51 year old male, swore off caffeine a few months ago, love 1-2 glasses of red wine in the evening but stopped since having these issues.
Had stress tests, stress w/thalium, echo, echo w/contrast, numerous EKGs and holter monitors, Lung scans, even had a catheter to explore. All tests show I'm the heathiest guy in the world...can "drive a mac truck thru my arteries", cholesterol 170s, BP 115/70.
So why do I feel like death? The last Holter showed Accelerated Junctional rythmn, lots of PVCs. Went to an Arryhmia specialist. He put me on Flecainide 50mg 2xday. I don't like pills. I don't like side effects. I cannot be under the control of something all day long. My anxiety levels are pretty high, I'll bet if I took a placebo I would have all the side effects listed...LOL
Anyway, the flecanide had too many side effects for me (max anxiety, trembling inside, my nice low BP started spiking to 148/95). So I went another route. Took a 1/4 pill of Xanax before bed, eating very healthy, watching my electrolytes (V8, Bananas, Baked Potatoes...generally good stuff). The improvement was drastic.
Several weeks later, it's slowly coming back. Now what? Do I have to live with these junctional rythmns forever? I know they say it is not life threatening, but how much can even a healthy heart take...I can have 10 episodes in an hour, each lasting several minutes.
I need something but not sure what would be a good candidate for me. Beta Blockers like Inderal? Please help.