Now I have bigeminy?

[Nurse2b1982]

Hello everyone! So I called my new EPs office today and talked to the RN about some recent chest pain/burning I have been having. She told me it was fine and of course....not to worry. Then she proceded in going over my latest holter results again with me. Everything she told me was the same as last week....960 PVCs, isolated, etc. Except she then told me that I had 109 beats of Bigeminy! I was not told this last week and was confused as to why no one had told me previously. She said...of course...not to worry, and that they worry more when they come in a row(like on my previous holter, I had two runs of 3). Well I always had the understanding that bigeminy was a dangerous rhythm, due to my pervious experience working in an ER....a 50 year old lady came in after drinking a pepsi and was in bigeminy and she then developed torsades de pointes and died! So has anyone on here had experience with bigeminy? I need some info on this like what to expect, danger, etc? thank you in advance! oh and PS...I will be getting copies of my records as soon as I get the $ because I don't feel I will get the full truth until I do.

[buggsy62]

I was diagnosed with bigemeny about 5 years ago.  Anytime I have an EKG, I usually wind up in the ER because the Dr. doing it is concerned.  The way they put it is "you have a very scary EKG".  I was told to see the state expert in this field and was given an ultrasound, stress test, etc.  He determined there is no existing deformation and told me that basically there isn't an explanation as to why I have this.  I was told not to worry about it.  To be honest, I rarely notice it because I have had the issue for so long.  I was also diagnosed with severe sleep apnea about 6 years ago, and perhaps some of the heart issues developed out of that.

Anyhow, I find it very frustrating that there are no clear answers for this condition except to be told not to worry about it.  I don't want to take drugs for it as I realize these can do more harm than good.  All I can do is keep my weight reasonable, exercise regularly and get decent sleep.  I also limit my intake of caffine.  I wish I had some answers for you, but I share in your concern and frustration.

[Nurse2b1982]

Hi guys! Thanks for responding and sorry I didn't post sooner, I have had a rough couple days:(
It"s not that I don't trust my new Dr. but I don't think that medical professionals disclose all of the details to the pt for whatever reason. I am the type of person that wants to know all of the details, no matter how insignificant they seem. I understand that not all people are like me so they may see this as mistrust or irrelevant, but I need to know everything, especially when it comes to my heart! I refuse to believe that I could go from 0 PVCs a day to 20,000 a day for no reason! I am determined to find an answer to my problem and if I investigate with my doctors and we still don't get an answer, then I will just except my fate. I will try all research and options until I have not more avenues to explore and I expect my Dr. to respect my wishes and do the same.
Lisa- thank you for everything you say....you have really been a comfort to me. I know you understand me probably better than anyone because we have both had large numbers and most likely, felt the same things. My Dr. does charge 89 cents a page so I will proably need $100 with all my records. :) Thank you again for your compassion, knowledge, and understanding.

[Mom2four85]

sorry I should have answered this way - what has happened to me personally, sometimes I open my mouth and don't think first :P

In May 2007 my pcp did an EKG, even though it showed very frequent pvc's in a bigeminal & trigeminal pattern, it was of no concern to him and considered "benign"

forward to June 2009 to my current pcp, when he saw the EKG he was astounded that someone affiliated with his clinic could have dismissed something so profound

I saw my first cardiologist she said the same thing and sent me to an EP, both told me nothing was wrong with my heart structurally, said EP told me this pattern my heart was in was bad would cause damage and I needed to have surgery asap

I got a 2nd opinion from the head of cardiology at our local university - USF; she said I just cured someone with 39,000 pvcs last week no big deal, here try this "miracle" drug called toprol - which put me in the hospital

I went back to the original EP scared to death because at this point, I didn't know who to believe or trust - I request my medical records - and find out, guess what? my heart is NOT structurally normal; several things wrong with it they didn't tell me, I question them and they admit, they may have "missed" a couple of things

I have a simple ablation and find out my heart stops because of VTach and had a HUTT that shows ANS dysfunction, and had several tests to find out why this was happening and those yield no answers to what is causing this all - so I'm back at square one with no reason but a multitude of problems

again, never dismiss how you feel, trust your inner gut feeling

[Mom2four85]

grrr sorry for all the typos, I wish you could edit the posts you make here, but you cant :P

I meant to say they didn't find out what was wrong with me was malignant until I had my ablation.

[Mom2four85]

I can see it from both sides, been on both sides of "nothing is wrong" to malignant dangerous pvc's; that caused cardiomyopathy in a very short period of time.  That "nothing" was wrong really was and a doctor overlooking a very prevelant dangerous PVC pattern.  

Just because "most" pvc's including bigeminy, trigeminy, couplets, triplets, salvo's are benign, doesn't mean they always will be, they can lead to cardiomyopathy if left in that pattern long enough.  

Stress, anxiety, emotions can all make this worse, and unless you've been in this situtation with 30,000000000+ (exaggeration but you get the point) you won't know how it feels.

Some drs just think that giving a patient a pill will be the cure all; and it isn't and it sounds like something is going on with the burning type pain - for me that was inflammation and what they thought was benign was dangerous, until I had a cardiac ablation.

As I suggested in your other post - you have to advocate for yourself and take charge - ask for that specific test copy - most drs don't charge for them, but I assume from this post yours does?  Only 1 of mine did and it was $1 per page - I would get the results just from holter results.

Things can happen and when you have the amount of pvc's like we do, there's no telling what, when, how etc - they will or won't become something dangerous - there's things they look for and part of that you and I have, but there are NO guarantees; from anyone else or the medical profession I can attest to that.

I would get my results and go in to see the dr and tell him what's going on, if he doesnt yield answers then find another dr who will.  Or make an appt, tell him during the appt you want to see the results, read it over jot down notes and then ask him questions.

we each know our bodies best and know deep down when something just doesnt feel right, step back and see if you can pinpoint if it's stress/anxiety adding to your symptoms or something else

[cindy707]

This is where it comes into play that people w. a medical background are the ones who get more stressed than the pt. who has none.  The woman who expired no doubt had other issues going on with her and docs generally aren't too concerned w. bigeminy unless there is an underlying structural problem w. the heart.  You have to quit thinking that the docs are hiding things from you and learn to trust they and their staff and if for some reason you can't you need to seriously consider finding a new doc that you can trust because this is so not good for you waiting for an ax to fall that may never happen or thru anxiety setting off PVC's that could be avoided and not generated thru stress.  By getting copies of your med records seriously what would it solve and what can you change except being a little more informed and that is what your med professionals are there for...informing you.  Many many people have big. and docs don''t even bother to treat it because in many cases it is benign...somehow nurse2b you went from 0 to 100 in 60 seconds with this and are looking at the far end of the spectrum that is mostly reserved to extremely ill people......i would find a safe place in my mind for this so you can go back to your life and schooling and learn from your own experiences not the negative ones of other.....call the doc don't talk to the nurse obviously she isn't giving you the answers you need nor the reassurance......good luck to you...........