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Avatar universal

Long PVC-really scared!!!!

I have been doing pretty good with my PVC's, but yesterday I had one so bad, worse then anything I have had since the onset of my PVC's in May of last year.  It lasted like 2-3 seonds and I felt like I might pass out immediately after (I don't know if that is considered having a couplet or not)   I was so afraid that after I was able to get myself together I just sat on the couch afraid to move.  This was one of those really ugly ones where it feels like your heart stops for a moment and you feel like you are going to drop dead at any second.  I just don't know what to do anymore, I am at my wits end!!  I feel like nobody can help me, no doctors, therapist, family, NOBODY.  I am losing my mind over these things!!  I feel like I am going to die from sudden death at any moment now.  I have been posting on this site for a while and know what the doctors say, but I just don't see how these things can't do harm IF you have a sturcturally normal heart.  I mean I literally was in my kitchen talking to my husband and kids and it hit me out of nowhere and I almost dropped to my kness but I was too afraid to DO THAT!  I don't know what brought it on either.  I went to a dinner party ealier and had some some mango tea, but the host told me it had no caffeine in it!  

Has anyone experienced any PVC's like this?  I don't mean the hard beats or the thumping, I mean the kind that stop you in your track and make you feel like you are going to drop right then and there?  I feel like I am the only one and maybe the doctors are missing something and it will be too late when they do find out what is wrong with me.  I have been thru the various tests, worn the monitors and am on a beta blocker for my PVC's; but I can't increase the dosage because it makes me too lethargic and I don't think I get them often enough to take flecanide (sp) or anything like that.  Besides, the side effects for antiarrhythmia drugs scare me worse then the PVC's.

Everyone keeps telling me it's anixety, but I just can't believe that anxiety can make me feel like THIS.  I know the "usual" signs of anxiety, i.e. fast heart beats, nausea, feeling like you are going to fanit, etc. but the irregular beats are a whole 'nother animal.  Please someone help me out, I really need to feel like I am not going to die from these things and leave my three kids and husband.  I have been in tears over this and am extremely depressed!  Oh, and please excuse this same post on the anxiety forum if you are a member there also.

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Avatar universal
I don't really know what silent heart attacks are,other than I didn't know I had them.And no I had no idea of them,until the anthesioligist came and said something but after talking with the surgeon,they decided to go ahead.I had an EKG for pre op.But nothing was said til surgery.I am stressing so much about this.I know I will have more information
when I see the cardio BUT.... til then I am very scared.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I am so glad you wrote. I had that same type of pvc for the first time a few days ago. I also cried and became very depressed and anxious over it. I thought for sure my heart was going to stop beating and I was going to drop dead. but then I get online and read that another person has experienced the same thing and that they are still around and it comforts me. Each day is an experience.
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Avatar universal
Not to sound ignorant, but did you and your doctors know that you had 2 "silent" heart attacks before your scheduled surgery or you found out after?  Ummm, what exactly are silent heart attacks?

I can only imagine the turmoil you must be feeling.  You are definately in my thougths.  I have been trying to have gallbladder surgery since this time last year, and I am too afraid to go thru w/it.  I hope your cardio can shed some light and give you some peace of mind!
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Avatar universal
Has anybody out there had this happen?I was on the operating table
2 days ago to have my gallbladder out,when I was given 2mg of versed
and 2 minutes later while being moved on to the table I went into what
they called bigemniy.They stopped my surgery and now I need to be cleared by a cardio.I have been so stressed out about this and have made myself very sick and the anxiety makes me feel like I am having
a heart attack and I don't want to breathe.My ECG showed I have had
2 silent heart attacks.I can't see a cardio for 6 more days.If you can advise something I really would appreciate it.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
dennis-Yep, I realize that running really isn't good for our joints, but I really do miss it.  It  seemed to clear my head and it just made me feel so much better; however, I know walking is the best form of exercise, so I am going to try my best to start some type of routine.  My  kids always want to go walking with me, maybe I will let them since I'm not walking that fast anyway :-)

poohbear- If you don't have to take meds I wouldn't.  I mean, if you have been able to handle it for 15 years w/no meds, I think you  don't need them  unless they are just making you miserable.  I realize they are really just giving you the medication to relieve the symptoms, but at the time I went on mine I needed them badly.
I am sure everything is fine with you and your echo will be 100% normal.  Keep me posted.
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Avatar universal
Well, I went to the cardio today and told him what the pharmacist said....so now I am still having my echo next Friday and I am also wearing the 30 day King of Hearts monitor.He said if all this comes back normal again I can either try digatsin (don;t know the spelling) or just live with the palps. But for now no meds. I think I can live with them as I have for about 15 years as long as I know nothing has changed with my heart.  My last echo was about 10 years ago...and the same with the monitor.  Hopefully nothing has changed and is all normal.

Anita
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Avatar universal
I loved to run, too. Later, people told me walking at least 40 minutes a day was better in fighting the arrhythmia. I tried and felt better. I walked on the treadmill first. After a while, I felt my knees got hurt. Then changed to walk outdoor. I don't know why walking is better than running. It's a mistery, isn't it?

By the way, if it is necessary, please ask a family member to walk with you. It is safer.
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Avatar universal
Fran, that is good.  I just had an echo in May of 07 and I want another one already :-)

dennis52, wow, years apart.....I can't even imagine that.  Mine are more like days sometimes weeks apart, and I consider that good.  I really do want to start exercising again as I love to run, but I am mucho afraid.  I have started walking every once in a while, or I go to the gym in my building and walk on the treadmill, but it's at a real slow speed I don't even work up a sweat!  

Let's hang in there and keep lifting each other up!  Be blessed.
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Avatar universal
Wow, seems like many of you se a cardio often. I wasn't planning to see one again after the benign diagnosis!! Maybe I should ask him if he thinks I should have a check up. I had my last echo and holter in 2006, I guess that's not too far back.

Fran
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I totally understand your feeling. In past 10 years, I experienced several similar episodes, years apart each other. They were so intensive and drove me to near-unconsciousness. They were huge impacts at my heart without any precaution. During two of them, a single shot sent my heart to arrest and chaos. I have worn holter monitor for two times. Only PVC evidences were caught. My doctor told me my case was challenging because the events were so infrequent.

I tried physical exercises and figured out a long-distant walk (at least 3 miles) every day really helped. Please try at it to see if it is helpful for you, too.

Take care!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Now this goes to show you how our doctors sometimes don't know.....I went to a neuroligist and she tried to prescribe Lexapro (I think that was it) for my headaches and I specifically asked her if it would interact with my meds and she told me NO.  Now you are saying your pharmacist said it could.  Boy I tell you the TRUTH, how scary is that.  I didn't take it because I felt I didn't need it, but my main fear was taking ANOTHER medication.  I go back to her in another week or two and I am going to mention this to her, in the meantime I am going to ask my pharmacy.

I hate that you have experienced them...they are so nasty aren't they?  I had one a few months ago that made me feel as if I may pass out but it was like for half a second; this last one FELT so much longer and I was just like "okay, don't pass out, don't die here in your kitchen in front of your entire family!!!"

Let me know if and when you decide to take the toprol, it has helped lessen the frequency and intensity of my PVC's.  I hope you have a great doctors visit.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Sounds just like what I had a couple months back...i still get them it seems about one a month where they make me feel as if I am going to pass out or die.  I believe you told me before you were on toprol.  I still haven't started mine, but I am suppose to go back to my cardiologist tomorrow.  I have been afraid to take the Toprol because my pharmacist said that it can interact with the Lexapro I am already taking. I also take Ativan and prilosec.

Anita
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21064 tn?1309308733
GREAT post!!  OMY, can I relate to your story.  For YEARS, I would "touch base" with my doctors just for a reminder that the PVC's were not going to cause a bigger problem.  I wasn't afraid of dying, but I hated the way they made me feel and the anxiety they provoked.  So, like you, I made those appointments, checked in, got my reminder and went on my way...until next time.

Now, I think part of the reason I don't worry as much is because I see a cardio 2-4 times a year and while I'm there I get my "reminder" and the reassurance that all is still well.

WOW!!  You really hit the nail on the head (at least for me)!!

Hope you're doing well!

connie
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thanks for the response.  Well I am sitting her debating on calling my regular Cardio or going to see a new one :-)  dolfnlvr, I go to the doctor so much my husband swears I have used up all the insurance-lol.  I like the analogies you made, makes sense.  

It's so crazy because in the beginning I was okay with going to the doctors and if they found something at least we could form a plan, but now I am petrified they WILL find something so I am afraid to go.  My anxiety has got the best of me right now, but I just take it one day at a time.  I hope in a few days I will be able to comfort someone else who is in the same boat.

I hope we all have better days!
Helpful - 0
255722 tn?1452546541
I have worn monitors at least 5 times that I can count right now.  None of us believes the doctors, at least at first.  Even now that I do trust the doctors, I still have to go to them now and again to ask them to remind me how I'm going to be okay.  And, I don't care that I see doctors more than some (well, okay, yes I do care, but I'm not about to stop) because I need reassurance that my heart won't thump its way to a halt.

If I were someone who suffered from ingrown toenails I would go to a podiatrist regularly to be sure that the nails were not causing problems and so that I could avoid infections.  But no-one, that I know of, EVER died of an ingrown toenail.  

So, I go to a cardiologist because my heart skips around.  Apparently, people who don't have complications don't die from this....but I still go to the doctor to make sure everything is A-okay.

If you want or need another monitor reading to bring you peace of mind...ask for one.  I guaruntee that after awhile, you will start to trust your doctor, and...if there is ANYTHING out of the ordinary to find...they really will find it.  I promise.

Take care of yourself.  Have better days.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I know that is scary. But we PVC sufferers, even NSVT sufferers,  are at no greater risk of requiring a defibrillator than the general population. Of course we all run that small risk...Nobody can promise you that won't happen to you, but this goes for everybody else without palps as well.
My friend's brother nearly died at around 40 due to cardiac arrest. It was found he had a congenital degeneration of the right ventricle. She says he never complained of palps. Now he wears an ICD.

It's like people who suffer from headaches. A headache can be indicative of something very serious insome rare occasions, but for most, it is just a nuisance, and overtime, it just remains a nuisance even if the pain increased.

We all have our bad days when our palps scare us! We just need to remind ourselves, and one another, of these realistic facts.

Smiles

Fran
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hello-

bonnytiz, I take a small dose of a beta blocker as well-25mg- I guess that is small, not sure :-)  Anyway, at one time my Cardioligst put on 50 mg but it had me way too spaced out and SEEMED to make my PVC's worse; in actuality I think it just had my hr way too low and I could FEEL the PVC's that much more.  To me the dose I am on tend to make me sleepy and lethargic at times; but then other times I am fine.  Sometimes I really don't know if it's the meds or it's my anxiety making me like this-oy vey!!!
Well, today is an okay day, but it's like I just keep waiting for another one to hit me you know?  The waiting can be just as torturious as having them, because you make yourself so sick with worry......ahhhhhhhhhhhh, where does it end?  I am really tired today and I have some stressful situations going on right now, but I am trying to breathe thru them and tell myself, if I can't change it do NOT worry about it.

Fran71, you are very right, until I choose to believe that I am going to be fine going to another cardio may not help.  I used to feel safe going to the ER and my cardio every other week-lol, but now It's like I fear the doctors and the hospital.  You all want to hear something real crazy?   Well my church owns a daycare center and in the center they  just installed a defibrilator and the installed one in the church too; well, wouldn't you know that any time I even glance at it I got into a panic!!!  All I can think is "I hope they don't have to use that on me."  It's so crazy-I swear...how can we just look at something or see something on television and it makes us panicky?  Anyway, that's me for you, worrywart at all times.  I appreciate all the advice from everyone.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thanks Connie for doing that! I'll look for Artaud's answer, anyway your explanation sounds pretty clear to me! Maybe that is what I'm experiencing, maybe it's something else....who knows! What matters is that they're benign.

I just took Inderal because I felt PVCs were coming up, after working out at the gym it happens sometimes. It's working...I'm so lucky to have a drug that works 90% of the time!

Ciao bella
Fran
Helpful - 0
21064 tn?1309308733
Hey, I posted your question to another member (Artaud) to see if he can help with this one.  He has a great understanding of how the heart works and I'll bet he'll know the answer.  Look for this post:   "Artaud - PVC question"

Connie
Helpful - 0
21064 tn?1309308733
Wise, huh?  Thanks, but I'm not so sure......LOL

I'm not exactly sure what happens with the atria when the PVC's are caught up in a run.  My best guess would be that they are kind of hovering, waiting to be brought into the game.  I believe the heart is pumping, just not too efficiently.  When I try and feel my pulse during a run, it's kind of weird.  It's sort of like quick beats (tachy), but there is no rhythm per se.  It's like if a metronome were stuck; it still hits the second ball, but it doesn't move much.  It's not like a real pulse at all.  With the bigemniy and such, I can feel normal beats in between, but not with the runs.

Hope that makes sense.  I don't know how 'correct' it is, but it's what I tend to feel.  Next time it happens, I'll try and grab my wrist and see what I feel.  Usually when I have a run of nsvt, I just sit still and try and feel what's going on...Once you're over the fear, it's really kind of interesting how the heart goes back in sync.  It's like someone walked over and tapped the ball on the metronome to get it going again.

A presto!  : )

connie
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Sorry, it's me again, but I was finally able to find a question I had posted to the CCF cardiologist a few years ago. I think that might be of some help to you:

3. Is it possible to tell just by the symptoms if simple PVCs have become complex? For instance, do triplets or NSVT feel different from simple PVCs + sinus
tachycardia?

They can feel different, but there isn't anything different we would do if you had triplets for uniform pvc's though.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
The problem is, until we decide we are going to believe the doctors, or what we read, there may be no point in seeing another cardio.
One thing that really helps me a lot in my confidence that these things are not harmful is knowing that a lot of people have them, with no symptoms. Someone pointed out on another thread of this forum that a study was carried out on people with no palps, and a lot of them had PVCs, even NSVT!!! And they didn't feel anything. It's hard to believe, but I've experienced it first-hand. My father recently wore a holter and it showed over 1000 PVCs, with 6 couplets. He says he has no idea what a PVC feels like...He's 70, had a heart attack 4 years ago, still has CAD...You'd think his heart is in worse shape than yours or mind. Still, he lives blissfully without any symptoms.
In a way we are luckier, because we had all the necessary tests. There are people who do have abnormal hearts, for whom PVCs have to be treated, and they don't know it.
I'd certainly give up the PVCs, but I try to look at the good side of it. I've been checked and my heart is fine. Try to see it that way! Maybe it helps a little.

Ps. I do the same as you: I try to take as little Inderal as I can, so that my body won't get used to it. But if I think about it: for when am I saving the good effect of Inderal? For when I turn 80? LOL If I need it now, I should take it now...according to my cardio's prescription. It's hard to get it into my head though...

We all understand where you're coming from! Sorry all for the long post.

Fran
Helpful - 0
282042 tn?1213897154
Poor you, I am sooo sorry you are feeling bad again, you seem to have a couple of days feeling a bit more positive then you get set back again!! These things are horrid, I used to hve about 3/4 months with them and then I would get a break but this time (since September) they just havnt stopped, I take a b/b , just a small dose, because the PVCs make my head so strange nd they have helped, although I know that if I increased the dose I would be alot better but I am reluctant to do that in case I get  too used to them, the doc said I could increase the dose if I was having a bad day, and then reduce them again, seems a good idea but I havnt done it yet.
With regard to the hormonal cycle, I am in the menopause and believe me that is just as bad as your hormones are all over the place every day!! I think that is the problem, and then that causes anxiety, which causes the PVCs (Cant win)
Wish I had an answer and then I could cure you all :) If only!
Lots of love to you all.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
You're so wise, Connie! I'll stick with this plan. I'm not really worried, as I've done so much internet searching and there wasn't a single post or article that said PVCs judged benign can turn threatening.

I'm sure you have been asked a billion times already, but can I ask you something about longer PVCs? When one has a  10-PVC run, for example,does that mean the atria stay still and the heart doesn't pump for the duration of the run? I'd guess not! And if you felt your pulse during such an episode, what would you feel? During my strange PVCs, my pulse simply beats faster for a few beats, but I can't feel any pause, unlike the normal PVCs.

Thank you!!!!!
Helpful - 0
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