Run of PVC's??

[iamfaithful]

Hello-

I haven't been on the community in a while but needed to ask a question.  I think I had a run of PVC's this morning.  It scared me so bad I just sat at my desk and waited for my heart to start beating normally again.  I think it was probably 3-4 seconds and that's a long time for your heart to beat out of sync.  I only get these right before my time of the month.  I am so frustrated because it's like the doctors (at least my OBGYN) don't see the correlation but my cardio. accepts the fact that it very well could be my hormones.  He said they can't find anything wrong w/my heart and it's just very sensitive.  I have been battling this since 2007.  Today was just so frightening I wasn't sure if I could even call 911 if I needed to.  I was petrified to move.  Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

[birdie35]

thanks for the advice, I will be seeing my psychiatrist next week about the dosage. at the moment I am wearing 24 hour holter EKG, my heart is skipping pretty often so I'm curious to see what will it show. max. of PVC's I had two years ago on holter was about 4000 and about 1000 PAC's. other than that, doctors say - healthy heart. I feel so sad because as time goes by they only seem to be getting worse and worse. the thing is I really can't relate them to anything, it seems just like they have a mind of it's own so to speak. I'm seriously thinking about ablation, because it's really hard for me to accept to deal with this all my life, day after day... I'm crying almost every day, it's just terrible.

[gothic_beauty]

I started taking Cipralex (or Lexapro: it's the exact same drug, it's just that Lexapro is the American brand name and Cipralex is the Canadian one) for extreme anxiety almost a year ago now. I started at 10 mg and I didn't feel much different. However, when my doctor increased my dosage to 20 mg, that was when everything clicked. Suddenly, I was fearlessly facing situations that months before would have had me quivering in my boots with my heart beating out of my chest. I do still have PVCs, individually and in runs, but they don't freak me out like they used to. My heart rate is stable and I'm calm and confident on a daily basis. What I'm saying is: I love Lexapro! Don't give up on it yet: you may just be like me and need a bit more of a leg up!

[achillea]

Go back to your doc (preferably a certified shrink, OK?) and tell him it isn't working.  A specialist, by the way,  could tell you which SSRI is likely to be best for you.  A generalist will have less information, by far.

There is a rule in medicating:  If the drug isn't working, it is either the wrong dose--or the wrong drug.  10mg of Cipralex (and it is essentially lexapro) is a low dose.  It is possible that increasing it might help, but then again, it might not be the best drug for you.  Personally, I found Lexapro to be too stimulating.  Zoloft proved to be much, much better for me.

There is no reason in the world for you to be suffering like this, except possibly the wrong doctor.  The best one would refer you to a specialist when what he suggested was no longer effective, and he had run out of ideas..

[birdie35]

I'm taking Cipralex (I think it's similar to Lexapro) 10 mg daily. I've been on it for about two months - so far, no success when it comes to arrythmia, or depression for that matter. I think it's kind of a vicious circle, because my PVC's are actually the only thing that's causing me to be depressed :( I also take Sotalol in low doses (2x40 mg) for PVC's - at first, it did wonders to me, but now it seems as if it just stopped working. sometimes I take xanax just to calm down a bit. I really can't imagine spending the rest of my life this way. my quality of life at this point is ZERO, and I mean it. I would give everything in the world to get rid of this!

[Inquiringmind41]

I have been having a lot of pvcs for the last 2 months and I can relate to all of your posts.  I've had pvcs here and there since I was a teenager (I'm 41 now), but for the last 4 years, they have become more frequent.  The last 2 months have been the worst.  I drove myself to the ER for the first time because I was having so many and my whole rhythm just felt different.  I just went through the run of the mill tests (ekg, holter monitor, echo, stress test.) Everything is normal and I was pretty much in constant bigeminy for both the echo and the stress test.  My monitor 10 months ago showed 2% of my heart beats were pvcs.  This last monitor showed 26% were pvcs.  That is a big change in 10 months!  During my echo, they did find a small PFO in between my upper atria, but they say it is of no consequence and it is not the cause for the pvcs as they originate in the ventricles.  It is not affecting my blood flow or ejection fraction and is so small they say it should never be a problem for me.

I can totally relate to your anxiety.  Sometimes, when I am in bigeminy, it feels more like my heart is beating side to side...sort of like vibrating.  And it beats hard.  If I lay down, I feel like my jugular vein is pulsating.  Sometimes I can't sleep.  It just plain *****.  Of course, the doctors say don't worry about it.  But how can you stop?  It's your heart!  I tried a very low dose of metoprolol.  It dropped my blood pressure pretty low and my pulse, but did nothing for the pvcs.  I had shortness of breath and had to stop.  Now I am trying propranolol, only 10 mg a day.  So far, no change other than a slower pulse.  I decided to make an appointment with an electrocardiologist in Boston for a second opinion.  My current cardiologist says I may want to have an ablation.  I did want to mention that I spoke to my cardiologist, primary care, and gynecologist about the fact that I really believe hormones play a role.  ALL of them agree that it is a very good possibility and this is a common complaint among women in perimenopause.  

I am just glad to have found this forum.  I do not know a single person personally who suffers with pvcs and it is comforting to know there are others who understand how I feel.  My doctor says not to worry, that my heart is perfectly normal and the pvcs are just a nuisance.  I have done so much of my own research that I don't worry as much as I used to.  If I am having a particularly bad day, I try to keep busy to keep my mind off it.  I do know that stress and lack of sleep do not help.  

Hang in there!

[achillea]

A Holter a few years ago showed 5000 per day.  My impression is that I'm having more recently.

Which SSRI are you taking, and are you taking it regularly?  I ask because you sound as though your current medications are not doing the job.  It often takes a trial of several different ones to find the best fit.  I think my shrink tried me on five--yes, five different SSRIs--before we found the best med for me--and the best dosage.  Taking the medication regularly is  also tremendously important.  One of my relatives used to take her SSRI only when she was feeling bad, like aspirin, and she wondered why it wasn't helping!

Once again, I really, really believe that patients with problems like ours should be seeing a psychiatrist for treatment, because these people have both a medical education AND psych training.

[birdie35]

I am already taking SSRI and xanax occasionally... Sometimes I feel like I'm loosing my mind, like I'm totally disabled or something... I'm even thinking about the ablation because I can't take this anymore... I'm still young and I want to live my life without these damn thing ruining everything :( Achillea, how many PVC's do you have?

[achillea]

In my experience of PVCs--decades of dealing with this problem--when you understand intellectually that in general, after your heart has been repeatedly examined and found to be essentially normal, the only solution is to seek help for the essential problem:  Your emotional response to that which cannot be changed.

I recommend a consultation with a psychiatrist (a person with a real medical degree) for help in dealing with your emotional responses to a benign problem of which you have a heightened awareness.

Sometimes (as in my case), medications such as SSRIs are necessary, and they can be a tremendous help.

[birdie35]

Hi,
i am new to this forum and not from the US, so my English is not so good, sorry... anyway, I'm looking for some comfort regarding frequent PVC's and PAC's. I've had them for about three years now, sometimes thousands a day, and sometimes just 10-20... but there are periods when they are litterary driving me crazy and i feel very depressed over it sometimes :( i would like to know how all of you PVC sufferers are dealing with this mentally? doctors are keep telling me "it's not dangerous, just live with it". yes, it's easy to say... i'm taking sotalol in low doses, but when PVC's are more frequent it doesn't seem to help much at all.

[MichelleP_3811]

In an otherwise healthy heart short runs of anything, if you are even having a run, is not a danger to you.  Only when your heart is unhealthy are they a concern but even then it is still not necessarily a super big threat though more so than someone without heart disease.  I would even say getting up and moving around or coughing might help you to get whatever it is to stop.  The worst thing you can do is panic because that will send adrenaline to your heart and make what you are feeling feel worse than it need be.  So try to not fret too much and watch your sodium and caffeine intake before and during your period and see if that helps.   You may never be able to control your ectopic beats but you can control how you respond to them.  So take a stand and refuse to let them dominate you.  They may not be normal but they are not a danger to you so just remind yourself that when you feel something odd come on.  Take care and stay strong.

[iamfaithful]

Thanks so much for responding.  The problem is I have worn four holter monitors over the years.  They caught PVC's but I honestly can't remember if they caught any couplets (if that's what you call them.).  My last holter monitor was late last year.  The regular PVC's are enough to deal with but the run of them.......it is enough to truly send you over the edge!

[dolphin8808]

I went through that as well. I would have what I thought was a run, it was all over the place and lasted for a few seconds. I finally got it caught on a monitor and thank God it was just PACs in bigimey. I never even know I had PACs I thought I just had PVCs.

It could be a lot of things and until you get it caught on a monitor you can't be sure. Honestly, I would call my doctor, tell him what you felt and see if you can get a monitor. That is probably the ONLY way you will feel better.

He or she may even tell you not to worry about it (easier said then done I know) but I am the first one to call my cardio if something new happens. My anxiety will allow for no less.