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.

[tony olliver]

Thanks Steve

Do you gewt any other related symptoms. Re you getting support fron the NHS ?

Tony

[Steve-UK]

Hi Tony

I am in the UK

Mine started with a severe run for about a week then improved to 1 or 2 a day.....accelerated again over the last 3 days to constant every 3rd or so beat..but none so far this morning

email me if you like Steve.***@****

[LeeB]

Perhaps helpful for positional PVC. Mine are caused by stress that locks up my spine (subluxation) and pinches some nerves. Nerves (spinal nerves) are running through the spine to steer and feed a.o. the chest, heart and lungs.(in the T1-T6 area)
Chiropractic treatment might help (it helps me).

Check out:
http://www.drhargis.com/PINCHED_NERVES/pinched_nerves.html

http://jhhs.client.web-health.com/web-health/topics/GeneralHealth/generalhealthsub/generalhealth/neurological/WhatIsCentralNervousSystem.html

http://www.drgaryeversoledc.com/chiropractic.html

[SargeRN]

Just happened upon this website today.  I am an RN who has experienced PVC's for approx 2 years.  I am 44 and post menopausal.  I include this info because it is important to know that women who are experiencing hormone fluctuations that are tied to menopause (pre or post) can and do experience PVC's.  I have found it helpful to increase my soy consumption (either drink soy milk or take a soy supplement such as Promensil).  I also have reflux and this can cause some PVC's, which may help to explain why some feel PVC's when they bend over (pressure on the stomach, reflux --> PVC) or when lying down.  Try not to eat big meals (smaller more frequent meals) and do not eat past 7-8 p.m. if you go to bed around 10.

I also tried beta blockers when these PVC's first started and they made me CRAZY!!  Thought I was having a nervous breakdown.  Plus the PVC's were worse (more frequent and harder).  I reasoned that if the blockers made it worse, it must not be a cardiac origin.  Went to electrophysiologist, who told me there are a 1000 hormones in the body and any one of them can affect the rhythm of the heart.

Ladies of menopausal age (yes, 40's) - get the book "The Wisdom of Menopause" by Dr. Christine Northrup.  This book helped me a lot and gave me validation that I was not alone.  It also mentions heart arrhythmias and menopause.  Just a word - she falls off the deep end every so often with her "taro cards" but her medical advice is sound - I have researched it.

Good luck to all.  Oh, by the way, my PVC's cycle and are improved with increased doses of Promensil and good rest.

[ElIng]

I just wanted to say I too am glad I found this forum, between here and the mitral valve prolapse forum I get reassured all the time. I started getting the daily skipped beats in May. I had an echo which reconfirmed my "slight mitral valve prolapse" (10 yrs. ago when I had an incident of tachycardia 180+bpm I had one done) and the specialist here said that this "slight" mvp can not possibly be causing all the symptoms. I had a 24 hour holter done where they found simple sinus tachycardia around 110bpm both atrial and ventricular ectopic beats. (Can anyone here explain the difference in the beats?)
And 3 episodes of small visible P waves consistent with paroxysmal atrial tachycardia around 150 bpm. (Not even sure what that means!, the specialist here was not very helpful to me)
I am on propranolol 40mg 3x a day, and take magnesium, Vitamin B, Omega 3 and will be adding Hawthorn to that list in a few weeks. I am doing much better now, but still get the skipped beats daily just not as often and some tiny episodes of a very fast heart beat but if I cough it seems to stop that.
I am scheduled to go to a cardiologist in Perth (I am in Western Australia) on the 21st for more tests. I am still looking for answers!

[angelapple]

Hi everyone,  I take 50mg. Toprol XL.  I was on 25mg for about a year for PAC/PVC and hypertension.  BP was elevated last week and dr increased to 50mg.  I swear by this drug.  Last year I had bouts for hours of pac's and finally was put on toprol.  I have only had one or two skips here or there for the past year.  I still get real scared thinking "Oh no here we go again" but thank goodness it seems to be a normal isolated beat and doesn't turn into a series.  My heart rate has dropped between 60-70 from 88-100.  It is definitly the toprol.  Ask your doctors about this pill.  I, too am very sensitive to meds and yes I was a little tired when I first started them and again last week when I increased the dosage, but so what you get used to it and it passes eventually.  I would rather feel a little sleepy than those damn palps!  Good Luck. Angela