Ongoing Palpitations

[Dracee322]

I have a few questions about ongoing palpitations and trying to understand the etiology of them. In particular, PAC's. I delevoped these PAC's this past fall. They come and go and can get quite frequent at times. I have seen a cardiologist (an EP doc) and had an event monitor, bloodwork, and an echo stress test. The PAC's were determined basically benign. But I feel anything but "benign" when they pop up. I'll admit that there is  some anxiety involved when they do occur but otherwise I do not have any issues with anxiety.
Could the palpitations be at all related to Epstein Barr virus?
I tested positive with "recent primary infection" after looking into a possible case of Mono and ongoing fatigue last May.
How and why are PAC's hormonally related to women? The EP doc indicated that he sees a lot of menopausal women with PAC's. I am not menopausal but I am 34 and just recently completely stopped breastfeeding. The PAC's seem to be related to my monthly cycle. But I have never experienced anything like this in the 20 years of having menstrual cycles so why now?
Also, I am told over and over that people have these all the time and I probably have too and I am just more aware of them now. There is NO WAY that I just "became aware" of these PAC's. I am not doubting that I ever have had them but I guarentee that I have never had them like now.
When I get the flare ups of PAC's, it is not just the "skipped beat" feeling that concerns me. I also feel very fatigued, dizzy, and discomfort in my chest area. I get sort of an "aura" and can tell they're coming. What is this?

[skipgeneer]

Hi, I'm a 30 year-old male that started having PACs last May.  Just wanted to chime in on this "aura" business, because I feel it too.  It's indescribable, but definitely there.  I get them about 2-4 seconds before a PAC, and just know one is coming.  I start thinking "Oh no, oh no, oh no" and then 'zap' the PAC and then the dreaded pause before the normal beat.  I have also had something interesting happen since May and wonder if any of you have it (preferably males as there are no monthly hormonal changes).  Since these started, I have them for about 3 months, then they go away for 2-3 weeks and then start back.  This is my first time on this board since 3 weeks ago because they inexplicably stopped.  Then 3 days ago, they started back.  Gradually at first, like 2/hour on the first day, 2/minute the second, then 10/minute today.  They have followed this start/stop pattern 3 times since last May, and I can't for the life of me figure out what I'm doing different to make them stop, nor do I know what I'm doing to make them start back.  I'm not on any medication (took Beta-Blocker in May, but they didn't help) and don't have any kind of anxiety disorder.

[micheller]

Hello, I am a 33 year old woman.  I developed pac's and pvc's 7 years ago after having my son.  It actually came about one year after having him.  They are just about the most horrible feelings I can think of, and there are different "types" of the skipped beats with me.  I really hate the hard thumps that take your breath away, and the ones that do 3 or 4 in a row.  Sometimes while they are doing it, it feels as if my heart actually rolls around in there. Strange feeling.
Mine always are worse 3 to 7 days before my period begins. I too can "sense" when they are about to happen, even up to hours beforehand.  Sometimes I sit and cry when I have them, you would think that after 7 years I would realize that it isn't going to kill me, but in the back of my mine is that "what if...".
I did some research and was told by a few Dr.'s that these indeed can be hormonal, and sometimes get corrected when we correct our hormones.  This certainly isn't true for everyone, because as the Dr.'s say, many humans have this benign condition and neither realize it nor is there anything wrong with their heart. I however believe it is hormonal in my case.  I developed many symptoms after having my son; asthma, sinusitis, bronchitis, acne, pms, mood swings, low resistence to infections, weight loss, headaches, low sex drive, etc. which can all be contributed to my hormones being off.  I am going in next week to get tested on them and see if I can't get mine figured out.  Worth a shot anyways, huh?
Magnesium has really helped the number of my pvc/pacs, except during my periods.  Nothing takes them away than. But it's worth trying that too.  Stress is a major factor.  Lack of sleep also.  It even seems that if you dwell on the pacs, you even give yourself one.  I am glad that we have a place like this that we can come to and share our experiences and hear others, doesn't make me feel quite so "alone".
Thanks for letting me ramble on my problems, I hope that someday we can all find a cure for this horrible nuisance.  Michelle

[merrymerry]

I was having regular heartbeats also. Two years ago, I found myself in intensive care because of this. My heart was also racing at 170 beats per minute. I was sweating, had pain in my throat and not my chest. I remained calm, but had two heart catheters. One in my chest and leg. I had no blockages. I was finally "diagnosed" (notice the quotation marks)with right ventricular dysplasia and ventricular tachycardia. I was assigned a new Dr. in town and this eager beaver of a Dr. said you can drop dead because what you have is what an athlete has and he drops dead while exercising. This nice Dr. brought in his salesman to pressure me to have a device planted into my heart that woud start my heart again if it stopped. I was horrifed. I told him I did not want to live like a robot the rest of my life and sure didn't want to experience the horror of feeling as if I had been kicked in the chest by a mule(the dr.'s description of the device) when the device detected my heart had stopped. The Dr. was furious at me and sent me home. I changed to another Dr. shortly after and this Dr. felt that if I had been told that I needed the device, then just take it, but he humored me and I asked him what else could be done. He suggested the only other thing I could do was to get a heart MRI, which is the most effective thing for seeing if my heart had any damage. This town, Amarillo, Texas, did not have a Heart MRI and I was sent to Dallas. Baylor Medical center did the Heart MRI and, GUESS WHAT? I did not have what I was diagnosed with. I was very angry that I was about to have the rest of my life changed by a wrong diagnosis. I was told that an ablation(sp?)for the irregular beats or could take medication would fix the problem. I took the medication and after a time, the fast beats and irregular beats left and have not been back. All I am saying is, do not take what a Dr. says a face value. Get a second or even a 3rd opinion just as I did. I got a 3rd opinion even when the 2nd Dr. said, "I guess you can keep going until you find someone who will tell you what you want to hear. That Dr. had to eat his words when the heart MRI came back to him and he said, I have to say you made the right decision when you decided to not have that device. WE WERE WRONG!!!! Remember, Dr.s are human and do not have the answer. Sometimes we need to listen to our own common sense and not let fear drive us to go against what we feel deep down inside.

[flipflop]

What a great story! That it is why is so important to have second or even third opinions and the correct testing to aid in a true diagnosis. You followed your heart and also your head, with that combination proven you right you have a right to be merry!!

[Coon23]

I wrote a message yesterday on here and if some people cal read it and tell me what they think it would help out alot..But see i have a regular heart beat like 80bpm but when its normal i can still feel my heart beat sometimes, depends on if i am worrying, anxiety or whatever..Then sometimes it will just pound fast then slow back down after a minute..had tests done and they came back fine, but it aint fine until this stuff stops happening..They say its all about anxiety for me, which i did start to take Paxil cr and its helping a bit..If i had one wish it would be to stop being able to feel my heart beat because its so annoying and drives me crazy...Pat!!

[Scientist]

Like you, I (and some health professionals I have met) also wonder about the relationship between my chronic infection of Epstein Barr and my arrhythmia.  I am currently using some antivirals (not pharmaceuticals).  Another possible root cause that some researchers and practitioners suspect is heavy metal toxicity.  To pursue this I have just undergone a (urine) test following IV DMPS (which, I am told, is an amino-acid-like substance that chelates especially mercury).