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PVCs for a season...gone....then they are back
I was diagnosed with benign PVCs back in April 2013. I wore the 24 hour holter monitor and it captured a little over 4000 PVCs out of a total of about 92000. I had experienced the symptom of the "pause" and the "thud" of the next beat for years, but not in this quantity. I wore a 30 day event monitor back in 2009 and it was just brought to my attention in April that some were captured then, but I was told that everything was normal. Maybe this was an effort to possibly keep me from stressing about it?? It actually bothered me because I felt like the doctors that I had told didn't believe me or understand as I explained my symptoms. After this diagnosis, I went to an electrophysiologist for a second opinion and he told me the same thing that the PVCs were benign and that I should get back to a normal life.
I have had an excercise treadmill test and Echocardoigram in both 2009 and in 2013 and I was told that the results were great. I wore the 24 hour holter again back in late October and to my amazement it captured only 3 PVCs. I have to be honest and say that I am still not sure that the equipment is not faulty. The electrophysiologist told me once again that I needed to get back to a normal life after I expressed the anxiety that these cause in my life.
This past Sunday evening they came back in full force. Sometimes 6 per minute and sometimes more. That has been happening everyday since. I have called the doctors office twice and they tell me that they are going to tell the doctor and see what he wants to do, but it is Thursday and still no call back. Maybe this is an attempt to prove that all is OK. Have any of you experienced PVCs for a time and then don't seem to feel many if any at all for quite some time and then all of the sudden they are back?
I have had an excercise treadmill test and Echocardoigram in both 2009 and in 2013 and I was told that the results were great. I wore the 24 hour holter again back in late October and to my amazement it captured only 3 PVCs. I have to be honest and say that I am still not sure that the equipment is not faulty. The electrophysiologist told me once again that I needed to get back to a normal life after I expressed the anxiety that these cause in my life.
This past Sunday evening they came back in full force. Sometimes 6 per minute and sometimes more. That has been happening everyday since. I have called the doctors office twice and they tell me that they are going to tell the doctor and see what he wants to do, but it is Thursday and still no call back. Maybe this is an attempt to prove that all is OK. Have any of you experienced PVCs for a time and then don't seem to feel many if any at all for quite some time and then all of the sudden they are back?
I don't mean to sound harsh because we are birds of a feather! But you have to be tired of living this way. Maybe its time to talk to someone. Professionally. I know when its get really bad that's what I do. There's certainly nothing wrong with it. You have to keep uppermost in your mind that these things won't kill you. (I know, easier said than done) and when you are living in panic and can't believe that, an outsider may be able to help you. I had severe panic attacks over this for years. When its really bad I go talk to someone. When its a little bad, I come on here and read the posts of those who have been on here for years, dealing with these issues all their lives and do not live in fear every day, like Jerry, Tom and Michelle, to name a few. It always takes me out of my irrational fears and makes me feel better! :-)
WOW. Great comments Elli. I have almost destroyed my life worrying over these darn things. I have had them for 20 years and still panic each and every day. You are SO right about if they are going to kill you then then will kill you but I live every single day of my life in horror over them!
Keeping your mind occupied with other things is the best thing you can do. Believe me, it took me years to even begin to do that. When I was getting them by the thousands, sometimes I would just lie there afraid to move for fear of causing more! I finally said to myself, if these things are gonna kill me there's not a thing I can do about it, and every day I lie here in fear is a day I am wasting of my life, never to get back!!! After coming to this forum for years and reading everyone's posts, I began to believe they are benign and although I still have anxiety over all the crazy beats I get (especially the PSVT) I try not to let it run my life. I'm not gonna let PVCs, PACs and SVT drain the happiness from my days anymore. After dealing with it for over 20 years, they have taken enough!
Not being in the medical field, it has just been so hard for me to imagine that a heart beating incorrectly is benign, but I have been told by 2 cardiologists that is is benign since the echocardiograms and stress tests did not reveal any problems. I've just got to learn how to manage my anxiety better when they are at their worst and it is ruining my quality of life at that time. I know it sounds crazy, but I have been humming a lot lately when it gets quiet in hope that if one does happen I won't feel it.
Hi yes there are MANY people who have PVCs,PACs and even short bursts of SVT that never feel them, in fact most, from what I hear. Why are we "people of the forum" unlucky enough to feel every beat? Who knows, luck of the draw I guess. For some (like me) we didn't become hyper-aware of their heart rhythms until after some kind of episode. At one point, when I was getting thousand of PVCs per day, all I did was take my pulse all day (my family used to make fun of me) but now that I have lived with them all this time, I've gotten better with that. (That is to say, I only do that sometimes now) As far as triggers go, they are a myriad of them and they vary from person to person. My biggest are, lack of sleep, anxiety, and eating too much at one sitting (like Thanksgiving dinner lol) I did cut our coffee and alcohol though and keep the chocolate to a minimum.
It's great to have a contact like you since you work for a cardiologist. Thank you for taking time to respond to my post. I have been doing better this week. I have even tried to stay away from this site just to keep my mind on other things. I understand that there are people that could be having thousands of PVCs and don't ever feel them. Is this possible? If so, I wonder what makes me one of the "lucky ones" that can feel them. I havent' really found my trigger(s) yet. Doesn't seem to be caffeine or foods that I can tell. I am thinking that maybe it is lack of sleep or maybe it could be anxiety. I do have a tendency to stress about stupid stuff to be honest. But right before the reoccurence, I don't recall being really stressed about anything. In the months between April and now, I did feel an occasional one, but not the quantities I was feeling last week. I would love to ask you questions from time to time if that's OK.
Hi, I know from working for a card that these findings are normal at age 53 but all that aside, any Doc or staff that is rude to the patient and doesn't take the time to fully explain things is unacceptable. I would find a new doc with better bedside manner and a more compassionate staff. I know my boss wouldn't accept that behavior in his office!
I was thinking about changing my cardio dr. because he doesn't explain things to me & he's in a hurry to get out. His nurse if rude to say the least. He is suppose to be very good, but he leaves me hanging on to questions, like my last echo report that said mildly thickened mitral with mild annular calcification. aortic normal with mild aortic root calcification. I was told it was great in the office, but when I recieved it in the mail, I was concerned, so I called. The nurse was very rude & said I was told it was normal. I recieved a letter that stated there is nothing pathologic about these findings and it has not compromised your valves to any extent. I can't decide if I need to switch. Know they are busy.
Yes, when they chemically convert you back to a normal rhythm, they give you Adenosine through IV, it literally stops your heart for a second and then it goes back into normal rhythm. I haven't had to have that done for awhile since I am learning to convert myself, but its no fun to say the least. I think the hot flash feeling you get when this happens is more fear than anything, I have been there!! But the doc I work for (and he is also my cardiologist) assures me that with a structurally sound heart these things are not life threatening and (in his words) I should just deal with it. (lets just say his bedside manner with me is not fabulous, he talks to me more like a friend than a patient and employee lol) and that if I'm gonna freak out every time it happens just get the ablation, but I'm like you, I really don't wanna risk causing more damage and right now with no insurance I can't so it anyway.
What do you mean you sometimes need to be chemically converted? You mean go to the ER and get on IV drip before it converts back to normal?
I felt a hot flash go over me & like I wan't getting enough blood to my brain like I might pass out if it didn't go back to normal. I never want to feel that again! I was suppose to go in for a EP study over a year ago and they canceled me the night before & never rescheduled me. I was only having frequent PVC's and unifocal, benign. I hate to think of them burning my heart & possibly causing something different. But, I am so tired of dealing with it!
It's great having others here to talk to that are going through the same thing. I appreciate everyone helping each other through all our crazy flippin heartbeats:)
I felt a hot flash go over me & like I wan't getting enough blood to my brain like I might pass out if it didn't go back to normal. I never want to feel that again! I was suppose to go in for a EP study over a year ago and they canceled me the night before & never rescheduled me. I was only having frequent PVC's and unifocal, benign. I hate to think of them burning my heart & possibly causing something different. But, I am so tired of dealing with it!
It's great having others here to talk to that are going through the same thing. I appreciate everyone helping each other through all our crazy flippin heartbeats:)
Yep it sounds like PSVT (another one of the fabulous crazy beats I get)I drop into PSVT or SVT a few times a year (somewhat less since the Metoprolol) and sometimes need to be chemically converted (which stinks btw) but again it is a benign condition. I think its another perk of just having rhythm issues. Some people on here dealt with them all their lives until they were ablated. Personally I have no insurance and can't afford an ablation right now, and as long as they're infrequent I'm not rushing into it. When they become a real aggravation (and I hear they increase with age) then I will seriously consider getting it done. And believe me, I know how tiresome annoying and frustrating all this is, after decades I should...especially when you're doing fine for months and then they sneak back up on you...hang in there and keep us posted!
Yes! Thyroid medication doesn't replace everything that our thyroid does. My doctor told me that I wouldn't regulate temperature as well & I know it! That means that when I have night sweats and hot flashes, it's worse.
Today I had a different crazy beat that was like a machine gun firing off. I was sitting at my computer and all normal when all of a sudden it went super fast fluttering for about 5 sec. then BAM normal beating but started beating faster & harder for a min or two. That was the adrenaline kicking in. Scared me to death. Jkfrench said sounded like psvt that she gets sometimes. I might go ahead and try to get back in to my cardio or EP soon. Maybe should go get another echo since that one was 1 1/2 years ago. Maybe a different med. I'm so tired of all this.
Today I had a different crazy beat that was like a machine gun firing off. I was sitting at my computer and all normal when all of a sudden it went super fast fluttering for about 5 sec. then BAM normal beating but started beating faster & harder for a min or two. That was the adrenaline kicking in. Scared me to death. Jkfrench said sounded like psvt that she gets sometimes. I might go ahead and try to get back in to my cardio or EP soon. Maybe should go get another echo since that one was 1 1/2 years ago. Maybe a different med. I'm so tired of all this.
Yes being cancer free is awesome isn't it?! The only other thing I think may be happening to us both is, between being regulated on thyroid meds and menopause,that's playing havoc with our crazy beats! I think JK is right though, maybe a change of meds may do the trick!
Yes actually I took the Mindful Meditation course at Scripps Clinic here in La Jolla California. It is an 8 week very intense course and I loved it. So I do meditate every day now as well. But the skips really stopped prior to me taking the course. However mindful meditation really helps with the stress. Google Karen Sothers Mindful Meditation. But other than that I haven't done anything different. Still work out, still have my martinis or wine on the weekend, still eat chocolate! Who knows, maybe my hormones have settled. I was getting awful hot flashes and night sweats many many times a day.
But I am hoping the Diltiazem will keep them quiet.
But I am hoping the Diltiazem will keep them quiet.
I do not feel any side effects. It keeps my heart rate in the 70s - 80s. The Atenolol kept it too low and my doctor thinks the skips were "sneaking" on because of it. She says my heart likes to beat faster. I was also on 1/4 of a 25mg of Atenolol once a day. I run 3 miles almost every day too. I think with the CCB my exercise tolerance is better too. With the Atenolol it was hard to get the rate up. My PVCS are unifocal and I was getting a lot but like I said, after about 1 month of being on Diltiazem they have calmed down to about 10 a MONTH!!
That is great! Do you feel any side effect? Does it slow your HR down? I took 1/4 atenolol 25mg. X 2 for years, but it seemed like my HR was always in the high 40's. I was running 2 to 3 miles almost everyday up until the past couple of years. I've had to lighten up on the exercise because my back & knee, & I was kindof scared of my flipping when exercising. I do get alot after I stop.
My dosage of verapamil er was 120 X 2. Were your pvc's unifocal? Did you also get alot?
My dosage of verapamil er was 120 X 2. Were your pvc's unifocal? Did you also get alot?
I am also going through menopause and my pvcs were out of control. I see you are on a calcium channel blocker. I was on Atenolol and it clearly stopped working so they put me on Diltiazem ( also a channel blocker) 120mg ER once a day and it has almost wiped the PVC's out. Maybe you should ask to switch.
I am going to be 53 soon. I have been having terrible night sweats & hot flashes. I am not taking any HRT because of the studies. I also had thyroid cancer in 2000 & am cancer-free 13 1/2 years!!! I am kept suppressed with a tsh at .03 I was told this could cause more menopausal symptoms and palps...I saw one of the top EP specialist at Texas Heart and he said that mine being unifocal would make it easier to ablate, but being on the left side was more difficult. I am trying to just deal with it. I hate the idea of maybe causeing damage. I wore an event monitor for a week and he said all the pvc' s were coming from the same spot....benign, no matter how many I had. I do think that if I get really stressed out & start having alot of them that it gets irritated and it takes awhile for them to settle down. That makes sense to me.
Believe it or not we have a patient who clocked in at 20k PVCs a day and he's still fine. An ejection fraction over 60, also ok. Can I ask how old you are? As I said I just turned 56 and am finally going through menopause which is putting me through a rough time rhythmically speaking. Also I'm on the metoprolol tartrate and it does make me pretty tired sometimes but that's about it.
I tried the metoprolol er 12 X 2 a day and it slowed down my HR alot of times into the upper 40's & 55's. That's when I started having 12 pvc's a minutes & called my cardiologist. I came in the next day & did ecg and he said it was unifocal coming from the left side of my heart. He thought that maybe with a lower HR it was giving more time for the pvc's to pop in. He put me on verapamil 120 er X 2 and I have no side effects & it keeps my BP really regular most of the time, but I still have the crazy flippin all the time.
Any extra adrenaline floating around from excitement to anxiety & I will start getting alot. Every other beat sometimes! Wish I didn't feel them...It's crazy that's benign! And mild calcification on your valves are too! OMG! Guess it's something called aging & I hate to get use to this! I had my last echo 1 1/2 years ago that showed this with EF>60% Don't know how often I should get another echo. I have read a large amount of pvc's can sometimes decrease your heart function.
Any extra adrenaline floating around from excitement to anxiety & I will start getting alot. Every other beat sometimes! Wish I didn't feel them...It's crazy that's benign! And mild calcification on your valves are too! OMG! Guess it's something called aging & I hate to get use to this! I had my last echo 1 1/2 years ago that showed this with EF>60% Don't know how often I should get another echo. I have read a large amount of pvc's can sometimes decrease your heart function.
yes just like menstruation, menopause seems to wreak havoc with rhythm problems. There seems to be debate among docs on how much hormone levels effect us but almost every woman who posts on here says they have increases in their crazy beats during periods and menopause. I'm currently taking metoprolol 25 twice a day and it seems to have helped with the SVT, not much help with the PVC or PAC. and yes mild verification is normal... unfortunately another thing that comes with age. Also I've had days where every other beat was a PVC or PAC. Very annoying!
Elli That would be great to work for a cardiologist who could hook you up and reasurre you when you start getting alot of crazy beats. It seems like I will sometimes start getting alot of pvc's for several minutes & I've gotten 12 a minute for hours before it works itself out. I had a event monitor and it caught alot of pvc's, some couplets, and short burst of svt. Have you noticed if yours has gotten worse with menopause? Last year my echo was within normal, but did show mild calcification of mitral & aorta, & I was assured it was normal & did not compromise my valves to any extent. Still trying to figure out how that is normal??? Do you take anything for yours?
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I must admit that I've never had them with the frequency that you describe (knock on wood) but definitley know the feeling of having periodic pvc episodes. I believe mine are correlated to my diet and the level of my sugar intake.
In any event, I think most of us can relate to the thought of, 'are they gone forever?' being dashed by their sudden return. Even at the frequency you describe, they are benign in a healthy heart which you have. I have read though that greater than 10% of one's total beats can be a strain on the heart though. Even at 6 per minute though, that likely doesn't equal 10% of your beats unless you have a rather slow resting heart rate.