Aa
What is it, palps, atrial fib????
I am a 43 year old female who is in good health.Since October I have been dealing with palps, they drive me crazy. I have had a holter, echocardiogram and tests came back normal other than pac's, sinus tach.The past couple of weeks have been horrible I will begin my episodes around 4:30 pm and they will last until bedtime. When they hit they will come every 2-3 minutes feels like my heart is jumping out of my chest very distrubing.
I saw my doctor on Monday and he drew blood again and ordered an event monitor. I wore it Friday events started at 5pm and I filled the monitor up by 9pm. I will be able to call it in Monday at 9am. I currently take a beta blocker, and also meds for panic attacks.My dad has atrial fib and that always concerns me that I am heading in that direction.I also have very low blood pressure 80/55.I also have Hashimoto's thyroiditis but the endo doc does not feel my numbers are abnormal, so I am not on thyroid medication.
Questions???
Do you think it is atrial fib??? My heart rate does speed up a bit when these hit, but not much. Just seems to jump every few
minutes or so.
Would my low blood pressure cause the palps, I take 25 to 50 mg of atenlol per day. Only take 50 if they really get bad.
Is it anxiety or my heart?? With my dad's history I just wonder.
This is something new that I have never experienced in my years with panic disorder.
What tests do I need but haven't had????
I appreciate your time! Would love to hear from others who are bothered by these darn things.
Kelly
I saw my doctor on Monday and he drew blood again and ordered an event monitor. I wore it Friday events started at 5pm and I filled the monitor up by 9pm. I will be able to call it in Monday at 9am. I currently take a beta blocker, and also meds for panic attacks.My dad has atrial fib and that always concerns me that I am heading in that direction.I also have very low blood pressure 80/55.I also have Hashimoto's thyroiditis but the endo doc does not feel my numbers are abnormal, so I am not on thyroid medication.
Questions???
Do you think it is atrial fib??? My heart rate does speed up a bit when these hit, but not much. Just seems to jump every few
minutes or so.
Would my low blood pressure cause the palps, I take 25 to 50 mg of atenlol per day. Only take 50 if they really get bad.
Is it anxiety or my heart?? With my dad's history I just wonder.
This is something new that I have never experienced in my years with panic disorder.
What tests do I need but haven't had????
I appreciate your time! Would love to hear from others who are bothered by these darn things.
Kelly
Pluto, Ericwithout, and others: re. latest cardio visit:
Dr Linker, James Cook Uni Hospital, Middlesbrough, NE England. 14/06/04.
Visit further to recent Holter 24hr monitor recording.
History: ectopy since mid-1980s, GERD since mid-80s, 5 parox. VMAF episodes in last 5 yrs - all commencing 3am-ish and self-terminating few hrs later. No meds in past or at present.
Latest Holter: 20 single PACs, few PVCs, 4 beat run of PVCs (not VT per se cos at HR of 80 or so not tachy - his words, not mine) This must be what is meant by a run of PVCs i.e. NOT fast enough to be VT per se. PVCs (as well as PACs - as one would expect with PACs) were coming from more than one focus (2 or 3 as far as he could ascertain) but this did not concern him in the slightest - despite my obvious anxiety about the same!).
He also had a detailed echo done (echo-while-u-wait!!) after my appt further to which he saw me again briefly for a few minutes. He said echo could not be any better - 75% EF, no valvular issues, normal chamber sizes and wall-thicknesses etc. 12-lead ECG was also A-OK.
My BP tends to run a little high at the 150-155 over 85-90 range, and he said he had seen many cases of adults my age where mildish hypertansion contributed greatly to slightly excessive ectopy: he wants me to try some mild BP med - he agreed with me that nifedipine would be a suitable one for me given my vagal-predominant tendencies early am brady and AF-wise (i.e. as opposed to a beta-blocker).
As regards ablation, he is not that keen on it at present ajudging it very much to be in its infancy - one could assume he meant in this country (the UK), but I kinda got the feeling he meant generally. When he referred to risks of ablation, I jumped in with stenosis, but he said no he meant tamponade in particular - 2 of his colleagues have had 3 cases of tamponade each in the last couple of years (out of how many ablations I'm afraid I don't know, but I'd hazard a guess at a couple of hundred instead of a couple of thousand given that ablations are far less popular (profitable?) here in the UK (National Health system) than in the US.
He talked with enthusiasm about a key-hole procedure whereby the atria are 'mini-mazed' using microwave energy through a 'wire' laid on the outside of the atria. He has a colleague in the UK who is having 80% success at first attempt (1 yr & no AF) and who is currently hopeful of getting the procedure down to a same day (in-and-out procedure) in the very near future. I'm afraid I can't remember the name of the doc concerned, but he was definately UK-based).
He doesn't feel I require any meds (never mind surgical intervention) at the present time and am unlikely to do so for some time yet if at all.
He definately ackowledges and accepts the tie-up between digestive woes and AF for many lone VMAFrs, although the mechanisms involved in the same remain a bit elusive. I commented that digestive maladies can push one's vagal drive too high thus precipitating shortened AERP and VMAF and he also said he thought along similar lines. He commented that I was indeed strongly vagal given the nature and timing of my episodes to date.
He also commented that he felt my generalised anxiety disorder (diagnosed many years ago) likely did not help things at all. He said he saw many middle-aged AFrs (lone) who whilst having broadly similar AF in terms of HR etc. (whilst in AF and whilst being Holter monitored) could be nonetheless split into two groups - those who were highly symptomatic and those who did not even know they were in AF. He cited one of his middle-aged male patients who only just recently found out he had AF whilst having a routine medical who peddled up a notoriously long and steep local hill (Sutton Bank) whilst in AF with HR of 150-180 and did not feel symptomatic at all!
All in all an appointment with a really decent bloke and very good cardio/EP (IMHO at any rate) at a first class cardiological hospital facility. He told me to lose a couple of stone (current height 6
Dr Linker, James Cook Uni Hospital, Middlesbrough, NE England. 14/06/04.
Visit further to recent Holter 24hr monitor recording.
History: ectopy since mid-1980s, GERD since mid-80s, 5 parox. VMAF episodes in last 5 yrs - all commencing 3am-ish and self-terminating few hrs later. No meds in past or at present.
Latest Holter: 20 single PACs, few PVCs, 4 beat run of PVCs (not VT per se cos at HR of 80 or so not tachy - his words, not mine) This must be what is meant by a run of PVCs i.e. NOT fast enough to be VT per se. PVCs (as well as PACs - as one would expect with PACs) were coming from more than one focus (2 or 3 as far as he could ascertain) but this did not concern him in the slightest - despite my obvious anxiety about the same!).
He also had a detailed echo done (echo-while-u-wait!!) after my appt further to which he saw me again briefly for a few minutes. He said echo could not be any better - 75% EF, no valvular issues, normal chamber sizes and wall-thicknesses etc. 12-lead ECG was also A-OK.
My BP tends to run a little high at the 150-155 over 85-90 range, and he said he had seen many cases of adults my age where mildish hypertansion contributed greatly to slightly excessive ectopy: he wants me to try some mild BP med - he agreed with me that nifedipine would be a suitable one for me given my vagal-predominant tendencies early am brady and AF-wise (i.e. as opposed to a beta-blocker).
As regards ablation, he is not that keen on it at present ajudging it very much to be in its infancy - one could assume he meant in this country (the UK), but I kinda got the feeling he meant generally. When he referred to risks of ablation, I jumped in with stenosis, but he said no he meant tamponade in particular - 2 of his colleagues have had 3 cases of tamponade each in the last couple of years (out of how many ablations I'm afraid I don't know, but I'd hazard a guess at a couple of hundred instead of a couple of thousand given that ablations are far less popular (profitable?) here in the UK (National Health system) than in the US.
He talked with enthusiasm about a key-hole procedure whereby the atria are 'mini-mazed' using microwave energy through a 'wire' laid on the outside of the atria. He has a colleague in the UK who is having 80% success at first attempt (1 yr & no AF) and who is currently hopeful of getting the procedure down to a same day (in-and-out procedure) in the very near future. I'm afraid I can't remember the name of the doc concerned, but he was definately UK-based).
He doesn't feel I require any meds (never mind surgical intervention) at the present time and am unlikely to do so for some time yet if at all.
He definately ackowledges and accepts the tie-up between digestive woes and AF for many lone VMAFrs, although the mechanisms involved in the same remain a bit elusive. I commented that digestive maladies can push one's vagal drive too high thus precipitating shortened AERP and VMAF and he also said he thought along similar lines. He commented that I was indeed strongly vagal given the nature and timing of my episodes to date.
He also commented that he felt my generalised anxiety disorder (diagnosed many years ago) likely did not help things at all. He said he saw many middle-aged AFrs (lone) who whilst having broadly similar AF in terms of HR etc. (whilst in AF and whilst being Holter monitored) could be nonetheless split into two groups - those who were highly symptomatic and those who did not even know they were in AF. He cited one of his middle-aged male patients who only just recently found out he had AF whilst having a routine medical who peddled up a notoriously long and steep local hill (Sutton Bank) whilst in AF with HR of 150-180 and did not feel symptomatic at all!
All in all an appointment with a really decent bloke and very good cardio/EP (IMHO at any rate) at a first class cardiological hospital facility. He told me to lose a couple of stone (current height 6
Yes I'm from Italy! Sorry what is a TEE echo? I did have an echocardiogram plus 24 h holter. They told me no further tests would be required. I wonder if I should have an EP done. I'd prefer to go for ablation than to be on meds all my life, but if the cause of my tachicardia and PVCs was stress or the thyroid then it wouldn't be the right choice, what do you think? I have awful days, then I have days with no symptoms at all. I wonder what that means....
Thanks so much
Thanks so much
Hi there...sorry to hear of your problems. I too take xanax for panic/anxiety and it works well for me. Not a cure, but a real help. I'm just wondering if you need a stronger dosage. I need to take two milligrams per day, and sometimes three. Please discuss this with your physician. Good luck.
Thanks Pluto and all. Many thyroid problems seem to be linked to palps, and it's hard for me to suspect that my Hashimoto's has nothing to do with it. However, in my case and Kelly's (if I understand correctly from her post), the thyroid is still working well so doctors don't think it can cause a heart problem. Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disease, so antibodies show up in the blood before the thyroid itself begins to malfunction. So what the endocrinologists say makes sens, still I've heard of people with Hashimoto's and arrhythmia...Trouble is, if my endocrinologist isn't convinced, he will never try to treat it...He knows best and is probably right, still I'm left with a doubt...
Again thanks to everyone for your wonderful support. And Kelly, good luck on your event monitoring results!
Again thanks to everyone for your wonderful support. And Kelly, good luck on your event monitoring results!
Mel, what you say is very interesting. My endocrinologist says you don't get palps from hypothyroidism. If you don't mind, could you tell me if you too have Hashimoto's, and if so, did you start having palps before your thyroid became hypoactive?
Thanks so much
Fran - Italy
Thanks so much
Fran - Italy
Thanks to everyone who has replied. My doctor found Hashimoto's about 2 years ago...! I will be interested to see what my event monitor shows tomorrow.I will keep you posted.All of your input makes me relax and paints a more clear picture to me of what might be going on.....hope they can pin point it..! Guess its like finding a needle in the haystack!! Heart,thyroid,anxiety all the pieces seem to fit and effect each other. Pluto thanks for the website I will take a look. Kelly
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