irregular heart beat

heart beat at times starts skipping every second or third heart beat. can occur at any time.[ take metoprolol and diltiazem.] when this occurs BP drops to 100 /50's get liteheaded .any idea what the cause is and what can be done. Doc is testing for cause?

[Artaud]

Hi,

I see that you are on a Calcium channel Blocker and a Beta Blocker. What is this combination for, blood pressure, arrhythmia, or a combination of both? How are you taking your Blood Pressure? How long do the episodes last for? Who is doing the testing? What kind of testing (Stress, Echo, Holter, Event Monitor, etc.)? Cardiologist or Family Doctor?

I am often plagued by episodes of trigeminy. Every third beat is a PVC. My wife's coworker has very frequent bigeminy, every other beat is a PVC. She passed her stress test, bigeminy and all. Apparently for some people, their hearts can fall into this rhythm without any serious side effects. It can also signify other more serious problems, so doing the testing is a smart thing to do.

Wish you well.

[imcaesarsmom]

I had gastric bypass in January 2008 and the following day went into episodes of bigeminy and trigeminy. It lasted a good four weeks. I have no cardiac history and am a 37-year-old female. I've lost 190 pounds and today I had another episode, for no apparent reason, other than my body seems to be fighting off a cold.

I can tell exactly what is happening and can feel the beats skip. I still get runs of bigeminy and trigeminy together, but the episodes seem to go away after about 30 minutes. The are usually followed with nausea, dizziness, and tonight . . . shortness of breath. I saw a cardiologist who told me I either needed to eat more or work out less, but that it isn't a serious condition. So . . . I don't worry. I assume it means my body is telling me something is wrong (in this case I probably am dehydrated and getting sick).

[Kenny1948]

Could someone please explain: bigenminy and trigeminy?  I had a similar experience yesterday after a bike ride.  I am being treated for Afib, with Flecainide and Meteropol.  Have been on these now for almost three months with no serious problems.  This was the first time I experienced an irregular heartbeat since taking these meds.  I do have an occaisonal PVC, which I have had all my life.  However yesterday it seemed more like a skipped beat--or that there was a pause between beats.  Today I took a much longer ride, and was fine.