Skipped Heartbeats - 3 in a row

[skipolot]

I have mitral valve prolapse with mild regurgitation. My echo last year they say was normal. They say not to worry about my skips but what about when they come like beat pause beat beat pause. Is that not dangerous? They say structually other than the MVP I have a normal heart, with normal function. Lately I dont know if it is anxiety but in my sleep I wake up abruptly like a surge of adrenaline has run through my body and my heart races. I have been stressed and anxious lately but the skips come many in a row when I am picking up lots of groceries or bending down to pick up something. I was prescribed 25 mg of Atenolol that i take as needed. Havent taken it in about a year but took one yesterday and it helped. I read that runs of 3 or more is V-tach. I know my heart speeds up but not extremely bad after the skips. How can I treat this and what can I do to get this under control. Could I have had a change in my heart function in just a year and a half? My last episode of daily skips and flips was August 2011. I had an EKG in Jan. 2012 that the cardio said was fine. Since about Nov. 2011 until now I have been fine. PLEASE HELP.

[skipolot]

thanks that makes me feel better

[is_something_wrong]

Again thats how normal premature beats feel.. as long as you feel the thumps it is not runs..

[skipolot]

I mean beat pause beat beat pause like that

[skipolot]

What concerns me though is this....."Ventricular tachycardia is a pulse rate of more than 100 beats per minute, with at least 3 irregular heartbeats in a row" That is what is says on the internet. Is this not what I had. I mean dont think my heart rate was really fast but it was a beat skip beat beat skip beat skip. Like I could feel the pause and then the thud when the heartbeat picked back up

[is_something_wrong]

That's just PVCs or PACs. Not Vtach.

[skipolot]

what is was like was beat pause beat beat pause beat

[is_something_wrong]

What you describe is NOT a run of PVCs. As long as you can "feel" normal heart beats in between, it's not a run. A run of 3 PVCs would probably just be sensed as a longer pause, like your heart skips two beats (as you usually do not feel the PVCs, though you sometimes can, they would be felt as three weak, rapid beats after each other. But runs of 3 beats are usually more likely to be PACs than PVCs)

By the way, do you know for sure that your skips are PVCs and not PACs? Many people think every premature beat is a PVC, which is not true.

[MichelleP_3811]

The adrenaline surge and racing heart could actually be some other form of svt other than a run of ectopics.  How long does the racing last and do you know how fast your heart is beating.  I would get runs of svt from having avnrt that sometimes only lasted a minute or so but other times would last hours.  This is different than the sinus tachycardia that I feel when I get too may ectopics close together.  Does your racing heart in the middle of the night feel different or faster than what you feel when you have a bunch of ectopics?  In the absence of symptoms like shortness of breath or passing out whatever is going on is likely not of any real concern.  That said, if you do have classic svt on top of your ectopics the svt can actually be treated and possibly cured but you would need to get it diagnosed.  If you truly believe this is different than a simple fast beat, my tachycardia would go up to 230bpm.  If you are experiencing any sort of super fast rate then go back to your cardiologist and ask for an event monitor to try and catch what is going on.  This will be the best way to get a clear picture of what is going on but in general, a short run of vtach, meaning less than 30 seconds, is not considered dangerous in an otherwise healthy heart.  Well I hope you can get to the bottom of this and/or things settle down for you.  Sometimes these symptoms leave as quickly as the came.  Take care and keep us posted on how you are doing.