Significant , daily PVC Increase! WHY?
Posted , 4 users are following.
Hello all,
I am a 43-year-old female who has had PVC (mostly) & very few PAC for about 5.5 years now. I was first diagnosed around the time when someone nearest and dearest to my heart passed away from a horrible, non-curable disease. There has been a lot deaths around me (doesn't matter if it's humans or animal companions). I used to have very few PVCs every once in a bluemoon for years and years. I just took on a new, stress job a few weeks ago and am still in hardcore training (I am in the US). Besides having a couple of jobs (I am in healthcare -- in the field of Cardiology as a matter of fact), I am also a continuing student. Clearly there has been a lot of external stressors in my life. However, for these past 5-7 days, my PVC has been increasing significantly, everyday, like maybe 500 a day if I count them. They are more noticeable when I am lying down and sitting down. When I am walking around, standing up, etc., I don't have them. At least I can't feel them. I have been trying to consume potassium-rich diet, taking Magnesium (Taurate and Glycinate), Taurine, CoQ10, watching my diet (too low or too high of sugar and sodium is bad for me), and I am always on my feet walking around when I work (in hospital). I even caved in by taking 12.5 mg (i know it is tiny dosage) of prescribed Atenolol. Some of my recent 12-EKGs now show a bit Prolong QT. I now even have more reason to be worried. Have echo, treadmill stress test, and chest x-rays, blood work, and event monitors... Why the sudden increase of PVC daily now? Stress? Aging? Hormones? Idiopathic causes as to no real rhyme or reason? Why can't the medical professionals (Cardiologists and Electrophysiologists) find cure already? It is EXTREMELY debilitating when your heart flip-flopping like this every single day! I am beyond P****D OFF, angry, defeated (despite all the good and healthy stuff I have done for the sake of my heart health), and depressed!!!
0 likes, 2 replies
margaret07629 PVC-Hater1
Edited
I'm not sure you'll see this but here's my 2cents. I'm 69yo grandmom who's had skipping heartbeats since I was in my late teens. Those were the once in a blue moon type. They didn't scare me. I've never smoked, drank alcohol, never overweight, always active and now my heart repays me like this??? Fast forward 30yrs, single mom raising 2 boys and I had them really bad with some tachycardia (racing heartbeat) thrown in. Thinking I was going to die I saw cardiologists who did all the necessary tests and patted me on my head and said, "it's nothing"! They seemed to always be worse around menstrual time which told me some were hormonal. They were worse around divorce time and my mom passing away time. Talk about stressors...I've had them all!! I was put on beta-blockers, but none helped like I wanted them to. FF another 30yrs and here I am still suffering with them and still being told "your heart is structurally sound, it's nothing to worry about". I wish I had back all the hours I wasted worrying about them. So afraid to go anywhere thinking I might faint because of them. And they get so bad I think I'll pass out. You didn't say if you have seen an electrophysiologist. I finally found a great one who's not condescending and assures me if the pvc's get up to 10%-20% burden (I'm thinking 10k-20k a day) I would be a candidate for an ablation. But for now, it's around 2%-4% which is not enough. I was prescribed a low dose anti-arrhythmic which helped for a few months just like the beta-blocker and the magn vitamins, but it always comes back. Some days are not bad, some days/nights are bad. "Bad" meaning skipping repeatedly for few seconds, then normal, then skipping in clusters again, then normal. Making me think it's getting ready to stop beating! I would be thinking "That can't be good for my heart no matter what the doctors say". I couldn't go to sleep they were so bad. I used to have panic attacks over them, but I learned how to work through those, and they went away. I have had 2 episodes of atrial fibrillation that lasted a few hours each time before converting back to normal sinus rhythm on its own (2006, 2018). So...to sum it up... as long as you have a trusted electrophysiologist who is watching over you and assures you it's not life threatening, you're going to have to play with the cards you were dealt and accept that you have a heart that beats crazy! And thank God, it's still beating!!! I know that's hard to do when you feel them, I know, I know. But please try to not worry, please. Easier said than done, right? As one of my doctors told me "If it becomes serious, we'll let you know, and we'll take care of it". As I'm typing my skipping is really jumping around but I just suggested you not to worry so I'm going to take my own advice and go outside and walk around with my dog!
joshuapryce1987 PVC-Hater1
Posted
The best thing to do when someone passes away is to remember good times and learn from experiences of the relationship.