Thank you so much for your words of encouragement. Im really really trying to put these things in perspective. It just seems as tho it is a constant reminder, ie evertime one occurs, that something 'could' be wrong. I guess i need to see a counselor. Thank you so much.
Hi Blondie, Seems as tho i have almost the exact same problems as you... Except im a male. The last few days ive had episodes that usually start at around 8 in the morning and last until around noon. The beats occur in couplets a lot..... and ill have pvc's to the tune of about 1 every 6 or 7 beats.Sometimes every 4 beats. They had essentilly dissappeared over the summer until this last week when my wife had gall bladder surgery ...Stress i guess. But they have stayed with me. Went to the er last Wednesday and ive got an apt with my GP today. I want some answers to these things. I had an echo last March which was normal. This is ruining my life.
THat's precisely what scared the daylights out of most if not all people w/ PVC's on the forum. I had a incident that was not caught on tape where one PVC caused a run of 4-5 of them in a row until I coughed and then they were back to normal while on my computer. Scared me to death! What is frightening is that you go to the cardio, get tests done, everything imaginable, and then all tests come back negative- common line: "dont worry they wont kill you, you have a normal heart and all tests are good ... go live your live etc ..." Very hard to do that when you know it could have been fatal? So I empathize with you very much but having said that, you must go on and live your life otherwise you will be a cardiac cripple, a cardio once told me that if I wasnt careful I would fall in that category.
As for Atenenol, well I am no doctor but I was told by my cardio that Atenenol really helps kill the symptoms for some people and makes the heasrt less excited as it kills the adrenaline to the heart. But other than that, not sure it does anything for the PVC's - it goes either way really. He said to me that whether I take it or not it will not increase / decrease the frequency and therefore rather neutral therapy.
Who knows ??? The bottom line is this- get thoroughly checked out my a cardio - a reputable one and see what they say.... after that move on with your life because if its going to happen well you cant really control it anyways.
Good luck and try to move on to better thoughts and things. As for the PVC and mentrual coerelation? Well I am sure there is something going on but they have no answers so again move on as best as you can.
All the very best!
blondie,
thanks for the post.
Nonsustained VT is different then isolated PVCs. In some people it can certainly serve as an increased risk marker for worse arrythmias. The problem is that it still is rather common in the general population (about 4-5%) and in most not a problem at all. What we do know is that there are specific populations that have a definite poor risk associated with NSVT such as those with coronary disease, a low ejection fraction or those with symptoms from the arrythmia.
Generally the evaluation should be a little more thorough to rule out coronary disease and structural heart disease and should include some form of age appropriate coronary evaluation and echocardiography to rule out underlying cardiac disease. If these are normal, the general risk overall is low.
Avoidance of triggers such as caffeine are recommended by some. The addition of a beta blocker which is an antiarrythmic should helf further decrease any negative risk.
Avoidance of exercise is not recommended in patients with exercise induced NSVT and has been studied. In those without structural heart disease, there does not appear to be an increased risk of this arrythmia. One of the most important things you can do for your overall health is to stay fit.
hope this is a start to alleviate your concerns.
good luck