Bigeminy PVCS ?

[hopenprayers]

Hello & thank u very much for this forum & your time.

I am 53 yr old Female with over a 30 yr history of PVCs. (all tests ekgs echos stress thalium & angiograms have been normal) I have used alcohol to medicate myself over the years for this problem. Lately the pvcs worsened slightly, so my cardio changed my meds from 30 mil. diltiazem twice daily to metroporpolo(sp) & magnesium oxide. Well after FIRST dose my heart went into the worse rythm I had ever had over the last 30 years. I ended up in ER (bigimeny) And my heart has continued to do this worsened rythm periodiaclly ever since...
Could the medication have caused this? I was scared to take another dose so cardio put me on Diltiazem ER 120mg. & told me to go home & not worry. I am now using a hand held event monitor. I called in a recording yesterday, & the docs PA called back telling me it showed bigeminy. I can feel when these beats accur ( very frightening). He said to go ER if I got other symptoms such as light headed, pain etc. I have read on this board MANY time that pvcs no matter how frequent are nothing to be concerned about if one has otherwise sturcturally sound heart. Then yesterday I looked up PVCS in the dictionary here on this site. It said "Frequent pvcs have the potentional to cause more serious rythmns and cardiac arrest.  Well that certainly doesnt sound like nothing to worry about to me, in fact it scared the pants off me. So which is it, something not to worry about or something that COULD lead to cardiac arrest?
Also when having these bigeminy which sometimees can last for hours, as many as 8 hrs at a time so far, I have found that drinking beer is the ONLY thing that will make them quit. I have also noticed that when I quit drinking that in about 3 days these bigeminy pvcs get realy bad until I drink again.
It is a vicious circle and i am so very tired of it. Please help explain why the difference between your dictionary definittion of pvcs and what you & my doc have said. Also could the one dose of metropropolo have made my pvcs worse? and What can i do about not being able to quit drinking without having these awlful bouts of pvcs? ( I dont have any other alcohol withdrawal symtoms)

Again, Thank you for your time, and this great site.

[Momto3]

Good morning -or middle of the night to you : )

You will absolutely love this site! The people are awesome and the doctors are great! The best time to try and post a question is usually around 8:00-9:00 a.m. here in Cleveland (EST). So, that would be about 10:00 - 11:00 p.m. for you. Give that a shot and you make hit it lucky. I must tell you it does take awhile to get a question asked, but it is great when the doctors answer your specific question. Be sure to ask all of your questions in one posting since it is difficult to get in. The doctors do their best to answer each post carefully.

Hmmmm...So, no medicine....That blows my theory of beta blockers stunting the BP during the test. Have you searched the archive on this site? You may find something about exercise and BP. Did you have a chance to ask the doctor what he/she meant by "blood pressure - very poor response to exercise?"

I do not have migraines, but have had "ocular migraines." I get the visual aura, but no headache thank goodness. That hasn't happened since my second ablation though. My daughter went through a terrible time with them. Finally, she tried a beta blocker (for about a year) and it worked! She tried going off of them earlier this year, and so far so good. Keeping our fingers crossed.

Have you noticed that your pvcs are worse now that you are pre-menopausal? There are several women around here that would swear to it, including me! I am 46, but my pvcs went CRAZY in my late 30's and early 40's...I was having over 20,000/day. I think anything over 10,000 is considered VERY frequent. That would be us : )

Oh yes, the tired and draggy feeling...Boy, can I relate to that!! I'm not sure what 56kg is, but I am about 110 pounds. As for the ovary thing...another thing in common....If you would like to talk more, please email me at ItsMeCZ@aol.

Stay well! Good luck posting your question
Connie

[Mieke]

Thank you so much for acknowledging my post, I'm so amazed by this site.  I have been trying to post a question but no luck getting through yet, its 14 hours ahead of you here in Australia so I'm usually trying in the middle of your night!  I am not on any medication and the doctor had written on my stress report "blood pressure - very poor response to exercise" and I can't seem to find anyone to tell me what this means.  should I exercise? and am I at risk in anyway if my blood pressure does not rise as it should?  I also suffer with migraine headaches and notice that my PVC's always seem worse just before and during a migraine attack. I also feel constantly tired and sometimes almost as if I have been drugged!! I am 50 years old, weigh about 56kg and have not gone through menopause yet!  Also, I may have to have surgery on one of my ovaries soon, do you know if having an anaesthetic with PVC's and mitral valve prolapse is a problem?

[Momto3]

Are you taking any beta blockers? Our situations are really similar. I have/had pvcs for about 25 years, but recent ablations put a stop to them. My PVCs were also daily and in the tens of thousands/24 hours. Tried some anti-anxiety meds, but as you said, the palps were still there. Sorry about the withdrawl you went through. I stopped the meds before that could happen. When I realized that they only made it so I didn't care, I threw in the towel and accepted the pvcs as my little idiosyncrasy. I also have MVP and regurgitation. During one of my stress tests while I was on a beta blocker I had the same experience as you...Everything was OK, but BP stayed very moderate. They said the medicine blunted the BP from going up. They said the medicine what it was supposed to do...Hope you are doing well! Connie

[Mieke]

I am new to this, just logged on from Australia.  I have suffered from PVC's for about 20 years now and always felt alone.  I can't believe the amount of people with the same problem!  My PVC's were daily and on holter monitor show about 10,000 in a 24 hour period. They left me feeling so debilitated and terribly anxious that I was about to die.  My doctor put me on Valium which I took for about 7 years - not high dose but regular, they helped in the fact that I wasn't so anxious but never got rid of the palps.  I ended up having dreadful withdrawal sympoms for 12 months when I decided to stop the valium but since stopping it my PVC's have become much less, now only showing about 1,000 in 24hours. Alcohol always makes them much worse as well and so I've stopped drinking anything now and they have settled down even more.  I also have Mitral valve prolapse with regurgitation and on having a stress test my blood pressure did not go up with my heart rate it just stayed on 120/80 even though my heart rate reached 170. does anyone know what this means as the doctors say not to worry.

[paulk]

I suffered with anxiety for about a year and a half it was after some very tragic events in my life, anyway i had all the usual shortness of breath, chest pain and panic attacks but mostly just everyday i had a symptom of anxiety of some sort. I started to get skipped beats about 8 months ago , about 6 months into my anxiety.  I was on the depo provera injection and decided to come off this as i thought it might be contributing to my anxiety.  At this stage i was only experiencing "skipped beats" on the rare occasion. When I came off the depo all my anxiety symptoms disappeared by about 80% and when my periods returned after 4 months i was  completely anxiety free except for the "skipped beats". They were very few but they seem to have increased over time. I have had all the tests done, ECG, bloods, chest xray and all were normal, in fact ive had them done several times over the last 18 months but im still not convinced.  I drink about 1-2 times a week socially and might drink about 3 pints of beer over a 5 hour period which i dont consider to be alot, i will start to get "skipped beats" 2 days after i drink and they will be on and off for the whole day and sometimes into the next day aswell, they really scare me. My doc says to stop drinking but i enjoy going out socially and drinking a few with friends, i have to live aswell.  I dont smoke. It really frustrates me that this is happening to me.  i exercise about 5 times a week and this helps considerably.  I wonder am i ever going to be free of these or will i just have to put up with them. I have started now to decrease my alcohol as i think this is the cause but i have always drank and didnt have them before so i dont know if this is the reason. I have even tried to drink wine instead of beer but this just makes me sick. ive started to take magnesium i dont know if this is helping or not.  Im due to see a cardiologist soon to get all tests done just to help ease my mind. I still dont know if they are PAC or PVC as they have never been caught on the ECG/EKG.

pauline

[Clenn Camp]

Konopka,

You have definitely not had the kind of pvc's I experience.  You've never had the kind of pvc's that 'take you down' and lightheadedness, dizzying, makes you feel like you are dying or passing out, urgent and frequent urination, etc..  These are the kind that no one can ignor and think positively about and go on their merry way.

Glenn