NSVT, PACs, and PVCs Question

[chel 81]

Hi this is my first time posting to this group. I've been dealing with a health issue for a number of years that has caused some heart trouble as a result. My dr had me wear a 30 day event monitor and found I've got frequent PACs, PVC's and runs of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia up to 10 in a row. I ended up in the ER a few weeks ago because of all the symptoms and they found low potassium and a shadow on my chest x-ray. I've been feeling a little out of breath with all this and have had very little sleep due to the strange beats. My dr got me into an emergency appointment with a cardiologist in a few days but this is really scaring me. These skips etc get really bad when I try to exercise and are at their worst for about 30 minutes after I workout. It's so frustrating because I used to run and for the last 7 years when they started I had to resort to walking but have still been able to walk almost 5 miles most days a week as long. As long as I'm able to keep my heart rate under 160 when exercising I usually don't get them but ever since the beginning of October all that has changed. Out of nowhere what were random "skips" etc have become very frequent. I had started taking a very small dose of iodine less than two months prior as I've got breast lumps that sometimes iodine can help with fibrocystic breasts so thought we'd try it. It is the only change I had made recently and it was causing frequent urination which may have resulted in the low potassium. I've been off of it though for a month and still getting symptoms. Can all of this be simply a result of low potassium? I tend to have slightly low levels (averages 3.4-3.6) but when I went to the ER it was down to 3.1. I'm just hoping the iodine triggered a detox reaction that resulted in low potassium from having to run to the bathroom so frequently and that once that settles my body will be able to hold onto potassium better. This has just really scared me. Has anyone else had these from just low potassium that once that gets stable my heart should go back to normal? I've been trying to add high potassium foods to my diet now for about 3 weeks and it's helped some (my levels also increased back to 3.7) but I'm still getting them really bad and am having to stop my walks because even tonight I had trouble after with one pause that lasted about 5 seconds before my heart beat another time. Could really use some reassurance from others who have been here.

[chel 81]

What would be some good tests to make sure I have done? I had the 30 day event monitor that picked up the frequent PVCs and PACs as well as the long runs of NSVT. I also had an echo that fortunately came back normal so we know the structure of my heart is good. I'm scheduled for a stress test and then also a chest ct to see if we can figure out what the shadow is from my xray. The EP didn't care to spend much time with my appt and kind of rushed me in and out but my PCP was much more concerned.

[itdood]

Sorry your not feeling your best.  This is really tough to answer as you haven't had any tests yet.  A chest x-ray doesn't offer a lot of info.  Greg your results from the tests for your own files, this way you can research more or ask questions with more info.