More PVC's than ever before...

[Terri58]

Thank you for creating this forum.  I know it is comforting to many. Heart arrhythmias are terrifying, as anyone who suffers from them knows.  In my case, I've had PVC's and a mild case of MVP for years.  However, I've NEVER had heart "palpitations" like those I've been experiencing in the past few weeks.  I'm 47 years old, nearly 48...and peri-menopausal...(not fun!)  I discovered that I was anemic a few months ago...blood count 9.8, so I started taking iron.  I noticed an increase in PVC's around that time, and was so tired.  Anyway, as my blood count went up, the PVC's increased instead of dissipated.  Finally, a week and a half ago, they turned into bigimeny, which I have never had before...and which scared me to pieces!  I ended up in the ER. Anyway, they did a CT to check for blood clots in my lungs, which was negative.  I had had a thyroid check and electrolytes the week before...all normal.  Well, my cardiologist seems to feel no sense of urgency in seeing me now.  I already had an appt. for May 4 (before the ER incident), and he refused to see me any sooner afterward.  I haven't seen him in six years, and the very first thing he wants to do is a stress echo test, without even doing an EKG or a holter monitor...or an exam.  I tried to see another doctor, but no one in town will see me without a referral, and certainly not sooner than May 4.  I have been very sendentary and exhausted with the anemia, and am afraid to do the stress test.  I just want to know what is causing my problem!!  Could it be hormonal? Is my doctor doing the right thing? Why a stress test?

[Fran71]

Hi jeff,
I think you shouldn't worry about this too much, and above all, if a cardio has not told you what type of PVC you have, don't try to infer it just by feeling your pulse.
My cardio said I have fusion PVCs, which occur very late in the cycle. But I do feel pauses. I'm not sure all my PVCs are fusion PVCs - my cardio told me so by looking at an ECG taken when I was also having bad sinus tachy. But what I mean is, the length of the pause may not tell you exactly what you're having.

My cardio told me by chance. Doctors usually don't tell us the type of PVC we're having, and just tell us they're harmless. so I guess it doesn't matter much. I think very premature PVCs may be a bit dangerous only  if you have CAD, but I'm not sure.

Fran

[tickertock]

R on T PVCs as I understand are usually a benign phenomenon unless you have significant CAD. In general with PVCs this is not something to be necessarily worried about, sometime PACs conducted abberantly occurs early in the cycle but usually can be distinguished from R on T PVCs, though then can have the appearence of PVCs, this is only my understanding , I could be completely wrong. I am not a doctor. rely on your docs diagnosis.

[upbeat63]

what is an R on T PVC?

[upbeat63]

Keep your sense of humour, it can sometimes be the very best medicine.

I too went through weeks and weeks, actually a couple of months of constant bigeminy then trigeminy. Even toperol xl didn't touch it (although I was only taking 25mg night and half that in the morning because of the fatigue, and maybe if I were on a higher dose it might have changed the PVCs, or maybe a longer course of treatment like the previous poster)....but my point is, after awhile, believe it or not, bi and trigeminy became very familiar to me. So much so that when I started having varible PVCs--one every 5 beats, or 10 beats or sometimes once in 15 or 20 regular beats I wondered what the heck was happening. I had on a few occassions thought that having 10 or 20 regular beats would be heaven but I had become so used to the constant bigeminy that the change freaked me out!! How ironic is that!

I have all but thrown up my hands in defeat. The cardio last week said there is basically nothing to be done about PVCs even extremely high frequency PVCs. He recommended a transthoracic echo, but my stress echo last year was "normal". So I think I'll use the TTE cost of $1040. and go on a mini vacation instead. ha

[Barbarella]

I UNDERSTAND exactly how you feel.  I've been living with fear, anxiety and panic attacks for many yrs, and am still not cured 100%.  I'm the "what if" person i.e. "yeah, but what if I'm the person who will drop dead the next time I've severe PVC's".  Luckily I saw a Cardilogist who grabbed me by my shoulders and said "look at me, you've a healthy heart you will not drop dead from PVC's".  Some people take beta blockers for them.  I can't take them because my pulse is only 50, and when the ER gave me beta blockers at one time my pulse went down to 34, and I felt like ****.  The Cardiologist took me off beta blockers right away, and said I had to "live with the PVC's".  Hormonal changes as in menopause will make them worse.  I had them one time so bad like every second beat, and that lasted for a very long time, like weeks to no end.

Good luck!

[Terri58]

Well, I do think the fear is almost worse than the thing, itself.  Like this morning, for example, it doesn't seem like the way my heart is beating now can possibly keep me alive.  These bigeminy beats are so intense and unnatural--yet here I am, writing, obviously still breathing, too!  Possibly fear is the worst thing in the world...even more horrible than grief, and I've had a good deal of that, too.  At least with grief, there are a few blessed moments of peace when your mind tricks you into forgetting what has happened--or exhaustion, when you have cried so hard and long, that your body is limp and your mind blank.  But fear is relentless...never letting up for a moment.  It's like living with a monster all the time, and you never know when he's going to spring out of the closet or grab your ankles from under the bed. I am a very strong person who has survived a great deal...perhaps my coping mechanisms are worn out in places now. Even physical pain can be assuaged in increments--at least most kinds.  Well, I'm not a "poor me" sort of person, either, but lately I feel at such a loss at how to find a way to live peacefully with this heart arrhythmia.  Usually, I can laugh at anything...my sense of humor is my coping mechanism...but I'm having a hard time laughing lately... Anyway, thank you all for sharing your stories, and for your compassion.  It means a great deal...