GP thinks it might be AFib, now I'm confused
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Hello, new here. I'm a 48YO overweight female. I have suffered from cyclical ectopic beats for the past 18-20 years. They can come out of nowhere and last for weeks or months and then disappear just as quickly and can be gone for 6-12 months before returning. My doctor years ago told me that this was a benign condition, avoid triggers that will set you off and ignore them unless having accompanying symptoms. Prior to the flare up I developed 3 weeks ago, my flare-ups would usually consist of 5-15 ectopic beats in an hour and last for 1-4 weeks.
We are currently under the most stress we've ever experienced in our married life. We are in the process of a move across country. My husband got a job offer and they graciously agreed to wait 6 months for us to renovate our house so that we could sell easily and get top dollar. So for the past 6 months we have worked 40 hour-week jobs, followed by every evening and all day every weekend renovating. We have lived on take-out during this time and nutrition has been abysmal. I also developed a severe case of acid reflux (due to all the junk food) that lasted over 2 months and lived round the clock on tums and pepsid. At the same time, we are building a house in our new state and making all arrangements long distance. My husband just transferred this week and has left me behind to sell and pack the house... AKA, HIGH STRESS for an extended period of time.
So it was no surprise 3 weeks ago when a new cycle of PVCs/PACs started up. These were the worst I've ever experienced with upwards of 6-8 per minute. Some days they would ease and I'd only have 15-25 in a day, other days were well over a 100 an hour. I immediately cut all caffeine, wheat, sugar and went back to a heart-healthy diet. I also started back up on a cocktail of supplements that have helped in the past (Magnesium, Potassium, COQ10, B-Complex, Taurine, Zinc). Not surprisingly, the reflux stopped immediately upon the healthy changes. I also started walking 30 mins a day before work (not that I really had the time to add more to my schedule). Also, I might add that I have a panic disorder, so I lean towards a lot of anxiety regardless. I am also on 40mg Benicar and 5mg of Amlodipine a day for high BP that is controlled with the meds.
Over the last 2 weeks, I have noticed that twice during this current cycle that I'm in that my heart did what I would call the jitter-bug and then raced at what I can only describe as a normal, but very shallow and fast rhythm. By jitterbug, I would say instead of Lub-Dub, Lub-Dub, Lub-Dub, it felt more like Dip-Dop-Dippity-Dippity-Dip-Dop for about 5 seconds (like it couldn't find a regular rhythm, then raced at about 150 beats a minute. This racing was not erratic, it was definitely rhythmic, just fast and to me it felt shallow (like maybe my heart was only contracting half as hard as it usually does). The first time I was able to stop it by holding my breath and bearing down. The second time I ignored it to see what would happen and it lasted about 4 minutes then I felt it release and go back to normal. Both times it happened I had been walking around a store at a fast pace for about 10 minutes prior. I have only ever experienced this same scenario once before about 6 months ago while putting on make-up before work, that time it lasted about a minute and stopped with a couple of hard coughs. At that time, I was NOT in a PVC/PAC cycle and that hit me out of the clear blue. However, the dip-dop-dippity-dop flip flop in my heart I have felt probably 3 or 4 times a year for decades now and it was never followed by any racing before now.
Of course, wouldn't you know, all my symptoms magically stopped last night (the night before my dr appt), so we decided to hold off on the holtor monitor for now due to having worn one 4 times prior during the past 15 years that has never once caught an episode of any kind of cardiac arrhythmic episode. If my cycle has ended, it will come back normal. I promised to come in and get hooked up if it starts back up. My EKG done in office was completely normal and my heart and lungs sounded good. I'm going for blood work up tomorrow morning.
My GP feels that I have been experiencing periods of AFib. Being on PVC/PAC forums in the past, many people have described having SupraVentrical Tachycardia (SVT) runs after PACs and have often said that if your runs feel like a regular rhythm, not erratic it's probably not AFib, it's probably SVT. I thought I would try over hear and see what I'm describing sounds like AFib to those of you who suffer from it. I doubt an event monitor will catch anything if my flare up have stopped for now since I have experienced these weird burst so infrequently over the years and they last for such a short time. I am going to make an appointment with a cardiologist for follow up regardless, but I just want some "insider" input in the meantime. Thanks so much in advance!
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diana95576 lori080869
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lori080869 diana95576
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Thank you for the feedback! That's why I posted here. I have no idea what Afib would feel like, but on the PVC/PAC forums, what I experienced sounds very much like what others describe when they get SVT. I'm so curious to see if others experience what I have and if it sounds like Afib or not. I was actually shocked when my PCP told me it sounded like AFib. I was certain he would tell me it's SVT accompanying the benign ectopics and continue to ignore it. Hopefully, that's what the cardiologist will tell me.
diana95576 lori080869
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lori080869 diana95576
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jx41870 lori080869
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Hi Lori, I'm a 60-something white male and have had one or another variety of arrhythmias for over five years now, none diagnosed down to a specific version because like so many others here I have an EKG or wear a monitor and nothing conclusive is seen. However, I did track my arrhythmia to my use of amlodipine, in combination with Benicar (now olmesartan) and triamterene (combo diuretic). When I stopped the amlodipine my arrhythmias were reduced by 80-90%, a little improvement within a day or so and then it just tapered off over about three months. Of course then a month or three later it's coming back, but still better than before. I'm also on a tiny dose of atenolol.
?Stopping the amlodipine had no effect on my BP. At this point I think 90% of my BP
?control is the diuretic, now just HCTZ, and even the olmesartan is just for good luck. The atenolol is for a touch of tachycardia, it may also help the BP directly but that's not clear.
?I'm afraid that since this started I've cut my aerobic exercise down to some brisk walking, when I was pretty active before. I'm pretty sure that if I tried to train back up for even a modest 10k I'd just fall over. Doctor doesn't think so, but unless and until I have a precise diagnosis I'm going to go with what seems common sense.
lori080869 jx41870
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I know how you feel. ANY stress of ANY kind will get my PVCs going instantly right now. So, I've even stopped walking at the moment. I think I'm over adrenalized. Last night I had to work an event. I really did NOTHING strenuous (mostly sat at a desk and registered people and handled any issues that arose). But the end of the night by PVCs were back up to one a minute. Took 2 Xanax, went to bed and now today they are back to only occasional. I want to walk, but the idea of it ramping up my heart arrhythmias makes me think twice.
lori080869
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Well all, I still don't have an appt with the cardiologist yet. The office is supposed to call me with one. I did get my blood work today and it all came back great. My TSH (Thyroid) Level came back at .56 (normal is .46-4.6). That is getting a bit close to hyperthyroid, so that makes me wonder if it could be having any effect on my heart, but dr. says normal. My cholesterol came back stellar @ 135. HDL 52, LDL 70, TRI 64, CHD Risk 2.6 (optimal is less than 3.5) and my NON-HDL was 83. Dr called it extremely well controlled (I'm not on any statins or cholesterol drugs either...just the BP meds and Xanax as needed). My calcium was 9.1, Chloride 103, Potassium 4.1, sodium 138. Everything looks great! Now if I only knew why I'm having these stupid heart palps. I will say I was surprised my Potassium was only 4.1 (yes that's an optimal number). But considering the last 2 weeks I have been supplementing with 400mg a day AND eating lots of bananas, spinach, coconut water, tuna, etc., trying to increase my potassium in hopes of stopping the skips. Maybe I was low to start?
I haven't had any more of the possible AFib attacks other than Saturday night. I did something stupid. I ate dinner (which will often set off palps on its own, but it was only a chef's salad so I didn't think much of it) and then decided I would immediately go relax in a nice hot bath. I did add epsom salts (1/2 cup to a large soaker tub) and some essential oils and I will say the water was extremely hot. I was only 8 minutes into my soak when I noticed my heart slowed down for 3 beats then sped up for about 5 then slowed down for 3 then sped up for 5. Then it was normal but it skipped a bunch over the coarse of a minute (not simultaneously), then it sped up into that shallow, rapid beat. I don't think it was faster than 125bpm because it didn't seem all that fast. I blew into my thumb and it stopped instantly. Of course, I got right out of the bath tub since I was now freaked out. I'm just sick of this whole thing and wish I knew exactly what it is and what's causing it.
jx41870 lori080869
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