Arm,face numbness

[bluefishon]

I used to be a former college runner but havent been running for several years. I started having PVCs 3 years ago, had holter, echo both normal. They went away for about a year.  In June this year they have come back and instead of just single missed beats I get doubles and occational triples.  Had another holter, and cardiolyte stress test, both looked ok.  I have always been aware of the pvcs, but have had no symptoms.  Recently I will feel a discomfort in my chest and then get a rushing, numbness, tingling feeling come over me, that lasts for 5-10 seconds.  The other night it was waking me up from my sleep and I also notice that I break out into a sweat.  I dont feel any skipped beats or pvcs, my rate seems steady and normal, just the chest discomfort then the rush of symtoms of arm, face and upper body numbness tingling.  What else besides the pvcs could cause these symptoms? It feels heart related because of the chest discomfort but I dont notice the pvcs.  Are these symptoms normal, any ideas on what may be causing this?  Thank you.

[heartfluttersflyawayplz]

i also have the tingling,of face ears head and get the hot flashes, mines anxiety ,plus i was really short of b-12 have that tested it can cause that to i now take a b-12 shot every week for 8 weeks untill my b -12 gets back to where it needs to be but that is one of the symptoms of b-12 tingling and hot .

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

Hello,

Sorry to hear about your symptoms.  Breaking out into a sweat is not typical of PVCs.


What else besides the pvcs could cause these symptoms?

That is a tougher question.  My job is usually to evaluate for arrhythmia which involves trying to capture your heart rhythm while one of these events is happening.  If you have an event and your rhythm is normal, then it isn’t caused by the arrhythmia.  Having a normal echo and stress test makes ischemic causes less likely – it is difficult for me to such more about this without knowing your age and cardiac risk factors – my suspicion for would be higher for a person in their 60-80’s than someone in their 20’s.

“It feels heart related because of the chest discomfort but I dont notice the pvcs.”

Chest pain does not always s mean heart.  It is common for people under stress or depressed to full a dull chest pressure.  It is different than cardiac chest pain because this chest pain is worse with down times when you have more time to think like when you are falling asleep or sitting down.  Cardiac chest pain tends to occur more with exertion.

My first step would be an event monitor to try and record the rhythm during your symptoms.

It is also reasonable to consider things like gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) if it is worth when you are lying down and after meals (this doesn’t explain the numbness).  A proton pump inhibitor or zantac like mediation may help.  Don’t right off stress as a possible cause and if it persists, consider an SSRI just to see if it helps.  Please make sure you talk to your doctor about your concerns and symptoms.  I do not have a good feel for any one diagnosis that could explain all your symptoms.

Good luck and thanks for posting.