PVC's

[stilldreamin]

Last night my doctors nurse sent me to the hospital for an ECG after I spoke with her on the phone. Over the past several weeks I had been having strange palpitations several times a day... very strong, with the sensation of having the wind knocked out of me and my heart skipping a beat. Yesterday I started having them several times a minute.
The hospital did the ECG, and told me I'm having PVC's. All other bloodwork and xrays' came back good. They said I may have been having these even before my surgery and just never felt them. I thought that was funny, cuz when they happen I can't even talk cuz my breath catches.
I had told my surgeon about them last week, and he's going to do a holter monitor in a few weeks. From what I'm reading and getting from others its nothing to be concerned about, and simply an annoyance to those of us that can feel them.
I'm almost 3 months post-surgery, and I hope that these will go away... although they've only gotten worse so far. What are everyones experiences this these? Do they go away? Is there anything they can do for them? I understand its just an annoyance and not life threatening, but they're really annoying.... I have enough trouble sleeping with the ticking and thumping... did we have to add this?

Thanks again for listening to my bitching...

jen

 

[ALCapshaw2]

There are several different Beta Blockers that are effective at controlling PAC's and PVC's.

Toprol is available as both regular and time release (Toprol XL).

Good Cardiologists will work with you to determine the Minimum Dose necessary to provide relief and minimize size effects (esp. lethargy).

'AL Capshaw'

 

[Bina]

Jen, my stinking arrhythmias have stayed.....here in Canada we don't have Toprol XL.
We have a controlled release form of Lopressor, but I've only found it in 100mg which is too much for me.
I'm stuck with the crappy Metoprolol 3 times a day. Sometimes at 4:00 a.m. my heart is wild and I take 1/4 pill.

 

[stilldreamin]

I'm currently on 25mg Metoprolol 2 times a day... my surgeon just dropped that down from 50mg 2 times a day. Maybe he shouldn't have done that? I'll talk to my doctor about putting it back up and see if that helps.
Thanks for the input!

 

[Bina]

I hope that your doc had you taper off VERY SLOWLY to reduce that dosage.

 

[kfay]

Jen, I'm sorry you are having these. I have pac's and started having them at about the 4 month post op period which now means I've been having them for 9 months. They suck. Beta blockers actually made mine worse, and I have tried two different calcium channel blockers with moderate success with each. Luckily for me, my Dr.'s at the Mayo clinic have agreed to try and ablate them next month. They think they are coming from a single source in my atrium, which if that turns out to be true, there is a 90% success rate. If there are more than one foci or it is being generated from the left side of my heart, the success rate drops quiet a bit. They will tell you they are benign over and over, but if they are really affecting your quality of life, then it doesn't really matter if they are benign.

You are still realtively new post op so there is a chance that as your heart contiunes to remodel, they will go away. I have been told that since mine have continued for so long and with the frequency that I have, they are not going to subside on their own.

There are many different meds you can try, good luck finding something that works for you.

Kim

 

[bbb]

Jen,
I started having mine about 6 mo. post op, definitely triggered by caffeine (never drank coffee, from tea and green tea),alcohol or chocolate. So I have been having them about 9 mos. now and really only noticed them strongly about 3 different few week periods in that time. First time was actually triggered by exercise and I notice when I am exercising reg. I don't get them.
Mine are just a feeling, then I stop and notice there is the skipped/contracted heartbeat. It is disconcerting, a few times I have stopped what I was doing like skiing, but mostly I try to relax and let it pass. Do you exercise...that might help. And I try to not check my pulse every time and cut out any of the triggers for a while, that usually takes them away.

Good motivator for regular exercise for me! Good luck and keep checking with doc if you have concerns.

Betsy

 

[debster913]

Last night my doctors nurse sent me to the hospital for an ECG after I spoke with her on the phone. Over the past several weeks I had been having strange palpitations several times a day... very strong, with the sensation of having the wind knocked out of me and my heart skipping a beat. Yesterday I started having them several times a minute.
The hospital did the ECG, and told me I'm having PVC's. All other bloodwork and xrays' came back good. They said I may have been having these even before my surgery and just never felt them. I thought that was funny, cuz when they happen I can't even talk cuz my breath catches.
I had told my surgeon about them last week, and he's going to do a holter monitor in a few weeks. From what I'm reading and getting from others its nothing to be concerned about, and simply an annoyance to those of us that can feel them.
I'm almost 3 months post-surgery, and I hope that these will go away... although they've only gotten worse so far. What are everyones experiences this these? Do they go away? Is there anything they can do for them? I understand its just an annoyance and not life threatening, but they're really annoying.... I have enough trouble sleeping with the ticking and thumping... did we have to add this?

Thanks again for listening to my bitching...

jen

Hi, Jen--
I feel like the unofficial PVC Queen around here, though I will have to relinquish my crown as my new meds seem to be working for me.

In my experience, my PVCs, which I'd had since my teens, got worse after surgery. My dear cardio tried everything he could to get them under control, but they just got worse. We tried everything from sotalol to Rythmol (hated it) to Toprol (made me super tired). It was finally when my cardio referred me to an electrophysiologist that things changed. I had an EP study/ablation in December. It turned out that I was having slow sustained V-Tach and lots of PVCs--all caused by my surgery. Something the surgeon did when he repaired my valve messed with my heart's electrical conduction, and the zapping session (ablation) seems to have fixed the problem. I haven't had V-Tach in three months, and now that my cardio has put me back on sotalol (Betapace) my PVCs seem to be less bothersome. The first three months post-ablation are telling, as your heart begins to stabilize and there are some last rallies of abnormal heart rhythms until things calm down. I liken it to an earthquake and aftershocks. Things are just settling in.

I've never experienced PVCs just "going away," and since they are bothersome for you, you might want to consult with an EP doctor if beta-blockers (commonly used for PVCs) don't work for you. My cardio says ablations aren't really for PVCs, and ablations aren't always successful in getting rid of them, but my ablation seemed to do it for me. I still have PVCs, but they aren't as bad as they were a few weeks ago.

Best,