Holter Monitor Results

[bondieluv]

Hello, Doctor...

I am a 44 year old woman who had a holter monitor test for heart palpatations, which I have had for a couple of years but have increased in frequency in the last 6 months.  Here are my results:

General
109769 QRS complexes
0 paced beats (<1%)
2823 Ventricular beats (3%)
4 Supraventricular beats (<%)
0 BB beats (<1%)
0 Junctional beats (<1%)
0 Aberrant beats
0 % of total time in AF/AFL
100 bpm), 12% total
13251 beats in bradycardia (<60 bpm), 20% total
1.36 seconds Max R-R at 05:33:14


Supraventriculars (S.J.A)
4 Isolated
0 couplets
0 bigeminal cycles
0 runs totaling 0 beats

Recommendation from reading cardiologist, "This appears to show recurrent episodes of nonsustained ventricular tachycardia which are symptomatic.  She will require a referral to an arrhythmia specialist and need an echocardiogram to determine her left ventricular function.  In the interim if there is no contraindication to beta blockers, you should consider starting her on 25 mg PO BID"

I am now taking Metroprolol as prescribed, and I must say when I remain calm, it really seems to help, but some days now I am worring myself sick.  I tend to breathe shallow and I do get short of breath with the palpatations.  Seems when I can keep myself calm none of this is an issue - but when it happens I worry which makes it worse - a vicious cycle.  I am an active, busy mother of two and now I seem to stress about this constantly.  I have an appointment for the arrhythmia specialist for June 10th.  Please, can you tell me if I should be this worried? I am very worried - it's some days all I think about.

Thank you.
~Karen

[upbeat633]

1, 10, 100, 10,000 it's all the same when it comes to pvcs. They feel terrible, they are scary, they can take your breath away, make you feel lightheaded, they can be life changing.

If I can keep the thought in my head that they won't hurt me, I can get through most days. Other days are difficult, but I'm still here. Sometimes I feel very strong as a result, like nah-nah-nah-na-nana you haven't got me yet. But mostly it's one foot in front of the other and therefore when I see clear to do it, I really really enjoy the things I have in my life. I am very much a "live in the present" type of person if I'm not focusing on the pvcs at that moment lol.

[pvcchick]

I'm with you Upbeat.  I am honestly starting to believe they must be benign and as well after 20 years.  I totally agree anxiety and obsessing about your heart makes it 10X worse.  You are totally right about being strong willed though.  It has been a tough road with these things.  I still don't understand how you can cope with that many PVC's a day though.  I am trying to deal with 10ish!

[upbeat633]

well, I get around 30,000 pvcs/day, but only feel a couple of hundred, lucky me.

Mostly it's when I'm at rest.

I usually have no problem falling asleep, but if I wake in the night or early morning I feel every single one of them. Thump, pause, thump, pause flutters, you name it. It makes it very difficult to go back to sleep because in order to stop focusing on the pvcs, I start to make lists for the upcoming day. What a way to start, huh.

Since I've had them for about 27 years I'm sure they are benign, I trust the cardiologist and E.P wouldn't let me walk out of their office if they thought otherwise. But the coping is sometimes an issue. Anxiety and stress from every day life can make them worse, and then when you notice the pvcs that adds more anxiety and the spiral begins.

It would appear that people who notice their pvcs may be more sensitive, but I believe they are the strongest willed people on the planet, you've got to be to keep on living and not let the pvcs condemn you to a life of misery.

[pvcchick]

Hi there.  Yup do you know that it was  this forum and what the doctor on here was saying about the anxiety issues and us type of people not wanting to take anything.  I hated taking anything more than an Advil so it was a huge step for me asking for something to take my anxiety down to a manageable level.  I feel I am almost there though.  

Just out of curiousty when people say (like cabkrun) that they get palpitations do you mean the type where your heart just start going fast or do you mean the type where you actually feel it going totally irregular?  I don't even care when I get the fast ones.  It is the skipping and thumping around that scares the hell out of me.  As I say though, I usually only get around 10 a day and it looks like so many more people get a lot more.

[bondieluv]

Hi!
I actually think that I got in reasonably quickly considering, and I love my GP, I became her patient many years ago and she's a rare treasure.  The wait time only seems long to me because in this situation it would be so much nicer to know right now. Having said that I'm also pretty grateful I'm not being rushed in!

I really enjoy this doctor, I completely agree about reading his posts...my absolute favorite is what he said about being anxious about or resistant to taking meds for PVC's which I absolutely was...he said, "I think that people afraid to take medications to treat the problems that are meant to treat the problem that they are afraid of (that is a mouth full) tend to have more anxiety issues.  Anxiety, as you know, is very difficult to treat."  I had to laugh! Sums it up pretty nicely!

[cabkrun]

Hi there
I think all the comments here are great. It sounds like you are going to be fine.  I've had PVC's and never dropped over dead, even getting the heart rate over 180.  

Hey, in terms of waiting tho, there are very often wait times here in the States too... for specialists absolutely.  I've waited a month or longer to see specialists, and that's in an area over flowing with doctors... so don't feel so bad about your health care system or waiting even.