Long Term PVC and PAV Sufferer
Posted , 5 users are following.
Hello everyone!
My apologies on the title: It should read "Long Term PVC and PVC Sufferer.."
I have been reading many of your posts and I am so sorry for what you are experiencing. Let me share please my story and I hope that it helps and we can all heal each other with reassurances. I have never joined an online support group before so I am also hoping you great folks can help me.
I am now 54 and in good health. Blood pressure not too high (runs in the family), vegetarian, and I try to exercise on a regular basis. Pulse is usually around 65 and cholesterol/trigs all normal. I am bordering type 2 diabetic (runs in the family) with no complications or meds. I do take two BP meds and a drug called Hydroxizine (10mg) almost daily in the evening to help me sleep and deal with allergies. I also have mild sleep apnea. I have been formally diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). I have never smoked but I do enjoy a fine red wine or a local craft beer. In the past two weeks, I have eliminated those as well and focusing more on a low carb, more heart healthy diet. I also deal with IBS and Gerd.
I had my first and very severe panic attack in a movie theater (Matrix 2!) during May of 2003, just weeks after I was married to the woman of my dreams. I thought I was having a heart attack. My wife and I rushed to the ER and everything was fine. I even had one in the ER and the doctor said everything was good. Just a panic attack. I had another one following day and ran back into the ER...again all was good.
I spent that summer dealing with panic attacks and many doctor, ER, and urgent care visits. A complete cardio workup was done: CT scan, Echo with stress test, EKG, blood work, etc. All 100% normal. During the autumn of 2003 the PVCs and PACs started. This lead to a nightmare three years for me and my new bride. I got the palps all the time and I was put on a holter monitor several times. Again, results were just PVCs and PACs, normal heart rhythm, and structurally my heart was fine. The panic returned and I fought with chest pain, many types of medications, shopping for a new doctor, etc. All the panic and anxiety meds did not work except for make me tired or deal with awful side effects.
The panic and PVC/PACs got so bad that I had to take a five week leave of absence from work during 2006. My work life and personal life really suffered and the toll it took on my amazing wife was awful. I felt so bad for what I had put her through, but like the hero that she is, she persevered through all of it and stuck by my side. I did find a therapist that told me to eliminate all of the intense meds and simply keep take a drug called Klonopin when I needed it night to rest. That drug did wonders. It did not eliminate panic or the palpitations, but it was something I could turn to take the edge off.
Over the next few years, I continued to better manage my panic and palpitations. I switched jobs to something more rewarding and MUCH less stressful. In turn, the panic and palps receded but reared their ugly heads now and then. A few more ER trips, doctor visits and plenty of reassurances that all is well.
Since the pandemic has started, my anxiety, newly diagnosed depression, palpitations have all taken a new level of trouble. I am having more palps than ever. In the fall of 2019, I had another stress echo done and all was normal. I have had two holter monitors, one in 2020 and one about a month ago. The PAC/PVC burden was 1.7% in 2020 and 1.0 percent last month. This year I have gone to the ER at least three times with palpitations, chest pain, etc. All results are normal and sadly, the ER docs/nurses, are simply overwhelmed with the unvaccinated pandemic patients and are naturally very stressed. I do not feel that I am getting the same treatment as before, but I don't blame the doctors and nurses. What they are enduring now is beyond any measure of sanity. My deepest appreciation to the front liners.
In the past two weeks, my palps have increased. I feel like I am having 4-5 every minute. My heart rate is still around 55-65 and my cardio and primary docs have told me that everything is fine. All the most recent EKGs and bloodwork including electrolytes, came back perfect. Even as I type this, I can feel the palps firing away 3-4 times each minute and they set off my anxiety. Pretty pathetic huh?
I have tried to explain to everyone that I am doing everything I can to reduce stress. I am using the CALM app ( which is great!), breathing exercises, improved diet, etc. But each time I get a "boomer" (which is a really impactful palpitation), my anxiety and fear takes off. My primary and my cardio feel that I am stuck in a loop where the anxiety and fear are exacerbating my PVCs and PACs.
I have tried beta blockers (Metropolol) and that had zero impact except for lowering my heart rate even further. Cardio told to stop taking it.
My questions to you fine people?
- Do you experience more palps in the morning when you first get up? I have noticed in the past month that when I get up, my heart seems to have more palps. I get up, make breakfast, enjoy my fully decaf coffee, fruit,non-dairy milk and while doing all this, I can simply feel a great increase in palps. As soon as I go back to my desk ( I work from home, thank GOD!), the palps tend to reduce quite a bit.
- Last week when my wife and I went for a walk in a forest preserve, I kept feeling these palps as we ambled along the paths and inclines of the park. Doesn't this seem odd?
- When I go for a jog or a fast walk (jog about 2-3 miles or walk about 4-5 miles) the palps simply disappear and then, an hour after exercise, they are back and get really bad right before bed.
- I do have a visit with an electrocardio physician next week, but my cardio doc wants to cancel it because my holter monitor results from last month showed nothing. I have pleaded with him not to cancel it as my palps have become much worse in the past week.
- During my career with palps, I have never fainted or had actual heart pain. All the chest pain was simply muscle tightness from anxiety and stress.
- I am slowly finding any food that my trigger palps and eliminate them from my diet if I am able to.
- Do you know if GERD and/or IBS can trigger palps?
I am very thankful for your time in reading my post and I am open to listen to your positive thoughts and recommendations.
0 likes, 4 replies
tony52050 RR1967
Posted
Hi
There are two related problems, the first being how can you prevent episodes in the first place and once they start, how do you stop them?
You are obviously aware of diet, getting enough fluids, decaff etc . Has anything else changed in your lifestyle? I am a life long vegetarian but have you adopted a mainly vegan diet? A change in relationships? Work Problems? House move? Put on weight? Used new cleaning products? All these things can impact at the margins, if not be a major factor by themselves.
Anxiety is well known as a driver and the more people worry (like getting an Apple Watch) the more they are likely to worry, making things worse.
As for cures or reliefs, they are many and varied, but dealing with the vagus nerve is likely to be key to gaining relief. Can I suggest you put "Tonal stimulation of the vagus nerve" into a search engine. This site doesn't tend to like links
Amongst the searches, I found a good one for a site called diets v diseases but there are many more.
Amongst other ways they cite to calm down the episodes are;
Cold Exposure. Exposing yourself to cold temperatures can activate the vagus nerve and also lower your...
Breathing Exercises. Deep and slow breathing has been shown to stimulate the vagus nerve, improve HRV and induce a...
Yoga, Tai Chi and Qi Gong. Yoga has also been shown to stimulate the vagus nerve, and may be more effective than...
Singing, Chanting, Humming and Gargling. As mentioned earlier, the vagus nerve works with the muscles at the back of..
So hope you can find that one as I found the bits about the tonal stimulation to be good (humming is useful) other ways include burping as you have no doubt found. I have never felt the need to try yoga but it may be worth trying if you have become especially anxious.
One other tip, if you are British you should be able to get Hold Of Epsom Salts easily, which contain magnesium. Tipped into a bath they help you relax.
Hope all this helps. Doctors on the whole tend to dismiss the effects of episodes and once they have reassured themselves that it is not going to result in a heart attack then they seem to lose interest.
tony52050 RR1967
Posted
I meant to add that non dairy milk brings its own problems;
Almond milk should be drunk unsweetened as the sugar can kick things off. It is also low in calcium.
Coconut milk is more complex; This from the web;
"Coconut water is high in potassium and if your potassium is too high it could cause palpitations.
Everything works differently for everyone. I could see how coconut milk could reduce palpitations if there caused by low magnesium and potassium."
So coconut milk could either be very good for you or very bad for you depending on what minerals your body is getting.
I don't know what sort of non dairy milk you drink but they all have consequences
ian21258 RR1967
Edited
Hi; I'm a 49 year old male and I too suffer with PVC's and have done for the last 3 years; mine kind of go against the grain in that they are triggered mostly when I'm up and moving about. As soon as I sit or lay down then they almost disappear. Like you I have had all the tests (echo, holter, CT Scan, MRI, Stress Test) and every time they come back with a structurally healthy heart. I have tried changing diets; eliminating certain foods; taking extra vitamins; even Beta blockers but Bisoprolol has not helped me either as my resting heart rate sits around 57bpm and the drug made me feel very sluggish. My Cardiologist suggested I look at purchasing the Kardia 6 lead portable EKG monitor. This is something I am yet to do as I don't think continually monitoring your heart is healthy for your mind-set. My burden is around 2% a day and I feel everyone; generally it's the pause then thud that I get and it can be felt from the middle of the chest to the upper abdomen. With the real big thuds I get a sinking feeling and rush to the head. Again like you I suffer with no pain or blackouts; however it's the anxiety I think that gets us. With myself; my PVC's are movement induced and I can have days where I just want to stay in bed or on the sofa just to avoid the feeling of the PVC's. Anyway the point I'm trying to make here is once we are told our hearts are structurally strong and normal and we are reassured that we are not going to have a cardiac arrest episode, then (as easy as it sounds) we need to address our anxiety and learn to live side by side with these ectopics. I am now learning to live with my heart hiccups as I call them and when they come on I continue with what I'm doing. Having supportive friends and family is also a benefit; perhaps even join some facebook support groups; I used these in the beginning as they can be of great comfort and support to you. We are in this together and I truly hope you learn to live side by side this condition or even better that the PVC's eventually disappear for good; would'nt that be a blessing to us all !!
Hammer6969 RR1967
Posted
I know this is an old message but wanted to chime in. I won't bore you with specifics but lets just say the impact these PVCs in my life has given me severe panic attacks, social anxiety disorder, opioid,alcohol and gambling addiction. I used all of those things to escape to terror of constantly thinking my heart was going to stop. I'm actually a Paramedic so you'd think I could rationalize these things. The part that has bugged me since this all began was doctors thinking the anxiety is causing the palpitations. I could be having a great relaxing day and then out of the blue my heart starts flip flopping starting the cycle of panic. If PVCs left for good then I'd be off all these meds and resume a "normal" life. The struggle is real buddy and nobody would ever understand what we go through on daily bases. Hope all is well.