Aa
PVCs
Thanks to a doctor's answer to a previous post about my chest pain, my family dr. has diagnosed me with costochondritis and I am finally starting to feel better; however, in the past few weeks, I have begun to have some PVCs. Can stress cause PVCs to happen? My father died unexpectedly on Dec. 22 and both my brother and I have had episodes of PVCs (I am 31 and he is 29). I also had a baby 5 weeks before my father died, so I have been under some addition stress! We have never had PVCs before. The only reason I know that I'm having them is because my brother is a nurse and told me what they feel like. Both of us have had treadmill stress tests and I have had a Thallium stress test, which all came back normal. How do you cope with PVCs? Is there any deep breathing technique that can help with them? Is just de-stressing enough to make them go away? I usually have 1 every other day, but yesterday, I had 4, and I got a little worried. Thank you!
hey,
Thanks for the kindness of your post. I am truely sorry for the unstable heart beats and hope that they will leave you alone for a while. I started out like that too, just came and went whenever they felt like it. I know how it can drive you nuts.
As for me, i know that God has become very protective of me :) I experience little miricals now so often i cant even think He is ready for me to leave this earth just yet. I also believe that He provides us with the info that is available to us so that we can take some control over our own health. Thats why I highly reccomend that everyone obtain and read copies of their tests. Learn about all the terms used and understand them. That is the only way you will know if your dr is being upfront about all that is going on. I do realize that not everyone can handle knowing some of the things they find out and maybe it is best they dont know. For me, knowlege is power and power is understanding. Once i understand what is going on, i am less fearful. When i have an episode of VT, i know that i will likely come out of it sooner or later and am less scared. I'm not saying i'm not scared at all, just less. I know that if V-fib hits, it will be sudden and i likely will not even know it hit.
I would like to ask you, if you know this. Is "wide range VT the same as like with long QRS? I cant find it anywhere and they seem to be one in the same, just different term? If you find anythig on it, it will help me with my plans for this.
I hope you are feeling better soon. Dont feel like you are mental over the panic attacks. You must know that it is mostly your body doing this to you. Dont try to fight them off, it causes more stress. Let them happen to you, if that makes sence to you. When i have them, i give into them now. I lay down and meditate. I usually pray and find myself with my heavenly Father, a safe place for me. Find your place to go in your mind and try to seperate......mind over matter. I also take xanax when i have 'em. They are a big help.
Good luck Hankstar and to everyone who reads this who is suffering with a cranky heart.
God Bless
Thanks for the kindness of your post. I am truely sorry for the unstable heart beats and hope that they will leave you alone for a while. I started out like that too, just came and went whenever they felt like it. I know how it can drive you nuts.
As for me, i know that God has become very protective of me :) I experience little miricals now so often i cant even think He is ready for me to leave this earth just yet. I also believe that He provides us with the info that is available to us so that we can take some control over our own health. Thats why I highly reccomend that everyone obtain and read copies of their tests. Learn about all the terms used and understand them. That is the only way you will know if your dr is being upfront about all that is going on. I do realize that not everyone can handle knowing some of the things they find out and maybe it is best they dont know. For me, knowlege is power and power is understanding. Once i understand what is going on, i am less fearful. When i have an episode of VT, i know that i will likely come out of it sooner or later and am less scared. I'm not saying i'm not scared at all, just less. I know that if V-fib hits, it will be sudden and i likely will not even know it hit.
I would like to ask you, if you know this. Is "wide range VT the same as like with long QRS? I cant find it anywhere and they seem to be one in the same, just different term? If you find anythig on it, it will help me with my plans for this.
I hope you are feeling better soon. Dont feel like you are mental over the panic attacks. You must know that it is mostly your body doing this to you. Dont try to fight them off, it causes more stress. Let them happen to you, if that makes sence to you. When i have them, i give into them now. I lay down and meditate. I usually pray and find myself with my heavenly Father, a safe place for me. Find your place to go in your mind and try to seperate......mind over matter. I also take xanax when i have 'em. They are a big help.
Good luck Hankstar and to everyone who reads this who is suffering with a cranky heart.
God Bless
Hi there hankstar and thanks for responding. Yes, I too believe that my dialated CM is caused by the septal defect. They say it isnt, but what do they know.<lol> My heart has been working it's hardest all it's little life. For some misterious reason they will not concider surgery on atrial septal defects after the age of 25, as a rule. This is at least what I have read and my dr. gave no explanation as to why he and 3 others like him have said it cant be fixed. After reading the CC heart book, they say it too. In babies it is a very sucessful surgery, as you get older, it becomes too risky, i beieve.
I would have never found all this out if i hadnt kept pushing my docs about the pvc's. Thankfully, my internest at the time felt i should stay on B-blockers and I believe it saved my life.
Another thing i read in the heart book is that pulmonary hypertension can be a problem up coming to 40 years. I looked into it because of some problems i have been having and i noticed that i had a higher than normal at rest pressure with my last echo. I plan to push that issue also. What i find interesting is that my doc has me on the oral treatment for it????? Well i will get to the bottom of it or find some one else who cares more. I do have a soft heart for my current dr due to the fact that he was the only cardio out of 5 in a 2 year period who didnt see me as a hysterical woman. I am very level headed and he treats me with respect. That does count for something.
Thanks again, we can talk more about this if you want to post. If there is anything i can offer to help you with, please dont hesitate to ask. Believe me, i'v been there and there is alot to it and alot they dont tell you about.
Good luck and i hope you feel well soon too. God Bless :-)
I would have never found all this out if i hadnt kept pushing my docs about the pvc's. Thankfully, my internest at the time felt i should stay on B-blockers and I believe it saved my life.
Another thing i read in the heart book is that pulmonary hypertension can be a problem up coming to 40 years. I looked into it because of some problems i have been having and i noticed that i had a higher than normal at rest pressure with my last echo. I plan to push that issue also. What i find interesting is that my doc has me on the oral treatment for it????? Well i will get to the bottom of it or find some one else who cares more. I do have a soft heart for my current dr due to the fact that he was the only cardio out of 5 in a 2 year period who didnt see me as a hysterical woman. I am very level headed and he treats me with respect. That does count for something.
Thanks again, we can talk more about this if you want to post. If there is anything i can offer to help you with, please dont hesitate to ask. Believe me, i'v been there and there is alot to it and alot they dont tell you about.
Good luck and i hope you feel well soon too. God Bless :-)
by the way....because i do have mild hypertension (recent development) and from my symptoms during and after v-tach episodes, mine are believed to be unstable. They can last anywhere from a 1/4 min. to a minute or so, comming off and on for hours. i am sick of them. i cant breathe, i become disoriented and after a big one i have shortness of breath and chest pain, sometimes for days. And fatigue that would put a horse to sleep. dont get me wrong, i am not afraid of dying tho i would love to stay around and continue working with the little children that i teach. my biggest problem is leaving my daughters too soon. i love them dearly. for that reason, i would rather have an ICD than to risk sudden death. I am at a much higher risk of SCD and i dont like it. The only reason i am on this machine this late is that a run of v-tach woke me up!! it was short and not too bothersome, just enough to wake me.
Have a good one tomorrow.
Have a good one tomorrow.
OK, I know pvc's are for the most part benign, but hankstar you are wrong about the "only" concern is when you have coronary heart disease. I have suffered with them for close to 10 years now and I DO have a heart condition but NO CAD.
I was 26 and preganant before i found out that I had been born with a hole in my heart. It didnt bother me till then and hasent quit bothering me since. Each year of my life brings on new challanges. I have developed cardiomyopathy w/ episodes of v-tach and alot of pvc's. Thousands a day in every shape and form that they come.
It is always wise to insist on a cardiac workup and to keep a follow up on them at least every couple years. I was sent to therapy to learn to deal with the "panic attacks" caused by my reaction to pvc's while all along i was developing a serious heart condition. My panic attacks were finally caught on a recording and as it turns out, it is v-tach. This will not happen to everyone or may never happen this way again. Dont freak out over them but dont totally ignore them. If you are having them, you will learn to live with it. If they worsen, get another workup.The best advice is to insist that you wear a monitor for however long it takes to record the episode that bothers you most. This is your life so dont let anyone including doctors tell you how you "should" feel or shouldnt. You will feel how your body reacts to them. My nervous system gets totally out of wack over them sometimes and i have to take a med that calms it. When your heart is acting up, your brain picks up on it and sometimes sends adrinalin(sp?) to help it out, this in turn can send you right into a panic attack, or the fight and flight syndrome. Beta blockers are a great treament for it as the first treament if one is needed.
Good luck and God bless (p.s. Happy Spring to all :-)
I was 26 and preganant before i found out that I had been born with a hole in my heart. It didnt bother me till then and hasent quit bothering me since. Each year of my life brings on new challanges. I have developed cardiomyopathy w/ episodes of v-tach and alot of pvc's. Thousands a day in every shape and form that they come.
It is always wise to insist on a cardiac workup and to keep a follow up on them at least every couple years. I was sent to therapy to learn to deal with the "panic attacks" caused by my reaction to pvc's while all along i was developing a serious heart condition. My panic attacks were finally caught on a recording and as it turns out, it is v-tach. This will not happen to everyone or may never happen this way again. Dont freak out over them but dont totally ignore them. If you are having them, you will learn to live with it. If they worsen, get another workup.The best advice is to insist that you wear a monitor for however long it takes to record the episode that bothers you most. This is your life so dont let anyone including doctors tell you how you "should" feel or shouldnt. You will feel how your body reacts to them. My nervous system gets totally out of wack over them sometimes and i have to take a med that calms it. When your heart is acting up, your brain picks up on it and sometimes sends adrinalin(sp?) to help it out, this in turn can send you right into a panic attack, or the fight and flight syndrome. Beta blockers are a great treament for it as the first treament if one is needed.
Good luck and God bless (p.s. Happy Spring to all :-)
i really wish that people would stop telling everyone that "PVC's are benign and just to not worry about them"....when they can be a marker for all sorts of cardiac problems....my advice (if its worth anything)...if you feel something is wrong, go get a full workup (demand it) and go from there...never ignore your body when apparently it is trying to tell you something.
Consider yourself lucky. I have between one and two thousand PVC's a day ! Many sufferers of PVC's have this many and more. Stress DEFINETLY worsens PVC's as does lack of sleep. If there is nothing wrong with your heart don't worry about them.
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