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Question about risk of developing sudden death
I have been reading these posts for years and a lot of wonderfulp people on this site have 100's if not thousands of PVCS/PACS per day and somehow manage. MY hats off to all of you! My question is this: How does one KNOW that their PVC/PACS exisiting in a structurally normal heart with no past heart failure will not go into to a run of PVC/PACS leading to V Tach or some other deadly arrythmia. The fear of this happening has left me almost unable to travel because im worried that my bnign skips will suddenly change face and all come together. I have to go out of town this weekend and am thinkingof cancelling. Any information would be so helpful.
Thanks-
Carey
Thanks-
Carey
Hi,
You need to try and relax. The more you fret, the more PVCs you will get. As I said, I had some 600 and more PVCs per day for more than a year, the Doctor was unconcerned. Some people on this forum have had more than 10,000 PVCs per day without any serious problems.
If you are concerned, ask for a Loop Event Monitor to be worn for a month. You can remove it to shower and then put it back on when you are done. Anytime you have a problem, you press the button and the event is recorded. You call the event in to a Technical Center, and they can instantly see what you had. I was sure that I was going to die at any second by a fast arrhythmia I was having. The Event Monitor revealed it to be PSVT, and the Technical Center sounded almost bored when I phoned the results in, "Oh, you had a little PSVT" they would say. This kind of stuff, PSVT, is routine, the Doctors Offices see it day in and day out. Just because we perceive it as dangerous doesn't mean that it is dangerous.
Why do you continue to worry about a life threatening arrhythmia? Most Doctors are not that cavalier about their diagnosis, they don't send you out of the office while crossing their fingers behind their backs saying "I hope she doesn't die tonight". If they feel there is a problem, they address it. If they feel that there is no problem, they don't spend too much time worrying about it. After a few calls to my Cardiologist about various symptoms that I had, I was crestfallen when he said that he has "Patients with serious problems to take care of". In effect, he was saying that I was being a pain about my concerns. I have been going to Doctors since I was 15 years old for my arrhythmia, which comes and goes, but as I get older, it comes more often than it goes anymore. Yet my Doctors have always told me that my condition was benign, not to worry about it. I am 50 years old and still going, they must have been right, despite my concerns.
If you haven't seen a Doctor recently, do so. If you have and you are not convinced by his/her diagnosis, get a second opinion.
Be well.
You need to try and relax. The more you fret, the more PVCs you will get. As I said, I had some 600 and more PVCs per day for more than a year, the Doctor was unconcerned. Some people on this forum have had more than 10,000 PVCs per day without any serious problems.
If you are concerned, ask for a Loop Event Monitor to be worn for a month. You can remove it to shower and then put it back on when you are done. Anytime you have a problem, you press the button and the event is recorded. You call the event in to a Technical Center, and they can instantly see what you had. I was sure that I was going to die at any second by a fast arrhythmia I was having. The Event Monitor revealed it to be PSVT, and the Technical Center sounded almost bored when I phoned the results in, "Oh, you had a little PSVT" they would say. This kind of stuff, PSVT, is routine, the Doctors Offices see it day in and day out. Just because we perceive it as dangerous doesn't mean that it is dangerous.
Why do you continue to worry about a life threatening arrhythmia? Most Doctors are not that cavalier about their diagnosis, they don't send you out of the office while crossing their fingers behind their backs saying "I hope she doesn't die tonight". If they feel there is a problem, they address it. If they feel that there is no problem, they don't spend too much time worrying about it. After a few calls to my Cardiologist about various symptoms that I had, I was crestfallen when he said that he has "Patients with serious problems to take care of". In effect, he was saying that I was being a pain about my concerns. I have been going to Doctors since I was 15 years old for my arrhythmia, which comes and goes, but as I get older, it comes more often than it goes anymore. Yet my Doctors have always told me that my condition was benign, not to worry about it. I am 50 years old and still going, they must have been right, despite my concerns.
If you haven't seen a Doctor recently, do so. If you have and you are not convinced by his/her diagnosis, get a second opinion.
Be well.
how many do you get in a row? I very frequently now get couplets and triplets, followed by one or two or three regular beats, then another couplet or triplet and on and on it goes. I am so happy if get more than 5 regular beats, it makes me think I'm going to get more, but it never lasts.
I guess every time my rhythm changes it causes me to question the whole benign explanation. I wonder, probably like everyone else does at some point or another...is this the time it's going to lead to something more sinister? I've been told NO. It doesn't matter the number of pvcs (my last holter recorded 24,000/day) it doesn't matter the pattern, bigeminy, trigeminy, couplets, triplets, nsvt (non-sustained ventricular tachycardia, a string of pvcs without a normal beat, but lasting less than 30 seconds). . I've gotten as many as 62 pvcs in a row, but because my heart rate is below 100, they still don't think much of it (of course it's not happening to them lol). Makes me think I'm chasing butterflies sometimes when I ask if my pvcs are harmful, like its a past time that is frivolous.
I hope you've gotten some relief both from the pvcs and with the responses you've received so far. If you feel yours are extra bothersome, has your doctor suggested anything like a beta-blocker? BBs have helped some people. I personally haven't found much relief in reducing the number, but I think they can reduce the sensation which is just as good for some people.
I guess every time my rhythm changes it causes me to question the whole benign explanation. I wonder, probably like everyone else does at some point or another...is this the time it's going to lead to something more sinister? I've been told NO. It doesn't matter the number of pvcs (my last holter recorded 24,000/day) it doesn't matter the pattern, bigeminy, trigeminy, couplets, triplets, nsvt (non-sustained ventricular tachycardia, a string of pvcs without a normal beat, but lasting less than 30 seconds). . I've gotten as many as 62 pvcs in a row, but because my heart rate is below 100, they still don't think much of it (of course it's not happening to them lol). Makes me think I'm chasing butterflies sometimes when I ask if my pvcs are harmful, like its a past time that is frivolous.
I hope you've gotten some relief both from the pvcs and with the responses you've received so far. If you feel yours are extra bothersome, has your doctor suggested anything like a beta-blocker? BBs have helped some people. I personally haven't found much relief in reducing the number, but I think they can reduce the sensation which is just as good for some people.
I agree with everyones kind words -- does anyone know if you have to have extra pathways or some other irregular structure to your heart to develop a life threatening arrythmia??? I was jsutstarting to feel like -OK deal with it -- and tonight I was excercising and WHAM they hit in a row again. Mine actually feel like a squeezing pain for a brief second at times. I just want to know when I get them to breather through and they will eventually go away!
Oh, too, some people have asked if I have had the full round of tests -- the answer is yes. DX benign PVC/PAC.
Oh, too, some people have asked if I have had the full round of tests -- the answer is yes. DX benign PVC/PAC.
It is why we visit, to get the support and understanding of people who know what it is like to have our hearts flip-flopping around.
I've said it before: no one but yourself sees the lights being switched on and off (pvcs) in that structurally normal house you live in (heart), so they don't know what you experience from minute to minute, or hour to hour, or day to day, but many of us here do.
Live your life to the best of your capability otherwise the arrythmia has already taken it from you. I've just spent two hours (two hours I'll never get back) researching the archives of internal medicine because someone on the heart disease forum suggested something about higher risk with pvcs. But I didn't find anything that changed my mind about pvcs being benign. So you need to put everything into perspective. As mentioned in earlier replies, the risk of so many other things is higher. I just had minor surgery with general anesthesia, I was more scared about that than the pvcs that day.
I've said it before: no one but yourself sees the lights being switched on and off (pvcs) in that structurally normal house you live in (heart), so they don't know what you experience from minute to minute, or hour to hour, or day to day, but many of us here do.
Live your life to the best of your capability otherwise the arrythmia has already taken it from you. I've just spent two hours (two hours I'll never get back) researching the archives of internal medicine because someone on the heart disease forum suggested something about higher risk with pvcs. But I didn't find anything that changed my mind about pvcs being benign. So you need to put everything into perspective. As mentioned in earlier replies, the risk of so many other things is higher. I just had minor surgery with general anesthesia, I was more scared about that than the pvcs that day.
We know it gets to you. It gets to all of us too. That's why we come here...to get the support and the kind words of understanding that many of us are hard pressed to find elsewhere. We all understand how you feel at times, and, while it's easy to say, "live life NOW because we all live with the unknown about 10 minutes from now," it can be hard to do when your heart is flipping out.
Our heart delivers our life blood...literally. And when it's not acting "normally" we fret. It's natural, it's expected. But when it gets to be too much to handle, and you feel yourself heading face first into a full blown panic attack because of a fear of death due to (PVC's/PAC's/SVT or whatever you fill in this blank with) come here and get some supporting words. There's security in numbers.
Feel better.
Our heart delivers our life blood...literally. And when it's not acting "normally" we fret. It's natural, it's expected. But when it gets to be too much to handle, and you feel yourself heading face first into a full blown panic attack because of a fear of death due to (PVC's/PAC's/SVT or whatever you fill in this blank with) come here and get some supporting words. There's security in numbers.
Feel better.
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