Palpitations, panic disorder, excercise

[Mommyplus6]

I would like to know why it is during activity as simple as walking up the stairs makes pvc's and pac's more noticable?
Can you reccomend any books that deal with panic/pvc's..
I have had panic disorder many years...fast heart rate was a common complaint but in all my years I never noticed the skipping til one day I was ehausted and dehydrated..
I am getting better and have learned to ingore them..I still do tend to notice them after excercise.
I have just come to the conclusion I have probably had them but neve noticed them before.
I am managing panic/pvc's without medication but it is so hard when your heart is racing close to 160 bpm...(I did use xanax for 6 months but do not liek the way it makes me feel fater use  but did help the panic)
usually it is brought on by hypervigilance or misinterpretting normal body sensations..
I have had echo,ekg holter and all tell I have healthy heart...my bp is wonderful(110/65)normal resting pulse is around 75 and I am 28 year old female...
my bp does go up (160/100) but quickly recovers but my pulse takes longer to come down...is that typical....?
I just wanted to hear if you have any experience/theories on panic/pvc's and is it normal to feel more aware of pac's after/during excercise?
my pcd keeps pushing paxil and tells me I am doing this to myself....
thank you for taking the time...

[CCF-M.D.-CRC]

Dear mom,
Many PACs and PVCs are sensitive to adrenaline and increased sympathetic tone which are both increased with activity.  Therefore activity/exercise will increase these types of PACs and PVCs.  I don't know of any good books dealing with PVCs and anxiety but there certainly is a market out there.  Maybe one of our readers knows of one.   It is normal for pulse to rise more quickly then decrease, especially in someone who is not very fit. Paxil is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor that is actually quite helpful for panic and may decrease PACs/PVCs as well.

[car]

Hi Mommyplus 6, I read your post and it sounds a lot like me.  Do you have actual skipping beats and pauses or is it just racing.  I suffer greatly with skipping and runs of PVC's and long pauses.

My doctor started me on Celexa and it has helped me greatly with my panic (which started when I was having the palpitations).  I am 40 years old and have had this since I was 23.  

Anyways just wondering if you have the skips and pauses as well as the racing.

C.

[alexawesome1]

To Car: I was just wondering if you're PVC's/PAC's and pauses have gotten worse since the age of 23 or have remained the same.  I ask because I first got a run of a few at age 24, now 27 I still get a skip about 1 per week, sometimes a skip a day and sometimes nothing for a a few months.  They seemed worse at the beginning at a rate of a few a day.  My 24HR holter showed the longest pause of 2.4 seconds, rate of 38, the Cardio (3) told me it was because I was athletic most of my life.  Thanks, Alex... alex_dolgonos***@****

To Mommyplus6: I have personally found that during exercise or when my pulse is above rest, the occurance is very rare. During a stress test, my Cardio had told me that the PVC's (I couldn't feel any) decressed as the heart rate increased, he said because the timming of the beats are so fast, that there is less of a chance for a pause or a skip.  I could suggest a diet and exercise program that I think has helped myself in the last 3 years, I too went throught the whole "panic" thing. Good luck!  alex_dolgonos***@****

[car]

Hi, about your post.  My PVC's have definately gotten worse over the years.  I noticed the first one when I was really strung out at work one day and when in a major panic to my doctor.  She said that if it didn't happen alot that it was normal.

Well at age 29 when I had my first child, they really got bad.  I was having one to ten per hour.  I was terrified.  I went for a holter and it showed v-tach.  I think they caught a run of six they said.  Needless to say my life has never been the same.  I have lived in constant terror or these damn things and I have been for two EP studies (where they insert a long probe into your groin and lead it up to your heart to check electrical activity).  Anyways they could not find anything abnormal about my heart and say that I just have short runs of nonsustained v-tach.  This was controlling every aspect of my life to the point that I was not functioning properly at all.  I lived in constant terror or v-tach and that I was going to drop dead at any moment.

I was finally referred to a cardiac physcolgist and she has helped my immensely.  I take 10mg of celexa per day and it has calmed down me a lot.  I still get some PVC's (maybe 1 - 6 per day) but I don't let them control me anymore and don't fly into a major panic attack every time I feel them.

Sorry to ramble - I really didn't answer your question.  Anyways my PVC's did gradually get worse because of the way I was mentally letting them run my life.  

I now know that everytime that I get one that I am not going to drop dead on the spot (even though sometimes it feels like I will).  It was taken me at least 15 years to get my head straightned out but I am glad I am taking them better.

So if you feel yours are getting worse it is no doubt stress/anxiety.  I know that mine were definately worse from my constant tension/butterflies in my stomach.  I am kind of a high strung person anyways.

Carol

[nancyjo55]

HI, I HAD SO MANY SYMPTOMS AOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, ALOT OF THEM HEART RELATED, SAME AS YOURS AND WENT THROUGH TESTS FOR 4 MONTHS. EVERYTHING WAS OK, BUT YET I HAD ALL THESE SYMTOMS. ONE DOCTOR, OUT OF ABOUT 8 , ALL SPECIALISTS, INSISTED I TRY BUSPAR FOR ANXIETEY. I WAS SO AGAINST ANYTHING FOR DEPRESSION. ALL DOCTORS SAID I HAD BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH EMTIONAL TRAUMA IN LAST YEAR, ALL MY SYMPTOMS COULD BE DUE TO THAT. I WOULD NOT HEAR OF IT, NOT ME, STRONG, MOTHER OF 4, HAVING GONE TROUGH LOTS OF BAD TOUGH TIMES........BUT AFTER A YEAR OF BEING SO SICK AND WEIRD HEART SYMPTOMS, SKIPPING, RACING, FLUTTERING, SHOCKING FEELINGS, I STARTED THE BUSPAR, BUT HAVE NEVER TAKEN A FULL DOSE, AND BY GOLLY, AFTER 2 WEEKS, MY HEART HAS NOT FLUTTERED, SKIPPED , NOTHING, SINCE. AND I ONLY TAKE, NOW 1/3 OF ONE PILL A YEAR LATEER. IT HAS NO BAD SIDE EFFECTS LIKE ANTI DEPRESANTS. NO DOPED UP FEELING, NO SEXUAL SIDE EFFECTS, NOTHING. I TALKED TO 3 PHARMISISTS, AND CALLED THE HOT LINE ON BUSPAR PAMPLET AND TALKED TO THEIR DOCTOR ABOUT ALL MY CONCERNS. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU AT LEAST MENTION THIS DRUG TO YOUR DOCTOR. GOOD LUCK TO YOU. FEEL FREE TO E-MAIL ME IF YOU LIKE. NANCY  ***@****

[Radedaddym]

I have been having these palpataions on and off for approximately 6 months.  They come mostly at night and they last for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, sometimes longer.  My heart rate remains around 6o, but it wakes me up and feels like my heart is flip flopping. Approximately two years ago I had an ablation  for A-Fib around 2 years ago and the rapid    a-Fib has gone away.  Just recently I have been experiencing these weird beats, usually in the late evening and late at night. They have place an event monitor on me this month and I have recorded consistant evening irregular beats.  They have termed these beats as PAC's. In the last few months I have stopped any caffiene intake and was started on 24mg of Atenolol. The medication has not stopped the arrythmias and I'am still having them at night. Sometimes they are really intense and they wake me up out of a solid sleep. Do you have any ideas on the etiology of these arrythmia's or another direction I could take to help elimanate these arrthmia"s

[MennieBeats]

PHOBIA FREE

[Jenifur]

Hi,
I just found this message board, and am in tears. I though I was the only person going through this, and that noboday around me understands what it feels like when your heart feels like it stops and it takes your breath away..
I finally ended up in the E.R. the other day after I had 3 HUGE skips in a row, I panicked of course which i always do and my co-worker could tell something was very wrong. Anyway they put the 24 monitor on me, and I just had a echo today. I am 29 and had soemthing like this happen to me in my early 20's they said it was common in women my age they did the echo, stress test. holter monoitor and said everything seemed fine.
I dont know what all these tests are going to show by nature I am a VERY anxious person, my husband and I are talking about starting a family soon, but I'm afraid to with these...awful pvc's. They are terrible, and nobody knows how bad they feel until you have one, and I am sooooooo glad there are people there that know what it feels like. I just wanted to express my relief to see I am not alone....Thank you all.... :-))

[Mommyplus6]

thank you Doctor...I appreciate your time...
I definately notice them more when active...and not always but some of the time it scares me right in to full blown panic attack...
I am looking in to all things....as all my tests have come back negative...
I am going to start watching my blood sugar as well...maybe its too low..it is always around 80...
they are frightening and it is of some comfort to know there are others...

[Mr. Know it all]

You may have had an electrolyte depletion episode..as a result of sweating and suddenly noticing pvcs.  I suspect you suffer from magnesium deficeny.  Magnesium regulates the electrical activities of the heart and lack of this mineral will cause pvcs. lack of magnesium in the heart muscle can cause ischemia as well.  When you excercised and sweated you lost the remaing magnesium for optimal functioning.  Magnesium glycinate is an excellent form of magnesium and does work

[william131]

I am a 50 year old male who has always been athletic and in seemingly good health. For the past 10 years i have had periods of many pvc's followed by several months with hardly any at all.
Sometimes i have had periods of 15-20 a minute! These scared the hell out of me and i became so anxious about these that i began having panic attacks often. I am on paxil now and the frequency of my pvc's have decreased dramaticly. Excercise also seems to help lessen my pvc's for some reason.

[MennieBeats]

Here is an interesting read about the diaphragm and arrythmias and panic from :

A Disorderly Diaphragm
by Jo

[Mr. Know it all]

I am a big believer in Magnesium to cure most pvc's> Check out this site
http://www.execpc.com/~magnesum/cardio.html#FACTORS

a post by ***@****

[Lori V.]

Hi Mommy+6 & Carol,

I have read your posts and feel that we are all in the same boat. This anxiety/heart stuff is really difficult to deal with at times (like now). I am 36 and started getting PVC's shortly after my son was born 3 years ago. They threw me for a loop and definitely took away from my enjoyment of being a new mom. I have also been anxious all of my life, but along with the lovely PVC's and the occasional tachs, I became extraordinarily hypervigilant and concerned with my health. It has taken until recently that I am starting to get back on track. Then today, after I took a walk with my son, I started to get a "weak" feeling in the chest where I normally feel the PVC's and I am just waiting for it to happen, but it doesn't. This feeling is not going away. I can't stand these things anymore and feel like a factory reject since I had my son. I read the posts from "magnesium man" and just took one and hope it helps. Thanks for listening and I'm here for support.

Lori

[SteveF]

Sorry for the long post....I am 32 and have had very similar problems. I had my first "racing heart" about 8 months ago. It scared the heck out of me. I was driving home from work. I called my wife and told her that I was going to stop by the ER. I did. They hooked me up and got EKGs, blood work, chest x-ray. Everything was normal except for a high heart rate and blood pressure. I never went to see my regular doctor as after that evening, I didnt' have it again.....until a few weeks ago. Same exact circumstances, driving home from work. This time, it was REALLY bad. Really fast heart rate, shortness of breath, vertigo, sweating. I had to pull off the road 3 times before I got to the ER because I thought I was going to pass out. Again, at the ER, all tests came out just fine, but this time, they actually saw my heart start racing. One nurse gave me a nitroglycerin tablet. After that day, I went to see my regular doctor. He sent me to get some blood work done and wanted me back in a week later (he was going on vacation). Well a couple on nights later, I had a 103 fever which lasted several hours. I called the on call doctor the next day and they did some blood work STAT and saw that my white blood cell count was 18000 when is should be <10000. She sent me out for an x-ray, which turned out fine. She then sent me to an internal medicine doctor who wanted me to get some blood cultures done. All during these days, I was having these "attacks" and wondering if it was all in my head or my body...which would make it worse. Then the on call doctor ordered my to have a ECG done. That turned out just fine as well. I felt better, but still had the attacks, although much less frequently. My regular doctor came back, reviewed all the test results, asked me some questions and then put me on Paxil. It definately stopped the panic attacks, although at times I can sort of feel one come on, but it just results in sweaty palms or such. I have been on it for seven days now, with good results. But, two nights ago I went to go to bed and I started having these "racing" thoughts that would repeat or skip like a broken record. It got me all out of whack and I was feeling a vertigo effect. I had to read a book to take my mind off of it. Finally got to sleep, only to wake up still feeling bad. My doctor has now prescribed Adavan instead of Paxil....let's hope this helps. Thanks for listening!

[Mr. Know it all]

There is substantial experimental evidence of the vital role of Mg in maintaining cardiovascular integrity and normal function. Large-scale dietary surveys have shown that American diets are usually Mg deficient, inadequately meeting requirements under conditions of growth and development, stress, or disease and drug therapy that cause Mg loss. Mg has long been used for parenteral treatment of convulsions and hypertension of eclampsia, and more recently, as a therapeutic modality in refractory cardiac arrhythmias (although usually as a last resort). Mg has potential value in the management of cardiovascular diseases treated with Mg-wasting drugs that intensify Mg deficiency. Such diseases and treatment also predispose to Cl loss induced metabolic alkalosis, which with Mg deficiency, contribute to refractory cellular K depletion.
The fact that chronic Mg deficiency is silent and difficult to diagnose - serum Mg levels being an unreliable index of the cellular Mg status, has militated against early treatment or supplementation with Mg. Studies should further assess the Mg status in persons with conditions that may cause Mg deficiency or those being treated with Mg- and K-wasting drugs. All of the ions that are lost should be repleted - Mg, K, and Cl (to prevent or correct metabolic alkalosis). It is further proposed that optimal Mg intake throughout life, and especially under conditions of normal anabolism and stress, may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, and even of sudden unexpected cardiac death.


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[Lori V.]

After reading your comments on magnesium, I take one as soon as I wake up. Thank you for letting us know a simple yet vital thing we can be doing for our hearts. Is there a particular type of magnesium that is better than others? The magnesium supplement I take contains magnesium silicate and magnesium stearate. Are there any others that I should look for? Thanks for your help.

Lori

[Andras]

Gdday,

Am I glad that I came across this web site.  I had experienced a skipped heart beat over the years I thought it was normal and nothing to worry about....most likely right.  Just 2 weeks ago I had my first irregular heartbeat which would not go away....scared the heck out of me and raced off to a doctor and then emergency where I was eventually cardioverted.  Since then I have suffered panic attacks and of course everytime my heart or my chest feels funny I think I am about to die.  I know this is not the case and have not gone into an irregular beat since the big event but still I suffer the panic attacks as it seems there is some doubt in my mind which builds and builds.  Can I just say thankyou to all of the people who's messages I read today for the first time and I now know that there are others like me and it seems people who comfortably live with the condition.  Just good to know I am not the only one in the world.  I am 37 and have lived, I thought a fairly healthy life, was extremely fit as a child and now walk for an hour, chin-ups, dips, pushups everyday and have had the opportunity to travel overseas and found myself in a number of serious situations.  I can say I think it is much easier to deal with a short term threat to my life, say a mugging or accident where the threat comes and goes quickly, than it is to do with long term stress which is what I have had over the past few years.   Once again thankyou to you all for leaving behind an excellent resource for newcomers like me to learn from......Andras

[DougC]

Hi Y'all,
I was diagnosed with PVCs about 4 years ago and definately panicked when they first occurred!  They went away after about two weeks and I was told they would re-occur.  In August I had been working hard outside in the heat and had several stressful (minor)things in my life.  The PVCs returned with a vengence! It seemed like every other beat skipped.  I started doing research and noticed that magnesium and potassium were mentioned as contributing to a regular heartbeat.  I did not drink enough fluids(except coffee) and don't like bananas or drink much orange juice.  I began taking a dietary suppliment of magnesium(250Mg) and Potassium(99mg).  I also focused on drinking more water.  My heart beat returned to normal in two days.  Except for an occasional blip now and then (usually when I worry about something) it has been fine.  I also drink more fluids, half water and half Gatoraide when working in the heat.  I do exercize, running three times a week, lifting weights and yoga.  I have experience numbness in the two outside fingers of my left hand, and face and pain inside left elbow and forearm and shoulder.  I sleep on my left side and have attributed that fact to left side and back nerve problems.  If I go to a chiropractor regularily and get my back adjusted, these symtoms go away.  I am 55 years old and both parents are alive with no heart problems.  I can definately sympathize with anxiety and panic attacks, having had several which caused me to go to the ermergency room with chest pains, etc.  I expect PVCs now so am more prepared to deal with them and they are never painful, nor do I get naseous or short of breath.  I have had sress test, EKGs, and a procedure were I exercized on a treadmill to boost my heartrate(after one of my panic attacks) then laid on my right side while they did an ultrsound of my heart.  Everyone said my heart is fine, so I am trying to belive them and reduce anxiety via exercize and yoga.

[tokyojoe]

I have been living with panic attacks for about 10 years but I had an experience around one week ago where I finished playing squash and then my heart rate would not reduce to normal for about one hour. I relaxed at the gym until it came down to about 70 and then when I got up to go, suddenly my heart raced to about 200+ for about one minute and I felt like my whole heart was shaking.

As I was worried, I did an echo and EKG and chest X ray and all is normal although during the treadmill test the same kind of post exercise attack hapenned except the heart rate rebounded only to around 160 this time.

The doctor says it may be that my nervous system is fragile and sends off a panic signal when my heart rate has been too high. He does not think this is SVT because my EKG shows that the increase in heart rate is a little bit gradual and he says in case of SVT my rate would go straight up to the maximum level. I had been taking a little bit of Xanax at the time of the treadmill test so I frankly would be surprised if it was panic and I think these are SVTs or something else. Support for my view that it is an SVT is that when I massage my neck (as the doctor told me to do if it is SVT), the rate does tend to decrease when these types of attacks occur.

Has anyone had similar experiences and know how I can tell definitively what is hapenning to me? How do I know whether this is panic or SVT?

[lavender]

In response to Tokyojoe,

I have something very similar and have had it since childhood but only on rare occasions, excerise has been a trigger along with sneezing or bending down.  My heart rate will be fine then just race to over 200 b.p.m.  I was told they were just palpitations and that they were normal, then I had an episode last year which wouldn't stop and I ended up in hospital.  After this I was referred to a cardiologist and have had a 24 hour and 7 day ECG and heart scan and everything came back ok, although the palpitations have never been on record.  Since I live in the UK and I'm being treated by the NHS they discharged me after these three tests and said that they were guessing that my palpitations were SVT as they were so fast and in which case it isn't dangerous, and because my attacks only happen once a month no-one will treat me for it as the treatment is more dangerous.  He also said that they may get more frequent over time and in that case I should come back but until then there was nothing he could do. Hope this has been some help to you, I know how frightening it feels, keep your chin up.  Lavender

[WENDYK]

I have had a similiar experience and have been trying to find out if I have anxiety (panic attacks) or PVCs/Sinus Tachardia.  I have researched, questioned cardiologists, psychiatrists, etc.  Everyone one of them has their own theory. Diagnoses through the years include: PVCs, PSVT, Inappropriate Sinus Tachardia, anxiety attacks, panic attacks, just a "nervous" person, etc.  Last June, my heart would just take off racing - no reason.  I went to my cardiologist (a new one) and he put me on a 24 monitor.  The next morning, I was reading the paper and relaxing and all of a sudden, my heart rate when straight up.  I was relieved this happened while on the monitor.  When I spoke to my cardiologist, he asked me if I felt anxious or I was running up stairs.  I indicated to him that I was relaxing and reading the paper.  On my monitor, my heart rate was 158 bpm.  Pretty uncomfortable.  He started me on Tenormin 25 mg to slow the heart rate.  My psychiatrist has been on Klonopin and Xanax and wants me to take Celexia.  I have not decided whether I want to try it or not.  I really think these doctors just diagnose what their medical speciality is able to.  I believe it can work both ways, anxiety kicks up the heart rate (out of the blue) or the heart rate hikes up, inappropriately, and causes the alarm system in your body to go off, i.e., panic attacks.  It has taken me almost a year to get it together.  My heart rate would soar going into a mall.  Anxiety or inappropriate sinus tachardia?  I get anxious going into a social setting.  I believe we train our nervous system to react to certain situations and we then panic.  In addition, last year my heart would race after I ate.  That one, I have a hard time figuring that one out.  I went to a nutricianist, maybe it was low blood sugar.  So, I try to watch the foods I eat as well.  If you find out anymore information as to anxiety vs. sinus tachardia, let me know.  I will continue my search for an answer as well.  Stay well.  I hoped this helped you and others out there.  I know finding this website and helped me tremendously.  I do not feel like I am alone anymore.

[tokyojoe]

I have been slow in thanking Lavendar and now Wendy for your response. I am really grateful for taking the time to respond.

I think there must be a lot of people out there like us going from doctor to doctor. I agree it is great to have a site like this to share experiences with. Just last Thursday I was sitting in my office and suddenly off it went again. I took a small dose of a beta blocker, a zanax tablet and sat in the loo for three quarters of an hour until it calmed down!!! Worked fine although when I came out half the office was looking for me!!!!

Keep well.

Tokyo Joe

[fergy]

My husband suffers from palpitations and skipped heart beats. I still don't understand what he feels like but reading some of these comments helps me to see that it's not all "in his head". Unfortunatly this is how many other spouses feel. I would like to know from anyone how I can help him to feel better. I do not treat him like a hypochondriac (unlike some of the doctors he has been to) so besides trying to get him better medical help what can I do aswell. Lately it seems he is having quite a few skipped heart beats. I have felt his pulse and it is true, his heart seems to skip a beat after every ten or fifteen. This happens for about ten or twenty minutes two or three times a day but it hasn't happened when he's been to the doctor (murphys law!!)
I have shown him this site and he is glad to see that he is not alone in this.
Any comments would be appreciated.
Thanks
Stella