Unable to lie on left side - panic!

[lalabonte]

Hi - I'm new to the forum & wondering if anyone has had this problem.  For the past year I haven't been able to lay down on my left side for more than several minutes. In fact, it's gotten so bad that I don't even try anymore. After a few minutes on my left side I get the intense feeling that I have to change position or my heart may stop. I know I sound crazy but I can't even describe the sensation.

I have had bad PVC's for several years and have learned to live with them but the sensation occurs on my left side even when I am not having any PVC's.

FYI to PVC sufferers - I have had venticular bigeminy for years. Sometimes 40,000 pvc's a days for weeks. My dr's tell me it's nothing and just get used to it. It does follow my hormone levels (gets worse with ovulation and period) and actually resolved completely for about a year following my last pregnancy. (I may have 20 kids just for that benefit!) lol.

I still have difficulty believing that the pvcs are nothing though.  They started the day I had a nosebleed that nearly killed me.  I lost a lot of blood and the pvcs started there in the er.

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks * Oh, and I'm only 30 - and also have MS, pcos, and fibromyalgia.

[HughG]

One   other  aspect to  consider  is Gastric  Reflux   when you   Lie on the left side  the  esophagus   is  "lowered"   towards     your  left side  is the entrance to your  stomach,  the  Acid  Can   regurgitate  up the  Esophagus  and  Burn  the  lining  (where  the stomach is designed  to hold the  acid .... over   time  it becomes  worse and worse...possibly even causing an  Ulceration.   It happens  to be  quite a bit more common  In  Cardiac  folks  I suppose  due to  Ability to  position oneself   comfortably  (loke  after    Open heart surgery  SInce  the   rib  cage is  "cracked"  the  ribs   attachment to  the spine  are  "hinged"    so for a  number of  days   any  movement   is NOT  comfortable Much less   trying to  get some  sleep,  it often  becomes  more  apparent  for  these   folks  Though   in reality anyone  Just   sleeping on   that side  can begin the process.... Just  food  for  thought  to consider

[garciaiv]

Hello. Im in my 30s aand I have fibromyalgia. I have gone to every hospital there is to go where I live. I cant aleep on my left side and for a while I coudnt sleep on my rightside either. I would have to sleep on my bed sitting down or on a couch sitting down. Now it went back to being only my left side and my heart starts to raise and I feel like its going to stop when I lay on my left side for more than a minute. Doctors havent found what is wrong with me. I still feel like Im going to have a panic attack even if I lay on my back for a while. I feel like I cant breathe if I lay on my back. I would really like to know what is wrong

[bsmayes]

I code lying on my left side(happened during a surgery).  I can't be on my left side at all now.  It started out minor, then went to severe very rapidly.  I also have PACS/PVCs and pcos.  I  have autoimmune vasculitis.  It went away during pregnancy.  It gets worse with phases of the menstrual cycle as well.  They still haven't figured it out.  I had my tubes tied or I would stay indefinitely too,lol.  It's all still unexplained.  They know there is some sort of shunting of blood back into my heart.  They cant find a blocked or collapsed artery...yet.  They just told me don't roll over or bend over...kindof hard to not do sleeping, so I have to prop toward right side.  Mine I'm in my thirties as well and it started in my twenties.  I pray they find help for you too.

[Panicmanic]

I'm only 14 years old and I have panic attacks really bad and I can't lay on my left side. My heart feels like its gonna explode. I'm gonna do what the dude reddy freddy said. And I'll ask the lord to watch over me.

[reddyfreddy]

I have had this problem pretty bad , couldnt lay on my left side for more than 30 seconds much less sleep on it , and read a guys post once and he said lay off sugar , vegetarian diet , take magnesim, flaxseed, tblspn cod liver oil, oatmeal for brkfst , avoid stress, no caffene , but for me I have quit sugar altogether except for small amounts already in foods and this has made it all better , can even sleep on my left side . also I avoid caffene like the plague , eat oatmeal at times but I avoid stress as much as possible (type A personality). will incorporate the the other suggestions but I think its the sugar . we are posioning ourselves with all those processed things . giving up sugar is the hardest thing I ever had to do bar none . good luck cause I KNOW how debilitating it is and thanx to the guy for his post

[jessicups79]

I'm VERY interested in what you girls have to say about PCOS and PVC's being related. I was dx with PCOS at the beginning of Jan this year, then UN-diagnosed a few weeks later, and told I have a Luteal Phase Defect (again, hormone related issue to my infertility). I STILL think I have PCOS, though. My father, grandfather, aunts on both sides ALL have Type II Diabetes, which is directly related to PCOS, as I've learned....  Anyways, I too, experience AWEFUL heart palps during my follicular phase (usually the 2nd week of my cycle, right up to ovulation time). Even worse> is when I was put on Clomid. I've been off for 4 months, adn they have drastically improved, however, my new specialist is putting me BACK on it, regardless of my complaints of the heart palps...as he believes it has absolutely no efefct on your heart.  Nice hey? I beg to differ... but I"m hoping this time, the drugs will just work, along with the IUI, and I wont have to worry about it anymore.  I just have myself so terrified of how I'm goign to feel on these drugs, I probably won't get preg. due to that alone!!!

Those of you with the PCOS/PVC knowledge> how did you fix your problem? Metformin, perhaps? My doc won't give me it.... Grrrrr.

[freemanredneck]

I have read most of the post here and I feel your agony or should I say use to.  I still once in a while have a pvc but nothing near what I use to have.  Mind you to take away by breath, feeling of someone thumping me in my chest and waking up from sleep like my heart was about to stop.  Well folks I tried it all!  My most advances in my lack of pvc's came when I switched to a vegetarian diet, taking magnesium, calcium, flaxseed, CO-Q10 and a large table spoon of Cod liver Oil daily.  I eat oatmeal for breakfast and I avoid stress.  Getting just a little excited with bring on pvc's.  Stay away from caffiene and if you drink soda pop quit immediately.  Cut down on sugar.
Getting well is you priority and lets face it our doctors medically tell us nothing is wrong but faced with the agnony we feel it hard to accept.  Come here for help and comfort as we all share a common bond.  By talking of our troubles, we help each other get through until the next day.

[anacyde]

PCOS is correlated with PVCs.

Anyhow, I know I'm not alone in saying I get odd sensations on my left side (fellow PAC/PVC sufferer).  I've been assured fifty ways to the moon that it means nothing.  Typically I just start on my right side and eventually turn onto my left, which seems to alleviate the problem.

My PACs also intensify a great deal at ovulation (primarily) and period.  I hate it, but at least it offers clues as to what my body is doing.

[Barbarella]

With your and your husband's experience when it comes to doctors I fully can understand that you have a hard time trusting doctors.  

If your insurance allows it get a second or third opinion.  Good luck to you!

Sorry to hear about your husband's lymphoma.

[lalabonte]

Thanks - I don't usually give any mind to my pvc's at all - although I still do think there is a reason for them somewhere and hold out hope that someday researchers will figure it out and come up with a cure. My father and grandmother had congestive heart failure and my uncle died of a heart attack at 40 - so I suppose I'm a little suspicious of anything involving my heart. I also find it's difficult to say the least to get doctors to take anything seriously.

A few reasons why I don't trust my doctors...my primary care phys chuckled when he saw all the pvc's on my ekg...my (male) cardiologist told me there is no link between palps and hormones (which I KNOW is not true)...10 years I was told I had sensitive skin before I was diagnosed finally with fibromyalgia...12 years I was told there was no explanation for infertility before I was diagnosed with pcos and able to be treated and get pregnant...my husband was blown off last year by a dr and told it was a lipoma when it turned out through going elsewhere and insisting on biopsy to be lymphoma...we were told his medication was safe for 5 years and it caused his lymphoma...I could go on and on!! Be your own advocate - I think most doctors couldn't care less.

[fearfactor]

I cannot lie on my left side either - I always start having palps when I do.  I just don't lie on it - I always lie either on my back or the right side which can get uncomfortable but I feel like it's worth it.  I know what you mean about the palps going away during pregnancy...mine went away nearly completely during mine.  It was SO wonderful.  Then when I had the baby, after a week or so they were back!  

[Manhattan]

You're probably getting that feeling for the same reason that many of us have more pvc's when laying on our left sides. Even my cardiologist acknowledged this, because it puts more pressure on your heart when you lay on that side. I guess the only solution is not to lay on your left side :)

[Barbarella]

I don't understand why do so many people "still" have difficulty believing that there is not more to their PVC's AFTER their doctors/cardiologists told them not to worry about them.  I can understand the uncomfortable feeling.  I believe what the Cardiologist told me "not to worry about my PVC's no matter how and when they appear", but they are still uncomfortable and I hate them, but I do trust the Cardiologist.  I used to have a nervous stomach on top of the PVC's, I will spare you the symptoms, after being throughly checked out I was told its all benign, I was happy to hear that, but still hated all the symptoms I had concerning my nervous stomach. You HAVE to trust the Cardiologist otherwise you will drive yourself nuts with worry, and the next doctor you might need to see is a shrink.  Don't let your "benign" PVC's do that to you.  

About laying on your left side.  I sometimes get a pain on the left side right underneath my breast, but I found out whenever I get that feeling I also have gas, and the doc told me "its wind around the heart" some people get that especially when laying on their left side.

[Kat102019]

Can you always 100% trust a physician? Based on my experience,  as a patient,  it is prudent and reasonable to research your concerns and to present them to your physician along with all questions you came up with VS just blindly ‘trusting’. You are doing yourself a huge favor by being an educated patient.