Hi RLR:

I was referred to you by the Power Surge board...I so hope that you can reassure me on this board until I can get some answers from my cardiologist. I wanted to thank you in advance for your reply. As you can read by my post below...my PVC...PAC...bigemines...trigeminies...have never been so bad.

I am disabled from an auto accident 15yrs ago and I'm not active. I'm 51 yrs old. I've been through several kidney surgeries earlier this year and I'm in the throws of menopause.

Off and on through my life I've had PVC's and PAC's. All have come and gone and disappeared with time. About 10 days ago I started getting them after a 3.5 yr reprieve. This time they have come Incision for thyroid gland surgery re-checked...even though it's been normal.

I had an ECHO in Jan '08 and it was normal. I have been PVC and PAC free since Jan '05....except for a occasional one here and there. Now...they are coming at such frequency ...they seem to be coming in a frequency at times of every other beat, every 2nd beat or 3rd beat.  Thanks to these darn things ...I'm now only getting about  5 hrs sleep per night. I have never had them so bad before. I don't drink caffeine.
I don't smoke and I don't drink alcohol. I'm not over weight. These PVC's and PAC's are coming out of my eshopogus and the side of my neck also booming out of the left side and that is the only side I can sleep.I also feel them on my back.
I have had holterHolter monitor (24h) monitors in the past and them have shown I have bigeminies and trigeminies....also cuplets and runs...which they were not concerned about 3.5 yrs ago. I know this can be releated to anxiety ...but, I do not feel anxious ...except emotionally. Earlier this morning when I was having them...my  pulse was 58-62. I am now laying here....utterly exhausted because these darn things are now waking me up and I can't go back to sleep. I can go all day ...laying flat on my and not feel them....or....they can come out of no where and don't stop.

I called to get a referral to my cardio yesterday...but, he is booked up until Oct 7. In the meantime...is there anybody who might be able to give me some reassurance .....I've never had these as bad in my life and why is my pulse going so darn slow ??

Usually these are associated with panic disorder
...but this is not the case with me. I would so appreciate your support as these are wearing me down and I'm so scared.

Hopefully there is some reassurance out there as I'm so tired today and I have gotten no sleep. I'm so afraid that I have a WEAK HEART Heart disease or something. Does anybody have reassurance for me ? I would so appreciate you advice / input.

Last night was  the absolute worse. My pulse was in the 60's and 70's and I'm still having them with runs every other beat..every 2nd or 3rd beat. They will continue in this pattern until I cough or move.

Could this all still be hormones ? I know I've had thousands of these in the last 24 hrs. While laying on my back...I feel thousands of them. I feel them flutter in my eshophogus in a very distince pattern and I can also feel them booming on the outside of my neck...like one big thud.

As I said before I'm disabled/ immobile from being hit by a drunk driver 15 years ago. When I am able to sit up or walk around...I don't feel them as much.

My cardiologist did an echo in Jan '08 and it was perfectly normal. My thyroid has been check recently and it's perfectly normal. Why in just the last two weeks have these things stared back so fiercely ...with massive runs of them ...not isolated ones ? They will not stop unless I cough or move my body.

Could this all be due to the massive changes in my hormones ...now that I'm in full blown menopause ? Why did they go away for the most part of the last 3.5 years except for just a few isolated groups of them ? Now they have come back with a vengence for no apparent reason at all.

My cardiology appt is on Oct 7. The thing that concerns me most is how many of them I'm having compared to what they have been before. Why am I having so many runs of bigemines and trigeminies at one time ? Then there is the ocassional big thud. Years ago they put me on beta blockers...not because I needed it...but, because they were aggravating me. Those beta blokers made me sick...I literally passed out and collapsed. They made me so very weak, tired and depressed. I could barely function. When I got off them my heart went into even worse arhythmias afor a while. For me those beta blockers are just very nasty drugs.

Please can anyone out there give me reassurance that what I'm going through is not serious ? I am emotionally and physically exhausted. Why can't these things just go away as fast as they came on ? I so hope someone can help me so I will not be scared. I keep thinking that something is going to happen to my heart and it will not go back to beating normally again.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Lorrie

Hi Lorrie,

Welcome to this board.  You have definitely come to the right place and I can tell you with all honesty that I can relate (except for the menopause as I am 31 and have not quite hit that yet..  =o) ).

I too get LOTS of pvc's.  I can feel totally relaxed and yet my heart will skip every other beat and sometimes many, many in a row.  I am use to them, but they still do bother me.

I can only imagine how many I am getting.  I know its WAY up there in the thousands, but I am still here and they are still considered benign.  In fact, my Cardiologist at my last appt suggested a holter and I declined because I knew it would only make me more anxious to know "how many" pvc's I am getting.  As long as they are benign, I figure what would it change to know the number?  For me it would only make me more anxious.

I find distraction helps in dealing with these as well as understanding where they originate from.  If we can understand where they originate (stimulation from the vagus nerve via the sympathetic/parasympathetic nervous system, which controls the fight or flight response),  then we will know they are not dangerous.  

These can not harm us (and trust me I too am coming to realize this as awful as they feel) and our Dr's and RLR on here would NOT tell us this if it was not true.  I trust what my Dr. says and what RLR says as well.

I am sorry you have to do through these.  I have been getting continous pvc's for well over 2 months straight of beat, pvc, beat, beat, pvc, pvc, pvc, pvc, pvc, and on and on for like I said over 2 months straight and they DO wear on a person, but they can not harm us.

The KEY is controlling our anxious thoughts and addressing any underlying anxiety/thought patterns that may be contributing to this.  And even though we do not feel readily anxious, does not mean we are not anxious.  I think the fact that any one of us on here looking for reassurance/answers if proof that we are indeed anxious to some degree, right?

My hugs are sent to you and know you are NOT alone.  There are many, many of us going through the same thing and we understand how you feel.

Feel free to post anytime with questions, venting or whatever.  That's what we are here for is to support and get support.    

I am thinking of you.  These pvc's will get better and we will be OK!

Hugs,


Steff