PAC's

[cstevens]

Hi,
I'm a 29 year old male.  About 3 months ago started feeling flutters in my chest.  I went to my doctor and was put on an event moniter for 1 month recorded many episodes of the fluttering.  I have recently been to see a cadialogist and after 2 visits was diagnosed with PAC's he also told me that my heart was beating normal most of the time.  I was also recieved an EKG that cameback normal.  The heart doctor told me I have nothing wrong with my heart.  To say i'm worried about this would be an understatement.  Ever time I have an episode I freak out and think I'm going to die.  My heart doctor told me to lose some wait and control my blood pressure.  Weight 225 5'10'' and my Bp is usually in that 130/80 range pulse 50-80 depending on what i'm doing.  I'm a small grains farmer in North Dakota and do experence stress.  My wife tells me that the stress is part of the problem.  I'm having a real hard time dealing with these things on a regular basis. It seems like I'm always waiting for the next PAC to happen or something even worse. I would say right now i'm getting 5-10 a day. I would like you to coment on my recent diagnosis.

very scared
clarke

[JasoninGA]

I have been dx with PAC's. My recent stress test had me up to 200 bpm, without problem, it was when I was cooling down around 120-130 bpm that I started to show many many early beats, once they got below that range, they disappeared. Personal HX, 36 y/o male, 140 lbs, 65.5", don't smoke, occassional drink (beer-no distilled spirits), work out-- mostly moderate wieght training, some cardio (when these PAC's don't bother me to the point of "running scared"...wasn't that a movie btw?) Anyway my question is this, does a PAC constitute a "full beat" and would it be considered part of your overall bpm...for example, I have a pulse of 120 bpm but have a run of 20 PAC's, is my rate now 140 bpm? Also is there a risk of throwing a blood clot with these things? This is completely new to me, I've never had PAC's (noticeable) while exercising, usually I'd get them at rest or when I had a ton of coffee--now they hit at a time when I actually try to get away from them and relieve stress by exercising...can't win with these things...although I'm not beat by any stretch, i'm sure sooner or later, it'll change up and hit at higher work load,,,who knows.
Thanks for your time

Jason

[heartfluttersflyawayplz]

yes i had a adnormal stress test, than they had me do a heart scan to see if i had a blockage, it showed i was ok , the heart scan only shows a blockage 70 and above so who knows . but my dr says the stress test throws a lot of false postive readings, so try not to worry your probley fine .

[ziggy123]

The stress test was ordered by my GP who did not like the looks of my most recent cardiogram. She had faxed it to a cardiologist who said it looked okay (not good, not fine, just okay) and suggested that I follow up with a stress test. I was very nervous taking the stress test. Like I said, my BPM was 110 before I even stepped on the treadmill. Yesterday afternoon, after the test, my GP called and said that due to the results of my stress test, I needed to see a cardiologist. So...bottom line, something is not right and I am very worried. I have been obsessing over my pulse all day, and while it has been irregular (beat, beat, beat, miss, beat, beat, beat, beat, miss, etc), it has been slow. Maybe I wore it out yesterday!

[nervousbabe]

Ziggy, was your stress test abnormal because you were throwing irregular rhythms on it or are you assuming it was abnormal because they told you that you could stop running after 5 min. 30 seconds and you think thats too short for your heart rate to go up like that? When I did my stress test, they stopped me at around 85- 90% which I believe was when my heart was at 190 or something like that. I was probably on the treadmill for about the same amount of time as you and mine was normal. My heart used to beat on the faster side to so I am assuming that naturally, if your heart rate is already quick, you will reach the target rate faster. If you dont mind, what were you having the test done for exactly?

[nervousbabe]

Oh my God... I totally understand you guys! As long as I can remember, I have been experiencing  a flip flopping feeling of my heart in my chest...but, it used to be only like once every couple of months which never bothered me. Last summer I started experiencing a racing of my heart which would get up to 180 beats per minute. Needless to say, it was very uncomfortable and I kept going to the emergency room and they kept sending me home. Finally I said screw this and went to a cardiologist in October when I started getting the flip flopping everyday. I got an ekg, holter, echo done and they found that my heart was racing, I was getting PACs annnnnnd I have "moderate" tricuspid valve regurgitation. (I was like and what does that mean for me??!!) Anyway, I am now on a beta blocker because I dont handle pac s very well. I feel like I am going to drop. The beta blocker seems to have stopped it from happening as frequently but I still get them a few times a week. No matter how many times I am told my heart is fine and these aren't going to affect me, I keep feeling like they are misdiagnosing or something.  I think since we were all told the same thing by three different doctors, maybe we should try and listen though. Its a bad feeling but if you think about the amount of times the heart beats in the day and in a life...I guess its bound to get a hiccup once in a while.The only thing I cant understand is why everyone gets these things yet some dont notice it! How the heck can you not notice it??!! Anyway, my new thing this week is that my heart feels like it is beating REALLY hard, (not racing, just beating hard) where I can feel it in my chest, back, and hands and I feel like shakey even though I am not shaking. Has anyone gotten this before? Please write back and try to stay happy

[ziggy123]

Has anyone had an abnormal stress test? I had one this morning that was ordered due to irregular heartbeat (which I have had all my life) and was told I could stop after 5 minutes 30 seconds because my heartrate had reached it's 85% mark. I know that is not a lot of time for my rate to have go up like that, but my rate was 110 when I started. I was extrememly nervous goin into the test and I am hoping that had something to do with the irregularity of the results. I had trouble walking properly on the treadmill, in other words I was a mess! Any comments?

[yoshi74]

I am a 33 year old female who has been experienced the same issue for 15 years...I have had numerous tests done by my family dr to several cardiologists...despite their reassurance that my heart is fine and just is sensitive to the mis fires that many people have, I still have yet to wrap my head around this thing!  I just finished up an 8 month stint with a psychologist and I am on an anxiety med...but I have been having many lately that have me in a depression and I feel Iike I will drop at any minute....I am in cosmetology school in Dallas and I am married with a 4 year old son...and I just don't feel like I can enjoy my life as I should....my point to all of this is, to do your very best to get a handle on it now...if you doc says you are ok...then take the anxiety pill and move on....don't let this control you like it has me for this many years...I empathize with you and I will pray that you find the strength to deal with this issue.  I am continuously working on getting a handle on it myself....

Take care

[cstevens]

Thank you for the responses.  I'm going to check into getting on some anti-depressents.

[deedle1976]

Everyone has PACs, it's just that most people don't notice them. A recent study showed that, in 24 hours, 81% out of 625 healthy people had PACs. Even if you had several thousand PACs per pay (and plenty of people on this forum do) they wouldn't harm you.  Take a look at some of the previous posts for reassurance.

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

I should also mention that late 20's early 30's is when anxiety disorders typically start to manifest.

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

Hi Clarke,
It sounds like anxiety is a problem.  You will not die from PACs although they can cause symptoms.  If you are really terrified enough that you are thinking about them all day, you probably should try a medications for anxiety.  You might be amazed at how much it improves your quality of life.  Anxiety usually creeps into all aspects of life and have a serious impact on  you and the people around you.

You do not need to worry about the PACs harming you.  A beta blocker might help decrease the sensation of PACs.  Talk to your doctor, an SSRI like paxil, zoloft, effexor, etc, may really help.

Good luck and thanks for posting.