Scared recently diagnosed with pvc and some vt episodes

[Imscared2010]

Good afternoon,
I am 30 years old and I am scared to death
On a regular checkup with my doctor he found fast heartbeats. He scheduled a Ekg but it was normal.
One week later I was given another test and I was told that I  was having pvcs.
My doctor then scheduled me a heart sonogram and a holterHolter monitor 24hr (with a cardiologist)
My sonogram came out very normal but he said that my holter read a few episodes of vt or tachicardia.
My next step is a stress test.. The thing is that I can't feel my palpitations, no cheat pain. I have no symptoms..
Should I be scared... I called the nurse to see if I needed medication but she said no....
I don't understand , shouldn't  he have given me medicine?... or sent me to the hospital?
Please advice

[Mom2four85]

Since your heart is healthy and strong; your heart functioning is normal; you're asymptomatic and you aren't feeling any of them, I would get the stress test done and find any lifestyle or environmental triggers; such as anxiety, stress, caffeine, lack of sleep etc and eliminate the triggers and see about an anti anxiety med if needed (SSRI).

If your doctor hasn't explained if yours are dangerous or not, pin them down until they give you clear answers. There's a very very rare chance that they are dangerous; around 1% chance.

If you go to the search at the top of the page and put in pvc's, VT or Vtach, ventricular tachycardia you'll find a ton of info and doctors answers - look in the expert section where the Medhelp Doctors answer questions.

You can live well and function fine with 30,000 & even 50,000 pvc's - it's all a state of mind and letting them control your life or not.  I had 50,000 pvc's for quite awhile and didn't know I had THAT many, heck I didn't even know it was pvc's until the dr put a name to what I felt.  A few years ago, I was told by a doctor my heart was fine and I was "deconditioned" even though I was walking/running 4-5 times a week with 30 -50,000 pvc's daily - I just needed to lose weight.

I sit on the pvc fence myself :P trying to reassure others that you probably won't have dangerous arrythmia's but at the same time, knowing mine were brushed under the rug by a doctor.  I still have thousands after an ablation and pacemaker/icd implant - bigeminy & trigeminy patterns (couplets, triplets, vt etc), but I have other things going on and that made my problem worse - in a structurally normal heart, there is no problem with pvc's or even VT.

PVC's in frequent continuous episodes can become a form of ventricular tachycardia (VT) and can become dangerous (V-Fib) but rarely do.  Typically, if 3 or more PVCs occur in a row it is indicative of ventricular tachycardia, but NOT ALL VT's are dangerous.  

I was told by my EP that only 1% of pvc's are considered dangerous, although I've read 1%-5%. Dr's typically treat between 6,000 - 8,000 pvc's with meds and anything above 15% - 20% of a total 24 HR they treat with surgery.  

At higher continuous amounts, it can damage the heart and lead to cardiomyopathy.  Although, follow up research has shown this can happen at much lower thresholds of  >4000 pvc's - http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/761148-followup

I've suffered from frequent pvc's and VT for years and it's something I still question - what triggers v-tach to become something dangerous?  Dr's use a scale to categorize which ones they think will be dangerous; but it's debatable [the article expands on this method].

"LV function and where your PVC's originate is more important then your where you fit on the scale" - it's in the medscape article, I think page 3.

You can have many different arrythmia's originating from different areas, but for them to be dangerous they have to have the morphology that stands out (your cardio or EP will know).

Hopefully this answers some of your questions and I've explained correctly the way my doctors did and research I've read.

Here's an example of one of the dr's posts:  a thread about VT and an answer from one of the Cleveland Clinic dr's

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Heart-Disease/Idiopathic-Ventricular-Tachycardia-Ablation/show/1327314

"If your heart function is normal, there really isn't any danger from having the VT runs.  The only thing worth assessing is the number of PVC's in a 24 hour period.  If it's greater than 15% of all the heart beats than there is a small risk of developing a PVC induced cardiomyopathy."

"We typically don't ablate PVC's unless they are symptomatic or if they are very numerous (great than 15%).  The VT isn't ablated unless it's sustained or very symptomatic with episodes of passing out or nearly passing out.  Sometimes it's difficult to induce the Vt in the lab but becasue the PVCs typically look like the VT we sometimes go after them"

"This is very unlikley to progress to VF or SCD.  If the PVC's/NSVT is really bothering you then you should have ablation done to relieve your symptoms, not to prevent SCD or VF."

hope this helps some and if you have any questions, feel free to PM me

[CFS56]

With a normal heart short episodes of VT are not harmful.  I know what you read scares the heck out of you and makes you think you're just going to drop dead, but you aren't.  If the doctors thought you were in danger they most certainly would have done something.  Technically, I believe that VT is 3 PVCs in a row.  Lots of people have been walking around for years with the same things you have.  Just try to relax and not think about it all the time...I realize that is extremely difficult...but try to force your mind onto other things.  Worrrying yourself to death is not going to help and it's not going to make the 19th come any faster.  And the fact that your stress test is scheduled that far off should also make you feel better.  When I went into atrial fib, I was admitted to the hospital and the very next day I was taking a stress test and having an echocardiogram.  Cardiac issues are always taken very seriously if the doctors think there is the possibility of a significant problem.

[yarrow]

You are young, you have no symptoms other than fatigue (almost certainly normal fatigue for the parent of little boys!), you've had several tests that show your heart is healthy--and the stress test will very likely show nothing bad.  The odds are very much in your favor, my dear.

May I note that this kind of anxiety is very common in parents, particularly mothers of young children?  The usual explanation is that we so love them that we become very fearful for their safety, and because we can't bear the thought of ALL the bad things that could happen, we internalize and limit that fear to something we can comprehend easily:  The fear that something might happen to US.

It is one kind of anxiety that talk therapy can help--if your heart turns out to be normal.  Which it will.  :-)

[rmontgom21740]

Consider yourself very lucky that you can't feel them.  I have been having PVC's for 20 years (I'm 43) and this year has been by far the hardest.  I sometimes have 10 to 20 thousand a day and feel every one of them.  It is very very stressful.  I have been to many different DRs and had all the same tests that you are having and they all tell me the same thing..... they will not hurt you and that I have to learn to deal with them.  Since they are not harmful, I would be very happy if I didn't feel them.

[Imscared2010]

Hi,
Thanks for your response.
My episodes are in the lower chamber. ( verticular tachycardia)
I  read about it and I feel more scared. I am a mother of 2 and I am scared  of having suddent death... I guess my only real symtom  is fatigue.
I feel tired. ..But I have a busy life.   My stress test is not until the 19th and I am anxious every minute. I can't concentrate at work.. The only thing that reassures me is my normal heart sonogram... I can't help feeling scared.
I have two beautiful boys that need me...

[CFS56]

You are lucky you don't feel your palpitations.  Some of us feel every single one and it can be very disconcerting and cause lots of stress.  Your doctor is doing the right thing by ruling out problems with your heart.  With a normal sonogram and most likely a normal stress test, you can relax and stop worrying.  A large percentage of the population has pvcs...they are harmless in a normal heart.  Did you mean VT or SVT....not that it really matters.  Again, short episodes of either in a normal heart are no biggy.  Usually the only reason they prescribe meds for PVCs is because a lot of people are very aware of them and they are very annoying.  If you don't feel them you are way ahead of the game.  Please try to relax and quit worrying.  I have had PVCs, PAVs, SVT and atrial fib...had all but the atrial fib for at least 30 years and I'm still here.