Ventricular Ectopic Beats

[Gogga123]

Good day -
On my routine visit to the giny in Jan 2014, he discovered my heart is irregular.  I am 44 years old.  On no meds and in good health otherwise.  Although I suffer from anxiety attacks for years.  On no meds for the anxiety.  I went for ECG and ECHO - my heart has no defect - diagnosed with Ventricular Ectopic Beats.  A lot of VEB's.  The dr priscribed Bilocor 5mg.  I think it is a type of Beta Blocker and also a magnesiun pil.  The Bilocor bring my heart rate down, but still the missing beats.  I wake every morning very anxious!  Then I can feel my heart start up!!  And missing beats.. but later during the day it come to rest.. although I charge easily up.. and then I feel the missing beats again.  I sleep very well and calm.  I do not have other symtoms like dizzy, chest pain, cholesterol.  I have to see my dr on Friday again for a three month check-up.  From what I have read about all these VEB's I do not think I have to worry about my condition?  Just try to lower down the Anxiety?

[marlinspike]

I have frequent PVCs and they have caused me huge anxiety. It is hard to accept that they are benign if you have them frequently and have symptoms. If you are a sufferer there are really 2 aspects to your predicament - first the PVCs, secondly the anxiety. I have found that not much works in stopping the PVCs (if you don't want meds),though avoiding triggers like heavy meals can help. However, there is a great deal you can do to help the anxiety. This site and the All Experts Cardiology forum gave me great reassurance about PVCs being mostly benign.There are some good cognitive therapy books that will help you get away from negative thinking, and there are some excellent calming meditations on sites like Tara Brach's. Health anxiety is a terribly draining and frightening condition - I struggled for several years in a state of panic over my PVCs - but you can work the anxiety with all the free stuff on the web.

[Gogga123]

Artaud - thanx for the reply.  Exactly - I think my VEB's are directly related to my thoughts.  I had such a wonderful weekend - did not think about my heart - just relax.  

[Artaud]

Sorry I didn't see your post sooner, I'm very happy for you. It's difficult convincing ourselves that it's OK, but after testing and diagnosis, it's best to relax. It doesn't take much for me to start getting PVCs, the slightest frustration causes them, but we can actually cause ourselves to have PVCs just by thinking about our hearts, because we worry. I've also stopped them by thinking about things that are relaxing to me, we have lakes near where I live, the Great Lakes, they're actually inland seas. I've thought of the relaxing feeling I get when I look out over the lake and had the PVCs become much less frequent. Meditation is supposed to help.

Best wishes, glad to hear the good news.

[Gogga123]

Hi there -  I went this morning for my three month visit to the physician - and I could feel my heart is terrible.  From yesterday - totally out of bounce!!  Hectic!!  But the dr was cool and dalm about my situation!  He said all the tests he did indicate that my VEB's is benign - he did a full blood test, kidney functions, thyriod - and the heart itself is fine.  Hy prescribed new meds to calm the heart down.  I think I just have to learn to breathe in and out and relax.  Thought I give feedback - I feel better after the dr's visit.  You keep well.  Greetings from a lovely Cape Town in South Africa - weather is perfect and beatiful today here!

[Gogga123]

Artaud -
Much appreciated your reply.  This things all work in a 'vicious' circle!  Good to know a lot of people suffers from this.  

[Artaud]

There are those of us that feel every ectopic beat of our hearts, and many many people that don't. Visits to their family doctor or specialist is often the first people are aware of an irregular heartbeat. You were seen by a doctor or doctors, received tests, and should feel comforted.

We have a sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, the sympathetic speeds us up, it wakes us in the morning, speeds up our heart rate. The parasympathetic nervous system calms us down, slows the heart, prepares us for sleep. It's not surprising you wake up tense, concerned that the ectopics will start, indeed, they are more prone to start since your heart is running at a faster rate.

Anxiety and stress are well known for causing or contributing to ectopics. In the absence of heart disease and issues with the conduction system on the heart, the occurrence of PVCs is quite harmless. If your doctors felt that an underlying condition may be causing them, they would order additional tests, and in your case, they did, doing the ECG and ECHO tests, and must be convinced that all is well.

I've had bouts of ectopics on and off for 40 years, in the midst of a bad one now, but after testing, the doctors insist it's harmless (they say benign). I had a 24 hour Holter monitor, it showed 6000 PVCs, the doctors are unconcerned.

Beta Blockers tend to slow the heart rate and make the force that the heart contracts with less hard. In doing so, by slowing your heart, many people experience less ectopics, and by making the force the heart contracts with less hard, the ectopics you get don't feel as bad. Doctors discovered along time ago that medications that are stronger can cause more harm when the only problem is a benign irregular heart beat. Try to relax, remember the doctors have checked your heart and feel all is well, the more you fear them, the more likely you are to get them. And remember, many many people have them but don't feel them, therefore they don't worry about them. These things are much more common than most people realize.