Grrr! I really hate in when cardios tell you...

[debster913]

"PVCs are harmless, and they're just something you're going to have to learn to deal with."

Of course, I know PVCs are benign. My EP doctor told me, however, that prolonged PVCs over a long period of time (years) can negatively impact the heart.

But then, this morning, and five days into my fun with the event monitor (short runs of only PVCs), I complained to my cardio that the 150 mg of Toprol XL is making me way too tired and lowering my blood pressure too much. He said for me to go back on a 100 mg daily regimen, and then said the famous line above--something many of us PVCers have heard before. Sigh. I'd like him to experience PVCs for a week and then tell me I should "deal with it." His nurse practitioner says the EP doc should try zapping me again. Meanwhile, my EP doc says that she wants me to have this monitor to catch my PVCs while my cardio is more concerned about catching my V-Tach.

That PVC comment really got my grits, though.

Thanks in advance for your replies!
Debi (debster913)

 

[Karlynn]

If I had a nickle for every time I heard that - I'd be able to fund the stimulus package on my own. For some odd reason, some people don't feel their PVC's or other arrhythmia. My Dad never could - he was totally oblivious as to when his heart was going crazy. I can feel every blip and blurp. I went through almost 5 years of hardly ever having a normal heart rhythm. It might not be life threatening, but it's life altering.

Ask your doctor if he'd be able to learn to deal with someone continually walking behind him trying to trip him every other step. It might not be life threatening, but it would be pretty darned annoying to live with and causes you to not be able to focus on what you need to focus on.

 

[debster913]

You know what's funny, Karlynn-- sometimes I can't feel my PVCs and/or V-Tach. Sometimes when I think I'm having PVCs I'm not (weird)!

The morning after my ablation, the Hubster was taking me for a walk around the cardiac ward and the nurse who was attending to me, ran up to me all worried. She said, "You just had V-Tach! Are you OK?" And I replied, "What V-Tach?" I didn't even feel it. According to my EP doc, I have "slow sustained V-Tach." Instead of a racing feeling, my heart pretty much "jogs."

This event monitor does a continuous EKG so it picks up my abnormal heart rhythm even when I don't feel anything. When I had the other event monitor a few years ago, I had to press a button any time I felt anything out of the ordinary. Of course, I didn't have V-Tach until the last day of my time with it. Brat. I'll probably have V-Tach the day after I send back the monitor.

 

[Tbone]

Quite a few I couldn't feel, but trust me there was plenty I could. It is most annoying & gets you thinking more about it. It drives me crazy, especialy when it is racing so much I cannot even stand for lack of oxygen. But, we deal with it, and here we are complaining to others that understand where we come from. All we can do is hang in there. God Bless I know it's not politicly correct But I do mean it.

 

[abbanabba]

Ask your doctor if he'd be able to learn to deal with someone continually walking behind him trying to trip him every other step. It might not be life threatening, but it would be pretty darned annoying to live with and causes you to not be able to focus on what you need to focus on.

That's such a great analogy! I always said to my cardio "if the motor in your car was misfiring that often I'm sure it wouldn't be running efficiently, so why should my heart be any different?" ("oh sure... but they're not life-threatening" - well whoop-de-do!!).

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones that never felt mine (since my PVR they seem to have dropped right back - I'm not getting them all the time now), but I'm sure I still felt the side-effects of SOB and fatigue and chest-pain.


Debster - I think your EP is right... surely having thousands of PVCs a day over many years isn't exactly "good" for your heart! I wonder if there are any studies out there to support this?



A : )

 

[Duff Man]

I could probably punch a guy for telling my wife to just deal with it.

 

[Elcarim]

I was having heaps, freaked out big time, thought my pacemaker was playing up. I had a major anxiety attack, thought I was dying, went to the ER. Doctor there pulled a face and offered me a sedative. Could have punched him. Made me feel like an idiot who was wasting his time. Why he didn't get me a mental health person to talk to I will never understand.

I know my PVCs are directly related to stress. That doesn't make them much easier to deal with. I stress out, my heart goes mental, I stress out more. I can almost feel my blood pressure rise...

 

[sparklette77]

I too have "benign PVC's" as my EP calls them. Before my surgery (12/08) I had tons but didn't feel all of them. Usually I only felt them in the mornings if I had not gotten enough sleep, when stressed and evenings--particularly if I was working a ton. Last June my EP put me on atenolol and then after my ohs I've been on 50mgs of Toprol a day. Right after surgery every single thing that I felt in my chest would freak me out and when I told the EP he put me on an event monitor. This was an exciting 4 week process where I would wear it for days with no reason to push the button--then take it off so my skin could rest for a few days (i'm allergic to the adhesive on the back of the electrode leads) and that would be when I would have an episode. Anyway after weeks of this catch me if you can game I finally got some on the recorder and the EP said that they were also benign PVC's and that I was feeling them differently. He said they were nothing to worry about but that if they really started to bother me I can take meds for it. Recently I notice that sometimes I my heart beats in a funny way and I don't know if it is an afib episode or just long runs of pvc's so likely when I go for my next check up and tell the EP this I will be placed on another monitor to see what's what.

 

[Eva]

It is unfortuante that when doctors are not able to help us, 'we have to deal with it'!

So sorry, Deb, you are going through this...maybe you need another trip to RB.

 

[njean]

I just want to tell you that I can feel your frustration & I do know how annoying this type of attitude coming from our cardios can be.

The last time I saw my cardio I too got the "shrug of the shoulders" type answer & that's why I'll be heading to Houston to see what they have to tell me there. Who knows, perhaps I'll get the same reaction there but I'm persistent & I want anwers, good or bad --- just the truth!

Take care Debbie & we're here so please don't hesitate to post your concerns or thoughts. That in itself helps tremendously!

 

[Cooker]

I just want to tell you that I can feel your frustration & I do know how annoying this type of attitude coming from our cardios can be.

The last time I saw my cardio I too got the "shrug of the shoulders" type answer & that's why I'll be heading to Houston to see what they have to tell me there. Who knows, perhaps I'll get the same reaction there but I'm persistent & I want anwers, good or bad --- just the truth!

Take care Debbie & we're here so please don't hesitate to post your concerns or thoughts. That in itself helps tremendously!

Agree 100% .... I would seek another opinion.....

 

[Nupur]

Debi, I don't know how you live with the PVC's and even teach kids everyday. I would be a basket case. I get some weird beats every so often ( and I have no idea what they heck they are, they just feel like flutters below the left breast) and I have heard the answer of "everybody has unusual heart beat sometimes, no big deal" and it has not reassured me one bit. Yeah, it's no big deal when it is someone else, right?

 

[ponytaila1a]

I get the "old flip, flopping" especially in the evening...even on days when I did little or nothing except sit and sit and sit. Scares me!!! My worry is that they will increase post surgery.......I call them more than an "unusual heart beat".....again, that' because it's me...not someone else.

 

[Nupur]

Isn't that weird, I get them in the evenings too! Notice it when I am sitting down. Sometimes I almost feel like I shook a little bit it was so strong. But always goes away eventually. The surgeon had adviced a very low dosage of Torprol.

 

[debster913]

This was an exciting 4 week process where I would wear it for days with no reason to push the button--then take it off so my skin could rest for a few days (i'm allergic to the adhesive on the back of the electrode leads) and that would be when I would have an episode. Anyway after weeks of this catch me if you can game I finally got some on the recorder and the EP said that they were also benign PVC's and that I was feeling them differently.

I completely understand what you're going through! I have about a week left with this monitor, and I haven't had much other than the occasional few small PVCs. I felt some pretty weird beats (not sure if it was my slow sustained V-Tach or a PVC run) in the car on the way to work yesterday, but I couldn't access the monitor to record the event since I was on the freeway! Figures! Still, I haven't had any major events since my cardio visit on last week. But, I'm sure that as soon as I get rid of this event monitor, the PVCs will come out for a fun party! It always seems to be this way. My V-Tach feels differently now than it did pre-surgery, because I went from having non-sustained V-Tach before to slow sustained after.

Eva: I'm thinking another trip to RB sounds good in early April! How's the 18th sound?

I'm just the "amazing PVC girl"... Sigh.

 

[deogloria]

I've had pvc's in the hospital. (I'm presurgery.) The doc just happened to be in the room when one happened, when I had a coughing spasm. They haven't been able to figure out why I have coughing, sob and chest pain symptoms, as they say neither my aneurysm nor my valve should be bad enough for those symptoms. He seemed to think the pvc during coughing was unusual, and said to mention it if it happens again. I noticed a few more times that it happened that way. Never felt it, just started coughing and would check the monitor and see pvc's.

 

[debster913]

I'm almost done with the event monitor, and I must say, now that I've been on a steady dose of Toprol XL (running out soon, I see), my PVCs seem to be under control. I'm noticing them less and less, though I still feel some in the evenings.

It's really interesting to read all your posts with your experiences with PVCs, and all the different triggers/symptoms.

They're still a pain in the you-know-where!

I'm still expecting a not-so-fun PVC run as soon as I return the monitor! Sigh.