Bigeminy, PVC questions

[Barbmag]

I get frequent episodes of either bigeminy, trigeminy or every forth beat which is premature. I hate the episodes that go on for hours at a time and after an hour or so I can get rather panicky. The only medication that I take is 50 mg of Toprol XL which I guess helps suppress these but I am not sure. I have had this electrical problem for decades but it seems that the older I get the more numerous the PVC's and PAC's are. I am a 62 yr old female in otherwise good health..no bad health habits like smoking, etc.

I am just wondering if there are other people out there who get these bouts of concurrent PVC's that last for hours and if so what do you do? Has your doctor ever told you how long someone can go with this kind of arrhythmia before you should think about going to the ER. I do have Metropolol 50 mg to take on an as needed basis for times when the PVC's are constant but I am fearful that my blood pressure will fall too low so I always hesitate taking an additional beta blocker, even tho the one that I take daily is an extended release med. When I am having this arrhythmia, I can feel the adrenaline really spike and I get v agitated even tho I have been told by my cardiologist that these are benign. They certainly do not feel benign!!

I guess I would just like to find out from other people what you experience when you have these and how often you go into this kind of rhythm, etc. I have PVC;s or PAC's (I can't really tell the diff) every day and even get 'runs' of them everyday. Most of the time they can last anywhere from a few min to 30 min but like I said, sometimes they go on for hours at a time. Scary, scary, scary!!!

OMT~~I have had numerous cardiac tests and go to my cardiologist every 6 months for a check up. I am told that my heart function is normal.

Any info is much appreciated!! I just wish we could all find a way to decrease these pesty palps!!! I can not seem to find a thing that works, either with the RX that I am taking or supplements from the health food store.

[Barbmag]

Well said, bobad!!!! And thank you!!!

[bobad]

These doctors that call arhythmias "begnin"! Grrrr!  I don't think anything that interferes with your life is "benign".  If they're benign, how come they give you powerful drugs with dangerous side effects to control them?  

I think modern medicine overworks the word "benign", and apply it inappropriately to many conditions and situations.  We need to coin a new word that means  "A potentially serious and annoying condition that won't kill you quickly or suddenly".  :)

Good luck Barbmag,,,

[Barbmag]

Thanks Frenchie and Tara for your reply! Hope you have palp free days ahead!!

[jkfrench]

I have been having an unsual amount of skips lately and think some of it is bigeminy because they make me sit up and take notice.  These also are the skips that I feel high up in my stomach and they are the worse for me.  I think mine might be related to hormones as I am entering menapause soon.  I'm 48.  Not sure but I know what you mean about getting worried after an hour or so and they keep up.  The last time this happenned was a couple of years ago and I went and had a moniter put on.  It only recoreded about 148 in 24 hours but if felt like so many more.  As I am typing this I have felt about 5 or 6 so that is a lot for me.  I really do hate it because no matter how many times you are told it is not going to hurt you, it just seems so impossible to believe that.
My doctor told me that you can have thousands and you don't need to worry.  Seems unreal doesn't it.  I just want them to go away!
Frenchie

[taratownsend]

I also get pvc's,pac's,svt,bigeminy,trigeminy and runs. I'm not on any bb's or ccb's I'm allergic to them. When my heart gets in the rhythm of bigeminy all I can do is go about my day sometimes laying down for a while will relieve them for a while but s soon as I get up it starts back up. I really haven't found anything that helps. I take a multi vitamin every day and vit D . I was going to start taking omega 3 and see if that helps.

I hope you feel better soon.

Tara