Bigeminy / PVC's

[bfg_nat]

im a 25 year old female who has been experiencing horrible palpitations due to my PVC's. i mean ive ALWAYS for as long as i can remember had that extra heart beat (i can feel it pounding in my neck)  BUT lately like since mid January ive been passing out, having a hard time breathing (it feels like someone is just PUSHING on my lungs) and i pretty much feel drugged at times like i hve no control of my body! i was admitted to the hospital after passing out on the side of the road and then finally one more time while i was in my hotel room on a business trip and they did pretty much every test ive read about (ECG EKG MRI Cardiac cath EPS stress test) i was hooked up to some heart monitor for like a week and a half (all they saw was that i have LOTS of PVC's when im sleeping) I had someone take like 3 gallons of my blood for testing and EVERYTHING has come back clear! my doctor tried giving me beta blockers BUT my heart rate is SO low to begin with it made it drop dangerously low. now they want to implant some thing called a LOOP RECORDER........ i guess my questions are what exactly IS a LOOP RECORDER? WHY is this what he is choosing to  do if he has no sweet clue as to what is wrong with me? are there any other options? dose anyone else have this problem and was it this hard to diagnose for you?  man this is so frustrating im only 25

[khuntington]

Hi, I am a 25 year old female with a Loop recorder, the non technical way of explaining a loop record is they put a device it's about the size of a lighter (well mine is) inside of your chest, it's not hooked up to your heart at all but whenever you feel like you are going to faint or if your heart rate gets to certain points high and low it records what is happening. It does a EKG of it and they can review it when you go to the doctor and check it out. If you feel like you are going to faint you push a button on this little device you put in your purse or your pocket and it records what happens during the time you pushed the button. Mine records 8 Minutes before and 4 Minutes after I push the button if i remember correctly. They can find alot from it though, I pass out for no reason and I push it whenever that occurs so they can figure out whats wrong with me. I can have it in for up to 3 years, when i first got it.. it was annoying but now I've gotten use to it.

[bfg_nat]

GranRon:
thank you for posting the explanation of a loop recorder for me........i didnt get a very good explanation from my own doctor because they are so new to him (not too sure how re assuring THAT is LOL)

Upbeat633:
I have not had an event monitor before, i was monitored for a week and a half in the hospital with no common episodes just plain old PVC's. since what i do for a living is being responsible for other peoples safety (in a different provence then where i reside) my doctor didnt want to send me back to work with a holster or event monitor "Just in case"  so he wants to implant the loop recorder  and monitor me for a month or so BEFORE sending me back to work ..........i just dont like sitting on my hands haha
Im not sure exactly how many PVC's i get i just know that i have them all day (i watched the monitor for my entire stay in the hospital)........it was either that or PAY for cable and im cheap LOL.  they are just much more frequent when i sleep..... a few mornings my nurse came in to ask me how i was feeling (which i thought was pretty weird) but apparently they kept watch over me all nite cause my heart rate dropped a bit and i had ALOT of PVC's....... OH and when i lay on my side for some reason WEIRD hey? Do you feel light headed like when you stand up to fast kinda light headed? thats the kind of light headed i get but i could be in the middle of a convo or a walk or watching TV and i'll have to sit down and eat something RIGHT AWAY ........sometimes i get the light headed Dizzy cant breath feeling and i have to sit down and take deep breaths for up to 40 mins! the REALLY bad ones are so fast its unbelievable.... like i was walking out of the 7-11 and i started to get really hot and then i started sweating and then it was a cold sweat and then the back of my tounge started to curl and salavate (you know like when your going to be ill) everything started to get Dizzy and i was really light headed so i sat on a bench next to the 7-11 it started to get worse so i got up and tried to walk it off (i know it was a stupid disision BUT this was my VERY FIRST episode so i didnt know what was going on) i was leaning on EVERYTHING i could some guy asked me if i was OK cause i leaned on his parked car and i couldnt even say NO (i felt DRUGGED like i couldnt talk, my body wasnt doing anything i was asking it to) i passed out right on his car!!!! (which was RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE) so embarrising, nice way to meet the neighbours hey? i was out for maybe 40 seconds - i got back up against my neighbours protests and crossed the street to my house......i BARELY made it to the bathroom and passed out on the bathroom flor for god knows how long........i was SOOOOO exausted after!  I get SOOO tired after i have an episode i need to go to sleep.  and its SOO frustrating that nobody can find anything! i KNOW something is wrong, things like what i just discribed dont happen to a young healthy person on a regular basis!   you said something about anxioty, do you think mine could be anxioty?  

[upbeat633]

Have you had an event monitor done before? Its a monitor you wear for 30 days and can record when you feel you are having symptoms. I wonder if your doctor thinks the loop recorder is better because you are blacking out and might not be able to record the event.

How many pvcs do you get, and do you only get them when you are sleeping?

My last holter recorded 24,000/day for the two days I wore it. I know I'm up from there, but they still say just live with it. I don't have your symptoms though, I'm just  lightheaded frequently through the day. But they don't think it's associated with the pvcs because I can have multiple pvcs and strings of them and don't feel lightheaded. In my case it might be anxiety, but I don't ever feel that anxious.

I hope you get some answers, you are very young and deserve a good LONG life free of all these heart concerns.

[GranRon]

This was taken from a med WEB page:

Patient-activated cardiac event recorder: A device that is implanted directly under the skin and is programmable with looping memory that records electrocardiogram (ECG) tracings. The recorder is programmed by a physician to retrieve data, and display and print stored data. The device is usually inserted under local anesthesia in skin over the chest. The patient has a hand-held telemetry unit that he or she activates whenever there are symptoms to initiate ECG recording and storage. The monitor can store up to 40 minutes of signals after an episode. The device is removed after the battery has failed, (approximately 14 months) or earlier, if a definitive diagnosis has been established.

A patient-activated event recorder, also called an insertable loop recorder, is often used to document a suspected arrhythmia (irregular heartbeats) that may, for example, be the cause of fainting (syncope) or near-fainting spells.