PVC's/palpatations/anxiety??

[nanaofseven]

I've read posts on the Heart Rhythm Community forum about PVC's and the problems they cause, etc., and noticed most people mentioned tachycardia problems, as well.  Now I'm really confused!  I am 63 years old, female, diabetic (since about 1992) and over the past 1 1/2 years have lost 86 pounds (my doc says if I lose another 10-15, I can probably come off my Glucophage and before I lost the weight, I was taking 4 diabetes meds a day) and I walk for a mile every day and am pretty active now that I've lost weight.  Overall, I've felt much better, physically AND mentally.  Even at my highest weight, I never had BP problems, did go through a few years of having bad migraines and the doc tried Inderol, which brought my heart rate down to 40 bpm, so he took me off that and put me on Prozac, which I took for about 2 years and then was weaned off.  At the time, I was going through some tough times, personally, and he thought the Prozac would help, which it definitely did.  The migraines stopped, also, after about 6 months.  This was in the early '90's, also.  Then, about 5 or 6 years ago, I started having heart palps and, after doing a couple of EKG's, an ultrasound of my heart and my carotid arteries, etc., my doctor at the time put me on Lopressor to hopefully stop the palps.  I have taken 1/2 pill twice a day (50 mg) since then, but have always continued to have palps.....sometimes really bad episodes of them and sometimes I'd go for periods of time and not have any.  Almost 2 years ago, I was going thru a period of having some bad palps and experienced some tightness in my chest, as well, so my doctor convinced me to go into the hospital for tests and observation.  They had me on a Holter monitor, did EKG's, echocardiograms and even did an angiogram (the result of that was that they told me my arteries were very good and that I had no blockages and very little plaque build-up at all.....overall, they were in excellent condition) and found nothing wrong with my heart.  I was also tested to make sure the tightness wasn't caused by a blood clot in my lungs (because the tightness/pain would radiate into my back, too).  I was hospitalized for 2 days and sent home.  It was shortly after that that I made up my mind to lose weight and exercise more and get myself in better shape.  I started out at 268 and now weigh 182.  On Dec. 8th of '08, I went to my pcp for a pre-op exam (I was having cataract surgery on both eyes and have since done that, one on Dec. 11th and the other on Jan. 8th) and she did an EKG.  The EKG was fine, but she noticed that my heart rate was 50.  My "normal" heart rate has always been in the low 60's.  She told me to cut the Lopressor down to 1/4 twice a day instead of 1/2.  I've been trying for over a year now to get her to take me off the Lopressor entirely.  I have never thought it did me any good since I still had palps quite often and had never had high BP or rapid heart rate in the first place.  I have had both eye surgeries now; however, around the time of my first eye surgery in Dec., I noticed that I was once again having bad palps, especially first thing in the morning.....they would sometimes wake me up and I'd have them for maybe a couple of hours.  I also noticed that when I walked on the treadmill, they seemed to subside quite a bit, although once in a while I'd have some tightness in my chest while walking, which I just ignored.  On Jan. 6th, when I went to bed, I had them really bad and couldn't get to sleep.  I ended up sleeping in my recliner all night and didn't sleep well.  I took my pulse a couple of times and I could feel my heart skipping beats or pausing between beats, which I've never felt before.  And my heart rate was in the mid 40's.  Kept waking up with the palps during the night.  The morning of the 7th, which was the day before I was scheduled for surgery, I woke up in my recliner and got up to go to the bathroom.  Suddenly I felt very faint and clammy and sat down again.  I took my blood sugar, thinking maybe it had dropped, but it was 99, which is good.  Then I tried to take my pulse & couldn't get it so I put on my BP monitor/cuff and my blood pressure was 112/52 and my pulse didn't even register on the monitor!  It just said "Low".  Well, that scared me and my husband called an ambulance and had me taken to the hospital.  On the way, the attendant had my on a heart monitor and he said, "Oh, yeah, you're having a few PVC's".  I didn't know what that was and asked him and he said it's real common and a lot of people have them and it doesn't necessarily mean anything.  At the hospital, they did an EKG (fine) and chest x-ray (fine) and monitored my heart for about 3 hours (fine), BP was good, heart rate came up to 59.  The ER doc thought I should come off my Lopressor entirely and he called my doctor and she agreed.  I'm to go see her Wednesday.  In the meantime, I've stopped the Lopressor, but have still been having palps and this morning I felt really faint again (blood sugar was 115 and BP was 133/57, pulse was 59) a couple of times, but after I ate something I felt better for a while.  Then it started again so I took 1/4 of a Lopressor and about 1/2 hour later, the palps were still there, but much, much better.  Talk about confusing!!!  I'm at my wit's end and don't know what to do.  I am definitely a worrier, no matter how hard I try not to be.  I'm wondering, after reading some of the postings, if maybe it's anxiety.  I have also been taking eye drops in both eyes following the cataract surgery and one of the drops is Prednisone.  I did a little research on its side effects and either rapid or slow heart rate can happen, as well as palps, so maybe that's what's gotten them started again.  It's so frustrating!  Anyone have any ideas? Also, are palps & PCV's the same thing?  I'd sure appreciate some input.  Thanks!

[celticsrotdog]

Hi there, I just started taking Toprol XL about a week ago and I have still been having a lot of palps, maybe more than before if not the same amount. The only thing I've  noticed is they don't feel near as strong as before but I have the bad habit of feeling my pulse all the time so I notice them. I have bad anxiety and some panic attacks as well. I think my health concerns have played a huge part in that. I don't know what all anxiety causes but I can tell you it sure doesn't help any of these problems. It seems like when I freak out about feeling the pvc's I start getting more and more of them. I'm just really torn about the beta blocker. I'm 28 and don't know if I want to get dependant on another medicine but on the other hand think I'm thinking maybe I should give it a try for a few weeks. I think feeling your pulse as much as you do could make your anxiety worse, but I do the same thing lol.

[nervouslady]

PVCs can definitely be brought on by anxiety.  I have never heard of a case where PVCs were dangerous (if that is all you are experiencing).  

I, too, have a great deal of anxiety and am constantly worrying.  I have panic attacks occasionally and I know that a symptom of a panic attack is a tightness in the chest (though I don't experience that myself while panicking).  I do get hot, like a hot flash feeling, then the next minute I'm clammy and have the chills, shaky, nauseated, very rapid heart rate, etc.  When the panic subsides I am very worn out, tired.

Steriods can cause all sorts of goofy side effects.  I would ask a pharmacist or your ophthalmologist about it and see what they say.  As for your lower heart rate - I don't know what could be causing that.  While it is lower than normal, it doesn't sound too bad.  My mom's drops down into the 30s when she is relaxing and she is the picture of health, feels fine and works out every day.  Her doctors don't seem to be too worried about it.  She does get the occasional skipped beat or flutter, too, and I know that people with low heart rates (bradycardia) sometimes experience arrhythmia because it is the body's way of speeding up the heart if it gets too relaxed.   I don't think it's anything too concerning but I'd ask your doctor if your low heart rate is a concern to them.

Anxiety stinks and to be honest with you when I first started having panic attacks I had no idea what was going on and made several trips to the ER only to be told I was 'fine'.  I certainly didn't feel fine - I felt like I was dying.   Oddly I didn't necessarily feel stressed out at the particular time they would strike, either.  My first one I was getting my hair done at the salon.  My second one I was having lunch on a nice sunny day with my husband.   I have heard that sugar imbalances can cause panic like symptoms, but don't know a lot about that.

[Christine0687]

Hi-I to have PVCs along with VT. I have had symptoms of PVCs for a long time but the rapid heart beat is new to me since about July. I find it interesting that I too had eye surgery at the end of June and was also on a steriod eyedrop after the surgery and then the rapid heartbeat start two weeks into June. I wonder if the steroid set them off??? maybe Brooke or Jerry can answer if there is a connection. If so, I hope there is something we can do. Hopefully this steroid didn't ruin my heart or yours in any way!