How can someone get use to these PVC's?

[steph4501]

Hi All!  I hope these pvc's settle down for us ALL soon!  They get so tiring don't they!?!

So, I have been still getting these pvc's constantly.  Every other beat (bigeminy) or every 2 beats or every 3 beats, on a good day its every 4-10 beats.  ugh!   I sit here and sometimes can ignore them, especially when I am up and about.  But once I am sitting down, I think to myself, "How on earth can these be benign?"  I mean, how can the heart just do this over and over and over and over!????

And HOW can this be benign??  I mean, no they have not killed me, yet, but I am getting so many of them, that its hard to think these are normal!!

I try so hard to remain positive and not let these get to me, but darn its hard some days!  My husband is getting sick of me complaining/worrying about these, but he does not get these so it's easy for him to say: "You are fine, your Cardio said you are fine and all your tests have been fine, so there is nothing you can do."  ARG!  In reality he is right.  But gosh its so hard.

Right now I am sitting here and it's pause, beat, pause, beat, etc....=o(  

I just want to feel my heart beat normal again like it use to!  

What scared me I think is that the Dr's do not KNOW what causes them. So HOW can they be certain that these are in fact benign, if the cause is unknown????????

I get so many variations in these too....  Could be an extra long pause which probably is 2-3 in a row with no normal beat in between.  I get lightheaded/jolted feeling when I get the long pauses...  

Sometimes, my heart will beat fast a couple beats then a pause...

And the HARD THUMPS too...

I have had these for 18 months now, and they have always been pretty frequent like this (well they started every 7th or 8th beat, and now they are every other beat, or every 2-3 beats)...  I don't think they could even get any worse than this right??  I mean, how could they get worse?  They are already in bigeminy!  *sniff*..

Sorry to be a downer.  Just having a bad day and my worries are getting the best of me. I have been through a lot, but this is awful feeling...

Thanks for listening.  I am glad to have a support group like this and people to talk to who understand!!

Hugs to you all...

Stephanie

[stephanie1234W]

So, the last post on this was Nov of 2008.  Just wondering how you are doing now?  I have the SAME situation and I am curious  how you are doing 5 years later!!

[tsco]

What brand do u use?

[sharron399]

CoQ10 help PVC and magnesium.  I have went years with any episodes of PVCS when I take CoQ10. I take about 500 to 1000mg a day for about a week and then they go away..  

[marie983]

I know what you are going through.  I have had this for half my life and now in one week is my 25th birthday.  two years ago is when the doctors told I had PVCs.  The scareist thing was they told me two weeks after my 23rd birthday.  I cried for three day after that.  I waited for a long time to tell my family.  they too said the doctor told you that this is not going to kill you so do not worry and be normal.  I have had a hard time dealing with this.  The more I have they the harder it is on me to deal with it.  I have been dealing with it so long I and tired of dealing.  I want it gone.  the fact that I know it is not going to stop just upsets me even more.
I think the only thing that may keep me sane during these things is that this site.  There are some great people here.  It is great to have support from people who understand what you are going through. I always say live life as if it was your last.  Meaning go out and have a good time.  Do what you want, and have no regets.  
Sometime I think and feel like I am in a club no one want to be part of, but now i know I am not the only one who has this and feels the way I do.  
Remeber we are all here for you, and remeber we can over come this it does not have make your life unhappy.  

[valger59]

Hi,
   My name is Valerie, and I just wanted to let you know how much your post helped me tonight, well really this morning, at almost 3 AM!!  
   I've been having PVC's and PAC's, and one short episode of Atrial Fib caught on a holter for years.  I've just learned to live with them, but then once in a while a 'new' feeling comes on.  
     Lately, and this really scares me, I've been having what feels like 'runs' of them.  I usually would just have good days and bad days, but just out of the blue about a week ago, I was laying in bed and felt my pulse, and it was just totally irregular.  It didn't really stop until I changed positions.  I was wondering if anyone has noticed that~~an increase in the PVC's when laying in a certain position.  For me, it's when I lay on my left side.  I used to love laying on that side because I get frequent heartburn, and laying on my right side makes it worse, so my left side was always a relief.  Not any more!  I can't lay on my left side for more than a few minutes, and then it comes on.  
    I called my cardiologist, and they recommended an event monitor.  I have that on now, and I was able to catch a few episodes of this.  I was trying to get to sleep, and I just can't lay down, so here I am up trying to find some reassurance, and luckily I came across these posts.  I don't know if any of you are familiar with the event monitor, but you push the button when you have symptoms, and then it fills up after four, and then you call them in.  Well, I just called the four I had in, and I was a nervous wreck cause the technician put me on hold, and they've never done that before.  But, he came back and said that he just needed to check with another technician, but I guess everything was ok, and he said he couldn't tell me anything, but not to worry.  
    I have an appointment with my cardiologist tomorrw morning, so I'm very anxious to see what he says.  
   Steph, the thing is, I know exactly what you mean about the medication!  It's like I wrote your letter!!  I've had these for probably about 18 years, and I've tried a couple of different meds, but not for very long.  My symptoms would get better initially, but then worsen again.  Also, like you, I don't like the idea of being on medication, unless these arrythmias are life-threatening.  I've read where every single heart medication out there has the potential to make the situation worse, so if they are not dangerous, I like the idea of trying to deal with them on my own.  
    Usually I can do that, I can eat well, sleep well, drink lots of good water, all these things that seem to calm the palps down.  But, lately, this feeling of having runs of them, or whatever it is, seems to me to be more dangerous, and scary.  Obviously I'm having lots of trouble sleeping since I feel better when I'm sitting up, so I get out of bed, which probably makes the situation worse.  I find that I feel better if I'm busy.  Like, tonight, I was running around doing chores, feeding the dogs, etc...and I didn't feel bad.  Then, it's when I go to rest and lay down and this comes on.  
    I am overweight right now, and I feel like maybe the palps might come on when I lay on my left side from extra weight, I don't know.  But, even when I'm walking around or up, I still get a lot of PVC's throughout the day.  It's sooo frustrating!!  
    The way you explained it helped me, because you said you have a pause, then a beat, then a pause, etc.  When I'm feeling my pulse on my wrist as this is happening, it's so hard to explain.  Just totally irregular.  It feels like constant PVC's.  If this kept happening, that would be life-threatening, right?  I thought that led to Ventricular fibrillation, doesn't it?  
     I hope the cardiologist doesn't just come in and prescribe me medication~~I want to know what I'm having and if they are dangerous.  Sometimes I think they just don't know, and they won't give you an answer either way.  
     Anyway, thanks so much for the great post, it really helped me tonight.  I was so nervous after getting off the phone, I was shaking all over.  
    Talk to you soon, Val

[katie404]

I know how you feel.  There are days that I cry myself to sleep.  I have been given a prescription for a BB--altenolol--but have decided to try other alternatives.  My pvcs increased significantly when my doctor increased my dosage of prilosec from 1-20mg per day to 2-20mg per day.  Going back to 1-20mg per day did help.  I also started taking magensium and fish oil, my pvcs have again decreased.  I still have bad days, but not to the same degree as before, time will tell.  I am worried about taking a BB because I already have low blood pressure and don't need any new problems.  Another thing that a nurse told me to do was to take potasium when I am having a bad time with pvcs.  Even though my potasium level is in the normal range, it may not be enough for me.  I have tried it and it does seem to settle them down.  You are not alone.

[upbeat633]

Don't apologize for being a "downer", no way are you that. Maybe you feel a little down, but you've just said it yourself, there are days you can handle this just fine, and other days, maybe like today, that it gets the better of you.

Tomorrow might be completely different. It's what I hold on to, it's what I look forward to, when I'm having a bad day. Tomorrow.

And remember too, with or without pvcs, premenstral stuff can be difficult, you've just got a double whammy right now. Hang in there friend.

[steph4501]

Thank you so much once again for your reassuring post...  So some people can get Bigeminy forever, and it not hurt the heart?  That makes me feel a little better that your electrophysiologist said that.  I hope I get a break soon.  If even thousands a day, I don't care as long as they are more spaced out if that makes sense..

I just get this dreaded feeling like, "what if something occurs because of these."  I know I can not think that way, but its hard some days.  Some days I can have them as frequent as I do now and not let it get to me, but then some days I just want to scream or cry, and pray they go away.

Sorry for being such a downer.  This is hard to deal with at times and its even harder to think that although they are not normal persay, they are benign.  

Thanks to everyone for responding and sharing in your experiences..  It REALLY REALLY helps to have a forum such as this to post..  Especially when we feel alone.  There are so many people going through this, even if different frequencies, they bother us all the same...

Thinking of you all!  

Stephanie  =o)

[upbeat633]

I'm sorry you are having such a rough time of it. I've been there, if that helps at all, and I'm still here to talk about it. AND I've had some pretty good days and times in between the bad ones. I try to focus on those good days when I'm in a rough patch like you are now. I just keep telling myself, this will pass, this will pass.

But there are times I've been beside myself not knowing if I could make it another hour suffering with constant pvcs, bigeminy, trigeminy, couplets, triplets, nsvt. I've sat on the edge of the sofa, so many times finally deciding this is THEE time I've got to go to the E.R., only to remind myself that if they are JUST pvcs, the E.R. staff wouldn't be able to do much for me anyhow.  I fall back into the sofa exhausted and they just keep coming, thump, skip, thump skip. Drives me mad. I usually get up and clean something.

I agree with oceanminded, who just posted. A life saver for me has been xanax. It doesn't do a thing for the pvcs, but it makes me mind them less. I am at the point where just having the bottle in hand makes me feel better. I can take one if I want, I feel more secure knowing that. You might benefit from something like that too??

An electrophysiologist I saw earlier this year said that people can exist in a pattern of bigeminy forever practically, but it is very rare for high frequency pvcs to cause heart damage. Can it happen? Sure. You and I and everyone walking the face of the earth can develop anything. Do most people spend their time thinking about that? No. But for us it's different, we have a constant knocking in our chest, a tapping on our shoulder, beat, skip, beat, skip. So you have to practice distraction, and I don't think it hurts to have some form of relaxation aid on hand whether it's herbal or phamecuetical like xanax.

[oceanminded]

I'm new to PVC's myself and they scare the living daylights out of me. I've been dealing with anxiety issues the last few years which I believe brought these on. From your post you sound like your at your wits end. I know its scary to try meds but if they help you can get your life back. Anxiety is a killer. A never ending loop of symptom after symptom. I would suggest an anti anxiety med (Lexapro has helped for me). Also, take a benzo like xanax or ativan just for a short time until the anti-anxiety med has a chance to work. It can take up to six weeks for its full effect to take place. Also a sleeping pill at night should help. Take fish oil and magnesium as well. Spend a little extra on some good quality brands especially with the fish oil. I know this sounds like a lot of meds but your body needs a chance to recover and calm down. Eventually you can taper off these meds when you start to feel better. Also, you can take very low doses since your not used to taking meds. I figure its worth a try if it helps. If it doesn't then you have nothing to lose because your already feeling bad. Good Luck!

[Bon-Bon]

Hi Stephanie :  )  You can vent anytime you want to.  We are here for you. You don't need to feel sorry for doing so sweet heart.  I / WE understand your frustration.  Mine have kicked up today too.  Its getting cooler these days and it seems that cold weather is one of the things that induces them to be more bothersome, in my case.  

I cry too, when they become so extremely bothersome.  I shed some tears yesterday and last night too.... right along with you.  I became very frustrated and even down right angry about it and all the emotions that go along with it.  

You know what?  When I do allow myself a good cry, in my case,  it aids in helping to reduce the severity of the PVC's afterwads....imagine that.  And when I sometimes feel all teary eyed, and my husband would happen to notice the tears welling up in my eyes, he would tell me that is only going to make things worse, working yourself up like that, try to calm down.  He was really trying to be helpful.  But in fact, the opposite would be true for me.  It helped me to just cry, just get out all that built up frustration and anxiety about what these things make me feel like inside, and how they affect my daily life.  

Crying is a natural way of release.  It feels like an internal cleansing and healing afterwards.  When I use to hold it in, I would feel tears welling up constantly all throughout the day, everyday!  Now, I cry a good cry when I feel like it.  I refuse to hold the tears back anymore and that has led to the crying spells are becoming further apart now.  It does happen more often the days leading up to my period.  I / We have an understanding as to what you are going through.  

But you are going to make it through this day and...... the next .......and ,,,,,,,,the next.....and.......  You know what?  I bet we who are having these scary and annoying things will probably out live the majority!  lol :  )  I know this older gentelman who told my husband and I, that his mother had these things severely, all of her life, since she was a child.  She lived to be 100 yrs old and those arrythmias is not what caused her death in the end.

[steph4501]

Yes, I tried the light switch theory and he didn't seem to budge.  He said, "why are you doing that?"  I said, well I am showing you what it's like to have something ANNOYING happen.  He said, "well stop it."  I said, "why is it annoying you."  He just looked at me like I was NUTS!  LOL...  *sigh*  

Then last night I got so fed up with these pvc's...  I cried!  Everytime I lay down I can feel the more, and they were so frequent.  Also everytime I close my eyes, I get dizziness for a short time.  Not vertigo, but a quick jolt of dizziness...  ugh....  

I am just wanting these to give me a break.  I am nt even asking for them to go away, just a break!!  That's all!

How can I keep sane with pvc's every other beat, or every 2-3 beats all day long!!  Somethings gotta give....  I know I sounds so anxious on here, but in reality I am so use to these, they just annoy me more than anything.  When I get the bad runs, then I get scared...

*sniff*

I guess my biggest fear is that I will start having so many skips back to back (with no normal beat in between) and it will end up hurting me.

UGH!!!!!!  I just want to be happy again.  have a few glasses of wine now and then, have some caffeine, chocolate, etc...  All the things I haven't been doing because of these.  But I guess it doesn't matter!  I still get them regardless of not having the things I enjoy!  

Sorry to vent here...  I am just so dang frustrated!  Not to mention I am a few days away from my period!  Just feeling emotional...

Wishing you all well!!!!!!!  

Stephanie

[upbeat633]

So I'm curious to find out if you tried the light switch technique on your husband? I hope he took it all in good stride.

It helps to have a companion who truly understands what you are going through, not just one who gives you a pat on the back and says it will be ok. That being said, you need a companion who won't let you wallow in self pity too long either, one who will give you a little shove when you need to get back in the game. It's a fine line, takes an extrordinary person to know when to give and when to push, but then.....we're all worth it aren't we :-))

[Bon-Bon]

I would like to offer this prayer for your mom, you and the family....... that God will heal your mom completely, be made whole and well in body, mind and spirit.  And that she and your family will receive from our creator, GOD,  renewed strength, vitality and endurance to pass through this difficult time and claim the VICTORY over defeat for the glory of God, in Jesus Christ name.  Amen.

[upbeat633]

I recall you shared with us your mother's fight with breast cancer not too long ago. I hope she is keeping good spirits and is winning her battle, even small battles, the day to day ones can be big victories.

Your focus on her may give you some relief of your pvcs despite the extreme stress you both must be under. I've always said that if I could just distract myself sufficiently, my pvcs would be less bothersome. Some distraction you've found. I, as I'm sure this whole forum does, wish you and your mom the very best.

You may find during this difficult time that your need for atenolol increases. I wouldn't be too discouraged by this. Recently, I've had to increase the small amount of acebutolol I've been taking because I think my body has become accustomed to it. But it's helped, and that is the point. I'm going to try to reduce it shortly. I'll let you know how it goes. I hope it is the same for you, just a blip in the road.

[upbeat633]

I hope that your husband has a "light bulb" moment, no pun intended. You know, that look that comes over a persons face when you know they finally "get" it. Either way, it's good to know you can laugh about it. Humour is a good tool against pvcs.

I've been there, hours, if not days of bigeminy. *****. it's fatiguing. Then when it changes to longer beats between pvcs, I walk around on egg shells for a little while not wanting to upset the apple cart. THEN, if you can believe this, I start wondering why I feel so strange, it's because I'm NOT feeling constant pvcs. uggh, can't live with them can't live without them, what a predicament, hee hee.

I also know how you feel about medication, I resisted for 12 years after a cardiologist told me it probably wouldn't help, might even make them worse. But as you know when you get multiple thousands per day, you get desperate. I tried three, with no good effect on the pvcs and lots of side effects like worse fatigue. I finally said enough is enough and went to see an electrophysiologist because I was ready to say yes to ablation if he recommended it. He DIDN'T. As a matter of fact he refused. PVCs are benign, he said, burning your heart is not. What did he offer? Another BB (sectral/acebutolol). Phewy I thought. But you know what? It seems to have stopped the multiple strings, although recently I've had some break though pvcs which are persistently annoying.

Sorry for the long post, but I hope some of it will help just knowing you are not alone. I used to think that I could have been a twin of momto3, our pvc history seemed so similar, now I'm beginning to think we could be triplets! Hang in there.

[steph4501]

I just wanted to say I am very sorry to hear about your Mother and her Dx with breast cancer.  Hopefully she will beat that and everything will be OK!  I have heard that breast cancer is the most curable type of cancer in women, so let's hope!  I am glad she will be fighting it...  Hugs to you!!!

[steph4501]

Thank you!  I am going to do that one night.  Turn the lights off and on, many times a minute.  LOL..  Maybe then he will get it. Maybe not, but hey I think I could at least laugh at it!  hehe.....  You all on here are such an inspiration!

Anyway, my heart is still doing its dance many times a minute.  Last night it was in Bigeminy again (every other beat for hours) and then this morning, it was in Bigeminy AGAIN.  I am so tired of this...  *sigh*.....  

I see my Cardiologist again on the 12th of November.  Don't think much else will happen.  I mean, all she can do is prescribe me beta blockers which I do not want to take.  She mentioned referring me to an electrophysiologist, but again what would that accomplish?  She said it would be more for reassurance of another Dr. telling me they are benign, or he would talk to me about Ablation, which again I do not want.  *sigh*  There is no winning.  Ablation has risks and PVC's don't, right?  Other than the nasty feelings they cause.  

Anyway, hope you all are haing a good day!  Anyone else excited about the Election??  

Take care all...

Stephanie

[Ihatepalps2]

As always, I SOOO respect and trust dolfnlvr's posts. Always always ALWAYS makes me feel better. I just wanted to post....I havent been here to this particular forum in a while...( thats a GOOD thing!!) but as you can tell from my screen name..Ihatepalps2... I am very familiar with palpitations!
To STEPH4501...your original post..could have been written by me. I mean, every bit of it..with the exception of the atenolol...Ive been on that for..oh..20 years....dosage has been increased over the years. I now take 50 mg in the morning..and 50 mg at night. Most of the time it works great. Like I said, I havent had many palps at all ( knock on wood!) in quite a while. Im afraid they may be returning, though..they always do when Im under stress..and Ive never been under as much as I have been recently; and/or will be in the future...my mom has recently been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer...a shock to everyone. Shes going to fight..of course..but its going to be tough.
I cannot believe that I havent had palps...they always come out during this type of situation for me.
SO...I may be back, for support.....but for now...I will just pop in and out....take care

[upbeat633]

I know how frustrating pvcs can be, and I know how frustrating it is to try to explain them to someone who is not having them. Benign--not harmful--is all they hear, so get past it. But we feel something completely different because we FEEL them! I don't know of any other organ in our body that it's thought ok to feel it's function, constantly.

The light switch analogy is the best I've come up with to describe how my day is interrupted by them, try ignoring a light being turned on and off 20 times a minute!

So if you really want your husband to understand, just turn the lights on and off for a couple of minutes, AND don't tell him before you do it.

Try doing it at night when the difference would be most noticable, especially as that's when most of us feel them the strongest--at night.

He may be a little mad about it at first, but maybe he will have a better understanding too, sure they are BENIGN, but try ignoring something that you can't fix and that you have no control over ((and walking out of the room won't help because the next room's lights are doing the same thing)) they are impossible to get away from. If he understands that, he understands what you are going through, how much energy you are using to ignore them as doctors suggest we do.

[nikgirl28]

I was just wondering when did the pvcs start?  How long have they lasted for?  have you always had so many a day?  sorry for all the questions...i am a mother too...and i understand how these pvcs can ruin your life and take you away from your kids...i want to help you through this...and figure out a solution....

[jondsam]

Sup,

PVC are a pain in my ***.  I understand how much they bother everyone.  I am a RN and work in the O.R. in the hospital.  Frequently our patients have PvCs show up ont their EKG's and the doctors think nothing about them.  I guess they really are not that dangerous, just common.

[dolfnlvr]

I love it.  Jump-jump-jumpedijump ole!  That's a great description of these little devils!!!

[Skippi]

now I also understand why I had lots and lots of ectopics after flying back to Australia from Europe and also having had a bad cold at the same time (sinus). I arrived home, totally exhausted, couldn't hear properly (ears+sinus+flying = not so good!) and went to sleep. Jump-jump-jumpedijump ole! I thought: who cares, let me sleep, let me die, whatever, I do not care anymore! Of course I slept and woke up again :)