Just HAVE to vent...they are terrible....

Ireneo..where are you....you and I so similar...Im hoping you will read this..but ANYBODY...I just cannot stand it, so Im going to vent...Im a 50 yr old female...had palps now for 19 yrs...had all the tests...and am told they are PVCs..PACs..stress caused...and to try to ignore. Im on Metoprol...mostly for blood pressure..and Enalapril for BP and to try to do something with the palps. Last holter was about a month and a half ago..caught me on a good 24 hours..I had 5,600 ...not too many.
UGH! THe past 24 hours have been brutal. Last night..its midnight. they had started around 6pm. Im sitting in bed...my heart, flopping ALLLLLLLLL over the place. I have to be up at 5am for work, and Im sitting there afraid to go to sleep. Afraid I will go into vtach and die in my sleep. Sound silly?? I didnt feel silly. Its so hard, to lay down when that is happening, ya know???

I knew I had to go to sleep or today would be miserable ( it was)....so....took a xanax and fell asleep. I would bet my heart flopped and flipped all night...cause I woke up and had them immediatly. THey are not constant, but ...pretty close together. I can kinda tell when its the heavier, thumpier pVc......those to me, are scarier. They are so...strong. Ive had those since the middle of the night, now, Im still irregular, but its the flippy, lighter ones that I know are pAcs....

i can stand alot from these...god knows Ive had them long enough. But..after 24 hours of  THIS...I just reach that breaking point, ya know??? I have to vent..my family..is tired of hearing about them. My husband is NOT sympathetic...I think if he was, it would really relieve them to some degree. When Iam alone in the night with them ( he works sometimes at night) it makes them alot worse.
I wish he was sympathetic...i need SOMEONE to be. But...im pretty much alone with them.
Even my cardiologist....hes about had it with me.....he did the last holter only to shut me up I know. Its not like I run to the dr...Ive only been there twice this year, once for a physical with my reg DR ....and then when the palps were bad in April to my Cardio..but hes been telling me for several years now, the same thing...so I cant even call HIM....he wouldnt even see me!!

So....thank you all for listening.....i still have them at this very moment...but...Im thinking someone out there in "palp-land"....or..I should say "palp-hell"...will relate to what Im feeling......?

[bbxx]

Hi there. I totally get it. Over 4,000 pvcs on my good day.
I guess I differ because I would rather fall asleep and die without knowing it than be awake and scared. lol
I too have been having a LOT. Today was trigeminy and bigeminy off and on.
Hang in there, you are not alone. (except mine are pvcs not pac)

[yarrow]

To judge from all the tests you have had over the years, your heart is essentially healthy.  The problem then is not really the heart.  You say you need a sympathetic ear, which most of us who have these funny beats can truly use.  A counselor or shrink who specializes in anxiety can provide that, plus real help.  I know from experience.

[kbug1013]

you need to see a Cardiologist that does Ep Studies. This could help you, they deal with this kind of stuff on a daily basis. It is worth a try.

[ireneo]

Hey there. I've been tied up the past 24 hours with our grandson. Talk about exhausting. And my heart is too tired to misbehave. I guess that's good.

I think it's fine to complain now and then. People who don't live with arrhythmias don't understand how it really feels. I may mention I have arrhythmias but someone will say "Oh yeah, I have those too. Sometimes my heart feels like it just jumped in my chest."  I smile and let it go. A rare single jump seems like nothing but I know they're just trying to connect. If you explain what it's really like to live with wacky rhythms day and night, their eyes glaze over and you know it's time to move on to another subject. LOL

I know how you feel when you have those bad days when the heart just won't shut up. When I have a day like that, especially if I'm having chest pain and am light-headed, I break down and take one of my Diltiazem. Of course that gives me such a nasty headache I'm too distracted to think about my heart. Does that mean it's working?  Ha! Who knows.

Do you have a med you can use as "pill in the pocket" style? It does help and you're not locked into a pill every day.

Perhaps tomorrow will be better. The most important thing is to sleep, get lots of rest. Lack of rest is my biggest enemy when it comes to heart. Let us know how tomorrow goes.

[Mom2four85]

Ireneo you hit the nail on the head...people who don't live with them, don't understand and some who do have them still don't understand or know how to express empathy for those of us they do bother; luckily I think most of us in the HR forum understand

[babygirlyoyo2002]

I agree with you 100% I vent often in my journals but this is the place to find more people who are going through the same thing you are. I have about 6000 PVC's per day and I agree with you, I am some times scared to go to sleep...thinking I will die in my sleep. The only difference in our situations is that I have heart failure to go with my irregular rhythm. I do know a friend who have stress related irregular rhythms and they take low doses of anti-anxiety meds and see a therapist to help them cope.

[bbxx]

If you have heart failure, wouldnt they ablate the pvcs?