Skipped Beats, PVC's etc.

[Keevil]

I started again to have these feelings of skipped heart beats beginning on 7/23.  Sometimes maybe 2 per minute but may go as high as 10 per minute.  The come and go during the day which is very frustrating.  I have been taking 12.5 mg of Paxil CR for anxiety for about two years now.  I haven't had any issues with these skipped beats since 3/03.  Then all of a sudden they return.  In March I went to see a cardiologist I met during my anxiety issues and he assured me that my heart was in great shape and these skipped beats can re-surface and disappear just like that. In 2000 I developed anxiety symptoms and was treated for them.  I had numerous tests at a cardiologist's offce during this time since some of my anxiety symptoms were causing what I thought were heart issues.  I had a stress echo in 9/99 and a cardiolite stress test in 6/01.  All negative.  Twenty-one day event monitor, X-rays and numerous blood tests along with re-visits to a cardiologist since 2000.  
I am an avid cyclist and tennis player three times a week.  I drink coffee in the morning but it is a light caffeine version.  Alcohol on the weekends and sometimes during the week with neighbors.  I am not overweight and watch what I eat.  
Giving you all this backgound, why do these skipped hearts beats keep coming and going.  They create a very uncomfortable, anxious feeling when they happen and I am quite sure they feed my anxiety. Can I do anything about them.  Are they serious?    Do you have any advice or should I expect to live with them.

[Steve-M]

There can definitely be a direct connection between what goes into your mouth and the rate and timing of your heart. Your heart rate should not "normally go up a bit after you eat".

However, I can eat certain foods and my heart rate will quickly jump 30 or 40 bpm higher. My wife will eat potatos (which she loves), and her heart rate will increase to 130 bpm or more. After some meals I can also start having 1 to 5 PVC's per minute for the next hour or two. I have friends and relatives who have similar stories to tell.

For much more information on this subject, (and how to test yourself), check out this book - "The Pulse Test" by Arthur F. Coca, MD. He has some very interesting things to say. But don't expect too much interest from "modern" doctors. My cardiologist wasn't interested once he heard that the book had been written fifty years ago. He said they didn't know anything back then.

[bella-life]

I want to let everyone know that I am living proof that you can live with PVC's.  I started with some really, really bad "flare up's" of PVC's over the past few weeks.  My tiggers are stress and anxiety.  For those of you getting a few here and there throughout the day, consider youself LUCKY.  I was getting them continously day and night about 5-10 per MINUTE.  I was so freaked out, I spent the night in the hospital.  I thought for sure I was done.  But today is a good day and I am doing alot better.  Someone once said that you must not focus getting rid of them but reducing them.  That has helped me alot, I haven't rid of them but I have reduced them up to 90%.  It's all so crazy and as much as I tell myself (everytime) that everything is alright, the PVC's get the BEST of me and take over my life. I have heard some really good advice and I am thankful for this website, I consider it one of my little blessings throughout my ordeals with this condition.  One thing I want to mention which I haven't heard from anyone is my doctor put me on a calicum channel blocker, I forgot the name (forgive me) but ask your doctor about it..I am not sure if my PVC's have subsided because of it or because of my mental relaxed state (I swear I think of it sometimes and it does it).  I am also trying the magnesium.... Good luck, GOD Bless!
If anyone wants the name of that drug let me know...

[tony olliver]

At least you have had reassuring tests. I have just discovered that I have to wait up to 3 Months on the NHS, just to see a cardiologist. My beats come in waves of several hours per day. The GP can never pin point them. Also bouts of tightness in chest as though I,m not getting enougth air. I thought thid could be connected or anxiety over the beats

tony

[SallyD]

Hello. I read you comment on taking Cardizem. I was prescribed Cardizem last year during a 2 week bout with PVC's. I wound up not taking it because I was scared of taking a heart drug. I am 33 and female. Just recently I started on another string of PVC's, which have now lasted for 10 days and counting! I called my doctor and decided to try the Cardizem this time. It has given me headaches and done very little or nothing for my PVC's. This is very frustrating! I am OK when I am sitting, but when I stand up the PVC's start every 2nd or 3rd beat. I am continuing to take 120mg of Cartia XT (generic brand, I think) in hopes that it will work and soon! I cant take another day of these horrible PVC's! I have also taken Xanaxs in the past for anxiety but they make me tired. I might have to deal with that side effect and start taking them again. Good luck to you :)

[bluesideup]

I am a 29 year old male who has dealt with PVCs since 1995. Have encountered only one instance where I had enough of them to visit the ER (this past March) . . . where they told me that they were benign -- they went away overnight. Mysteriously, however, I have also been hospitalized twice in six years for two isolated episodes of paroxyml atrial fibrillation. Both episodes kept me in the hospital for two days, with my heart spontaneously reverting to normal sinus rhythm after about 15 hours. The most recent of these epidoses was last month, resulting in what I would characterize as a month-long bout of anxiety, frustration, sleepless nights and borderline depression. I am scheduled to see an EP this week, and my doctor has put me on a small regiment of Zoloft to help calm my nerves. I am also taking Ambien at night, which I highly recommend to anyone else having trouble sleeping with these things. My aparent stress overload seems to be causing more-than-usual PVCs, especially at night, and also when exerting myself, taking a deep breath or yawning. Just wanted to know if any of you PVC-suffers out there have ever had any episodes of A-fib as well, and your experiences. I will say that reading your exchanges has been informative and therapeutic.

[Mel22]

Hi!

I starting taking Nature-Made 250 mg. magnesium tablets that you can find in any grocery store. I take one a day. I decided to give it a try when I repeatedly read on health boards and in written literature that it improved symptoms for individuals with PVC/PAC.

Of course my PVCs were thoroughly investigated and determined to be benign. I should also mention that they were fairly infrequent, although I do (did) have bouts of increased frequency. Now I get about 1 or 2 (felt) a week, on average.

Please check with your doctor first. And if you do decide to give it a try, please report back to the board.

Good luck!

Mel