I can tell you that anxeity or heart condition that becomeing worried about them can cause them seem to worse. You dont want anxiety to cause more problems. When you get them it would be a good idea if you try at least for the most part to ignore them. If only to test your self to see if anxiety is a possible cause. I like to play music and I either focus on the beat or I focus on the word's when my mind go's back to my palpitaions I just tell my self I'm fine and to focus on the music. I had them so bad lots that I had to turn the music up till I could feel the music going threw my body cause I could not distract my self unless the sound viberation from the specker's were stronger than the palp's. I also had times when even that did not work and the palps would drive me mad.
Now that I'm diagnoised with IST I really have to wonder if that was tachycardia and I just did not know. I never allowed my self take my pulse and even when I was unable to ignore the palps and tryed to take my pulse I could not. I'm hopeless at takeing my pulse plus my pulse was always extreamly hard to find. The strange thing is since being on Ivabradine I can find my pulse and feel every beat fairly strong for as long as I want now, Not sure why that is.
So I guess what I'm saying is hope for the best, but if viewing them and treating them from an anxiety point of view has no effect, then tell your Dr that.
take care of your self.
I can be having what for me is a good day, and then all of a sudden that can be changed in the blink of an eye, because of these awful skipped or extra beats. I just can't seem to ignore them. I had been having not as many of them, and then last night, went to Wal-Mart to get some things, and then and there is when they started again. It just puts me in another state of mind and it takes over. I hate that. I just wish so much, that they would go away. Just don't understand why they have started up like they have, and why the dr's. say it is no big deal. Seems like if all of a sudden something changes, there would be a reason for it! :(
I have not heard of heartmath but my Phycologist has told me I need to learn to breath in threw my nose and out threw my mouth and make sure I breath in to my diaphragm, instead of just in to my chest. I have been trying but due to allergies I can rarely breath threw my nose, I've resorted to a allergy nasal spray which has helped but I hate being reliant on medications of any type. I would have never thought a person would have to learn to breath properly lol.
Hi all. I was just wondering if anyone here has heard of HeartMath and tried it, to help reduce and control physiological symptoms of stress and anxiety? (It has nothing to do with math) It is supposedly a very effective, powerful program that has helped a great many people learn to calm their emotions in a way that has a beneficial effect on physical symptoms.
You can check it out at heartmath dot org I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has been successful with this program.
Wish you all a good day!
Thank you so much quality of life is just as important as being healthy. I've also been trying to get my certificate 2 in community service work as well this year. It's been hard trying to balance being a mum with my need for more than being a stay at home mum and on top having to deal with tachycardia. It's like my body hates me or something I swear.
I have wondered if the tachycardia it because I'm trying to do too much but so many people do so much more and don't get tachycardia. So I try to see it from a challanging my anxiety and OCD point a view. If I did not get the tachycardia I would still be scared of seeing Dr's as much as I was It took me 6mth to change Dr for fear of being accused of Dr shopping. There have been so many other fears that I have challenge this year as well.
I'm so not good at making decissions I tend to just agree with people in postions of power like Dr's that included ingnoring that nagging feeling that some thing more that nxiety was really going with me it took a lot to stand my ground and say I deserve to be tested just incase it was more than anxiety. Some day's I want to go back to being oblivious to true cause of symptoms and stick my head in the sand like an ostrich, but that would be unfair to me and my kids ect. I'm sure I'll make the right the choices in the end but its very over welming to think too much about what might need to happen. Thats one thing I learned very early on when dealing with anxiety try not to think about what has happened or what might happen just focus on whats happening right now. Right now I have enough to think about my course is getting close to finishing and I have some OCD/anxiety issues to push threw to get all my assignments done.
I wish life was easier as well. There is a small part of me that does not want be compleatly anxiety free, anxiety is all I know I have had it since I was about 8. I'm more scared of what life would be like with out anxiety. It's a bit like a comfort zone and making a leap of faith trusting my phycologist that I'll be ok even if I don't plan for worst and avoide things that might hurt me or other. My OCD fear is that I be cause of harm to other's directly or indirectly.
I understand your fear of a surgery. The dr. had me set up for an appointment back in 2001 in the month of October for the ablaition and I backed out. I read some of the things that could go wrong and that scared me so bad. Even though overall they said that it was a safe procedure, it still had some drawbacks for me. I have said so often I wished I had something that could be fixed and that mine wasn't anxiety. Then the day came when they diagnosed me with svt and then the option for the ablaition. I kinda got what I wished for, but then got scared and backed out. Since then I haven't had a lot of episodes of the svt, but still too many for me. Now, I have all of the PVC's, and PAC's, and the MVP, and the anuersym. I just wish life could be more simple. I hope you get some answers to your questions and can get the best help you need. Maybe if you decide to have the ablaition, you will be cured. I know that is kinda scary to think about, but if you are having it bad enough, the dr. said it is quality of life verses the slight risk of the surgery. The dr. in the ER room that told me that actually has had the ablaition surgery himself. He said he knew what I was going through and it wasn't any fun. He was glad he had made the decision for the surgery. He said he was always scared to travel because he never knew when the svt might come on and he might not be able to get to the hospital in time. He said he was living his life around his svt. Since the surgery, he said he travels and enjoys life and doing all the things he didn't and couldn't for years. I hope you good luck. Keep me in touch. Have a nice day! Angeal :)
The cardiooligist has put me on Ivabradine which has helped heaps and I have an oppointment to have a echocardiogram on the 10 of june. Going back to see the cardioligist after the echo.
Personally I think I prefure the medication over anything invasive but only time will tell. They really have no idea what is causing the tachycardia. It's taken me over 6mth since I've known about the tachycardia because I got a pulse watch, but I've been struggling to walk and be active for over a year and trying to get the Dr's to send me for test but they all blamed it on my depression and anxiety.
Part of me has always hoped my symptoms were in my head as I hate test and even more I hate attention, but the other part of me has always wanted to have a fixable reason for why this happening to me.
When I was in hospital my own mum did not even come to see me or ring me. I grew up not being noticed by people and attention is one of my biggest anxiety producer's. It was extreamly hard being in hospital I hated being dependant on the nurses for even a glass of water. I hated pressing the call button, one of my biggest OCD fear is that while I'm getting attention from a Dr(nurse) some one sicker might be in need of that Dr(nurse). So that fear was chanlaged big time in hospital and will be challanged again when I have the Echo. If for some reason it's reconmended that I have some sort of surgery it will be challanged again BIG time.
Thank you
That sounds very interesting. I might try to look into one and purchase it. Have you ever talked with the heart dr. about doing the ablaition surgery for your tachycardia?
You can buy the polar HR watch with straps from the internet or a sports store should have them.
There are other brands other than polar but polar is one of the leading brand that are very accurate. Mine has a little heart that flashes to the beat off your heart and when I feel my pulse it matches perfectly. I love it as it also calculates my calorie by using my heart rate. I can record which is good at night to see what my adverage rate is while I sleep it also shows me my highest rate which has been good in determining how high my tachycardia gets.
I have even some that show your a plith(sort of like the ecg) wave but I cant afford one like that yet. Then you can upload it to your computer and print it.
What is a polar HR monitor and where did you get urs? I have never heard of it. I have both PVC's and PAC's, but lately I have been having more of the PAC's. The PAC's come from the upper chamber of the heart. When the dr. in the ER listend to my heart he could hear what I was feeling and told me they were PAC's, plus that is what showed up on the holter monitor I recently wore and the event recorder. Some PVC's showed up also, but mostly the PAC's. I use to always just have the PVC's, but not anymore. Not sure why that is. To me the PAC's feel way different than the PVC's. If I am taking my pulse I can feel it when it does the extra beat too early and with a PVC to me it actually feels like my heart missed a beat instead of an extra beat. Even though it actually isn't skipping. The dr. told me either way it is beating an extra beat, but it feels different because the skips come from different places.
I have a BP monitor with pulse reading as well but I wear polar HR moniter most of the so that I instantly look at the watch to see my HR. Its made it so much easier to connect my symptoms to my tachycardia and deal with my anxiety about what my HR.
I'm thinking of buying my own ECG machine. My BP machine has an irregular heartbeat symbol that comes up so often when I take my BP while standing way more than sitting. So far the Dr have only done laying ECG even thoe my symptoms are when I'm standing........this is very frustrating......
How do you know thats really is PVC's and PAC's causing all the skipping sensation every time.
I was wearing an event recorder one time years ago when I went into svt and when I sent the event in over the phone, the nurse told me what my heart rate was. I aslo have a bp machine with heart rate on it at home that tells me what my heart rate is when it gets up. I haven't had any spells with it that high in a bit. I sure hope it stays that way. I do still take the tenormin to try and control it and keep it from doing that. Sometimes it still will get up pretty high, but not to the 300.
I was wondering how you monitor your pulse to know you get up to 300 beat I dont know if you've mention that yet.
Wow, your post was very inspirational. I sit here reading, nodding and crying. This is what we all need to do. Im having PVC's today and have been told over and over Im fine. Every time I get them I try to tell myself that exact thing, but I know my subconsciece (sp?) mind feels otherwise. This is a great support group. God bless all of you!!!
Some of it is still confusing, but thanks for the info. I have never heard of an esophagus EKG. Wouldn't you have to be in continual svt to have this done. Seems like by the time they got you all prepared to do this procedure, the svt or whatever fast heart rate you were having, would be gone by the time they got ready to do this. I have had a TEE scope to evaluate the anuersym I have in my atrial septal and the numbing procudure takes the most time. Whenever I have real bad svt my heart can get up to 300 beats. This is definitely scary and no fun. I just wish I had a normal heart. I am sure there are alot of people that wish that though. :)
Hello,
On a 12 channel EKG (at hospitals, ER, doctors office) it's possible to see the difference between a "SVT" and a sinus tachycardia. It's possible, but more difficult, on a Holter or event monitor with 1-3 channels.
The subject is even more confusing because sinus tachycardia actually is a SVT, and some doctors just categorize them in "supraventricular" and "ventricular" tachycardias, that are easy to separate.
I don't know how familiar you are with electrophysiology / EKG interpretation, but the difference is in your P waves (the atrial contractions). Sinus tachycardia shows normal P waves (pointing up) in EKG lead II, because the impulse fires from up right and down, They are all similar. AVNRT, the most common "SVT" activates atrias and ventricles quite at the same time, and P wave is hidden in the QRS complex or right after. Ectopic SVT (extra pacemaker) shows "strange" or flipped P waves because the impulse fires from a spot somewhere else in the atrias.
If the tachycardia is very fast (>170 bpm) it's almost impossible to tell, because the P waves are hidden in the preceding T wave (the atrias fire as ventricles recharge) and you cannot see P waves at all. The only solution is an esophagus EKG (electrode through your mouth) because the atrias are very close to your esophagus and P waves are more clearly visible.
I hope this wasn't too confusing ;)
I just get the skipped beats whenever it seems. Although for the past three days, not counting today, I hadn't felt them hardly at all. Then last night when I went to bed, I stared to feel them again. Nothing had really changed any. Heart rate the same and stress level no difference. Then this morning when I woke up, there they were again.. Should have known they were not gonna leave me alone. That would be to good to be true. It was nice while it lasted though. I just don't know how the holter monitor can tell the difference between panic attacks, svt, or sinus tachycardia. When I was in the hospital about a month ago and they had me hooked up, my heart rate went up to about 150 or so in just a few seconds and they said I was having a panic attack. Then the other night when I was wearing the event recorder the same thing pretty much happened and they said it was psvt. Other times they have said it was sinus tachycardia. Just don't see how they know the difference, or if they do really. And what if you were exercising on the treadmill walking and your heart rate got up, because when you exercise your heart rate usuall does get up. What would the holter monitor reading show then? Would it show svt, or sinus tachycardia or panic attack? How does it know the difference? Just confused with all of this!
im glad they've gone, i get the odd one now and then but i have to ignore them because if i start thinking oh my god they're back i get more then i go into panic, i'll get them if im very full after a meal too especially anything spicey
It's very strange indeed.
I've done this "experiment" at night before sleep. If I have skipped beats on my mind, they seem to appear. If I'm afraid of something else, they don't appear.
I wonder if there is a specific "premature beats"-triggering substance that is being released when you are afraid of premature beats. But such a think doesn't exist ;) I have absolutely no reasonable explaination :)
i've wrote a few times about pvcs, i've noticed if i don't around waiting for them to happen or think about them i don't get them, they seem to have stopped around a month ago, i get the odd one if im anxious about something, i just tell myself i've done 7 or more ecgs when my heart was skipping every other beat then raced again and i must be ok or id be on meds, weird but scary things
Hello,
a PAC (or PVC) is caused by a spot in your heart that is "living it's own life" firing now and then. If your sinus heart rate was zero, those PACs (and PVCs) would keep you alive, firing somewhere between 30 BPM (ventricular escape rhythm) and 60 BPM (atrial escape rhythm).
However, when your heart rate is not zero, the sinus node "overrides" those pacemakers, and you only get one once in a while. The higher your heart rate is, the less likely one of those impulses actually are able to fire. PACs (atrial pacemaker cells) can, however, fire at extremely high frequences if affected by adrenaline, and it's not unusual to have PACs mixed in your sinus rhythm at heart rate 200. PVCs are usually suppressed at higher heart rates.
I hope this explaination helped :)
have you concidered that there still happening but because you doing other things it's just that your noticing them as often. Or maybe you think your feeling them when in fact it just that your concentrating on your heart more and causeing a anxiety reaction in your body.
I am curious..why do PACs increase when your heart rate is low or when you are resting? I can be having probably 4 or 5 a minute and get up and start moving around and they don't stop but I don't have near as many. I have asked an EP and a cardiologist and not really gotten an explanation.
I have the same problem. I have had these since age 20, so for about 27 years. I will never get used to them no matter how long I live. I believe it is hard wired into our brains to fear these things. I have tried all of the relaxation stuff and not having caffeine, sugar, etc. The only thing that helps me is to lay in bed very still and try to sleep for awhile. I have been having many more recently and they have really freaked me out. I go to see an EP doctor on Monday and my hope is that he will do an EP study. I doubt he will because they keep saying these are normal. Right now I feel just like you do. I don't want to feel this way!! I find that hobbies can help to keep the mind distracted. Distract the mind and the body will follow!! Please write me any time. I need to know that I'm not alone and maybe death is not quite as eminent as I see it.