Problem Fear of PVC/PAC

[sallykin]

Hi, 3 years trying, 1st post, I am a 46 year old female, since 2000, I have been plagued by random bouts of PAC's & PVC's (both seen with event & holter), All other (Stress, Echo, Stress/Echo test normal), My arrythmia's come and go, 3 weeks with none, then several days with dozens, more pronounced with cold weather and exertion.  I have had some partial syncope with the PVC's. I am absolutely terrified whenever they come back, My MD says not to worry, learn to live with it.  I almost rather not live with it than to deal with the constant fear that I am going to drop dead at a moments notice somewhere or that I will be found dead in my home (I live alone).  Since these came on, my life has been horrible, I no longer excercise (I loved walking, skiing in the winter), I am failing at work (stressful job), and I am just losing the will to fight. I'd like to come to Cleveland to see if someone could figure this out (I had no problem before 2000), I know from the posts that its very common and most are far worse than I am, but its killing me every bit as much as if the Doctors did find a serious problem. I am afraid to drive or travle due to the partial syncope. I was hospitalized because of this in 2005 for 3 days in CCU, they observed no problems while I was there, same thing for my dozens of trips to the ER (I stopped going), PLEASE, PLEASE, HELP,
Thanks for this forum and advise, it has been of some comfort in easing my fears.

[Lecah]

I am glad for this thread and I cannot believe that I am not alone in leaving the door unlocked so the paramedics could come in and have the alarm off etc. I truly thought I was the only one! I was just telling a friend about this wonderful website and you guys and the Dr's are truly a Godsend,for me and many others. I do not respond a lot but in times of anxiety because of my PVC's and constantly taking my pulse,(something I have been trying for a decade to stop) I can come here and be relieved that I am not alone and there are people who have been suffering for 10, 20, 30+ years and are still kicking! I really needed to read this post today because I have been having noticeable PVC's this week and they have been driving me crazy! I wish I could be like some people who suffer from PVC's and they stop for months ad then come back. I have them every day and all night but I am still here and have others to share the aggravation and happy times with.

[woodruff]

Man alive I don't know how you could stand that 4800 beats!!!  

And 4800 is below the threshold when doctors even consider them serious, if your cardiac tests are normal.  How about them apples?

Do you sort of feel like an elevator dropping in your heart and also like your heart stops and then goes into a fast rythum for a few beats and then a hard beat??

Sure.  That's how it feels a lot of times.  If you understand what's happening, it's a little less scary:  With ordinary pvcs, all that's usually going on is that you get one early contraction of the ventricles for some unknown reason, and then there's a natural delay, due to the way the heart's pacer works.  During that slight delay, your ventricle, which is elastic, has a chance to fill up a bit more than usual.  Now, the heart is required to try to expel all the blood that comes into the ventricle, and it's muscular, so it gives an extra hard contraction so as to do its job.  That "Ka-Boom" is the hard contraction you feel.

Can I ask how old you are Woodruff? I am 45 going to be 46 in a few months. I started having these god forsaken things when I was 23 as far I can remember.

I'm over fifty, kid, and this has been going on for easily twenty years.

Does the Zoloft help you with the panic/anxiety/obsession about these things??

Indeed.  That is exactly why I take it.  I don't always have panic or pvcs; they come in bursts or spells, lasting months if untreated, and they arrive together, so closely that I can't tell which is the cause and which is the effect.  The end result, though, is extremely uncomfortable.  Working with a good shrink, one who really knows his pharmacology, I've tried about four SSRIs and found that zoloft very quickly (within a couple of days for me) knocks out the panic, and as that goes away, my awareness of the odd beats diminishes amazingly.  With more time, the actual number of ectopics also decreases, because they're more frequent when I'm wound up.  Still, I understand that I have a tendency towards pvcs, and they will probably always return from time to time.  But I'm ready for them.

[Carrie41]

Man alive I don't know how you could stand that 4800 beats!!!  Do you sort of feel like an elevator dropping in your heart and also like your heart stops and then goes into a fast rythum for a few beats and then a hard beat??  

Can I ask how old you are Woodruff?  I am 45 going to be 46 in a few months.  I started having these god forsaken things when I was 23 as far I can remember.

Does the Zoloft help you with the panic/anxiety/obsession about these things??

[woodruff]

Carrie, I've worn a Holter and have run a documented 4800 of these per day, sometimes feeling what seems like every one (while awake, anyhow).  But I'm healthy and active, even after years and years of this.  Sometimes I do experience panic, though, and to see how I handle it, you might want to scroll back up the page to my first post there.

[Carrie41]

I honestly believe obsessing about these things is making them worse as well.  I constantly feel on edge and I know I have got to deal with that.  What sort of SSRI's out there have people taken that take away their anxiety?  I take 10 mg celexa but I think I want to try something else.

I too have unlocked doors etc so that help can get in the house right away.  I have gone out in my front yard when I get every third or fourth beat missing just so someone will find me when I fall dead on the lawn.  What a pathetic existence huh!  I know it is crazy and I wish I could just stop thinking about these.

I feel sometimes 1 to 10 missed beats per day and I am in panic mode.  I sometimes get a lot of them - let's say maybe up to 100 and I really am in bad shape when I feel those.  When people get them like they say (1,450) do you feel every skip??  I honestly don't think I could take that.  I just wish they would find something to totally get rid of these things or something that would totally make me stop thinking about them.

[Beanzz]

My cardiologist at CCF said when they hit about 10% or 15,000-20,000 a day then they seriously consider medication. My 24 hr showed 1450 pvc's with 117,000 total beats- so I was running about 1.2%.  It is very difficult to live with these.  I have only had them for 6 weeks (45 y o feamle) and it is driving me nuts.  But some days I feel 100's and some days very few.  Strange, but having dealt with anxiety many years ago and knowing how it can eat up your life- I am determined not to let it consume me again.  I too am heading off to a psych who specialized in heart patients and their families(my husband had bypass in Feb 2006) before the anxiety takes over.  I think I have undealt  stress and anxiey from Feb that may be causing these things.  Funny though how many women in the mid-upper 40's have these- hormones??