How do I know when skipped heart beats are dangerous?

[iAmEllen]

Over a week ago for absolutely no identifiable reason my heart started skipping way more beats than usual.  I can go hours with none and then have several hours where I'll have 2 or 3 a minute.  It's setting me over the edge.  I don't know if it's dangerous or not.  I went to the ER the other day and they basically didn't care at all and just had me take Ativan and sent me home.  Today I panicked and called the paramedics who came and did a 12 lead and they said normal sinus with one ectopic and so I didn't go back to the ER.  I had a normal echo 3 years ago.  I already don't eat caffeine or sugar.

Please reassure or sympathize with me.  I'm going insane and have no idea what's causing this out of the blue.  Why would they suddenly increase for no reason whatsoever?

[mbailey33]

About 3 months ago i noticed i was starting to have skipped beats. i went to see my Dr and he ran some blood tests, potassium, thyroid, sugar level, kidney, liver, magnesium, electrolytes and everything came back ok. He referred me to the Heart Hospital to have a 24hr Holter Monitor put on this past Friday and i just got back the results today. My heart had actually skipped almost 1500 times in that 24hr period. I spoke with him today and he told me to make an appointment to go in for a consultation with the Heart Specialist who read my monitor. I did and i have an appointment to see him on August 14th. I will let all of you know what he says. I know how all of you feel. It's scary and i wonder if it's going to kill me. I'm only 48 and not ready to go anywhere yet. The worst part about all of this is i have no insurance and it's so costly. I wish all of you the best of luck and if anyone finds anything else out about our conditions please keep all posted.

[Mom2four85]

I know this is an older post that got bumped so I wanted to let you know there are tons of posts about pvc's etc in the Heart Rhythm section also :)

I know the feeling about feeling crazy over pvc's - I went to my cardiologist & EP.  The  EP got this weird look on his face and turns and says WOW! just wow - you don't feel these? I said what the pvc's? sure I do, how could I not?

He told me he had never seen 54,000 pvc's/24 hr period outside of the ER.  Sometimes you just learn to lives with these things; I had no clue what was even wrong until recently.  He set me up for surgery, which I chickened out of at first until I got a 2nd opinion.

In the past 5 years, I've been told by 3 dr's that I'm healthy as a horse and they ignored symptoms I complained of (passing out; short of breath; palpatations; pvc's on Ekg's)

Now I'm trying to learn why, what changed in my body to make them worse, why I have them all the time day in day out, what triggers if any that I have.  There seems to be no pattern no triggers nothing.  I decided to go with Ablation and am having it in August, which I have read can cure them.

[cookie581]

I too have trouble falling asleep due to continous pvcs.  I have an appt with a cardiologist next week.  I'm hoping he tells me these are normal.  I am 67 yrs young and have type 2 diabetes.  I believe that I worry too much about just everything. I've had EKG's in the past and the results were normal.

[Akizz]

hi, i have posted a a thread about this also... Do you sometimes feel like "shot in th heart, a mild 'pain' "? i feel like this. some times its harder. sometimes its almost unnoticeable but you know it is it. i remember going to swim every after noon in jan-feb 07 just after i stopped some days later i started having these feelings. its like you are sitting... typing or looking at the screen and boom in th heart!!!! am i right? well this is what i feel. and in 07 i used to feel a similar sensation when taking a big deep breath.!! 2 years elapsed, still finding a connection between these signs/symtpoms and its possible causes... :( I AM A 21 yr old boy, living same life like my surrounding bro and cousins.... sometimes when i think about it too much it happens more. i almost break down n cry. but on average its like 2 or 3 times a day.. sometimes none at all or just one....hope u all are ok.. specially Ellen! i would like to have you all on my messenger list!

[Miketanner]

This is my first time writing and I just have to tell you that I also have these "skipped heatbeats". I had every test done imaginable and my Doctor is so not woried, he almost laughs when I say "Am I going to die with these?" I asked him one day if I should just ignore these episodes and barrel through them. He said "Yes, barrel through them." So now my attitude when I get these episodes is, I almost hope something does happen just to spring the doctors into action. You know what? Nothing ever does.

[TMatsko]

Has anyone ever heard of nicotine trails?  They are pathways that form,  from deposits of nicotine, over time in or around the conductive paths that fire the hearts "normal" rythym.  They act like shortcuts, or alternate routes, that fire before, after, or simultaneous with your regular sinus rythym.  I'm no doctor but have read this from other doctors' journals to be a possibility for the symptoms.  Along with "heartblock", which is a similar form of irregular conductivity, so I've read.  Maybe contaminates, other than nicotine, could be a cause for non-smokers, if that makes any sense.  Ablation is the only procedure I've heard about that claims to help, but have also heard of symptoms returning after ablation.  Suffering along with you with panic attacks, phobias, and certain uncertainty; I hope someday this will get fixed!  By the grace of the GREAT PHYSICIAN, this can happen!!