular sinus discharge. A PAC can cause a feeling of a skipped heartbeat. Use of caffeine, tobacco, and/or alcohol, or stress can bring on PACs or increase their frequency."
The bad point is that 16.000 is a number big enough for you to feel uneasy, the good part is that they are not live threatening.
So probably your cardiologist will adjust your medication and they will get reduced.
As per the confidence in the doctor, in a Holter the only mistake can be done while placing the electrodes ... all the information (except for the BB recommendation) it is automatically generated by the software program that reads the device.
Jesus
For your info:
"Premature atrial contraction (PAC or premature atrial impulses). A common and benign arrhythmia, a PAC is a heartbeat that originates away from the sinus node, which sends electrical signals through the upper chamber. It typically occurs after the sinus node has initiated one heartbeat and before the next regular sinus discharge. A PAC can cause a feeling of a skipped heartbeat. Use of caffeine, tobacco, and/or alcohol, or stress can bring on PACs or increase their frequency."
The bad point is that 16.000 is a number big enough for you to feel uneasy, the good part is that they are not live threatening.
So probably your cardiologist will adjust your medication and they will get reduced.
As per the confidence in the doctor, in a Holter the only mistake can be done while placing the electrodes ... all the information (except for the BB recommendation) it is automatically generated by the software program that reads the device.
Jesus
FINALLY!!!!!!!! The results were done and interpreted the DAY AFTER!!! and no notification was given to me as I waited with anxiety and frustration. Well here they are if anybody can help with the novice interpretation.......
Analysis of a 24 hour Holter Scan:
Underlying rhythm is sinus. Heart rates ranging from 53-110bpm, and average 72 bpm.
Uniform, ventricular ectopy was rare with 93 isolated PVC's, no VE couplets or VE runs were noted.
Supraventricular ectopy was represented with 16% of the total QRS complexes which included 16,046 isolated PAC's, 8 atrial pairs and 3 runs. The longest/fastest SVE run consisted of 4 consecutive artial beats at 136 bpm.
There were no long pauses or high grade AV blocks noted.
The Doctors note states: Frequent ectopy noted (16%) but no concerning or sustained arrhythmia's. Recommend increasing dose of Bata Blocker until symptoms improve.
Please tell me what you think.....not sure about this Dr. or clinic.
Analysis of a 24 hour Holter Scan:
Underlying rhythm is sinus. Heart rates ranging from 53-110bpm, and average 72 bpm.
Uniform, ventricular ectopy was rare with 93 isolated PVC's, no VE couplets or VE runs were noted.
Supraventricular ectopy was represented with 16% of the total QRS complexes which included 16,046 isolated PAC's, 8 atrial pairs and 3 runs. The longest/fastest SVE run consisted of 4 consecutive artial beats at 136 bpm.
There were no long pauses or high grade AV blocks noted.
The Doctors note states: Frequent ectopy noted (16%) but no concerning or sustained arrhythmia's. Recommend increasing dose of Bata Blocker until symptoms improve.
Please tell me what you think.....not sure about this Dr. or clinic.
The magnesium came back normal. Today, Tuesday the holter was put on @ 7:00am. gets dropped off at 7:30 am. Wednesday. I will report back when I have more information.
As you can see from the post of Mom2four, you are really lucky and only seems to have a minor problem. Let us see what the holter says, but it might be that just correcting your magnesium everything comes back to normal
Jesus
Jesus
Thank you for your feedback. No, nothing different out the ordinary for me. Just relaxing in the chair at 3:00 in the afternoon when they started. Thought this was just another episode and was waiting for it to pass as in the past. But this time they didn't leave and still are with me. I am on .25 of Atenolol 1x a day and .25 of Xanax (prn) for the last 12 years when these episodes started. What is so different this time is they are constant and are not letting up for such a long time; since July 21, 10 days ago.
I just found this forum and feel so comforted and blessed by it. I only wish there were cardiologists or other professionals giving us their opinions and suggestions. But it is very comforting to hear other peoples testimonies of going through some of the same problems and sharing their stories. God bless all of you!
I just found this forum and feel so comforted and blessed by it. I only wish there were cardiologists or other professionals giving us their opinions and suggestions. But it is very comforting to hear other peoples testimonies of going through some of the same problems and sharing their stories. God bless all of you!
any infection lately or sickness? did they check for those? or anything else you can remember that would trigger this episode?
typically unless you're having pvc's on a continual basis >6,000 - 8,000 pvc's daily they will send you home and may try meds; if they're really bothersome or symptomatic w/fainting, hypotension, tachycardia etc they may try an ablation esp if they're >15% pvc's daily
you can live and be fine with an enormous amount of pvc's in a normally structural heart if you're asymptomatic; if you're asymptomatic; then they will probably tell you try meds. my last cardiologist treated a woman with 80,000 pvc's daily she had no symptoms and beta blockers worked
however; for my 50,000+ pvc's daily (pretty much day in/out from April 2007 - August 2009) I was very symptomatic with hypotension, lv dysfunction, low cardiac output, fainting etc etc so I had to have an RF Ablation...after surgery my pvc's went away for a few days, but pac's & psvt started and then pvc's and VT returned full force
try to keep a log/journal of dates, times & symptoms to see if you can find a pattern or trigger
typically unless you're having pvc's on a continual basis >6,000 - 8,000 pvc's daily they will send you home and may try meds; if they're really bothersome or symptomatic w/fainting, hypotension, tachycardia etc they may try an ablation esp if they're >15% pvc's daily
you can live and be fine with an enormous amount of pvc's in a normally structural heart if you're asymptomatic; if you're asymptomatic; then they will probably tell you try meds. my last cardiologist treated a woman with 80,000 pvc's daily she had no symptoms and beta blockers worked
however; for my 50,000+ pvc's daily (pretty much day in/out from April 2007 - August 2009) I was very symptomatic with hypotension, lv dysfunction, low cardiac output, fainting etc etc so I had to have an RF Ablation...after surgery my pvc's went away for a few days, but pac's & psvt started and then pvc's and VT returned full force
try to keep a log/journal of dates, times & symptoms to see if you can find a pattern or trigger
best explanation is a web search...short version...catheter is inserted in femoral artery and threaded into heart...electrical readings are taken to determine where the extra signals are coming from and then those regions are destroyed. If you read this forum and the one on heart rhythm you will find both side of the debate...usually it works but there is no guarantee that the arrhythmia will not return. A lot depends on the skill of the EP. As I said we know what it is like to live with PVC's and I'm not comfortable with the invasiveness of ablation.
Would you please explain ablation to me. And would it solve the problem? Thank you
Reads like my experiences with episodes of bi and trigeminy for hours at a time. All my tests(electrolytes, CTA, echo) came back normal and the cardiologist only suggested ablation if they got worse!!! After several ER visits I have learned that unless there are serious symptoms, like fainting/chest pain from the PVC's there is little risk of them killing us, even thought they certainly seem to be. One has to weight having benign PVC's against the risks associated with ablation.
Update....went to Dr. and he checked me out and said that I was skipping about every 2 to 3 beats. So he wanted a lot of blood work done, including thyroid, magnesium, potassium, electrolytes and cholesterol. Said if everything came back normal then to proceed with the halter monitor. Just got a call back and the tests all came back except for the magnesium. Everything is normal except the cholesterol shows LDL (the bad one) is 171, the HDL (the good one) is 63 and total is 257!! Never had a cholesterol problem before. So I asked the nurse to have the Dr. order the monitor after he returns from the weekend. I sure do wish something could be prescribed to stop these. I may have to see a cardiologist if this keeps up.l
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