So Scared!

[Eva_C]

Hi, I cat just get rid of my fear for whats going on with my heart. I have been having both runs of PAC:s (EAT) and PVC:s for more then ten years, sometimes frequent. this year it has been worse. I am fatigue and a excersise test showed two couplets PVC during my time on the bike. It also showed some ST-depression (maximum - 1,8) and I hade poor excersise toleranse. My BP did not rise quite like it should. (The latter could be due to my metoprolol). I have undergone a nuclear test and am waiting for the answer. But resently i talked to a heart nurse who said that I have to do multiple test after this, even if my nuclear test is fine :-(, because my arrytmia get worse when i move around. I am so tired of this and completely terriefied. I have anxiety all days long, is on sick leave and do not leave the appartement without taking tranquilizers. I am afraid to excersise, even short walks, because I think I am going to get V-tach and die. I have a 6 year old son I cant take care of any more because of my heart anxiety for the heart and fatigue. The nurce i met at a heart rehab trainging (I cant excersice ther either because i feel strange in my chest and get panic when pulse are rising and I feel extra beats). The nurce told me that I never again can run, swim or do more than mild excersise (a bit strange to say i think, because I havent got all the results from the tests yet). I am afraid of what my life would look like. Any of you here have experienced something similar?

I am 46 years old, female, BP 110/75 (with metoprolol), BMI 22,2, Cholesterol normal. My mother got her first heart attack when she was 65 or 66 (20 years older than I am now) and died when she was 73 in heart failure due to several MI:s. My father has had some minor strokes but are living and are 88 years old.
for about two years ago I hade an eco done which was normal. On the other hand the excersise test was also normal then, not like this last one, and I did not have the same amount of symtoms then. I do not have any chest pain.
Thanks.

[Mom2four85]

I know it's difficult, but try not to get worried or stressed over what's going on, this can make symptoms worse.

Can you ask for a copy of your test results?  If you do, get it and read them over, make notes and ask your dr questions until you get the answers you need.

I'm curious why the nurse said for you to do nothing more than mild exercise? Ask specific questions from your doctor as to why and what it is that you have they think you shouldn't exercise. What concerns me is nurses telling you these things and scaring you, that doesn't make it easy to deal with when you have to wait for results and doctor's appointments.

Were you taking a beta blocker before your stress test? I know with bb's they often have side effects like you mention; they can cause arrhythmia's and your bp not to rise.  If you haven't you may want to ask for another BB to see if this still happens.  

Even with malignant arrhythmia's it is possible to live and cope with these dreaded things.    For about 2 years I had roughly 50,000 pvc,s daily, VT runs and fainting it wasn't easy to deal with but I wasn't going to let them ruin my life.  I didn't have much of a problem until the functioning of my heart went down quite a bit and affected other parts of my heart.

I would write all my questions down and make sure the doctor sees them and don't leave his office until you get them answered.

Also, keep a journal or log such as the heart rhythm tracker here - dates, times, symptoms and what you were doing at the time to see if you can find a pattern or triggers.

[fayiris]

You are a beautiful young woman and it is sad to think that you are so afraid most of the time.
We all experience times when things get the better of us, and if only the Doctors sat down and really talked to us, how much better it would be, but as you say they always seem too busy.
Try to relax with what is happening, the more afraid you get the more your heart races ( mine does as well ) and you build up a fear on fear syndrome.
Rest when you have to then when you are feeling a little better, do what is necessary.
That is what I do, otherwise you can become stressed out.
We are all here for one another, we all need help and understanding from each other.
Bless you.
  

[Eva_C]

Thank you sooo much for support and comforting words :-) That makes me feel better.
I have tried to ask my cardiologist questions but he is always busy and when I ask something he useally get quiet, contemplating and then refer me to another test...
He is wery determined to get an answer of whats going on with my heart and that is good, but he is not the comforting type in the mean time, and time goes wery slowly waiting for all the test and results to drop in. I have been waiting since october now... and had a lot of time building up ghosts in my mind.
Thanks again for the advise i really need them!

[cindy707]

I am so sorry that you are going thru this and it sounds like an awful lot of stress and anxiety that you are going thru.  So lets look at things logically Eva......first off there isn't a nurse out there that should be telling you what you can and cannot do long term.....nurses are not allowed to do this unless under the supervision of the doc and this would have to be a nurse practioner or higher in status....that is for the doc to tell you.  Nurses definately do not diagnose or pan out treatment plans for patients ....not their job trust me i know this for sure.  Personally it sounds to me like you are just simply scaring yourself to death here and need to back up a little bit okay.  Sometimes the internet is not your friend when try to self diagnose which is a huge no no as in worrying about VTach or anything in the V family...it is a very specific circumstance of events that occur and you didn't seem to throw any red flags up but again that is only for your doc to tell you no one else.  The other thing that may help you to understand is that if anyone in your family has had a heart attack at the age of 50 or younger you would be in a higher risk group Eva...it doesn;t mean that you will even at that just that you are in a higher risk group. As far as strokes go...that is totally up to the individuals body and lifestyle figures into it alot and it is not genetic with strokes.  Many times strokes occur because blood pressure that is allowed to go out of control or the person may have circulation issues and then clots become a worry but again strokes don't come genetically.  As far as heart attacks go...yes they can be genetic however most times then none lifestyles figure into it with placque build up in the arteries from poor dietary habits, no exercise, smoking, stress just not taking care of yourself there could be any reason however stress is not good for any of us. Sounds to me like what is getting to you is that you do not have enough info about your personal situation.  If it were me Eva i would sit down w a pen and paper and write every single worry down that you have...the what ifs...the could be's...the how comes...all of it and it doesn't matter if its 25 worries long..then you need to make an appt. w. the heart doc..call their office and tell them that you want to sit down w. the doc for 15-20 minutes and go over this with them because it is effecting your life so much with the worry that you can barely function because of all of the worry.  Sounds like your tests are good and now you need an exit consult to put this behind you and move on...make sure you also ask the doc if you have any limitations or if there is anything you should look out for.  You deserve the answers...have a right to the answers.....and tell the office that you want to see the doc NOT the nurse okay?  Hope it all works out for you Eva and stop scaring yourself to death...we all have been there done that and sometimes it takes someone else to set us straight....like bbxx says.....we all keep coming back even those of us that had a rough time of it and had successful outcomes <3

[bbxx]

I can tell how scared you are. Sorry you are going through this. It really stinks. I dont know about ST depression thing-- my results said ST changes and doctors say its fine.
I have couplets at times too with the pvcs. I have a lot of pvcs. I also can not tolerate exercise--but I have never been able to. If this is new for you, I am wondering if you have any type of heart failure? Dont freak out by my question-I am not a doctor. I am just a regular girl with my own health issues. I dont think the nurse should tell you taht you will never be able to do something--she can not say that without your tests all being done and then the doctor will tell you, but even then---who are they to say--never is a long time. Hang in there--we all get scared--but we still keep coming back here to post lol :)