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1916470 tn?1322420103

PVCS ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY OR ARE THEY PVCS

Ok around 5 years ago I starting getting a real rapid heart beat out of no where it would go up to 180 to 220 resting it felt like I was having a heart attack. The dr put me on a beta blocker which did not agree with me so he then switched me to cardiozam 180 24 hr pill one a day. I had no more heart racing at all Here recently I have been getting episodes where my heart skips alot of beats in a row yesterday was 15 minutes in a row and then it races really I gotta sit down when it happens it scares me so bad. I had the echo done I just had a ekg the other day I've wore jolted monitors before but have had no real test in years. I told my dr about the skipping and he wasn't worried about it but its truly driving me insane I don't really wana do nothing in public in fear if it happening. This morning it happen but only maybe a 4 or 5 minute span. But for this to just be happening out of the blue is real scarydoes it sound like pvcs to you. No answer is a bad answer I just really wana get some views on this Thanks
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1807132 tn?1318743597
I had a holter 2 years ago and happened to have an episode the day before but not the day of the holter.  For svts it is actually better to have an event monitor.  If you know you will have an episode within the next month you wear it and then record when you are having an episode.  This is how my svt was caught because as much as they are disruptive they are not something we can trigger.  Did the holter pick up pvcs?  If so how many are you having a day?  How often do you get the svt?  I was starting to get it weekly.  But also like you when they did the workup on my heart it all came back structurally fine.  This is actually a very typical finding in arrhythmias which is why the medical community has concluded that they are not a health risk.  However, I do believe over time continuous bouts of rapid heart beats will likely wear down a person's heart.  Maybe not necessarily give a person a heart attack but rather heart failure.  Until then however, you would likely present with a healthy heart.  So just because your heart is healthy doesn't mean you don't have an svt.  Most of them are more structural in nature.  Like I said before, in my svt for avnrt, I had an accessory pathway into my avnode.  Essentially some extra muscle fibers that gave the electrical signal an opportunity to run in a circle around my avnode.  I was born with the extra fibers but it isn't really deemed as heart disease.  The valve problem I am not sure of but if the doctor doesn't seem too concerned about fixing it then I wouldn't worry about it but you might want to look that up just to see what you are dealing with.  In any event, if you continue to have svt episodes often then I would ask to get an event monitor so you can get the type of svt you have diagnosed.   Do you know if you were having those missed beat feelings while wearing the monitor?  If so, not that they really do anything about them, I would ask the doc what the holter showed about your pvcs.  Just to get a handle on how many you throw of those a day.  But it sounds like overall you don't have heart disease like your other family members so that is good news.
Helpful - 0
1916470 tn?1322420103
Oh I forgot to tell u Michelle I have had a complete work up on the heart that's what's so mind boggling my dr said my heart was great he said I may have a problem with a valve opening and closing causing tacky cardia but otherwise I was good.
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1916470 tn?1322420103
Oh I forgot to tell u Michelle I have had a complete work up on the heart that's what's so mind boggling my dr said my heart was great he said I may have a problem with a valve opening and closing causing tacky cardia but otherwise I was good.
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1916470 tn?1322420103
Well got my holter monitor today and I can't make it happen go figure If I can't make it happen the dr will never truly know what im feeling
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1916470 tn?1322420103
Well got my holter monitor today and I can't make it happen go figure If I can't make it happen the dr will never truly know what im feeling
Helpful - 0
1807132 tn?1318743597
Well good luck.  If you are having daily pvcs the holter will likely catch that but if you don't happen to have an svt episode and know you get them every month you can ask for an event monitor that you would wear for a month and hit a record button once an episode happens.  It will be good to get an idea of what your pvcs are doing but unless there are over 20,000 of them a day they don't do much but the svt is something they can fix so I do hope you are able to catch an episode.  My doctor even told me if I can get one going to go ahead and do so but that is not always easy to do.  They can pop out of nowhere but initiating one can be hard.  Well keep us posted on how you are doing.
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1916470 tn?1322420103
Thank you I called my cardiovascular dr and he scheduled me for a holter on wensday and a echo on dec 13th I will be writing on here any results as they come back
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1807132 tn?1318743597
Arrythmias are rarely life threatening with the exception of ventricular tachycardia converting into ventricular fibrillation but this only happens in rare instances.  However, since you have a family history of heart disease, a completely different problem from an arrhythmia it would be good to tell your cardiologist this and get a full workup of your heart.   The structural integrity of your heart is of more concern than an arrhythmia so just go get checked out so you can have some peace of mind about that as well.  I am sure your children do not want to loose you as well.  : )
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1916470 tn?1322420103
Ok thank you for the reply I have a huge family history of heart disease my mother had a 5ekg way by pass at age 42 and my grandfather died at 42 from a heart attack so it defiantly scares me I have 3 kids and really don't wana leave them anytime soon. Thanks again for the reply
Helpful - 0
1807132 tn?1318743597
Again I am not a doctor but the odds of you needing a pacemaker are slim.  If you happen to have avnrt and they ablate too close to the main entry way into the avnode then you could develop heart block which would require a pacemaker but they have made advances in the ablation procedure that this is rare.  If your secondary pathway is too close to the main pathway the EP doctor will not do the ablation.  You then will be given the option to ablate and have a pace maker or live with the condition.  But again the chances of that are rare.  Complications from the procedure are only about 1% compared to complications for say appendicitis which are around 15%.  The success rate for ablations for svts like avnrt are around 98% so really good odds all around.  The worse thing you can do is obsess and stress about what is going on.  pvcs thrive on adrenaline especially stress adrenaline and the more pvcs you throw the more chances you will have an episode of svt.  I know easier said than done but try to do whatever you can to accept that you have the condition and take comfort that there are options out there now to correct the problem.  Good options that weren't really viable just 20 years ago.  So go to the doctor and get the svt diagnosed so you can at least feel as though you are taking charge of the situation rather than it running you.  And take comfort in the knowledge that your heart if a very strong resilient muscle.  This condition will likely not kill you or even do any long term damage to your heart so long as you are responsible about managing it.  Take care and go see your doctor.
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1916470 tn?1322420103
Does the ablation require a pacemaker after or is that a different surgery Thanks for the reply again I find myself doing nothing but sitting here waitin on another attack to arise
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1807132 tn?1318743597
The svt will not go away.  It is more of a structural thing than anything else.  That said, if your episodes are infrequent then it is likely it may be hard to ablate you anyways. The doctor needs to be able to induce an episode to know where to ablate so those who have very infrequent episodes really don't need to do much about them.  The likelihood of any health issues arising from the sporadic episodes are very slim.  That being said, there is a possibility as you get older the episodes will increase and at that point you may want to consider and ablation but there really is not need to put yourself through the physical discomfort of an ablation (though very minimal) if the svt is really not interfering with your ability to function normally.  For me I was starting to get weekly episodes but I went 40 years with sporadic episodes I just lived with and they really weren't that big a deal to me.  Your heart if very resilient, just try to take it slow while you are having an episode and things should be fine.
Helpful - 0
1807132 tn?1318743597
I think there was one guy on here who was never able to get his to stop but for most people if they can't convert it on their own through vagal manuveurs (holding your breath and bearing down) then it will generally stop on its own.  I kind of think a pvc likely triggers the svt and a pvc then gets it to stop as well.  I don't know that for sure but I know I had some strong beats and then the svt stopped.  I was one who couldn't get it to stop for me but they always stopped on their own just as quickly as they started.  If you want to look up svt search Supraventricular Tachycardia.  There are a few different types.  The fact that your beat goes to 220 is a good indication you likely have avnrt like I had but you need to get that officially diagnosed by a doctor you could have avrt.  Most of the svts really are not dangerous unless the episodes go on for days.  Most of my episodes were a minute or two.  I would have some that were half hour to an hour and only a couple that lasted longer than that.  I probably should have gone to the ER for the longer ones but always kind of felt they would stop before I got there so I didn't see the point.  It wasn't the best idea on my part but my heart seems fairly healthy still besides for the pvcs.  I have them now and will likely have to deal with them from time to time but they as well do not pose a health threat to my heart.  They are even less of a threat then the svt.  But it may be in your best interests to get the svt correct so you can at least be rid of the racing heart episodes.  One less thing to worry about.  
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1916470 tn?1322420103
I had no real problems till a few weeks ago and now its just been crazy
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1913934 tn?1322264031
hey im in the same boat as you, i had an episode on friday ****** scary ****. Does yours happen frequently? i have yet to be officially diagnosed but im doing to try to live with it without an ablation for now
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1916470 tn?1322420103
I looked up svt and could find nothing on it could u explain is it dangerous can it start and not stop
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1916470 tn?1322420103
It takes a special person to comment on someone who they don't know I really appreciate the reply and I believe your right on in what you said thank you so much for the reply
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1807132 tn?1318743597
I am not a doctor and can't diagnose you absolutely but yes, it sounds like you have pvcs that will sometimes trigger an svt.  Two separate conditions.  You should consult your doctor about getting your svt diagnosed and possibly ablated.  This should help to bring your pvcs under control.  The two conditions I believe feed on each other.  I had avnrt and the pvcs went crazy.  I am about 3 months post an ablation and my pvcs seem to be calming down a bit as my heart calms down and heals from all the rapid heart beat episodes.  It is likely you will always have to deal with pvcs but they aren't considered a detriment to your over heart health which is why your doctor probably didn't pay them any mind.  Most people have them but since you have them and svt they will likely keep triggering your svt and if you are like me you may wind up getting weekly episodes so I would advise you to go back to your doctor and get your svt evaluated and possibly corrected then the pvcs will really be of no consequence.  Take care and keep us posted on how you are doing.
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