PVC Pet Peeve

Lisa started another thread about the inconsistent, selective, and basically unhelpful doctor responses on this site.  It was very thought provoking and got me thinking about the medical responses I have received from the medical profession over the years for my sometimes 17 K per day pvcs (YES, that is 17,000 pvcs a day dumb nurse in the ER!!!!!!!!!)!!!!!  I just love it (being facetious here) when nurses, doctors including cardiologists tell me that "you really need to relax, I have pvcs too", "go home and have tea or do yoga or something, I have them too", etc. etc.  I think when these morons say this to me, they are telling me that they have maybe 10 - 12 pvcs per day, and they have learned to manage them.  I just want to scream bloody mary at them (or have several bloody mary's).  Does anyone else get annoyed at this sort of reaction from these aliens??

Debbie

[yarrow]

In fact, medical people do not know what to do for ectopic beats.  For one thing, no one understands what the cause or causes are (and they are probably multiple and perhaps genetic).  

For another, every cardiac muscle cell is naturally contractile; that is, every one of them has its own rate per minute, but they all generally 'agree' to beat as fast as the fastest cell, which is called the Pacemaker.  However, that doesn't mean that they may not, for unknown reasons, decide to take a sudden beat on their own or with a small group of neighboring buddies, which is what happens in ectopic beats.

So, outside of ablation, anything you do to suppress the renegades will affect the other heart cells.  Who wants to go there?

Third, the simple fact is that most of us who have worrisome pvcs or pacs and yet have been tested repeatedly and told we have normal, healthy hearts will go on to live the average, quite long life of 80 or so years.  We just won't enjoy a lot of those years due to worry.

But worry over non-harmful ectopic beats does not generate research funds.  And since most ectopic beats have been demonstrated over time to have very little influence on health or lifespan, doctors do not have the interest in them that they have in medically significant conditions.

[Jannie411]

Oh Deb......don't get me started......this was one of my biggest pet peeves.  Especially the moron who told me that nothing was wrong and I was a hypochondriac.  And the other moron who wouldn't refer me to a cardiologist or an EP for my PVCS or SVT.    I'm sure they would think differently and be more sympathetic if THEY were the ones who had to live with the problems PVCS and SVT create day in and day out.

[Mom2four85]

opppss sorry I'm always getting myself in trouble...[open mouth insert both size 10 feet] lol

I know what you mean though, I've fainted since age 9 and had flip flops/thumps in my chest I couldn't describe as anything else...I've heard I was doing it for attention, stress, anxiety, over reacting, hypochrondia [sp]

When I had over 50,000 pvc's and VT runs...EVERY doctor asked if I felt them? ummm yeah, how could you not feel that many...

When I was in the ER at a major Tampa hospital I had 6 doctors come in to "watch" my monitor because they didn't believe I could feel that many and was sitting up and ok; I told them if one more doctor came in I was charging admission.

In 2004 I went to my primary with chest pains SoB throbbing in my throat and the dr did an EKG and said SEE? the ekg says you're fine nothing wrong here....

My last cardio told me to exercise 2 hours daily lol I told him when I sleep more than 2 hours daily I may feel like exercising but until they fix all my problems I really don't think that's an option...I've tried 10 or 12 times in 2 years to try and exercise; heck even push myself to shop or go out - when I do I get worse....they just don't care though to find out WHY.

[beema36]

I agree with all of you and I have come to the conclusion they either don't care or just don't know what to do for this. I am hoping its the latter as hate to think they don't care.
Beema

[yarrow]

In fact, medical people do not know what to do for ectopic beats.  For one thing, no one understands what the cause or causes are (and they are probably multiple and perhaps genetic).  

For another, every cardiac muscle cell is naturally contractile; that is, every one of them has its own rate per minute, but they all generally 'agree' to beat as fast as the fastest cell, which is called the Pacemaker.  However, that doesn't mean that they may not, for unknown reasons, decide to take a sudden beat on their own or with a small group of neighboring buddies, which is what happens in ectopic beats.

So, outside of ablation, anything you do to suppress the renegades will affect the other heart cells.  Who wants to go there?

Third, the simple fact is that most of us who have worrisome pvcs or pacs and yet have been tested repeatedly and told we have normal, healthy hearts will go on to live the average, quite long life of 80 or so years.  We just won't enjoy a lot of those years due to worry.

But worry over non-harmful ectopic beats does not generate research funds.  And since most ectopic beats have been demonstrated over time to have very little influence on health or lifespan, doctors do not have the interest in them that they have in medically significant conditions.

[IMFletcher]

Hi - perhaps it may be helpful to take a contrarian point of view here. Trust me, I am not defending anyone or taking sides, but imagine the issue from a doctor's point of view. If you had a female patient with a lump in the breast (my sister is fighting breast cancer), performed a biopsy, and determined it was benign, yet the patient was still experiencing anxiety about it, what would you do? How do you appease fears that can't be curtailed unless you offer daily reassurances?? Most of the people on this site have anxiety, and are prone to worry, even after having all the necessary tests. It is the sensation of irregular beats that alarms us all...they are far more disconcerting then an eyelid twitch, or a spasm in your leg muscles, yet no more dangerous. To a doctor, our fears are irrational, almost like a commercial airline pilot talking to a fearful flyer. We have ALL seen many doctors, so what more could another doctor add to this?? Specific diagnosis needs to be done in person, not on a website. Trust me - I would love to have access to a doctor 24/7, everytime an episode of trigeminy strikes, or the sensations change...but we all know that won't happen. Doctors would be typing for 10 hours a day instead of treating their own patients!! To all of you out there - I find far more reassurances from the members of this site, there is a tremendous depth of knowledge, and first hand experience!! This is a great forum, and there is lots to learn, even without a MD's input. Best to all.

[merileegal]

This is has been such a hard condtion to understand. Before I discovered this site a few months ago, I really had no one to talk to about this, because like others in this site it was always the same-o same-o: have an attack, think you're going to die or your heart might be damaged, seek medical attention, they run all the usual tests, then they say you're fine and you won't die. If it occurs often, you get meds that make you feel lousy. It was actually refreshing to me to find that I wasn't alone in this routine of going back to the doctors and feeling that frustration.

I'm also glad for those who explain how the pvc's and pac's and SVT's work. I do feel less threatened by the pac's that I experience that lead to the SVT. It's the fear of the SVT that causes my anxiety. I've had them for over 20 years, 3 or4 times a year, and I have only now been referred to an ep who says he can fix it! Why, why, why, did I not get referred to one until now??? My ep asked me (after he spent an hour talking to me about the electrophysiology of my heart and that my problem was an easy fix) why no one had sent me to him before. I told him that 10 years earlier when I asked my cario about ablations, he said I wasn't a good candidate. So here I am, almost 60, and I'm finally going to have the ablation Tuesday.

I asked my ep about the flip floppy feeling that I get aside from the SVT's.  He said I only get pac's, according to my monitor results, and they are benign. He said he has them and he also feels them and that he could take anyone off the street and they would have benign arrythmias. For the most part mine don't bother me, but I have had some days where they are so annoying that I can hardly function. I can't imagine what that must be like for so many who experience these day in and day out. Even though we all have them, it is to the degree that we have them that becomes the problem and since doctors are the one who are supposed to know, that is where we go.

The different points of view have been interesting and helpful in this thread. I agree that this is a great site to come and seek answers, gain knowledge, and vent our frustrations. From my own experience over the last 20+ years, I've felt like I've been nuisance to many of the doctors I've seen. It would have been nice to at least been educated a little more about what was happening. It is the unknown that is frightening. I've learned more from my current ep and from this site in the last few months than I've known in the last 20 year.