I NEED HELP...I'M SO DEPRESSED and SCARED

[LorrieK]

I'm hoping some of you on this board can help. I'm a 52 yr old woman, completely disabled from an auto accident. I am not mobile ...except for very limited mobility. About a week ago my PVC's, bigeminies and trigeminies resfuraced with a vengence. I have long long runs of bigeminies and trigeminies and also single ones that make a thud in my neck and chest. I went to the ER last Thursday and of course I only had a few PVC's . It seems very odd that the faster my heart rate goes..the less PVC's that I have. I had an episode like this occur last September...but, not as severe. I went to see my cardiologist. He did a 24hr holter and an Echo and blood work. All came back normal. Eventually ...2 months later...they disappeared as fast as they had come on. This time around the PVC's are much more frequent all day and night...almost constant with occasional reprieve for 5 or 10 min here and there. I had two Echos last year...one in Jan...one in Oct....both normal. I am concerned because I am not mobile. Do the PVC's, bigeminies and trigeminies and PACS mean that my heart has gotten weaker ?  It's so physically taxing for me to go to a doctor appt. I was check out in the ER last Thursday and I went to my PCP yesterday and she is checking out my thyroid and electrolites. I have become incredibly depressed over these arrhythimias coming back. I have called my cardiologist and he assured me that they are probably once again...benign. Even though I'm homebound...I can't even enjoy my day anymore as I'm so depressed and scared over this new episode. I take Librium and have for the last 14 years. I cannot tolerate any anti depressants and had a horrible reaction to beta blockers. Why do these things come on out of the blue ? My doctor told me to increase the Librium. Is it normal to feel depression when these return ? I had NONE for 10  months...except for 1 or 2 each month. Now I'm having several thousand each day...if not more. Can anyone give me any reassurance as I'm extremely depressed, scared and sooo tired. Look forward to your response.

[ptadvoc8]

Hi Lorrie,

I am relatively healthy (except for my heart and arrhythmia challenges) and I get depressed and frightened sometimes, so I can't imagine how hard and challenging it must be for you!

It sounds like the good news is that these are benign, but still they are disrupting in a way that only someone else who has them can really understand. It is also good to know that the last time you had a period of episodes, it eventually abated and you felt better. So, while you may feel frustrated and like this is never-ending during the episodes, it is a reasonable expectation that they will abate and you will feel better again soon!

I'm going to go ahead and tread in murky waters here and suggest that if you haven't already tried it, you might consider a few sessions of stress reduction and relaxation training combined with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy counseling. I tried it and found it really worked wonders for me. It did not cure me of arrhythmia or palpitations, but it did improve my symptoms and made me feel so much less anxious and my mood improved considerably. In studies conducted by both medical researchers and the insurance companies, more than 85% of patients who received this type of therapy showed marked improvement in symptoms, and more importantly, in mood and satisfaction with quality of life. Many insurance companies will happily pay for this because they have found it reduces patient visits to the ER and PCPs, and saves them money in the long run. The key is to find a really good therapist or program, and in your case you have some very big challenges beyond your cardiac episodes to consider as well. If you continue feeling the way you do, you might ask your cardio or PCP for a referral to a good program or therapist if you haven't already tried something along those lines.

In the meantime, all I can offer is that to the extent of the limitations of on-line support groups, were here we're with you, we understand your frustration and fear, we hope you are soon feeling better and we wish you well.

[Wisconsin2007]

Hang in there, Lorrie.   I spent roughly 10 months during 2006 having approximately 15-20,000 PVCs, all day, every day.  Every day I wondered if that was day I was going to die.  And now, other than a handful of bad days here and there, I'm relatively symptom free.  But even now, when I get a bad run (had one about 2 months ago), with bigeminy, trigeminy for more than a few days, I can get depressed, too.

And if you think about how and why PVCs happen, it makes perfect sense why PVCs don't happen as often when your heart rate goes up.  PVCs happen when small groups of easily excited heart cells fire off an electrical impulse before they are supposed to.  It happens after the ventricles have repolarized, but before the normal depolarization, initiated from the AV node.  When your heart rate is higher, there just isn't enough time between beats for those rogue heart cells to send out their electrical signal before the AV node does it.

I'm sorry about the car crash and how it's changed your life - I've never walked a mile in your shoes, but I have to think that having these PVCs come back is a little extra hard on you than it is on me.  But you'll make it through.  Promise.  You've had all the relevant tests (just like I did) and you got good news (like I did), but you're just having trouble believing the doctors (like I did).  But they're probably right - you're going to be fine.

I check email pretty much all hours of the day and night, so if you want to talk more, you can email me at jeffsskippyheart[at]yahoo[dot]com.