Aa
PVC Question
I am wondering if ablation is the way to go for having PVC's?
I do not have a lot of PVCs per given time frame per se, but the fact of having it and the way it makes me feel tells me to look deeper into this issue.
i'm 33 male and I would say average health? Trying to quit smoking, drink occasionally. no other hard drugs etc.
I'm on Lorazepam for anxiety (small dose .5mg per 8 hrs as needed) risperidone .25mg twice a day to help with anxiety etc.
I've been having these PVC's for the past couple years now, and before my meds it was making me have anxiety attacks a lot. When I have a pvc happen, I get light headed from it, almost to the point of falling over. I have to catch my breath when it happens, sit down and take a lorazepam to keep from going into panic attack mode. I do understand that they are not life threatening. But my quality of life since they started has degraded quite a bit. I used to go out for walks in the summer almost every day. I would spend a lot of time outside of the home doing all sorts of things. Now I feel confined to the house due to this feeling of light headed/dizziness from having them. I've seen 2 cardio specialists that both have said they're pvcs and not to worry. I'm not worried about the pvc itself but the dizziness that comes with it every time I have one.
I've had 2 stress tests done, one with cardio-lite, and one without. the first test was good, and the second I had a PVC towards the end of the test where i was doing the hardest part of the test. getting up to 178 bpm. The test supervisor had to catch me from falling due to the pvc and the dizziness that ensued. They let me go home that day, with the notion that it's just pvcs and not to do anything about it.
Now, I do not have hundreds or thousands of them per day, but more on the order of around 10 per day. Each one is pretty much the same with the dizziness for each one. Now most recently ( 2 days ago) I've had 2 in particular that were really bad. First one caused pretty severe pain in my sternum area, and the second one was in the esophogus area above the sternum. I went to the ER and they ran blood tests checking for any signs of damage, did an Xray to rule out lung issues etc. everything came back negative for damage to anything. (blood sugar was high though and that's a different issue).
Given what has been going on with this would it be wise to get an ablation and have it possibly fix the problem? Or would it be better to get on a medication that makes me dizzy all the time. (I'm very sensitive to medications and react very fast to them) I've been on metroprolol or however it's spelled for about 2 weeks, that was about a year and a half ago. It made me dizzy to the point I had a very hard time walking anywhere, always feeling as if i was going to tip over to either side. I took one pill as directed, but after that one pill I did not take any more due to this and my Dr told me to quit taking them.
The doctors say that most people generally don't feel them nor are bothered by them, and that I will be just fine. But I'm not, and I'm not "most people", and they frown on that when I tell them that.
So given what is covered here would I be a candidate for having this procedure done? Would it be worth while? Should I be put on a holter monitor? (i've been on a 30 day monitor but not a holter) I've had ultrasounds done of the heart and that was all normal with good heart structure. cervical spine MRI done that did cover the top portion of the heart as well, and that was normal.
anyhow thanks for reading and any answers would be most appreciated and helpful.
I do not have a lot of PVCs per given time frame per se, but the fact of having it and the way it makes me feel tells me to look deeper into this issue.
i'm 33 male and I would say average health? Trying to quit smoking, drink occasionally. no other hard drugs etc.
I'm on Lorazepam for anxiety (small dose .5mg per 8 hrs as needed) risperidone .25mg twice a day to help with anxiety etc.
I've been having these PVC's for the past couple years now, and before my meds it was making me have anxiety attacks a lot. When I have a pvc happen, I get light headed from it, almost to the point of falling over. I have to catch my breath when it happens, sit down and take a lorazepam to keep from going into panic attack mode. I do understand that they are not life threatening. But my quality of life since they started has degraded quite a bit. I used to go out for walks in the summer almost every day. I would spend a lot of time outside of the home doing all sorts of things. Now I feel confined to the house due to this feeling of light headed/dizziness from having them. I've seen 2 cardio specialists that both have said they're pvcs and not to worry. I'm not worried about the pvc itself but the dizziness that comes with it every time I have one.
I've had 2 stress tests done, one with cardio-lite, and one without. the first test was good, and the second I had a PVC towards the end of the test where i was doing the hardest part of the test. getting up to 178 bpm. The test supervisor had to catch me from falling due to the pvc and the dizziness that ensued. They let me go home that day, with the notion that it's just pvcs and not to do anything about it.
Now, I do not have hundreds or thousands of them per day, but more on the order of around 10 per day. Each one is pretty much the same with the dizziness for each one. Now most recently ( 2 days ago) I've had 2 in particular that were really bad. First one caused pretty severe pain in my sternum area, and the second one was in the esophogus area above the sternum. I went to the ER and they ran blood tests checking for any signs of damage, did an Xray to rule out lung issues etc. everything came back negative for damage to anything. (blood sugar was high though and that's a different issue).
Given what has been going on with this would it be wise to get an ablation and have it possibly fix the problem? Or would it be better to get on a medication that makes me dizzy all the time. (I'm very sensitive to medications and react very fast to them) I've been on metroprolol or however it's spelled for about 2 weeks, that was about a year and a half ago. It made me dizzy to the point I had a very hard time walking anywhere, always feeling as if i was going to tip over to either side. I took one pill as directed, but after that one pill I did not take any more due to this and my Dr told me to quit taking them.
The doctors say that most people generally don't feel them nor are bothered by them, and that I will be just fine. But I'm not, and I'm not "most people", and they frown on that when I tell them that.
So given what is covered here would I be a candidate for having this procedure done? Would it be worth while? Should I be put on a holter monitor? (i've been on a 30 day monitor but not a holter) I've had ultrasounds done of the heart and that was all normal with good heart structure. cervical spine MRI done that did cover the top portion of the heart as well, and that was normal.
anyhow thanks for reading and any answers would be most appreciated and helpful.
A good book for anxiety and panic attacks is "The Sky is Falling." I don't know the author, but I got it at the library or you might look online.
Your PVCS's are real and I know the dizziness very well. You get scared and your body starts pumping out adrenaline, and the situation worsens. I was agoraphobic for a time.
I'm not sure if your heart rate is going up with the anxiety, but a breathing technique I learned helps me when I get tachycardia. If you'd like to try it, it's as follows: Blow out all the air from your lungs through the mouth, breathe in to the count of 4 through your nose, hold your breath to the count of 7, breath out through your mouth to the count of 8. Keep your tongue pressed against the roof of your mouth. Try it 4 times and when you get used to that, you can do it 8 times.
Another one that helps me is 3 deep, slow breaths in thru the nose, out through the mouth. Follow your breath, as it comes in and goes all the way to the bottom of your lungs and back up and out again.
Any meditation or distraction you can do will help keep your mind off the anxiety and bring you back to normal. I picture myself on the beach, walking in the surf, feel the wind on my face, etc. and it really does help.
I was on Toprol XL and took it 1/2 in the a.m. and half at night as directed by a nurse, even tho it is extended release, that helped. Now I take Atenolol, which makes me less dizzy that Toprol did. My cardiologist said it doesn't pass the blood-brain barrier. I take up to 2 25 mg. tablets, in divided doses, usually 1/4's. This has worked for me for about 7 years. Now I'm having other issues, but some of this might work for you. Stopping smoking might help, as it raising your blood pressure and just plain isn't good for you. Good luck -- hope some of this helps.
Your PVCS's are real and I know the dizziness very well. You get scared and your body starts pumping out adrenaline, and the situation worsens. I was agoraphobic for a time.
I'm not sure if your heart rate is going up with the anxiety, but a breathing technique I learned helps me when I get tachycardia. If you'd like to try it, it's as follows: Blow out all the air from your lungs through the mouth, breathe in to the count of 4 through your nose, hold your breath to the count of 7, breath out through your mouth to the count of 8. Keep your tongue pressed against the roof of your mouth. Try it 4 times and when you get used to that, you can do it 8 times.
Another one that helps me is 3 deep, slow breaths in thru the nose, out through the mouth. Follow your breath, as it comes in and goes all the way to the bottom of your lungs and back up and out again.
Any meditation or distraction you can do will help keep your mind off the anxiety and bring you back to normal. I picture myself on the beach, walking in the surf, feel the wind on my face, etc. and it really does help.
I was on Toprol XL and took it 1/2 in the a.m. and half at night as directed by a nurse, even tho it is extended release, that helped. Now I take Atenolol, which makes me less dizzy that Toprol did. My cardiologist said it doesn't pass the blood-brain barrier. I take up to 2 25 mg. tablets, in divided doses, usually 1/4's. This has worked for me for about 7 years. Now I'm having other issues, but some of this might work for you. Stopping smoking might help, as it raising your blood pressure and just plain isn't good for you. Good luck -- hope some of this helps.
Let me add to the commentary - 10/day wow--I sometimes have ten/minute and after all the tests I didn't meet the requirements for an ablation and I probably wouldn't have done it if I did. Have you taken your BP when you become dizzy to see if it is low? 10 PVC's /day shouldn't make you faint. You did self report anxiety as a problem. Have you discussed this further with your doctors? Panic/anxiety attacks are a possibility.
As far as Im concerned you dont even have a problem.. "10 pvc's a day" c-mom man theres people that get hundreds, thousands a day. My Dr. told me he gets them now and then. I had 2 nurses tell me they get them. Half the population get pvcs now and then, and half of that get them systematically meaning 24/7
Normally dr's look at treating 6,000 - 8,000 daily with meds unless they're other circumstances involved and treat with ablation >15% of your total daily heart beats or roughly >15,000 pvc's daily.
What did your dr tell you is the reason you're getting symptoms such as dizziness?
I've lived with syncope (fainting), dizziness etc and arrhythmia's since i was 9. I was told nothing was wrong - even being symptomatic and frequent pvc's (bigeminy, trigeminey) dr's didn't want to treat me with meds; just ignored them until I was 42.
In a normally structural heart, pvc's are normally benign and just have to be dealt with the best we can, finding what triggers you have and avoiding them. They don't have to bother your quality of life if you don't let them - I lived with roughly 50,000 daily for years and had an ablation and still have about 10,000 daily =) They really didn't bother me until the functioning of my heart was involved.
If it's any consolation, there's a woman that my cardiologist treats with 80,000 pvc's daily with no problems...she found a beta blocker that worked for her and has no structural problems.
What did your dr tell you is the reason you're getting symptoms such as dizziness?
I've lived with syncope (fainting), dizziness etc and arrhythmia's since i was 9. I was told nothing was wrong - even being symptomatic and frequent pvc's (bigeminy, trigeminey) dr's didn't want to treat me with meds; just ignored them until I was 42.
In a normally structural heart, pvc's are normally benign and just have to be dealt with the best we can, finding what triggers you have and avoiding them. They don't have to bother your quality of life if you don't let them - I lived with roughly 50,000 daily for years and had an ablation and still have about 10,000 daily =) They really didn't bother me until the functioning of my heart was involved.
If it's any consolation, there's a woman that my cardiologist treats with 80,000 pvc's daily with no problems...she found a beta blocker that worked for her and has no structural problems.
The E.P Drs will not go near you with that amount of VE's. The risks of the proceedure far outweigh any small benefit you may glean from it and if I were you I would continue as you are and tolerate the tiny amount of ectopics you are getting.
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