Heart procedures and antibiotic allergy

[Madge270]

I'm presently wearing a Holter monitor and will have it on for 48 hours. I was taking my blood pressure a few weeks ago and it was beeping in time with my pulse. Only this time there were a lot of skipped beats. So, we'll see what the monitor shows.

I'm 66 with a mild mitral valve prolapse problem, and other than feeling tired a lot, haven't had any problems until now. In January I had a treadmill stress test and it was okay.  So, this skipped beats thing seems strange. While I have the skipped beats now and then during the day, it's always more pronounced after dinner, when I have bloating from irritable bowel syndrome and mild reflux (I have GERD too.) It feels as though I have more gas in my digestive system in the evenings too, and I wonder whether that causes pressure on my heart or lungs (I also get an intense tickly sensation in my throat and cough some.

  My main concern is that I'm allergic to just about all antibiotics. They close my throat. I've nearly died several times from just taking antibiotics. And I'm hoping I won't need any kind of surgery like a pacemaker, which I think would mean they'd have to use an antibiotic before surgery(?)  I also take a small dose of clonazepam at night  (which I can't stop taking) and some of the medications they use for skipped beats can't be taken with clonazepam. So, I'm hoping I won't need meds or surgery for this. I tend to have somewhat low blood pressure too, so don't do well with beta blockers. I tried them once for migraines and had to quit.

I know I'm jumping ahead here, and I probably should just relax. But I am worried that I won't be treatable if I do have a problem. Just needed to vent. Thanks for listening.

[momof3kids7]

pvc - seems like a skipped beat but is actually a premature beat, noticed mine when taking my pulse ( pulse, pause, pulse etc)

i believe they r triggered by indigestion, stress, adrenaline and sometimes for unknown reasons - ventricles get excited and fire

most r benign, i'm actually having a few right now - i just ate and walked up stairs

they feel like a belch or esophagus bubble, or like when you go down in an elevator - to me others may explain it differently

the holter monitor will capture them

mine just started 2 weeks ago out of the blue

best to keep occupied and not dwell or u will notice every single one and drive urself crazy

[Jerry_NJ]

Yes, always be calm and positive/optimistic... but you do have good cause to try to avoid hospitalization more than the rest of us who are simply scared of knives ;)

I didn't mention Premature Ventricle Contractions (PVCs) - I think I got the name right, but it too should come out as extra, i.e., premature. These are also quite common an benign.  They may be unpleasant, but not likely to cause a heart failure.

I started having AFib at about age 58... and it has gotten worse over time.  Aging takes its tolls.  Sorry, back to my original: positive/optimistic..and I think I am.

[Madge270]

Thanks for replying. And you're right. I do need to put this out of my mind while on the monitor.  I don't know yet whether I have skipped or extra beats, but it feels like skipped ones.  My husband says that when he checks my pulse sometimes it's normal for about 40 beats, and then the "skips" start.  (1,2 skip; 1,2 skip; 1,2,3,4,5 skip...it's all over the place.)  Coughing or exercising seems to make it resolve, at least most of the time.

My mitral valve problem is mild and is probably a result of the scarlet fever I had as a teenager.  I've had echo testing for it, and there's no backwash. At least there wasn't any four years ago.  

My doctors tell me I'm a "surgeon's nightmare" because of my reactions to all the different antibiotics (they close my throat).  They could put me on a ventilator, but are hesitant to do so since MRSA staph is now occurring fairly often from ventilator use in hospitals. And of course, they really don't have much that treats MRSA staph.  So I feel like a sitting duck much of the time, especially when there's a lot of strep throat or bacterial bronchitis/pneumonia around.  Anyway, I'm going to take your advice and not obsess about it unless I have to.

I really have no idea what kinds of treatments they have for these conditions anyway.    Again, thanks.

[Jerry_NJ]

Are you sure there are skipped, not extra, beats?   If extra it is likely that you have some form of atrial fibrillation...and I think that does not cause skipped beats.  Still AFib is one of the aging problems many of us face, me too.  

The low BP could be the root cause of feeling tired.   It is almost a certainty that a beta blocker would make that worse.  I take high dose BB, and it doesn't lower my BP  a lot, but then mine is normally near normal so a few points down is mostly good for me.

The antibiotic problem looks to be a real problem, but "medicine" must have some strategy for dealing with that in preparations for surgery.

I do think you should try to put this out of your mind while you are on the monitor, otherwise you'll get reading that have an emotional component.