Just feel like giving up !!

[anjolive]

You know this feeling ???  I've had pvc's/pac's for the past 15 years off and on. They've never been that bad up until last week. In the past when I have gotten them it's usually been about 10-20 a day for a few days then gone for a few months then back one day etc etc etc.  This past week and a half I've had them almost all of the day and night, just at night, just in the morning etc. But this time the "flutter" is longer (5-8 seconds) and the frequency of them are coming sometimes every 5 minutes for hours. THIS is what is making me absolutely insane !!!  Never had it this long now (11days and counting) and never this many times in a day. (10-20 before and now 100+ per day). Went to the ER here in Boston last weekend and saw the "irregular" flashing on the ECG monitor as I was there for several hours. No one in ER seemed to be bothered by all the "irregular" beats. As I looked closer at the monitor in my room I could see that the EKG monitor will tell you the '"type" of arrythmia your having. From what I can see it only showed 1 PVC for the 2-3 hours I was there. But it did show that I was having episodes of "irregular" heartbeats at times and those are the times I'm feeling the flutters !!  So what were they ?? I forgot to even ask because I felt like such a pain in the butt over there. So the next day I had Holter put on for 24hrs. Dropped holter off next day (this past wed.) Tech told me cardiologist would read it and get right back to me. Well its now Friday and there all gone on hiatus for Thanksgiving !!!!  Called cardio doc on call (head of arrythmia) he called back and said "it takes a few days to get the download"....Well...Now I sit here and wonder !!! I'm ususally not nerotic about this stuff but I am well educated and I feel i'm getting the run around on a seriuos matter..I have a great family and I want to be around forever with them. I just need some support right now thats all...I have that deep sunken feeling of depression that goes along with this. Its the holidays and I'm so unhappy about this. My dad died years ago from a heart attack (thrombrosis) and mt step dad died a year ago from an ARRYTHMIA after surgery for prostrate so you know how I feel about this now. Anyhow...just posting my crybaby thoughts...Sorry for the long post....

[palpmo]

I am so glad to have read this posting..I just posted PVC's at wits end...I have been crying all day over my PVC's...I'm having a really bad episode for a week now and I felt like I was having a break down when I found this site..all of you have made me feel sooo much better.  I have never talked to anyone who feels what I feel, 500 times a day right now.  I am so glad to know I'm not insane.  I hate the way PVC's have ruled my life for the past 8 years....I hope to get a little sense of peace from knowing that I am not alone...

[Sheanean]

I have finally found the answer. I think I have a hiatal hernia! My doctors all think I'm just nuts, so they keep prescribing medicines that either make the problem worse, or make me feel like I'm on another planet. I keep trying to tell them there is something else. I have had a pain in my chest since I was 12. No Dr. could ever come up with a good answer as to what caused that. They all gave me a different diagnosis. Now, I'm 38 and I'm getting closer to the truth. 7 years ago, I gave birth to my daughter and the nausea has been with me since. For 4 years now, I have had trouble going to sleep most of the time. It's like I fall off of a building right as I drift off...like 15 times a night. I started feeling fluttering and palpitations. the cardio tests showed a healthy heart but a sensitivity to the amount of adrenalin my body produced in surges. After doing a lot of outdoor work and heavy lifting, I got worse. Tons of gas in my stomach. The more gas in my stomach, the worse I felt. Dizziness, weakness, palps, confusion, voises seemed more distant. I ended up in the ER, (waste of time) two times when it got so bad that I really felt I wouldn't make it. It lasted for at least 7 hours each time and I felt bad the rest of the week. Both times though, there was a link between what I had ingested and how I felt. I'm sure it aggrivated the existing problem and brought on these terrible symptoms. I had drank an energy drink, taken a decongestant for my irritating allergies that have stuck around for a year now,  ate chocolate and had a little bit of Dr.Pepper.  Normally, that wouldn't be a problem. Now it is, and I'm sure it has everything to do with my stomach. We know our bodies, don't we? We live in them all of our life. We know when something is off, besides just our minds. I have read several things that say that anxiety can be a side effect of a hiatal hernia. Chicken and egg..one can cause the other. In my case, it was probably something that started in me as a child and got worse with each labor and delivery. the last child really made it worse, and the heavy lifting topped it off. However, getting my doctor, or any other doctor, to belive that, is a different story. It's like a movie where someone is trying to make people believe them, but no one will. So frustrating!
I'm going to the gastrologist next week. Maybe, he'll have it together and know exactly what's going on and how to deal with it so I don't have to for the rest of my life. I want my life back. This is terrible. You never know when an 'attack' will happen next. It was fuel for my fire when I found that one of my good friends had the same thing happen to her 8 years ago. She too, had anxiety and never put the hiatal hernia and the anxiety together. She went through counselling and all the meds, but at the same time she was seeing a gastro specialist and he put her on 'Aciflex'. She's taken it for the 8 years and is completely better, even with the small hiatal hernia. I'm getting closer guys! I can feel it! Let them say I'm crazy!! All I care about is surviving this and growing old.

[Momto3]

Hope you are feeling a bit better this evening.  I can hear the frustration and anxiety in your words.  There are lots of us here who can help you "walk the walk."  I agree with PVCman, take it easy, focus on everything else this weekend, grab a good book, take in a favorite movie, shop with a friend (after today), stop by and order your favorite take out, whatever you need to enjoy the next few days.  Then, on Monday, give the doctor's office a call and let them know that you have been waiting (patiently...lol) for your results.  They may be busy on Monday, so you may want to call first thing, or a little later in the morning.  

In the meantime, what I can tell you is that pvcs are very, very common and are almost always benign.  Don't let them run your life, instead run along side them and smile.  They're like hiccups -- drive you crazy, feel weird, but must run their course (albeit a bit longer sometimes).  As long as you were feeling the weird beats during the holter, your doctor will have a good idea of what's causing the flutters.  Based on the results, he/she may offer you a beta blocker or just some sound advice.  The number of pvcs you are having is not significant.  When I was having in the tens of thousands per day, I was the ONLY one concerned....I could NOT believe I kept hearing "benign."  What's weird is that they would come and go for no reason.  So, the good news is, they will probably disappear as fast as they appeared.  Remember, to spend some time pampering yourself.  I'll bet you're gonna be just fine : )

Connie

[jbriggs]

Hey, I started getting heart palpitations in April 06 and have continued to have them for the last year and half.  Have made 5 trips to the emergency room($$$$$), holter monitor, event monitor, stress test, ekgs, dye in my arm and echocardiogram.  Believe me I feel like I've been getting the run around for sometime now.  The reason I'm telling you this is because I also have seen my pvcs' on the screen at the hospital and I was told that what I'm having is normal.  I read alot on the internet, people with the same symptoms and one thing we all have in common is that the doctors all say were fine.  I have a hard time believing this because of the way I feel, and I too get scared that I'm going to die.  I never started getting them until I got out of college and went to work.  I'm a healthy 26 yo male and I feel like my heart is going to stop.  I have gone through all the steps to make sure my heart is healthy and they tell me it is.  I continue to have the pvc though.  I think that some people get them and some don't.  I have been told that I suffer from anxiety but the heart palps r what bring on the anxiety.  Very seldom does someone with our conditions have a serious problem.  Find a doctor you can trust and tell them your true feelings on the pvcs.  I continue to suffer but have realized that after 18 mos of pvc if something serious was going to happen, it probably would have already happened, we might be that small percent of the population that suffers.  When you start to have them, do something active, get up and out, I promise you will chill out it works for me, also don't let others around you get you worked up, my lady is very good about this because she has to endure all the e-room trips, stress etc.. so in a way she suffers too. She has learn to rub my back lightly with her nails tell me I'm all right, remind me of what the docs said.  Hang in there and try some natural ways to put it out of your mind it helps alot!!!!!! Good luck Let me know we can a support eachother

[PVC man]

Don't be sorry...we have all been there on those bad days.  Its corny but true to say that the more you worry about it, the worse the PVCs will be.  Try to think about anything else this weeked...then on Monday I would follow up with the doc.

As long as nothing crazy like fainting, chest pain, is going on, try to take a deep breath and relax.

Don't panic about the number of PVCs or other stuff,there are plenty of us that have had them in the hundreds/thousands for weeks/months at a  time with NO problems.  My cardio is very UNIMPRESSED when I tell him how many I'm getting....he really could care less as my testing has all come back okay...so try to stay calm and that should help...

Remember also that a LOT of times with these tests no news is good news as they frerquently will only call patients if something is WRONG with the results.  I

Good luck and let us know how it goes!!

Hang in there!!!!