Recently Diagnosed with PVC's and I'm terrified!

[snooks69]

I was recently diagnosed with PVC's on Dec 1st...since then I have just been a mess.  The ER doc assured me they were harmless and ordered a 24hour holter monitor which showed 7,000 extra beats.  He told me to get off caffeine (I have been atleast a pot a day coffee drinker if not two for years...I am a 41 year old healthy female) ...I quit immediately and followed up with my primary doc.  He ordered an echo cardiogram to check out the structure of my heart and blood work...all came back completely normal.  I am on 50 mg of toprol and he has me on 2.5mg of lorazapam each morning for anxiety....(and sometimes I need the other 2.5 halfway through the day)....I am under a lot of stress and I don't get much exercise....but until Dec 1st I felt fine....now I worry constantly that I am going to die....I get frequent "spells" of  PVC's....weird feelings like I am going to pass out .....panic attack kind of symptoms....I am so darn "blue" all the time....and the middle of my chest sometimes gets tight and I feel like there is pressure right in the center.....no real pain or arm pain or anything like that.....I almost feel like I am going crazy...my doc seems to think that my anxiety and extreme stress coupled with years of caffeine use is probably what brought on my pvc's......and he thinks if we get the anxiety under control the pvc's will go away....I have good days and bad days....I just want to be NORMAL again....I have two small children and my husband is self employed...his business is down the drain and I am trying to support us working from home so I can still care for my kids.....I guess my question is .....can these pvc's be cured and is there anything else that they could be other than what I've been told by two docs....I try to tell myself everything was normal....but I dont' feel NORMAL!!

[Mom2four85]

sorry you're going through this, and I'm sure the dr will post in the next couple of days but I wanted to assure you you're not alone

it's hard to take in, but I can bet it didn't just happen over night, but over a long period and you didn't feel your pvc's - some of us that happens like that and then some others like myself feel them all - what a pain!

stress, anxiety, environmental and lifestyle changes will help greatly since all of your tests came back "normal" - stress for me is a huge issue and has been my entire life; so I have to really watch myself and remind my family to "cool it" sometimes lol

I've suffered fainting (syncope) episodes with and without arrhythmia's since age 9 and my pvc's started into the multiple thousands (bigeminy 24/7) about April 2007 and worsened until June 2009 when I had over 50,000 pvc's and other things going on daily and had to have an ablation at age 42.

Try something to help control your symptoms and try to figure out what your triggers are.  Also, you may want to have a full blood workup if you haven't, sometimes when levels are off it can cause arrhythmia's and if you can make the time - walk for 20 minutes a few times a week it will keep your heart strong and healthy and will relieve stress.

[yarrow]

The doctor here will (I hope) come on board to answer your question from his/her informed medical standpoint, but as a longtime PVC sufferer myself, I suggest you take a look at this discussion forum consisting of people like us:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Heart-Rhythm/pvcs-at-wits-end/show/358193

I also strongly recommend you read about PVCs here at MedHelp (just use the search box) so that you will understand that although these strange heartbeats feel awful, they are not dangerous.  You are not going to die, and if you faint, it will be from anxiety and not from any heart problem.

You are accurately describing panic attacks, and although you may not know it yet, you are suffering much more from that than from the little boogie beat your heart is doing.  For you to regain pleasure in your life, you are going to have to deal effectively with the panic.

Lorazepam will probably help, along with the Toprol, but the chances are that seeing a doctor who specializes in anxiety and who may prescribe a more long-term psych med (such as one of the SSRIs--google them) will give you the best relief.

[CCFCardio MD2]

I'm sorry to hear you're having some difficulty.  PVCs, in general, are benign.  They do not signify that your heart is ill or will become ill.  Normal people, young and old, often have many PVCs daily.  Some have more than others, and some feel them more than others.  PVCs can happen more frequently in patients with underlying structural heart disease, but it sounds as if your physician is looking into this.  If you are having significant symptoms from your PVCs, such as dizziness or episodes of passing out, they can be treated medically.  It may be that your "dizzy spells" are due to something else, such as anxiety.  My advice would be to stay in close discussion with your cardiologist, and to try to do what you can to combat your anxiety.  Stress and caffeine can exacerbate your PVCs.  In general PVCs are not treated unless they cause severe symptoms, which is rare.  

Best of luck.

[snooks69]

Thank you for your comments and sharing your story with me...it certainly helps to hear that other people have the same problems and you are all doing fine....I will certainly take your advice and try to work in some walking each day.....I have found if I can keep myself really busy than I have better days...it's just so scary and my poor husband has no idea how to support me or help me....the ER doc, my primary doc and the cardiac doc that read my halter and echo have all assured us that everything is normal...so he just keeps telling me I am fine....I know he thinks I have just gone crazy....I've never been like this before....it's so frustrating.  Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on my post....it has really helped!

[snooks69]

Thank you for your comment...I have read some of the forums on this site about PVC's...and it helps tremendously to know I am not alone....it's just so hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that I was perfectly "normal" one day and the next my life is turned upside down with all this craziness.....though my primary doc assures me this has probably been coming a very long time....I have always been a worrier but nothing to put my life in a tailspin....I'm constantly moving and busy but the last few weeks I have had to slow down....My doc has talked about a longer term med if the Lorazapam needs to be used too often.....but he keeps telling me he things this anxiety may dissipate in a couple of weeks.....I'm willing to do whatever I have to do to get my life back....I have already begun by eating better (lost almost 20lbs since Thanksgiving), drinking plenty of water, decaf teas, milk ....taking adult vitamins instead of my kids gummie vitamins, trying to get out and walk more (though I am on the move all day long with my daycare babies), forcing myself to get more sleep or atleast rest, and taking the meds exactly the way the doc says and not forgetting them...(until now I have not ever been on any meds except for an occasional antibiotic and (prechildren) birth control pills!).....Thank you so much for your post.....