Aa
Needing help
Hey guys. I'm 24 I have posted several similar posts. If Cindy or Lisa is reading thank you. I have had plenty of skipped beats over past couple of years. I drink caffeine because if there not dangerous I don't care. I turned holter in on Tuesday. The only reason i got one is cause
Monday I kept having skipped beats felt like it was happening for a hour but I really think it was less than like ten minutes. Several in a row I think. Didn't get short of breath dizzy or nething. Just a little bit of tightness. Could of been from anxiety. I freaked out and went to Er for 4 th time in 3 months. I thought I felt one while being monitor but dr saw nothing. I called my cardio and had holter put on. I've never had q episode ofthosd skipped heartbeats before. I realize that it's probally normal. I did drink four cokes and worked all night ten hr shift. I would like to hear opInions on this. I have had them while exercising before and at rest. I've never had Ne lightheadeness fainting or nething. I know tons of people have them. They never hurt Me even when I had the run of them. My anxious mind has ran away with it saying my hearts failing or it's gonna just stop. I working real hard on my anxiety these just seem to make it worse. I turned in holter on Tuesday. It's almost Friday morning and I've heard nothing about results. I was going to call today but was sleeping since I had insomnia last night from wrry over them. All I want to know is that it is not or will not turn into a fatal arrhythmia. I have no family history of arrythmias and the heart issue in family donnstart til 60's and 70's. Thk you
Monday I kept having skipped beats felt like it was happening for a hour but I really think it was less than like ten minutes. Several in a row I think. Didn't get short of breath dizzy or nething. Just a little bit of tightness. Could of been from anxiety. I freaked out and went to Er for 4 th time in 3 months. I thought I felt one while being monitor but dr saw nothing. I called my cardio and had holter put on. I've never had q episode ofthosd skipped heartbeats before. I realize that it's probally normal. I did drink four cokes and worked all night ten hr shift. I would like to hear opInions on this. I have had them while exercising before and at rest. I've never had Ne lightheadeness fainting or nething. I know tons of people have them. They never hurt Me even when I had the run of them. My anxious mind has ran away with it saying my hearts failing or it's gonna just stop. I working real hard on my anxiety these just seem to make it worse. I turned in holter on Tuesday. It's almost Friday morning and I've heard nothing about results. I was going to call today but was sleeping since I had insomnia last night from wrry over them. All I want to know is that it is not or will not turn into a fatal arrhythmia. I have no family history of arrythmias and the heart issue in family donnstart til 60's and 70's. Thk you
sorry I've been sick again so I haven't been on much between episodes of being sick - I don't think Cindy has been on in awhile she was in a car accident and still recovering (unless I missed it being gone myself)
Have you thought about getting some help either through talking to someone or anti anxiety med/mood stabilizer etc if you need to?
I was watching an episode of A Gifted Man and my husband and I LOL when he suggested the patient take Propanolol to help her "forget" about her anxiety over her friend getting killed. I had never heard of it used like that but I have for other things like anxiety performance etc
I've been on Inderal since 2009 and switched this year to the time released form which works well with the break throughs but others may do well on other bb's we each have to find what works for us... I've been on Lamictal for a couple of months now and find my anxiety and stress levels have finally evened out a bit and my moods are a bit more stable.
I will tell you this - we're each our own best enemies...meaning sometimes we do these things to ourselves by letting our bodies control our miinds - no matter what the health problem is...goodness knows I've been there and done it; until you take control and do something you'll keep getting worsening symtpoms.
will it or will it not turn into a fatal arrhythmia? personally I can't say because I'm not God, but I can tell you this - statistically you're more apt to get ran over by a car or die of heart disease rather than die of a fatal heart arrhythmia. I don't worry about dying over my arrhythmia's, but for some strange reason, I worry about cancer - like what killed both of my parents - it scares the daylights out of me.
Have you thought about getting some help either through talking to someone or anti anxiety med/mood stabilizer etc if you need to?
I was watching an episode of A Gifted Man and my husband and I LOL when he suggested the patient take Propanolol to help her "forget" about her anxiety over her friend getting killed. I had never heard of it used like that but I have for other things like anxiety performance etc
I've been on Inderal since 2009 and switched this year to the time released form which works well with the break throughs but others may do well on other bb's we each have to find what works for us... I've been on Lamictal for a couple of months now and find my anxiety and stress levels have finally evened out a bit and my moods are a bit more stable.
I will tell you this - we're each our own best enemies...meaning sometimes we do these things to ourselves by letting our bodies control our miinds - no matter what the health problem is...goodness knows I've been there and done it; until you take control and do something you'll keep getting worsening symtpoms.
will it or will it not turn into a fatal arrhythmia? personally I can't say because I'm not God, but I can tell you this - statistically you're more apt to get ran over by a car or die of heart disease rather than die of a fatal heart arrhythmia. I don't worry about dying over my arrhythmia's, but for some strange reason, I worry about cancer - like what killed both of my parents - it scares the daylights out of me.
hi Rita, i live my life worrying that my very frequent pvcs and/or very frequent bigeminy will turn into a deadly arrythmia like v-tach/v-vib. i just seem to always be waiting for it to occur. I had an echo 3yrs ago and it was fine, i get another one within the month, maby i should be getting them more often. My holter in sept . showed 11000 pvc, and 5000 in bigeminy cycles (my holter 4rys ago only showed 1400 and no bigeminy) Why such a difference. My blood pressure is fine and so is my cholestrol. Blood work is fine, so no reason can be found. I am very concerned on their increase and it has taken over my life. I go into bigeminy for a while and think oh should i go to the er now, i just dont know what would be a signal for me to get my butt to the ER . I have gone to the ER before and been told your fine, alot of pvcs, no worries. One doc found me in bigeminy and said no worries only if you are passing out -seems extreme to wait to go to the ER.
Sorry to answer you again. I know you requested an answer from Cindy or Lisa. They are great girls who know much about arrhythmias. This time I will try my best to give you a good answer. I hope you will read it.
I would guess that you will be told you have PACs and PVCs. From what I know, pure anxiety can be more of a trigger for PACs than PVCs, but it doesn't really matter. Most of us have both. Holter tests may often misinterpret PACs as PVCs, because PACs that fall early in the heart beat cycle tend to be "wide complexed" on EKG (so-called Ashman beats). But again, it doesn't really matter. Your heart is carefully examined without any pathological findings, so both PACs and PVCs are completely benign.
You ask about three scary arrhythmias in your posts. I can explain them, one by one. I hope this will put your mind at ease.
Atrial fibrillation (A-fib): This non-lethal (except if you have permanent A-fib (for years) that aren't treated with medications) arrhythmia is often seen in people 50+ with a history of high blood pressure or structural heart disease. Some top athletes may develop A-fib, especially when they stop exercising, because all the exercise enlarges the left atrium and thickens the heart walls. You've probably read that PACs can cause A-fib. This is, to a certain degree correct, but you need structural changes to upkeep the arrhythmia. You can't make fire with a spark only, you also need wood. The PAC is the spark here.
In rare cases, people can get "idiopathic a-fib" but that usually resolves in seconds.
Ventricular fibrillation (V-fib): Cardiac arrest. Happens only in the following cases:
a) Severe heart damage where the pumping function is so reduced that the heart isn't able to maintain blood supply at rest.
b) Drug overdoses (such as coke overdoses. happened to a friend of mine three months ago).
c) Severe electrolyte imbalances. Happens with severe immobilization (people aren't able to eat), severe kidney disease or people trying to kill themselves.
d) Tachyarrhythmias that are so rapid that the heart don't get blood (sustained heart rate of 300 BPM or so)
e) Congenital heart diseases that involve errors in cell function (such as LQTS. don't worry you've ruled this out). Polymorphic VT can degrade to V-fib in such cases, se d)
In hearts described in a), a certain type of PVCs can onset VT or V-fib. Such PVCs rarely occur in healthy hearts, and if they do, they won't cause any disaster.
As you can see, you can forget this.
Ventricular tachycardia (VT): Along with PVCs, this must be one of the most frustrating things for us "cardiac neurotics". VT almost never occur if your heart is healthy (I'm not including PVC triplets or so here, because they are benign in healthy hearts, and quite rare too, small runs are almost always atrial tachycardia). Anyway, what you read about VT apply to heartsick individuals. Why? Because few doctors care to do research on healthy people! In people with reduced left ventricle function, VT can severely compromise the blood flow, and the consequence may be a) listed above.
I hope this was somewhat reassuring to you.
I would guess that you will be told you have PACs and PVCs. From what I know, pure anxiety can be more of a trigger for PACs than PVCs, but it doesn't really matter. Most of us have both. Holter tests may often misinterpret PACs as PVCs, because PACs that fall early in the heart beat cycle tend to be "wide complexed" on EKG (so-called Ashman beats). But again, it doesn't really matter. Your heart is carefully examined without any pathological findings, so both PACs and PVCs are completely benign.
You ask about three scary arrhythmias in your posts. I can explain them, one by one. I hope this will put your mind at ease.
Atrial fibrillation (A-fib): This non-lethal (except if you have permanent A-fib (for years) that aren't treated with medications) arrhythmia is often seen in people 50+ with a history of high blood pressure or structural heart disease. Some top athletes may develop A-fib, especially when they stop exercising, because all the exercise enlarges the left atrium and thickens the heart walls. You've probably read that PACs can cause A-fib. This is, to a certain degree correct, but you need structural changes to upkeep the arrhythmia. You can't make fire with a spark only, you also need wood. The PAC is the spark here.
In rare cases, people can get "idiopathic a-fib" but that usually resolves in seconds.
Ventricular fibrillation (V-fib): Cardiac arrest. Happens only in the following cases:
a) Severe heart damage where the pumping function is so reduced that the heart isn't able to maintain blood supply at rest.
b) Drug overdoses (such as coke overdoses. happened to a friend of mine three months ago).
c) Severe electrolyte imbalances. Happens with severe immobilization (people aren't able to eat), severe kidney disease or people trying to kill themselves.
d) Tachyarrhythmias that are so rapid that the heart don't get blood (sustained heart rate of 300 BPM or so)
e) Congenital heart diseases that involve errors in cell function (such as LQTS. don't worry you've ruled this out). Polymorphic VT can degrade to V-fib in such cases, se d)
In hearts described in a), a certain type of PVCs can onset VT or V-fib. Such PVCs rarely occur in healthy hearts, and if they do, they won't cause any disaster.
As you can see, you can forget this.
Ventricular tachycardia (VT): Along with PVCs, this must be one of the most frustrating things for us "cardiac neurotics". VT almost never occur if your heart is healthy (I'm not including PVC triplets or so here, because they are benign in healthy hearts, and quite rare too, small runs are almost always atrial tachycardia). Anyway, what you read about VT apply to heartsick individuals. Why? Because few doctors care to do research on healthy people! In people with reduced left ventricle function, VT can severely compromise the blood flow, and the consequence may be a) listed above.
I hope this was somewhat reassuring to you.
I am sure you are fine. Most everyone here gets them, some people get thousands daily. I have had bigeminy (every other beat is a PVC) for about 9 weeks once! I have had them since I was about 19 and am now 53. I am a nurse and work very hard on middle shift......and I'm still alive. Sometimes I get them while exercising, sometimes relaxing. I can drink 0 cups of coffee or 5 and there is no difference for me. Sometimes they make me want to jump off of a bridge, sometimes they feel like an old friend. It's crazy.
Most likely you are going to hear that you are having PVCs (they're not really skipped beats, but extra beats), and that you can go on some medication, but beware; first line meds don't really control them at all. In fact, the meds that control them for some have nasty side effects. You CAN learn to live with them. Most of us had no choice.
And, no, they won't turn into a fatal arrhythmia...at least that is what I've been told for 30+ years!!!! Welcome. When you're feeling bad, read this forum.
Most likely you are going to hear that you are having PVCs (they're not really skipped beats, but extra beats), and that you can go on some medication, but beware; first line meds don't really control them at all. In fact, the meds that control them for some have nasty side effects. You CAN learn to live with them. Most of us had no choice.
And, no, they won't turn into a fatal arrhythmia...at least that is what I've been told for 30+ years!!!! Welcome. When you're feeling bad, read this forum.
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