Heart skips

[radioguy]

My heart has been skipping for about 4 years now. I am 33 yr male in good health. Two years ago I had a 24 hour holter, echo, elecrto cardio, thyroid test and chest xray. According to my doc. no problems present. I was however diag. with GAD and was given Zanax for about two months. Took myself off with docs approval and started natural therapy for GAD. I seem to get heart skips (beats normal, pause, big beat, normal again) when under stress or just whenever. It usually catches me off guard and is very upsetting. To the point where I become anxious and or very depressed. I have been researching the possibility of a gastro connection though not convinced. I do suffer from occasional reflux usually from wrong foods. I am 6'2 and 235 lbs. Heart pulse resting 72 and BP is 130/82 I thought a lower weight may help. I have also begun exercising more vigorously, seems to eleviate the symptoms for short periods of time. I live in a northern Ontario Canadian community and my family doc has moved to another city. Like most other people in this community now have to resort to a walk in clinic for med help. I find this frustrating as you nget a different doc. every time. Please write back with any suggestions.

Radio Guy.

[traininmom]

This has been so helpful. I recently had a stress test and cardiac catheterization. Stress test showed PVC's, catheterization "looked good", no blockages. But at end of test I had " vaso vegal?" response. Pretty scary. Any comments on that? I am encouraged to hear that some people feel better with mild exercise. I love to walk and have stopped because of shortness of breath and extra beats. This discussion is helping me think through the questions I want to ask and possible solutions.
Thanks to everyone who shares.

[Steve-M]

I found this web site to do translation. It takes a little practice to use their helpful hints.

www.worldlingo.com/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html

Steve

[Ianna]

Hi Steve,
-
You used some kind of translator?
Never mind.
I was very suprised to read the Dutch.
Thanks, that was nice.
-
***Ianna***

[Steve-M]

The name of the book is "The Pulse Test" by Arthur F. Coca, MD

Ik vond niet het boek dat in het Nederlands wordt geschreven. Het boek zou moeilijk kunnen zijn te lezen. Het boek gebruikt medische woorden en vijftig jaar geleden geschreven. Ik denk u met goede gezondheid zal worden beloond als u het boek kunt
lezen.

(I did not find the book written in Dutch. The book could be difficult to read. The book uses medical words and was written fifty years ago. I think you will be rewarded with good health if you are able to read the book.)

As you can see, language can be a problem for all of us. Good luck.

Steve

[Ianna]

Thanks for the answer back.
I'm glad you feel so well now.
I too have periods of time in which I feel a lot better.
Just this week was a lesser good time.
Don't know why.... maybe the full moon.... heavy solar flares....after all we are children of the cosmos----oh well...
Will you let me know the title of the book you are talking about? I think you are right about food related palps. I allready noticed that many times.
Then I have to find out if the book is ever translated into the Dutch language and is sold here somewhere; or else I have to order it at Amazon and read it in English (which is harder for me; picture me sitting here with my two dictionary's: Dutch-English and English-Dutch writing to you...haha...)
-
Stay well Steve, bey      ***Ianna***

[Steve-M]

Ianna,
Yes, I am over the flu. It only lasted about a week or so. I have started exercising again and it makes a big difference being outside. When I was using the treadmill all I could think about was my chest and what might be going on inside. When I'm outside my brain is occupied with all that is around me. I have not increased my workouts up to where I would like them yet. It's more from a lack of time than anything else. I need to make the time since Spring has begun to arrive where I live (Southern California).

I have also noticed that my heart is not bothering me nearly as much as it used to. I can still tell that there are PVC's happening but not as often. They are also harder to feel. The less I think about them the fewer I have, (or at least the less I can feel them). I think that the nerve pathways that connect my heart to the worry center of my brain are getting out of practice.

The other thing I am doing to improve my health is the pulse test for allergies. It makes a very big difference with my heart when I work to avoid the foods that make it speed up. I have been putting off getting serious with the self testing but now I realize just what the benifits will be and I'm setting aside the time this week. The book didn't take much time to read. I have already read it for the second time including underlining the important parts. I will let you know the results.

Steve

[Ianna]

Hi Steve,
-
How is the excercise-program that you planned developing?
You must be over the flu now ;-), so tell me, do you go walking and biking now in nature?
Does it do you good?
I'm thinking of the same strategy.
I have a home-trainer, but outside, you are right, it's different; much more distraction; but scary too, you know: WHAT IF.....
-
How are you doing, and what did you do about food and supplements? Did you change, left out or add some things.
-
Bey, greetings from Holland.  
- ***Ianna*** -

...and the beat goes on....

[Steve-M]

The breathless thing seems to be very common. I have it myself at times and have read it many times here on the forum. The two explanations I've heard are:

1- Valves in the heart opened at the right time for the mis-timed beat to force blood back into the lungs.

2- The "second fear" or adrenalin generated by your body in response to the fear of the mis-timed beat.

In either case it seems to be of no interest to doctors. I have been told by a cardiologist that it doesn't mean anything and not to worry about it. He was not interested enough to even ask questions about the feelings I felt.

Hang in there, Steve

[therclan]

I have been experiencing this problem for a few years now.  I had EKG's and holter monitor.  I was told my condition was PVC's.  I had something like 1000 extra beats in one day.  I was given 25Mg of Atenolol.  It seemed to help for awhile, but now it's back.  My only question is this:  Does anyone else feel like their breath is taken away (briefly) during the bout of "skippies"?  I am going to talk to the doc about giving up the atenolol as it doesn't appear to do any good!  I just hate the feeling that my breath is taken away....  Does anyone else experience this?

[ozland]

Wow!  There are a lot of us!  I recently had a cathetar ablation done last week.  Unfortunately, since it was thought to be uni-focal, the EP said that this would most likey work.  It ended up being multi-focal.  

I am very discouraged.  I do NOT tolerate the meds.  And now I'm on them again.

Two days after the procedure, my husband took me to the ER.  Now I have pac's!  About 3,000 per minute.  The meds give me about 3-4 hours of relief per day, but the rest of the time I'm feeling these.  Will go back to EP doc tomorrow for yet another holter to see if they are still pac's or pvc's.

Has anyone else has ablation done?

[Gnatty]

I have found that a hard cough will usually settle my fluttering and heart skips for quite a long period - long enough for me to forget about them anyway. I've noticed this particularly while I am resting or am driving in the car. It gets to the point where it's driving me mad, I take a deep breath and do a couple of very hard coughs - and they disappear. Sometimes my heart feels a bit "wobbly" for a few seconds (I don't know how else to describe it, a bit like it's trying to get its breath) - but then it all just settles down. Can anyone explain why this should be? It's like the sharp movement of my lungs jolts my heart muscle out of its irregularity.

[Steve-M]

I am planning to start out walking for my exercise. I have a treadmill at home but find that it's too easy to focus on the heart. The more I think about how my heart is doing the better the nerve pathways from my heart to the worry center of my brain work. I have noticed that the less I think about it the harder it is to feel any beat irregularities. I know they're still going on but they're harder to detect.

I also think walking or biking in nature will give me something positive to think about outside my body instead of always looking inward. I will start this new program as soon as I'm over the flu and report back my progress.

[marc.m]

I too was told that exercise would decrease the pvc's but instead increased them. I have noticed that if I use the treadmill I will feel very few if any pvc's, but if I use the cross-trainer machine which utilizes arm movement the pvc's are even worse, and lifting weights causes a serious amount of pvc's. My doctor told me that the reason for this is the increased amount of blood adrenaline with certain exercise. Try different exercise and see if it makes a difference, and please report this back to this forum so that it will help me as well as others to better understand this problem.

[Beto]

Clarification: my problem concerns IRREGULAR heart beats, not SKIPPED ones. (My normal resting pulse is 57). The problem disappeared shortly after my visit to the Red Cross where I was quite anxious about giving blood. To my knowledge, this has never happened while exercising, even when I'm racing under full power. I've had EMS people at a couple of races check my blood pressure right after I crossed the finish line. Nothing irregular was noted. I'll share my doctor's opinion for the benefit of anybody else who is concerned about robust exercise and heart health.

[Steve-M]

I too would like to find out what effect exercise has on PVC's. I have always heard and read that exercise will help to minimize heartbeat irregularities but in my own case it seems just the opposite. As my heartbeat increases so do the PVC's. Funny thing is that it didn't do that on my stress test a couple months ago. Can things change that fast or is it just a phase I'm going through? Has any one else "worked through" the increased PVC's to where they got better as the result of an exercise program?

[Beto]

I recently experienced 7 skipped heartbeats in one minute when I donated blood at the Red Cross. (If you have 10 or more they won't accept your donation). RC nurse advised mentioning this to my family doctor on my next visit. This was the first time I donated blood. I'm a 74 year old male, a daily exerciser, a competitive racewalker and a marathoner. Are skipped heartbeats likely to end my aggressive physical activity? My next doctor appointment is late next week. (I'm trying not to worry).

[worrywort]

I have PAC's and PVC's (but more of the 'stop thump' ones) I call them the "skippies." I notice that I have them more if I wear tight clothes (which is much more often now if you know what I mean) or have really bad heatburn and "backup" with lots of belching. I have had numerous test....holter...echo and stress echo..blood and pee test. Everything showed normal. I must admit they bother me now more than ever due to the fact my 38 year old brother died last april of sudden cardiac death due to family history of atherosclerosis(sp?) I have been told since I am a woman I have avoiding that gene and it runs in the men in my family. My older brother who is 45 now went for test right after the funeral and ended up with two stents and test showed he had a previous heart attack. Thing is....neither of them ever complained about "skippes". Any insights welcome as I am in the same boat with most of you that can't get a message posted for the docs.

Thanks

[josemanuelcruz]

You have it a similar point of me. In fact, I'm 37, going to 38, and the PVC are starting now - It's a similar age when your problem started. Is this a problem also linked to middle age ? - My life now is not with more stress than before, although, because some tachycardia episodes, I started to be much more concerned about my heart rhythm.

[marc.m]

I suffer from anxiety and when I have an uncontrollable bout of pvc's I can usually bring them to a halt with a single Xanax pill, I only do this when I am totally overwhelmed by them as I try not to become too dependant on Xanax. I'm very sensitive to stress and although I have lived with stress throughout my life the pvc's only started at age 38. The best advice is to avoid anything that will stimulate the heart such as caffeine, and nutrasweet has been known to cause a rapid heartbeat, simple carbohydrates (sugar, white bread, pasta) in sensitve individuals can cause anxiety and rapid heartbeat,  and exercise that boosts adrenaline such as weightlifting. Try not to focus on the skips as this will increase anxiety, and do some form of exercise that is not too strenuous such as walking.

[Ivnarcotic]

I need help. I am a 29 y/o female with anxiety..no other health problems. I am on my ninth day of heart flutters occuring singly and with no other side effects. All I feel is a hollow vibration in my chest, a butterfly feeling in my chest. The only time I don't feel them is when I'm asleep and in between the irregular beats. I feel my pulse when it happens, and it pauses then has a strong beat, a accelerated rate momentarily and then slows down again. Seen by IM Doc. Holter monitor showed lots of artifact so not real accurate, Echo normal, cut out caffeine and nutrisweet 5 days ago. (the doc blows off the nutrisweet theory although its the only new thing I'm doing..caffeine intake has stayed the same for many, many years.) I put myself on the heart monitor at work and shows early beats occuring singly. I am having so much trouble getting answers and someone to care as much as I do. I am suffering so much. Even when I feel calm, I'm still feeling them continuously. He wants me to see a cardiologist. I am worried something is wrong with the electroconductivity of my heart since it is structurally normal. I can't think of anything else. How come stress never caused them before? I have always been a worry wort type. Can anyone help? Please? thank you .

[Namva]

Hi Duck_Rider.  As you will have noticed in this and other forums this so-called irregular heart beat is very common. You should, however, undergo all the tests just to be sure that there is no other underlying problem.  If the docs say all is OK then believe them. Yes I know, easy to say!  The problem with PACs/PVCs is that they do tend to get worse if you think and worry about them.  Just get on with your life and ignore them, they will eventually fade into the background. You might feel the odd one from time to time but just let it go.  I just went through a bad phase which lasted about 10 days. Then suddenly they went just as quickly as they had come. That is to say that I still get them but just the odd one here and there which doesn't bother me.  One thing is for sure, as already said by many, even though they are of no threat (unless you get literally many thousands a day) they are a nuisance. It's a great pity that there isn't more research being done into this problem.

[jmcruz]

Speaking about PVC, I found, in the link after referred, a medical text about them, which also include some history about their investigation and medical theories, regarding to it's serious or treatment, in the past and present. I think its interesting. The Web page is http://heartdisease.about.com/library/weekly/aa011501a.htm

[duck_rider996]

Thanks for the advice I'm taking it day by day.

I'm sure I will be all Fine.

Thanks again

[duck_rider996]

Hi

I'm new to this forum I recently been having a irregular heartbeat. I have seen my doc he gave me a EKG said everything looks normal had a holter monitor test done now he says
I need to see a cardiologest but everything if fine no need to worry. Well I'm SCARED OUT OF MY MIND I'm 25 no family history
of heart problems. I have been to the ER already thinking I'm having a heart attack. They said I had a panic attack and gave me
some Zanax. that kinda took the edge of the worry. this forum and website has really helped to get my mind off this problem
my mom is a nurse and my wife is almost done with nursing school they keep telling me to relax but I just can't.
I have been trying to post a ? for the docs but it always
says its full.
could this be just REAL bad anxiety????

Thanks