Palpitations

[Carrie41]

I suffer sensely with my obsessing about my palpitations. My question is:

1. If you were to take 100 people off the street and put holter monitors on them how many of them would have PVC's and PAC's?  Why do I feel every little thing my heart does and others can't feel a darn thing?

2. I had a holter last week and I got no palpitations but I did get palpitations three days later. I think the doctors think I am nuts worring about these things because they didn't see anything on the holter. I haven't been back to the doctor for my results but I am sure it will show nothing.

3. Doc says that if I had a serious arrythmia that is would not be coming and going as mine does.  She says a serious arrythmia is there all the time?

3. I have been for two EP studies (one in 1996 and one in 2000) because they caught something on the Holter (hospital said it was v-tach and the EP doc says it was probably just salvos). Would they have seen anything while they were doing the EP study if there was something wrong??

4. I think about my heart 24/7 and feel sort of high anxiety state waiting for the next palpitation to hit. It is all I think about. It is a vicious cycle, I get a palpitation and get really stressed and get really stressed thinking I am going to get another one. Doc says I have anticipatory anxiety.

I know the doctor is sick of seeing me about the same thing. What should a person do?? She already told me there is nothing wrong with my heart and every get palpitations but I can't accept that answer especially after getting the v-tach results years ago (1996).

[LynnSB]

re: EP studies predictive value from: http://www.hrspatients.org/patients/heart_tests/electrophysiology_study.asp

THE VALUE OF AN EP STUDY

An electrophysiologic, or EP, study provides information that is key to diagnosing and treating arrhythmias. Although it is more invasive than an electrocardiogram (ECG) or echocardiogram, and involves provoking arrhythmias, the test produces data that makes it possible to:

Diagnose the source of arrhythmia symptoms
Evaluate the effectiveness of certain medications in controlling the heart rhythm disorder
*************Predict the risk of a future cardiac event, such as Sudden Cardiac Death *****************
Assess the need for an implantable device (a pacemaker or ICD) or treatment procedure (radio frequency catheter ablation)

[LynnSB]

Well, I'm floored. I thought I had read and read and talked to enough docs ( and gone through an ablation and countless event monitors) that I had an understanding of what electrophysiology was useful for ( in addition to mapping for ablations). Now the doc says an EP study is NOT useful to test for risk of sudden death?
I thought it was and was so relieved that no risky rhythm ( just my psvt, reentry  -- for which i was ablated)  could be precipitated on my EP study.  

I also had a microvolt alternans study -- not that i needed it, i volunteered to help train a cardiologist to get the test free.. I was totally negative.

I am finally getting over much of my anxiety about my remaining flips and flops but, again, I didn't know an EP study isn't a strong predictor or not that you might be at risk for a dangerous arrhythmia. I realize no test is 100 percent. again, I'm floored.

[Barbarella]

You're right on target and I could not agree with you more.  The Cardiologist I saw who put my mind at ease told me "if you cannot believe what I tell you and you still will be frightened and obsessed about your PVC's THEN YOU NEED TO SEE A THERAPIST TO DEAL WITH YOUR ANXIETY ABOUT THESE PVC'S, there is nothing else I can do for you since you've a healthy heart, and I only saw him once, but I guess he could tell by my questions that I was still very worried.

About Insurance.  Our Insurance doesn't even allow us to get a second opinion.  Unfortunately that is the only Insurance we can afford, but I trust what a Cardiologist tells me before I pay out of my own pocket to get a second opinion.  Yes, some doctors make mistakes, but I trust a Cardiologist who studied the heart for yrs, I trust him with something so simple as benign PVC's.

[Fran71]

I have a question I'd like to put to the DR some day. We all know that PVCs can be dangerous in someone who has had a heart attack. I assume this is because PVCs in these patients indicate the heart has been badly damaged. I wonder this: if someone with a normal heart has PVCs like many of us, and then develops a heart attack when he/she gets older (I have a strong family history of CAD so in my case this is not very unlikely), will the PVCs become dangerous after the heart attack, though they were previously defined benign?

Thanks

Fran

[Carrie41]

Very interesting Collegegirl.  I didn't know the difference.  I just always tell everyone I have palpitations.  I honestly didn't know there was a difference.  I don't worry when my heart goes fast if I get jolted (like someone scares you) or the ones when I am walking fast and the way your heart rate goes up.  It is the darn skipping and pausing that I panic about.

[CollegeGirl143]

i wanna know where that rumor started! VERY curious.. As for the statement about pvc's and palps... a pvc is a premature beat, if you feel it,its a palp.  A palpitation is any heartbeat that you feel. Even when you have a rush of adrenaline, and you feel your heart pounding, thats a palp, even if its not premature..