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heart skips
I have been plagued with heart skips many years, but lately they are coming in a series. They come many at a time, lasting about 15 to 30 seconds. Of course, it seems like an eternity and I totally panic. I have had all sorts of tests, even going to another hospital for another opinion. They all say they are benign. This maybe so, but how long will this go on. Mentally, its taking a toll. What scares me is I think my heart will never go back to its normal rhythm. I am on 50 mg. of atenolol in the A.M., 150 mg. of avapro in the afternoon, and I cut myself down to 25 mg of atenolol in the evening, instead of 50 mg. My cardiologist thinks this is fine. I have stopped smoking, and everthing else they recommend. I know they claim is it not from the stomach, but I do have the gastro problem according to upper GI series. I burp sour after these are done. Any suggestion to get my life back to normal. Thank you for your interest.
Just another person with many of the symptoms you all have. I notice a significant correllation between worrying/dwelling on the problem and the frequency of skips. My symptoms wax and wane. Right now, they been increasing, probably worse then ever. I'd also like to offer my email to anyone who'd like to contact me directly to talk or discuss as I know how much it helps: ***@****
Hello Steve,
Thank you for sharing your story with me(us).
Sound much like mine.
I do take a beta blocker-(Inderal ret. 80 mg.caps. one a day)- since a couple of months, and find it helpful.
Now on this forum look under 'Skipped Heartbeats' the date 11-23-02, the post from Mike B. if you like.
He is so right!! (my opinion)
It's a lengthy post but worth reading!
-
Stay well and God bless - ***Ianna***
Thank you for sharing your story with me(us).
Sound much like mine.
I do take a beta blocker-(Inderal ret. 80 mg.caps. one a day)- since a couple of months, and find it helpful.
Now on this forum look under 'Skipped Heartbeats' the date 11-23-02, the post from Mike B. if you like.
He is so right!! (my opinion)
It's a lengthy post but worth reading!
-
Stay well and God bless - ***Ianna***
Hi Ianna,
I am a 48-year-old male, 6'2", 240-lbs. and a non-smoker. Two years ago I had a blood clot in my leg and as a result of a special blood test they advised me to go on Coumadin for the rest of my life. Just before all this happened I started feeling PAC's. Not enough to treat the heart, but enough to treat the anxiety they caused. I had a number of tests including EKG, Event Monitor, Echo and Stress EKG. All the results were normal and showed only PAC's, (as far as I know). I even went to a second Cardiac specialist. He made a brief review of some of my previous tests and gave me a cursory exam in his office. He also pronounced me fit and on the right track with my eliminating all stimulants, most alcohol, and reducing my stress. I bought "the books" and started on the road to mental recovery. My PAC's and anxiety got fewer and further between. I had minor setbacks along the way but tried to take them in stride since I knew from the books that they would happen. I tried to follow the advice of "letting time pass". I finally got to the point where I felt only 2 or 3 PAC's a day and took Valium only once or twice a month. I was 98 percent OK with my condition, but still had not come to grips with that last, (all important), 2 percent.
A couple of months ago my palpitations returned even greater in numbers than before, (1-5 per minute for up to an hour). I had never experienced anything like this ever before. I had gotten away from my meager exercise program of walking a few days a week and now it seemed that exertion brought on more palps. My heart books tell me that exercise is good for my heart and will reduce the palps. I decided to check these new beats out to make sure they were benign. I did a Stress EKG and am just finishing my two weeks of Event Monitor. The un-official result of the Stress EKG, (as pronounced by the attending nurse), was that I'm normal, with a normal amount of PVC's. The un-official result of the Event Monitor is that I have a normal amount of ordinary PVC's.
I have a treadmill at home and started working out when I got the Event Monitor. I started out fairly light. I use a five-minute warm-up, twenty minute workout and five-minute cool-down. I set the speed to 2.2mph and the incline between 5 and 13 degrees. When I started this program, (almost two weeks ago), at the lesser incline I felt only a small amount of PVC's (8-10), during the workouts. I had a couple workouts where I felt 25 PVC's during the half hour. My last workout was at 13 degrees incline and I had the most PVC's of all. I even stopped half way through to record them on the Event Monitor. I counted 40 during the workout and an additional 26 when I paused to record. During that recording there was even a small run of single PVC's each separated by four normal beats. When I phoned in the recording they didn't seem concerned and have not been concerned by anything I have phoned in for these last two weeks.
I have not had the chance to discuss the results of the Event Monitor and Stress EKG with my cardiologist yet. I have had a big mental setback in my recovery for two reasons. First, I am wondering if I am "getting worse" since I now have PVC's in addition to my PAC's. And second, I need to find out why exercise is causing an increase of palps since I thought it would make them go away or at least be reduced.
I would still prefer to not take a beta-blocker. I think that would make it harder for me to work through that last 2 percent of my fear of palps. Almost like giving up and admitting defeat. Most of my loved ones are unsympathetic since they all have heart palps and see them as normal. They are telling me to take a beta-blocker since I am spending too much time thinking about all this. They think I am making myself worse by trying to understand what is going on. I feel that if I fully understand palps they will loose their power over me. I am almost certain that my palps are caused by simple life stress and with reduced stress they will diminish on their own. Reducing stress is hard enough without adding more fuel to the fire by worrying about my heart. I won't know what my future will be until after the debriefing with my cardiologist. Thanks for your interest.
Steve
I am a 48-year-old male, 6'2", 240-lbs. and a non-smoker. Two years ago I had a blood clot in my leg and as a result of a special blood test they advised me to go on Coumadin for the rest of my life. Just before all this happened I started feeling PAC's. Not enough to treat the heart, but enough to treat the anxiety they caused. I had a number of tests including EKG, Event Monitor, Echo and Stress EKG. All the results were normal and showed only PAC's, (as far as I know). I even went to a second Cardiac specialist. He made a brief review of some of my previous tests and gave me a cursory exam in his office. He also pronounced me fit and on the right track with my eliminating all stimulants, most alcohol, and reducing my stress. I bought "the books" and started on the road to mental recovery. My PAC's and anxiety got fewer and further between. I had minor setbacks along the way but tried to take them in stride since I knew from the books that they would happen. I tried to follow the advice of "letting time pass". I finally got to the point where I felt only 2 or 3 PAC's a day and took Valium only once or twice a month. I was 98 percent OK with my condition, but still had not come to grips with that last, (all important), 2 percent.
A couple of months ago my palpitations returned even greater in numbers than before, (1-5 per minute for up to an hour). I had never experienced anything like this ever before. I had gotten away from my meager exercise program of walking a few days a week and now it seemed that exertion brought on more palps. My heart books tell me that exercise is good for my heart and will reduce the palps. I decided to check these new beats out to make sure they were benign. I did a Stress EKG and am just finishing my two weeks of Event Monitor. The un-official result of the Stress EKG, (as pronounced by the attending nurse), was that I'm normal, with a normal amount of PVC's. The un-official result of the Event Monitor is that I have a normal amount of ordinary PVC's.
I have a treadmill at home and started working out when I got the Event Monitor. I started out fairly light. I use a five-minute warm-up, twenty minute workout and five-minute cool-down. I set the speed to 2.2mph and the incline between 5 and 13 degrees. When I started this program, (almost two weeks ago), at the lesser incline I felt only a small amount of PVC's (8-10), during the workouts. I had a couple workouts where I felt 25 PVC's during the half hour. My last workout was at 13 degrees incline and I had the most PVC's of all. I even stopped half way through to record them on the Event Monitor. I counted 40 during the workout and an additional 26 when I paused to record. During that recording there was even a small run of single PVC's each separated by four normal beats. When I phoned in the recording they didn't seem concerned and have not been concerned by anything I have phoned in for these last two weeks.
I have not had the chance to discuss the results of the Event Monitor and Stress EKG with my cardiologist yet. I have had a big mental setback in my recovery for two reasons. First, I am wondering if I am "getting worse" since I now have PVC's in addition to my PAC's. And second, I need to find out why exercise is causing an increase of palps since I thought it would make them go away or at least be reduced.
I would still prefer to not take a beta-blocker. I think that would make it harder for me to work through that last 2 percent of my fear of palps. Almost like giving up and admitting defeat. Most of my loved ones are unsympathetic since they all have heart palps and see them as normal. They are telling me to take a beta-blocker since I am spending too much time thinking about all this. They think I am making myself worse by trying to understand what is going on. I feel that if I fully understand palps they will loose their power over me. I am almost certain that my palps are caused by simple life stress and with reduced stress they will diminish on their own. Reducing stress is hard enough without adding more fuel to the fire by worrying about my heart. I won't know what my future will be until after the debriefing with my cardiologist. Thanks for your interest.
Steve
Hi Steve,
I read that you did have heart-anxiety.
Is it so that you are over it?(Yes, I know, with help of 'the books')
And if so, do you ever experience relapses?
-
I have heart-anxiety(I suppose).
It can go on for weeks and than slowly I 'recover' and can be all-right for weeks and weeks, even months...
It mostly has to do with 'things' happening in my life.
Last week I lost a beloved niece.
The emotions the funeral brought on were too much.
It was enough to bring back my heart-palps and quiverings.
Now it can take weeks till I feel all-right again, providing nothing happens that brings on big emotions.
I really hate having a sensitive nervous system.
Just a little push and I am nowhere.
-
What's your story?(if you don't mind me asking)
How do you feel now?
-
Awaiting your answer...
Greetings - ***Ianna***
I read that you did have heart-anxiety.
Is it so that you are over it?(Yes, I know, with help of 'the books')
And if so, do you ever experience relapses?
-
I have heart-anxiety(I suppose).
It can go on for weeks and than slowly I 'recover' and can be all-right for weeks and weeks, even months...
It mostly has to do with 'things' happening in my life.
Last week I lost a beloved niece.
The emotions the funeral brought on were too much.
It was enough to bring back my heart-palps and quiverings.
Now it can take weeks till I feel all-right again, providing nothing happens that brings on big emotions.
I really hate having a sensitive nervous system.
Just a little push and I am nowhere.
-
What's your story?(if you don't mind me asking)
How do you feel now?
-
Awaiting your answer...
Greetings - ***Ianna***
I'm 32 years old and I have recently been diagnosed with MVP. I have a murr murr do to this condition and many, many, strong PVC's. I have been reading all your posts and I feel the same way you all do. Kristy your symtoms sound a lot like mine. I have many flutters, skips, rapid pounding, thumbs, and pauses. They happen a lot when I'm eating, working or doing nothing so it's hard to tell exactly what triggers them. I having PVC's right now while I'm typing. I have been crying reading all of the posts about how these arrthymia's make us feel and how they appartenly seem to get worse. I'm not taking any medication for them now, but my cardiologist wanted to put me on Norpace. My regular physican advised me not to, because he didn't think I could handle it. Those medications tend to lower BP and mine is already always very low. Pulse is low too, about 60. I don't drink or smoke. I work hard everyday landscaping. The heat seems to trigger PVC's and dehydration. These arrthymia's make me irritable! Everything seems to stress me out. I just hate how present they are. When you have them you can't help but feel anxiety and stress. I take Xanax at night before going to sleep so I don't worry about my PVC's. I'm wondering if you found anything that is making the arrthymia's go away. This all started about 6 months ago and now I just can't get it better. Do you ever feel like you have a lump in your throat? If anyone who reads this knows of a medication or something natural that will help please post the information. I don't want to dwell on this condition, I just want my life back without these arrthymia's! I'll try anything at this point even for it to just get better would be appreciated. I am a very positive, happy go lucky kind of person and I don't want this condition to get worse. Sometimes my heart throws PVC's one after the other for up to 2 hours non stop! I think it sucks! Thank you for taking the time to post all your comments. I feel better knowing that they are other people who suffer from the same symtoms I do. I also feel like my cardiologist is not giving me enough feedback on things that I can do to help myself naturally. Like taking mineral supplements, I learned that from reading your posts! What should I take?! I look forward to all your opinions and hearing what has seemed to help all of you.
Aloha, Christine
Aloha, Christine
HI Christine...your post was comforting to me, too. Knowing that we're "not the only one" is comforting. I take magnesium, 400 mg. I also eat bananas and potatoes for the potassium. As of yet, I am not sure what a safe level of potassium is, so I don't know what to take in pill form. Anybody else know?
About a week ago, my doctor put me on "Inderal". To my great JOY, it is actually working. I am on the lowest dose - 10 mg twice daily. I am going to increase it to 20 mg twice daily. I usually have lots of arrhythmias every day. I went for three days with only one "flutter" which lasted only a couple of seconds. I've only had a few others, and all of them were very minor. I am seeing a new cardiologist on the 5th of December, so he'll probably take me off of the Inderal [slowly] so he can hook me up to an event monitor that I will wear for several weeks. [oh goody, I can hardly wait....arrrrrrrrrghhhh!!]. I have low blood pressure, too. It is usually 110/55-60 - somewhere in that range. Since being on the inderal, the lowest it has gotten is 103/51. My doc said that as long as you don't FEEL cruddy with lower pressure, like light-headed, dizzy, weak, or seeing spots, etc., then even a lower pressure is "more normal" for you. I haven't had side effects from the inderal, except for occasional *very* minor dizziness that is hardly noticable. Maybe you can look into this, Christine. I feel so sorry for you, I know EXACTLY how you feel with those stinkin' flutters! They TERRIFY me.
I did try an experiemnt, though. Maybe you could give it a try. It is HARD to do.... When I had lots of "flutters", I put my finger on my wrist and felt the pulse. It was "fluttering" at all, it was beating 2-3 times really fast, then a pause, then a couple of fast beats again, etc. That helped me feel more calm, knowing that my heart wasn't actually fluttering. Then I practiced deep, sloooooow breathing and kept telling myself that these things were benign. Much to my delight, they dissipated very quickly, and I was able to remain calm and felt reassured. It was a victory for me! Try it, because I know from experience that those horrible surges of Adrenaline that come when have a flutter do not do us any good! They make things worse! Hey, I'm one to talk! I feel so scared every time they come on, but that's why I said it takes practice. I intend on trying my best to practice. Feel free to write me. ***@****
Love, Kristy
About a week ago, my doctor put me on "Inderal". To my great JOY, it is actually working. I am on the lowest dose - 10 mg twice daily. I am going to increase it to 20 mg twice daily. I usually have lots of arrhythmias every day. I went for three days with only one "flutter" which lasted only a couple of seconds. I've only had a few others, and all of them were very minor. I am seeing a new cardiologist on the 5th of December, so he'll probably take me off of the Inderal [slowly] so he can hook me up to an event monitor that I will wear for several weeks. [oh goody, I can hardly wait....arrrrrrrrrghhhh!!]. I have low blood pressure, too. It is usually 110/55-60 - somewhere in that range. Since being on the inderal, the lowest it has gotten is 103/51. My doc said that as long as you don't FEEL cruddy with lower pressure, like light-headed, dizzy, weak, or seeing spots, etc., then even a lower pressure is "more normal" for you. I haven't had side effects from the inderal, except for occasional *very* minor dizziness that is hardly noticable. Maybe you can look into this, Christine. I feel so sorry for you, I know EXACTLY how you feel with those stinkin' flutters! They TERRIFY me.
I did try an experiemnt, though. Maybe you could give it a try. It is HARD to do.... When I had lots of "flutters", I put my finger on my wrist and felt the pulse. It was "fluttering" at all, it was beating 2-3 times really fast, then a pause, then a couple of fast beats again, etc. That helped me feel more calm, knowing that my heart wasn't actually fluttering. Then I practiced deep, sloooooow breathing and kept telling myself that these things were benign. Much to my delight, they dissipated very quickly, and I was able to remain calm and felt reassured. It was a victory for me! Try it, because I know from experience that those horrible surges of Adrenaline that come when have a flutter do not do us any good! They make things worse! Hey, I'm one to talk! I feel so scared every time they come on, but that's why I said it takes practice. I intend on trying my best to practice. Feel free to write me. ***@****
Love, Kristy
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