PVC's flutters etc

[may67]

I went to see a cardiologist last Thursday about my PVCs and I'm going to have a 24 hour holter monitor and an exercise stress test as a result. He said he didn't think an echo was necessary as I had one 3 years ago which showed a perfectly normal heart. However my PVCs have got much worse in the last 6 months (bigeminy on and off for days) and I thought they would do an echo just to check. Is 3 years enough time for something to show up that wasn't wrong before?

He was also concerned that I get them when exercising as he said this shouldn't be the case, hence the stress test.

I have also started to get this weird vibrating sensation in my chest on the left side, a bit like when you have a twitching muscle in your eyelid. I have convinced myself it's muscoskeletal but I was just wondering if anyone else has had a symptom like this? It only lasts a fraction of a second.

Acupuncture is going well and she is concentrating on controlling my hormone levels mainly. I have also been taking the fish oil for nearly a month now, no noticeable improvement yet. The cardiologist said taking these things won't make any difference, but I know they improved when I started magnesium so I'm ignoring him on that.

Thank you for your help.

[Jerry_NJ]

Again, to my experience, the one time I was diagnosed with Atrial Flutter I had a HR at rest of 130 +/-.  I had a post surgery follow up scheduled with my cardiologist so I was able to get immediate attention without going to emergency.  His assistant had trouble running the full (must be at least 8 contacts) EKG, but got enough for the doctor to say Flutter, not Fibrillation.  He increased my Toprol, or maybe he put me on Toprol, don't remember.  I went to all the way to 200 mg Toprol (100 morning/night) and the HR came down.  I had to be real careful getting up to my feet, got dizzy and had to sit down on the floor a couple of times to prevent falling down.  Anyway, I'm now down to 100 mg per day, little or no dizziness and just Atrial Fibrillation.  Rest HR still high, but below 100.

[jkfrench]

I sent you a private message as well but I have never done that before so I don't know if it worked.  I wanted to let you know that I get that vibration feeling in my chest and around my ribs.  It started a few months ago and it happens on and off in short bursts.  It does feel like a muscle spasm at times.  I'm sitting here looking through a magazine and feeling it off and on.  It drives me crazy.  I went to the doctor and he ran an ekg, took some blood and said he was sure it was benign.  I was worried it was Atrial Flutter and I'm trying to find out if your heart rate increases during atrial flutter or if it remains normal.  My heartbeat remains totally normal when I feel those vibrations.  ughh  it is always something.  Let me know what your doctor says.   I get echos once a year and also do a stress test once a year.  (for my piece of mind)   Frenchie

[Jerry_NJ]

To one of your question, how frequent an echocardiogram: I'd share the view that a repeat would be necessary only if a condition was found that required monitoring.  For example, I had a leaky mitral valve and it was stretching/enlarging my left atrium, enlarging my heart.  This meant that I needed an echocardiogram repeat after about 4 years, it could have been 5 years.  This cardiogram did show continued enlargement of the heart, resulting in a recommendation for surgery to repair/replace the valve. This was done about a year ago. So, my experience suggest that periodic echocardiograms are not the "norm".