tiredness & missed heart beats

[andreajb]

Hi,

I am female, 35, healthy weight, otherwise healthy, but suffer from PVC's. I have them most of the time day in day out at the rate of one every 2nd or 3rd beat. Occasionally I might have a string of 10 or 15 normal heartbeats in a row. I feel totally exhausted, short of breath & light headed. But even though I am tired, it's really hard to sleep because my heart is pounding away so much & it wakes me several times a night also.

My resting pulse is 48 detected beats, but I had 48 skipped beats over a minute also, so I guess my actual pulse is 96. I already avoid caffeine & alcohol, am a healthy weight & eat well.

I can't claim health insurance for this so have to go on the public waiting list, but would love a heads up in the meantime. Thanks so much to anyone who can help.

[nicolette36]

i think measuring your own pulse can lead to fairly inaccurate results,i know this from experience,the times ive thought i detected skipped/extra beats when infact my pulse has been totally normal,the only way to really detect an abnormality would be to get a trace reading and perhaps wear a 24hr monitor,but certainly get it checked out when you can.a resting pulse of 48 is kind of low though.

[andreajb]

thanks. I am pretty certain they really are skipped, if all is quiet I can pretty much hear the next heartbeat after a missed one as a huge thud & can feel it pound against the side of my rib cage. I have had PVC's shown on ECG's before (have had this for ~10 years), but has never been so frequent or sustained, that now I can go for weeks without having a normal run of heartbeats.

I'm not worried about health, I assume my heart is fine (previous ECG's showed no underlying pathology), just find it really hard to cope with being a working mum with 2 little kids & sure life wasn't meant to be this hard...

My worst fear when I see the cardiologist (in one month) is that all he will say is that it's no concern & won't do anything (even if, as I expect, a 24 hr monitor will show these frequent PVCs), but the reality is I can hardly cope with my life :(

Thanks for listening :)

[debola53]

I would recommend your M.D. order an EHCO test-an ultrasound of your heart. You want to make sure that your heart is strucurally sound and all the valves and ventricles are working well. You sypmtoms could be cardiomyopathy or something less serious. It is best to check out. Good luck-Debi

[jpcox]

Hi, I am in your shoes. I have frequent pacs' and due to this I am tired and weak all the time. I've had my round of tests, everything normal. The only problem is this does not feel normal.  I am 29, and have 2 little ones too. Hang in there.

Jennifer

[liz2]

You sound just like me! I have had pvc's in bigeminy or trigeminy for at least two years. My doctor last december noticed my pulse was 46, so I had an ecg and then went to a cardiologist. When I am in bigeminy, my pulse is always in the 40's - measured on blood pressure machines, ecg, etc. My doctor listened to my heart and felt my pulse at the same time and could hear the pvc's, but not feel them in the pulse.

You do not feel the pvc's in the pulse, and if they are coming every other beat, your pulse will be low. I have had the 24hr monitor (over 11,000 pvc's), an echo, and a stress test.

Definitely have an echo as Debi said to see if everything is structurally normal. I have been told that even at this rate they are benign if your heart is normal.

I don't know if your symptoms are caused by your pvc's, but I would ask your doctor to also check your thyroid and iron levels. Good luck.