How many here have strings of PVCs and arrythmias?

[JLB]

Just an idea: We should share our experiences with cardiac symptoms, maybe help each other see that they aren't fatal. For reassurance. Here's my story:

I get PVCs for hours, days, weeks in a row, with little to no time of regular h/b. I also get wildly irregular rates at times, and chest pain frequently with these episodes. It's been especially troublesome in the past 1-2 years, which is also when I started experiencing them upon rising/reclining or eating.

Anyone else want to offer their experiences? Maybe it will help calm fears if we compare notes, and decrease some of the panic from this symptom.

[Ernie]

Hi,

I had that for a few years until I started to take my beta blocker. Now it's not so bad.

Ernie

[danelle]

JLB,

You can count me in. I have them so bad sometimes I can't breathe without getting them. Food is pretty much a no-no for me. 90-95% of the time I live on liquids strictly for that reason and because I always feel SOO full, even with just liquids. I am on a betablocker but it doesn't really help with the irregular beats and the lower tachy(up to 140ish) It does TYPICALLY, but not always help with the faster beats. I have been havning lots of problems lately with this though. SOunds like a lot of us have.

I know I have talked to you before but you could please refresh this POTSY memory what is your exact diagnosis(s)?

Hope your evening goes better. Hang in there. I am like you, after 19 yrs(almost 20) of this crap, I'm sick of it. It has just gotten worse over the past couple of years though. But we are both still here, that has to mean something I Hope!!!

Danelle

[MomtoGiuliana]

JLB

I have episodes that can last for days like this. I've had days when it would happen every time I move and worse when I eat. Like Ernie, a beta blocker really helps me. Also, fluids and salt helps. Also, I take a low dose SSRI that helps me. But these might not be the answer for you.

Is it possible a med you are on is making this condition worse? I know some people find SSRIs actually increase benign irregularities, for example.

Have you had a holter monitor during any of these times when the irregularity gets this frequent? I think that might help calm your fears, and if something is changing for you symptom-wise, it is a good idea to have it checked out. It's ok to have runs of PVCs and PACs and PSVTs--i.e., it is not dangerous. But, I know it is uncomfortable and scary. And it is good to get a final word on your situation from a cardiologist.

Katherine

[JLB]

In the past 10 years, I've had every test you can imagine (on pretty much every part of me, not just my heart.) DX, every time: Anxiety.

I'm on nothing at all right now, but I'm lining up things for a new MD and a visit to a new cardiologist. I think I'd like to get back on Xanax - haven't had that in a couple of years now, and I suppose this past few weeks is my version of "UNCLE!" (IOW, time to get back on the meds, whether or not they give them for the right reasons. )

I think sharing all our cardiac experiences may really help some of us (especially me) feel a bit calmer during these long runs of flippers.

You can count me in. I have them so bad sometimes I can't breathe without getting them. Food is pretty much a no-no for me. 90-95% of the time I live on liquids strictly for that reason and because I always feel SOO full, even with just liquids.

Danelle, I HATE eating.

Someone wrote something about the Vagus nerve and food intake - I need to go find that, been meaning to.

[morgan617]

I have arrythmias every single day now. Sometimes lots, sometimes not,, always after activity or if I'm really tired. After eating. I find liquids like ensure and stuff make me sick and give me even more, so I just choke down food. I have tons of chest pain, but just assume it's esophageal, as I have to get it dilated every three months. I get them when I lie down on my sides. I get them with green eggs and ham, i get them get them dam dam dam. morgan

[danelle]

Morgan,

You are so funny Ditto to your post-by the way, i get them when I lay on my sides too(particularly the left side), and with green eggs and ham, etc etc etc

Danelle

[Guest tearose]

Yeah, I get them. Both PVC's and arrhythmia's. I don't take meds. I do all the behavioral modifications I can...water, sitting, laying down, compression, electrolytes. I had to teach myself that these symptoms were not going to kill me so I had better learn to adjust to the funky feelings and sensations. When they DO bother me, I know now how to treat them. Usually, I am at my worst if I am fighting a virus or fatigued. I have learned ways to help my heart get back a normal pattern...years of learning... so I lay down and get hydrated or move in a way I can restore rhythm.

Maybe I've fried my nerve endings so much I don't worry anymore ?

take care, tearose

[JLB]

Green eggs and ham......

You guys are funny.

REALLY bad night. My body actually jerked around from the force of the PVCs and irregularities. It finally calmed down around 3 AM, and I fell asleep.

Not the best morning so far - I get really bad after dinner, though, and then through the evening, and then bedtime's a nightmare.

But here I sit, here's another day, and I'm typing at my PC... I think I'll read this thread next time I'm up all night. (Like probably tonight. )

[Merrill]

You gotta turn that frown upside down, JLB!

Think positive!

[calypso]

JLB,

I have found that my beta blocker, while having the unpleasant effect of constant fatigue, has really made me notice fewer of the PVCs/PACs. However, there are periods of days/weeks where this is not the case. I don't know exactly what sets them off. At one point I was able to attribute them to starting/stopping Lexapro, and then a few other times to having my menstrual period.

I also have runs of tachycardia that occur after eating anything high in sugar (but sometimes sugar has absolutely no effect) and also during my period.

Don't worry. If you've had a cardiac workup, they will pass. They seem to always pass.

Amy

[EarthMother]

I take this for the palps ... I hear it's great for sleeping too.

http://naturalcalm.net/home.shtml

EM

[guvna2004]

Count me in.

I havn't been here for a while, bu t ive had chest pain for about a 2 yeears now. I went jogging the other day and had it non stop, every time i jogged it would started, but i carryed on through it and seen it through. I take no meds and dont plan to either, ive been given beta blockers but i refused to take them. Anxiety again is my worst symtom, it follows everything.

[bblovesdd]

Count me in.

I havn't been here for a while, bu t ive had chest pain for about a 2 yeears now. I went jogging the other day and had it non stop, every time i jogged it would started, but i carryed on through it and seen it through. I take no meds and dont plan to either, ive been given beta blockers but i refused to take them. Anxiety again is my worst symtom, it follows everything.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have just been diagnosed with POT. I reaal want to try to avoid the meds. I was on Midodrine for about a week and it was making me soooo dizzy that i just could not stand it. What things do you do for your symtoms???

I have lots of palps and I was walking around the mall today and felt like I was waking on a ship. Any suggestions??? Also while i was working out (aerobics) today i was having a lot of palps??? I love to run. Worried about getting back to that because of the plaps. Any thoughts???

Diane

[JLB]

I've avoided meds for 2 years now, and I don't think it was worth it. I'm going back to them. My quality of life has deteriorated too much to stand on my pride anymore. I did all the self-help I can do, and I believe it has helped; however, I know now that I need more.

I think in my case, too many docs rolling their eyes at me and calling it "just nerves" made me angry and determined to go it alone, and I can't anymore. Just stuff to think about.

Hey, I have a question: Does anyone else here get the PVCs and h/b irregularities much worse at night? Maybe I'll start a thread to ask that. I was up until 2:30 again last night - I'd start to pass out from exhaustion, and then that "flutter" that feels like a heart attack would happen, jerk me awake. Then the PVCs, booming away... Almost 4 weeks of this latest crash now.

[EarthMother]

Meds aren't a failure JLB ... just not a panacea either. Goodness if they help ... take the help and allow youself to feel better. No need to beat youself up.

Whatever path you choose is the right one for you. And when you need an arm to lean on when you are walking along that path we are all here for you.

EM

[JLB]

I know.

Seriously, I don't know what I'd do without you all.

[Melanie]

Hi, I haven't been around for awhile. I first began when I thought my symptoms sounded like POTS. Now I have Dx of Orthostatic Intolerance (don't know if that's the same) among too many others too . Anyway, I'm 41 and have lived with POTS like symptoms since 14. I never began receiving help for of of these things other thatn the tachycardia until this last year. So, keep hope, I went untreated from age 14 to age 27. And have been on Atenolol since age 27 until last week. Did have a 3 month period off for diagnostic purposes and they said it had become (instead of SVT) Inappropriate Tachycardia, severe (anytime, anywhere, most of the time). So, in preparation for eval next week at Vanderbilt, I have worked down to zero Atenolo a day. More specifically, though, I've gotten down to that but need to take 25 mg Atenolol/tenormin if I've done too much activity and am exhausted or if I was tense for too long (like anaerobic exercise). Sometimes the tachy doesn't even set in until that evening. That's when I will take some med for it. Atenolol has helped me for 14 years now. I'm very excited to get to the point where I might not need it everyday. Although, too, I have been on a sort of sick leave for a year and a half and my stress level has gone below what it has ever been and I am so tired I hardly do anything. So these things have probably helped. But know there were years where I needed 100 mg/day to get through. And you have to get your sleep or it makes you more exhausted and prone to heart arrythmias. So try the meds, even ask your doctor if he doesn't offer. Good luck! Melanie

Aye! My point was that the atenolol helped me sleep because it calmed the pounding (and yes, sometimes I had that awful pounding so bad others could see my back bouncing from the chair back). I've survived many years now, many totally untreated, most undiagnosed; though I do not recommend that! I was young and dumb! Hang in there and do not be afraid to ask your docotors for help. Sometimes I find it helps to ask a doctor, "If I was your sister, (son, daughter, whatever), what would you want for me?" Treat yourself that way too! (easier said than done I know - but it helps to remind ourselves - "If this was my son, what would I be doing for him?" That way I also have a better idea of what kind of help I need to seek (also a long time climbing that barrier!). I'm not saying I'm on Easy Street now - far from it - but the heart condition can be managed - by a cardiologist. I'd like to hear more what others have experienced about these things. Melanie