scared

[jennyfi]

female38.1994  tests - saidmild pulmonary insufficiency, trivial tricuspid regurgitation, sinus bradycardia, borderline 1st degreAV block w/ rare isolated pvcs. Normal Echo,no mvp evident.  holter said non-specific T abnormalities in MCL 1. , intermittent episodes of sinus arrhythmia, somewhat abrupt at times, very rare isolated pvc. Feb. of 2007 I bent down,heart raced. tachy -even steady very fast beating lasted aprox 5 minutes. Days later nervous about it went to dr. office. Had a 10 sec. EKG and said all is fine.March due to ear vertigo went to the er. Did standard ekg and he said (did you know you have an arrythmia?) July 2007 worrying about tachy thing still. Heart flutters so much. Scared of having a serious heart thing. Wenttodr.  they do a 24 hour holter.  dr. office said I needed a consult with the cardiologist. Here was the holter report.8-22-24-2007  The initial trace revealed sinus rhythm, with rates of 81-85 bpm. PR of 0.17, QRS of 0.08, QT of 0.33. The trace continued in sinus rhythm, with episodes of sinus bradycardia, with rates as low as 53 bpm (4:52am-2) and sinus tachycardia, with rates as high as 138 bpm (12:31pm-1). The mean rate was 86 beats per minute. There were frequent  (pvcs), at times in a bigeminal rhythm. The symptoms noted by the patient of "a bit dizzy, one beat hurt, inhaled deeply, and felt funny, felt strange heart feelig" revealed sinus rhythm, sinus tachycardia, with pvcs, rates of 86 to 116 beats per minute. Impression:1. sinus rhythm, sinus bradycardia, sinus tachycardia.2. Frequent pvcs, at times in a bigeminal rhythm. 3. Symptoms noted revealed sinus rhythm, sinus tachycardia, pvcs rates of 86-116.
How dangerous this is? Why have my pvcs increased since 98 and why the bigeminy? I read bigeminy can cause sudden death. I am so nervous now.  I do not want to go on meds if not a matter of life and death. Can you tell me how dangerous this is and do people ever go on to live long normal lives w/out meds?

[jennyfi]

wow. thank you so so much. i can sleep tonight! Thank you God!

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

How dangerous is this?

It is not dangerous.  That is a bunch of medical talk saying that you have a structurally normal heart and that you have PVCs.  PVCs in this setting are not dangerous.  Bigeminy does not pose any greater risk to you.  It is very common.  The problem is the symptoms, not the risk of dying.  The medications used for this are to treat symptoms.  Only in rare cases to do beta blockers decrease the numbers of PVCs.  The rare exception is a specific type of outflow tract PVCs that responds to calcium channel blockers.

Try not to be scared by the way we write our notes -- they are confusing, even to us sometimes.  

I hope this helps.

[ireneo]

I don't know of a set schedule for the doctor to answer questions - say every morning or every afternoon. But usually there's an answer within 24 hours. I know you're anxious to hear something "real", not just my random thoughts. Hang in there.

[jennyfi]

thanks so much for your comment, not to be rude or un thankful, but when will a doctor read my report on here?

[ireneo]

This just my opinion and experience but I don't think a HR of 116 will make you feel dizzy. My tachy jumps up to 190 and I don't feel dizzy, just feel the fast beats and a little tired. I think I also read that bigeminy is pretty harmless unless there's something else going on in there. The doctor can figure that out from your information. I've had times of 15-25 PVC's/PAC's per minute for hours on end and I'm still here. But my heart is "normal."