palpitations

[Caroline]

I suffer from severe heart palpitations (female - age 39).  Five to six times per day I feel funny things going on in my heart.  Sometimes I get three hard beats followed by a pause and then a thump. Other times I just get a thump and yet other times a fluttering feeling.  I have been through every test imaginable and the doctors cannot find anything wrong with me.  They once caught a short run of v-tach on a holter monitor but I have had two EP studies and they could not induce anything so they told me not to worry.  I WORRY!!!!!!  I have read terrible things about v-tach and it really scares me to think that my heart can go into this rythum.  They say that I am super sensitive and too tuned into my heart.  Who wouldn't be when they feel all of these weird things going on?  Do you think the doctors could have overlooked something with all of this testing I have had done - or am I just making a big deal about nothing.  These things have really taken over my whole life. Should I really be ignoring all of the bumping, thumping, fluttering etc?

I was prescribed atenolol years ago (which I go on and off) - I hate being on any drugs.  I have very low blood pressure (90/50).  I started on 25mg of atenolol but I get terrible headaches and my heart still skips like crazy.  I thought atenolol was supposed to help people with migrane headaches as well so I can't understand why I get the awful headaches when I am on it.  Would 50mg of atenolol not drop my blood pressure too much?  I have heard of people that are taking atenolol that say their palpitations have stopped completely? Why some people and not others. My EP doctor said I could try mexitil if I really wanted to but it was not necessary (I think she was trying to pacify my because I have become such a nuisance worrying about these things).  I am too scared to try mexitil as well though.  I would like to try to get to am American Heart Clinic (one such as the Cleveland one), but I don't know how a Canadian would go about getting to be seeing in one.  I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Thank you for any information you can give me.

[Aris]

Hi.I'm a male 20 years old. I'm a very anxious person but also what they call "adrenalin junkie" . Been doing all kinds of sports . After a period of stress and sadness cause of a loss of person i have these symptoms: tachycardia,missing heartbeats or extra of them,feeling my pulse,sometimes i feel dizzy and i think my blood pressure is going up and also chest pain and also abnormal heart rate. I have had a 4 EGC and 1 ECHO and all turned ok. My doctor even signed up a document saying that i'm OK for playing football (this was wanted by the team). Funny is that when i am anxious these thinks happen (maybe i have an anxiety disorder or something), i also have them when i am concetrated on my pulse or when i am standing up from a sitting position (but almost always when i think of it !) and last i have them when i eat a lot . Conclusion : i believe that most of us have anxiety disorders that cause them . I'm really afraid when these happen and i also think what if i get a heart attack or stroke? But now that i am in peace of mind i think that these are cause by my brain. I have read recently that the nervous system affects a lot the heart beat,but it is impossible to force a heart attack to your self if your heart is OK!

I'm really happy to see that many people have these symptoms and none of them have an ill heart.

My e-mail is : ***@**** and i welcome anyone similar to me to mail me!

Aris

[jan]

My heart goes out to all of you!!!  My pvc's never were bad or very bothersome, coughing or changing my position would make them go away quickly.  I am on atenolol for IST and NCS ( I, also, have mild mvp, mild mr & tr). Now that I am on atenolol the pvc's are worse, not bad, but worse (one time I had them for 45 min.) Maybe it's just a coincidence, however I did read that it could cause rhythm problems as a side effect.  It makes you wonder,doesn't it?
Also, someone suggested even'g primrose oil, if you're female and not postmenopausal, I suggest you stay away from it. (It is estrogen and dr.s do recommend it for menopause). As far as potassium, too much is just as bad as too little, and can be serious. A dr. told me if you take potassium in herbal form it should be okay.

[brian]

Three months ago I started having PVCs. I am 40 years old, male and was very atheletic. I had a particularly stressful work week and then went for a hard bike ride on the weekend. On monday morning my heart was doing major flip-flopping! My doc took an ECG and didnt see them but did catch them on a monitor and says they are not dangerous. These things are so distubing and uncomfortable that they are really ruining my life. I will have a treadmill test in 2 weeks to confirm nothing else is wrong. My PVCs feel like my heart stops and then beats REAL hard. Somtimes they are almost painful. Mine are definitely affected by my actiity level and seem to occur primarily in the morning and early afternoon. If I walk up stairs or move around alot they they happen, however if I lay down they almost always go away. One month ago I got tired of being held hostage to these things and decided to start execise again. Initially they bothered me quite a bit but I kept it up. If I exercise hard then I notice that the next day they seem to be worse and I need a day of rest to go again.
I plan to ask about the beta blockers. Does anyone have any other remedies that may work? Can I expect that these things will ever go away? These are really lowering the quality of life for me. Please explain more on the beta blockers and other treatments. P.S I tried magnesium, calcium, coenzyme-Q and they havent worked.

[Sharon]

What a great find!  There are so many of us.  This is another me,too, letter.  I'm 53, about 30 lbs overweight.  Post menapausal.  have experienced premature beats off and on since my early twenties.  Same stuff.  Dr says its not harmful.  I do know that for me, anyway, there is a STRONG stress connection, and for women, especially, we are programmed to believe our lives are not stressful and sometimes its up to our body to send us the message that we need to change some things.  Slow, relaxed breathing can often break the cycle.  Mild excercise (going for a walk) often helps.  My husband had a heart attack about 8 weeks ago and we are now both committed to a vigorous regimen of excerise, lo fat diet, and making sure we are enjoying life.  I'm here to tell you it makes a world of difference!  Eliminating caffeine, smoking etc will help other things in addition to the heart hiccups. A glass of red wine with dinner is a wonderful thing, but too much can be a trigger.  They even have a name for it -- Holiday Heart. And I found vitamins -- calcium, magnesium, zinc,(taken together) vitamin E, potassium also make a difference.  I have an emergency prescription of Inderol for the times I need it.  It really helps.  I hate taking medications, too, but now give myself permission to take one when I need it.  It's all about breaking the cycle and getting my mind off the skips. I've lost about 10 pounds and feel stronger with regular excercise and eating good wholesome organic food.  I also give regular thanks for my heart.  I put my hand over it and imagine it strong and healthy and faithfully beating and say thank you.  It's goofy, but, heck, it works!   What a comfort to know that I'm not the only one and I hope this, in turn, brings some comfort to someone else.

[kimmie]

hi my name is kimmie and i too suffer from pvc's. i am 24 years old and have had them since i was 16. i, like the rest of you are very frightened by them . i have been to 4 doctors and had every test done known to man, the results : i have a normal heathly heart. when the pvc's first started they were constant for about 3 years then subsided for about 3 years. last october they started up again having them everday for 6 months. i got sick last month ,with the flu, and i relaxed for 2 days and the pvc's disappeared. i went to my doctor and he said they go in remission but they do eventually return. its amazing how your life seems totally different without the pvc's. im a much happy person now , im no longer obssesed with my pulse. i was also diagnosed with anxiety disorder which is a major factor with my pvc's . its funny but i dont know what caused what did the pvc's cause the anxiety disorder or did the anxiety disorder cause the pvc's? its kinda like what came first the chicken or the egg?

[Elizabeth Jane]

Read all your postings and did not find one of you having mvp or maybe I missed one or two!  I have a redundant mitral valve with effussion which was once dx as a innocent murmur! Now I have flutters and thumps maybe twice a month, once it was for 4 weeks and I was told not to worry! OK! I have been dx as having chronic fibroymialgia, sle (lupus), and cns visual phenomena with (ms) symptoms ie imbalance, vertigo, vision loss (left eye) periodically, pins and needles re: right arm, numbness or dullness on my back, dorsal area, trauma to my cervical area..so I do not know what is causing any of this..no answers..some dx's, but mostly, wait and see attitude...incontinence is a bummer!! I am 55 now, just a few more years to go...so? Get help from the appropriate doctors, be firm, state your symptoms and get results! Good luck! Elizabeth Jane