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PVC, sinus arythmia, anxiety
At the end of October I started feeling strange palpitations. After seeing a doctor who told me my heart had a extra beat, I went for an EKG which showed everything was normal but I had some pvc's. I then saw a cardiologist who sent me for an echo and 24 hour holter monitor test. At the time, I wasn't experiencing the palpitations but granted both tests came back fine. Now for the past few months, at least 2 weeks every time, I get consistent strong double heart beats that really don't subside much that it makes me feel like I want to cough. It makes me so anxious that I feel even worse from the nerves. I'm so frightened that all these double beats will weaken my heart. My doctor told me not to worry and I'm fine but i have trouble believing this when my heart goes crazy and doesn't calm down for a few weeks and then disappears u till the next episode. Does anyone else get this and it comes and goes? I'm so nervous....
So ectopic beats are the same as pvc's? I'm like you, I research everything so that I'm well informed. But sometimes the more I know, the more freaked out I get-which will increase the pvc's. I go through spurts it seems every month for two weeks and then I get relief. When I do get them though, they are intense and pretty much don't stop. How can that not be dangerous? Can it weaken the heart? I really don't know how this started...anxiety?
Thanks again! How are you so knowledgeable in this area?
1 Comments
I'm not a doctor so my knowledge is limited but I have done a lot of research on the subject from having my own issues with svt and ectopic beats. I had the svt my whole life but it would start and stop on its own and when I was a child I generally only got it after I exercised really hard so I think I just assumed that is what happened when everyone pushed themselves too hard so I never told anyone. I thought it was normal or that I was hyperventilating. I never feared it though which may be why I was able to rationalize it away. it stopped without my effort so it wasn't something I had to fear.
I didn't get fearful about it until it started to happen a lot and was running longer. I smoked and assumed I caused it, made my lungs a mess and it was hyperventilating so I quit smoking and started a cardio routine. It helped me tolerate the tachycardia much better but it didn't stop anything at all. From what I understand now svt generally does get worse as you age and has nothing to do with smoking but at the time I still wasn't thinking it was heart related. I thought it was lungs affecting the heart. But when the doctor said I needed to see a cardiologist I freaked out a bit. I think I realized that there are a lot of body parts we don't need but we need our heart and when someone or something within us goes wrong with it, it is easy to get really scared because without it we would die. So I freaked a bit about getting the svt fixed but knew I needed it because I was having daily symptoms I thought were related to the svt attacks but was again mistaken making assumptions.
No one told me that I also had ectopic beats let alone explain to me what they were so when they were going off really badly after the ablation, constantly all day long and for a short stretch getting maybe upwards of 15,000 a day I was beside myself upset and scared about them. I thought I really made a bad choice doing the ablation to fix my svt but I read up on them a lot. I am the type the less I know about a health issue the more I freak out and the more my mind will wander once i know there is an issue. If I can keep my head in the sand and stay ignorant that is fine but once I am aware I tend to freak out initially until I can get a handle on what the situation is, where I stand, and what the outlook is. And so I did a lot of research and talked with people on here and came to understand that the ectopic beats, pacs and pvcs, are not a threat to me. Eventually the massive amount I was having calmed down. it happens sometimes after ablations that people experience a lot of them but they did slow down. I will likely never be totally rid of them but only have a small amount a day mostly after meals and I don't notice them nearly as much. But once a spot flares it is vulnerable to flare off again and the working understanding from the cardiology community is that regardless of how they came to be or them even totally knowing what exactly triggers them they in almost every situation in a healthy heart are not a threat to us.
So having been through my own panic about it all I figured I would stick around and try and help others who were just starting out trying to understand so they didn't have to be so afraid. In any event my knowledge is limited about it so is important to discuss with a doctor any health concerns that you have but it's also helpful to know you aren't alone so I share my experience and what I have learned to be my triggers that can help others.
I didn't get fearful about it until it started to happen a lot and was running longer. I smoked and assumed I caused it, made my lungs a mess and it was hyperventilating so I quit smoking and started a cardio routine. It helped me tolerate the tachycardia much better but it didn't stop anything at all. From what I understand now svt generally does get worse as you age and has nothing to do with smoking but at the time I still wasn't thinking it was heart related. I thought it was lungs affecting the heart. But when the doctor said I needed to see a cardiologist I freaked out a bit. I think I realized that there are a lot of body parts we don't need but we need our heart and when someone or something within us goes wrong with it, it is easy to get really scared because without it we would die. So I freaked a bit about getting the svt fixed but knew I needed it because I was having daily symptoms I thought were related to the svt attacks but was again mistaken making assumptions.
No one told me that I also had ectopic beats let alone explain to me what they were so when they were going off really badly after the ablation, constantly all day long and for a short stretch getting maybe upwards of 15,000 a day I was beside myself upset and scared about them. I thought I really made a bad choice doing the ablation to fix my svt but I read up on them a lot. I am the type the less I know about a health issue the more I freak out and the more my mind will wander once i know there is an issue. If I can keep my head in the sand and stay ignorant that is fine but once I am aware I tend to freak out initially until I can get a handle on what the situation is, where I stand, and what the outlook is. And so I did a lot of research and talked with people on here and came to understand that the ectopic beats, pacs and pvcs, are not a threat to me. Eventually the massive amount I was having calmed down. it happens sometimes after ablations that people experience a lot of them but they did slow down. I will likely never be totally rid of them but only have a small amount a day mostly after meals and I don't notice them nearly as much. But once a spot flares it is vulnerable to flare off again and the working understanding from the cardiology community is that regardless of how they came to be or them even totally knowing what exactly triggers them they in almost every situation in a healthy heart are not a threat to us.
So having been through my own panic about it all I figured I would stick around and try and help others who were just starting out trying to understand so they didn't have to be so afraid. In any event my knowledge is limited about it so is important to discuss with a doctor any health concerns that you have but it's also helpful to know you aren't alone so I share my experience and what I have learned to be my triggers that can help others.
Thanks for responding! Although I was checked by a cardiologist, it annoys me that when I had my holter for 24 hours, it didn't pick up any extra beats because they had gone away. This seems to be a pattern. I get strong, extra beats consecutively for a two week period and then they go away until the next time. It's all day everyday, every few minutes. I start researching everything online and get even more anxious. Some info says that if you have 3 palpitations in a row that it could be deadly! So of course I'm nervous. What was it that you had? SVT?
1 Comments
Three in a row is only deadly in the context of an unhealthy heart with damage and scaring because the signal can get caught in a reentry circuit similar to what I had around my avnode. I had an svt called avnrt where I had an extra pathway into my avnode that on occasion the signal would get through and loop back out the main pathway in causing my heart to beat super fast at rates well into the 200s. The one I had finally caught on a 30 day monitor was at a rate of 230. Normal resting is below 100. It would start and stop in what felt like one beat for no reason at all but I did come to find out that it was triggered by having ectopic beats or what you are feeling which is a different issue all together.
Ectopic beats simply mean there is a spot in the heart that is capable of initiating an extra beat along with the sa node. The sa node is the main beat creator but the heart has other spots in the atria and ventricle where it can start a beat and it is mainly a safety measure to ensure if something happens with the sa node your heart can continue to beat. More often than not though the spot gets triggered for who knows why and unfortunately once it is triggered it is sensitive to being triggered from now on. The common triggers I mentioned before.
I had svt my whole life but was not aware of the ectopic beats. I think I just figured it was all the same thing but once the svt was corrected I became very conscious of the ectopic beats and I do admit they are much more distracting than the svt ever was that would come and go in a hurry. The ecotpic beats can distract you all day long but in isolated numbers they really are not dangerous. They are simply ill timed heart beats but the heart can handle it.
Unfortunately what happened with your monitor is common. The heart settles down the day you have the monitor. I had a holter at first and had an episode of svt the day before I got the monitor but not the day I had it on. You could ask for a 30 day monitor to try and catch it but only have them every few minutes is considered isolated and the doctors would likely deem yours benign but it is understandable you would want to get a gauge on the amount you are having so see if you can get a 30 day. You would have at least a month to try and catch it. But unless your heart is damaged then the extra beats will not likely get caught into a reentry loop like my svt did. It is when that happens and the heart can't get them to stop that it become dangerous. In other situations the heart will correct itself so just try to do your best to not get anxious over the. Getting anxious will produce stress hormones which will set off the extra beats more. If you can try relax your breathing and calm yourself you may find that they subside sooner. Coughing can help but sometimes we just have to wait them out. But people live their whole lives with these and it never becomes an issues. Live a heart healthy lifestyle and you should be fine. Take care. I am around if you have more questions.
Ectopic beats simply mean there is a spot in the heart that is capable of initiating an extra beat along with the sa node. The sa node is the main beat creator but the heart has other spots in the atria and ventricle where it can start a beat and it is mainly a safety measure to ensure if something happens with the sa node your heart can continue to beat. More often than not though the spot gets triggered for who knows why and unfortunately once it is triggered it is sensitive to being triggered from now on. The common triggers I mentioned before.
I had svt my whole life but was not aware of the ectopic beats. I think I just figured it was all the same thing but once the svt was corrected I became very conscious of the ectopic beats and I do admit they are much more distracting than the svt ever was that would come and go in a hurry. The ecotpic beats can distract you all day long but in isolated numbers they really are not dangerous. They are simply ill timed heart beats but the heart can handle it.
Unfortunately what happened with your monitor is common. The heart settles down the day you have the monitor. I had a holter at first and had an episode of svt the day before I got the monitor but not the day I had it on. You could ask for a 30 day monitor to try and catch it but only have them every few minutes is considered isolated and the doctors would likely deem yours benign but it is understandable you would want to get a gauge on the amount you are having so see if you can get a 30 day. You would have at least a month to try and catch it. But unless your heart is damaged then the extra beats will not likely get caught into a reentry loop like my svt did. It is when that happens and the heart can't get them to stop that it become dangerous. In other situations the heart will correct itself so just try to do your best to not get anxious over the. Getting anxious will produce stress hormones which will set off the extra beats more. If you can try relax your breathing and calm yourself you may find that they subside sooner. Coughing can help but sometimes we just have to wait them out. But people live their whole lives with these and it never becomes an issues. Live a heart healthy lifestyle and you should be fine. Take care. I am around if you have more questions.
Hi Stacey, Welcome to the forum. I know it can be hard to believe but the extra beats really are not a threat to your heart healthy since your heart was evaluated to be healthy. It's only when our heart is diseased or damaged that they can pose a threat to us but a few extra beats here and there is nothing to worry about. That is basically how I like to view them. As harmless little extra beats. I had an svt where my heart was beating over twice as many beats as it should so a few here and there is not much. Unless we are having well over 10,000 a day they really don't bother the heart much. Stressing about them may actually bring more on so do your best to tell yourself you are fine and ignore them. Also avoid caffeine, cut back on sugar and carbohydrates, spicy foods, and heavy meals. Also try to make sure you are well hydrated and see if that helps. For some, unfortunately, they really aren't able to pinpoint triggers and the best they can do is ignore them so they don't take over their life. If you need to cough to break up the beats then do so, it seems to help me. Other than that work on the anxiety it is causing and hopefully you can stop noticing them. Take care.
Hi Stacey, Welcome to the forum. I know it can be hard to believe but the extra beats really are not a threat to your heart healthy since your heart was evaluated to be healthy. It's only when our heart is diseased or damaged that they can pose a threat to us but a few extra beats here and there is nothing to worry about. That is basically how I like to view them. As harmless little extra beats. I had an svt where my heart was beating over twice as many beats as it should so a few here and there is not much. Unless we are having well over 10,000 a day they really don't bother the heart much. Stressing about them may actually bring more on so do your best to tell yourself you are fine and ignore them. Also avoid caffeine, cut back on sugar and carbohydrates, spicy foods, and heavy meals. Also try to make sure you are well hydrated and see if that helps. For some, unfortunately, they really aren't able to pinpoint triggers and the best they can do is ignore them so they don't take over their life. If you need to cough to break up the beats then do so, it seems to help me. Other than that work on the anxiety it is causing and hopefully you can stop noticing them. Take care.
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