ectopic heart beats

[adrienne]

Hi everyone. I have been reading the threads on atrial fibrillation but wondered if anyone was being treated for ectopic beats. I started with episodes about a month ago but it wasn't until I was having them every one in two or three beats was I put on Atenolol 25mgs twice a day. I was wondering if anyone else had this and how long does it take to settle.
Don't get to frazzled with all the christmas shopping!
Take care. Adrienne

 

[Mara]

Adrienne-
I am not sure what ectopic beats are. I had a lot of premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) before my surgery. One every 3 beats. The cardio called it "PVCs on the trigeminey" I was on a halter monitor a few times and then was on Corgard (Nadolol) for a few years before surgery. I still had PVCs every once in a while. Now, since 7/12/01, I haven't had any! (knock on wood)

The PVCs were bothersome, but the cardio told me they were not dangerous. So I just did a lot of deep breathing and yoga for relaxation. That seemed to help. Staying off caffiene helped, too.

Don't know if this helps.

-Mara

 

[Icarus]

ectopic heartbeats & Atenolol

ectopic heartbeats & Atenolol

Hi Adrienne,
This mignt be a little late, but I just noticed it. I'm in the same situation with PVCs, Bigeminy, Trigeminy, etc. They're all over the place. I was put on the normal post-surgery drugs and one was Atenolol. According to my doctor, this is both a wicked drug and also a drug used for little old people with heart problems. The drug limits your pulse rate to approx. 60 beats per minute maximum, which is fine if you are not highly active.
However, I'm an active person and a few times my heart went into bigeminy (PVC every other beat) and at the time I was using Atenolol. I have an acute reaction to drugs and was breaking a 25mg. Atenolol in half, taking that daily. What happened then was, in one instance, my pulse went down to approx 25 beats per minute, I almost passed out and wound up in the emergency room where they watched my heart rate climb slowly back up as the drug wore off. The other case was similar, this time I wound up with tremendous chest pains because my heart was not feeding enough blood to itself because of the rate cut in half by the beta blocker while I was PVC'ing heavily. I sat and it went away in 3-4 minutes. In both cases, the problem was brought on during periods of high activity.
I'm off Atenolol because it was found out my blood pressure is not high so I'm living with PVCs, but do not have the drug to worry about.
Good Luck,
Icarus

 

[Herb M]

I had premature beats all of last year. Every third or fourth beat was early, and wen ton all day. It was diagnosed as Premature Atrial Contraction (PAC) and was classified as benign. I started taking all types of supplements which were described as maybe beneficial for regulating heart rhythms. A couple of months ago the early beats essentially dissapeared. I do not know if it was related to the supplements or just a coincidence. Since I take so many supplements, I am not sure which if any solved the problem. I had been taking the supplements for several months before I noticed my rhythm became normal again. A few years back I also had irregular rhythms but they did not last all day and eventually dissapeared. I think I also had them soon after my valve replacement for a short period.

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi adrienne!
welcome. this is a wonderful site; i know you'll find many friends here who will be able to help you. glad to have you among our family.
funny you should mention ectopic beats... my husband joey is the patient here, however, i started having palpitations a few years ago. the cardio said i had mvp (everyone seems to have it, no big deal) and said that if the symptoms were bothering me, i should take 25 mg of atenolol, which i did. in fact, whenever i exercised they ( skipped and irregular beats) went away! so i continued my workouts and have remained in very good shape. i see him annually for a routine check up and this year, maybe because of the stress of joey's surgery, i had so many more skipped beats (palpitations, flip flopping, flutters_whatever you want to call them). i wore a holter and took my most difficult "anaerobic (it's that hard)" class with it on. ironically, i had 850 skipped beats in that 24 hour period but almost none during the class and my heart rate was steady at 170 (not high for what i was doing). i feel fine, just spooked by this feeling (i can feel them all day long). he also suggested that this may be hormone related (i'm 45). perimenopause???
joey thinks i'm having sympthy pains! lol!!
in any case, because none of these skipped beats were sequential, my cardio was not concerned. he suggested i try upping atenolol to 50 mg to see if symptoms ease, if not, he said they are totally benign and i could live with them (if i could stand it).
now... you are a vr patient and i know it may have a totally different meaning for you_ have you asked your cardio about this? you really should. when was your last echo?
please let me know what happens. i would think it would be more serious in your case. hope you feel better.
good luck and be well,
sylvia