How do you mentally/emotionally cope with PVCs/PACs

[oceanminded]

For all of us who deal with this condition know how much of a mental and emotional drag these can be. Ho do you cope with them mentally? Do you take meds to help with the depression and anxiety that this condition creates?

[Dbthree]

I've been plagued with PAC's since I was 19, I'm now 42. Like most of you I've had doctors run scores of tests and find nothing wrong. Likewise, my doctor seems very unconcerned about these PACs. He states that they are harmless. Well, that easy for him to say considering he isn't the one having them. I have 100% faith in my doctor yet I still dive into a high anxiety filled state while these things happen. If I have one I handle it well, if I have more then one in a short period of time I PANIC. Reading these forums truly help mine. Thank you all for posting. Just reading that others suffer from this helps me in ways that words can't describe. I was having five to ten a minute just twenty minutes ago. I started reading all of your posts and they stopped. I hope that someone finds a way to rid us all of these terrible extra beats. Thnks again.

[achillea]

Joe, have you not lost enough?  Take yourself to a specialist in panic/anxiety.

These people are called shrinks, and they really can help.  All you have to do is accept the aid they offer--and that usually includes meds.  It's a hard thing for anti-med people to accept, but you should know that panic is medical.  It is not a matter of weak will or a feeble moral state.

[melvonJoe]

I am 55 now. Pvc's and I guess Pac's started for me when I first got out of the service in 1978 or 79. I still remember the first few times they happened. I thought how odd this feeling in my chest. The pvc's were scary from the beginning and I was undiagnosed for many years. When they would occur I would just run to the ER and stay there till I was told I was ok and would calm down. I did finally go to s few doctors and I have had 2-3 houlter monitors and 2-3 treadmill tests and many ekg's and lot's of other tests. I have been to every ER in town many times over the years. Th Fear from these beats finally started really changing my life when I stopped going very far from an ER or Med center  or fire station. If I get  to far from perceived medical help I will have major panic attacks. I have shut down in my zest for life and have givin up. It cost me my marriage, as the woman I loved didn't understand that I could not just wish it all away. I wish to either get well or leave this earth. It's funny, I would fight a wild cat with  a butter knife. But I can't get a handle on this unreasonable fear. Any response would be great  Joe  In Tulsa.....

[melvonJoe]

I am 55 now. Pvc's and I guess Pac's started for me when I first got out of the service in 1978 or 79. I still remember the first few times they happened. I thought how odd this feeling in my chest. The pvc's were scary from the beginning and I was undiagnosed for many years. When they would occur I would just run to the ER and stay there till I was told I was ok and would calm down. I did finally go to s few doctors and I have had 2-3 houlter monitors and 2-3 treadmill tests and many ekg's and lot's of other tests. I have been to every ER in town many times over the years. Th Fear from these beats finally started really changing my life when I stopped going very far from an ER or Med center  or fire station. If I get  to far from perceived medical help I will have major panic attacks. I have shut down in my zest for life and have givin up. It cost me my marriage, as the woman I loved didn't understand that I could not just wish it all away. I wish to either get well or leave this earth. It's funny, I would fight a wild cat with  a butter knife. But I can't get a handle on this unreasonable fear. Any response would be great  Joe  In Tulsa.....

[achillea]

"...when my heart takes off, panic is like a knee jerk reaction.  There is no time to think, "Oh yeah, this happened before, I will be fine."  It's irregular beats -- panic -- nothing in between.  This is physical, not intellectual.  Doesn't matter if I know it hasn't killed me yet or not."

That is my experience exactly, and it is the reason I always carry a few lorazepam with me, just in case.  Those little sublingual tablets get into the system in a few minutes.

If the problem recurs several days in a row, I know one of my lengthy bouts of panic is trying to settle in, and I get back on the Zoloft.

[DeltaDawn23]

I've been to the shrink (it helped), taking beta blockers and anti-arrythmic drugs, plus Xanax when needed.  For me, mentally, I "know" I have survived Afib, pac's, pvc's and bouts of tachycardia many times, not to mentioned several hospital stays (another story there), but sometimes when my heart takes off, panic is like a knee jerk reaction.  There is no time to think, "Oh yeah, this happened before, I will be fine."  It's irregular beats -- panic -- nothing in between.  This is physical, not intellectual.  Doesn't matter if I know it hasn't killed me yet or not. I do have a better handle on it, and am living with it, but it's ruined many a day or outing for me and sometimes made me decide to stay home.

[ireneo]

I don't think the cardios consider PAC's and PVC's "normal" but they do consider them non-life threatening. That's different. It's not normal to lose your hair to alopecia problems but it's not life threatening either. There are so many things that we deal with as humans that aren't ideal. But we live on.

We had a neighbor that had some very odd skeletal issues. Her spine and chest bulged out forward and back which meant she was also extremely short. But she was rarely sick, never had cancer or heart disease and lived well into her 80's. She was amazing.

[achillea]

"I just can't accept that this is a "normal" condition when it feels so debilitating."

That's exactly the problem, and why it is often useful to see a professional to help you understand and accept the fact (imagine that 'fact' is underlined) that the weirdness--though disturbing--is in reality neither physically debilitating nor dangerous.  It is only emotionally debilitating.

[oceanminded]

My hardest part even after almost 5 years is accepting this condition as harmless especially when the skipping is at its worst. I just can't accept that this is a "normal" condition when it feels so debilitating.

[ireneo]

For me since I've had arrhythmias for decades, I'm pretty confident all the rattling around in my chest isn't going to kill me. If the ectopics and tachycardia episodes were going to ruin me, they would have done it by now. They annoy me at times and can slow me down momentarily but then I say, "Knock it off heart, Behave!" and I go about my business. It's a mindset. I get angry, not worried and that keeps me moving.

[dolphin8808]

I also take Zoloft for the OCD thoughts and worries and I have Xanax for emergency situations, it does help. Don't get me wrong, the panic creeps in at times but nothing like it used to be when I first was diagnosed.

[Cheers]

I do take an anxiety med - Klonopin .5mg twice per day. I was prescribed this about 7 years ago when I was having dibilitating panic attacks. It has been a lifesaver. However, it doesn't do much for the mental anxiety the PVCs/PACs cause. I think this is something I have to work on psychologically.

While I am trying to find ways to lessen the skips or find the "cause"...I am spending an equal amount of time in attempting to accept them and learn to live with them. It is REALLY hard, however.

I go to therapy a couple times a month (probably not enough) and have been doing some helpful reading. Hope and Help for Your Nerves and Stop Being Your Symptoms are two good books so far.

I am also seriously considering finding a biofeedback professional in my area. I have heard great things and I think it may be exactly what I need to "re-train" my brain.

[achillea]

I have many years of experience dealing with what you're talking about.  After wasting a number of years trying to "will" myself out of this and by reading self-help books (which are somewhat helpful, btw), I got smart and took myself to a good shrink.

After all, you see a diabetologist for diabetes, a gastroenterologist for gut problems, and cardiologist for heart problems, so why not see a specialist in anxiety and depression if those are your problems--once your heart has been checked out thoroughly and found to be healthy apart from those nasty ectopic beats?

Studies have found (you can google this) that a combo of antidepressant drugs and cognitive behavior therapy is the best approach, but I have done very well, after a trial of several different SSRIs, just with Zoloft whenever this nonsense overtakes me.  For me, the response is positive and very fast.