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Amy2Crazy
29-07-08, 19:16
I saw that a couple of us had posted on different threads talking about palpitations that go on for hours and hours. This is not 5 or even 50 a day, this is something that starts up and goes for hours and hours. The first time I went to the ER due to the palpitations, I finally went after reading on a website that if they went on for more than 20 minutes, I should seek medical attention. They had been going for about 7 hours, every other beat. It was pretty much one regular beat, a half-second of breathlessness, then a hard beat...so, basically, every other beat was ectopic for hours and hours. I was actually able to catch them on the ECG at the ER, even though all of the other tests came back normal. They sent me home after four hours, with a diagnosis of premature ventricular constriction (or contraction), still having them. In fact, when I went to sleep that night I was still having them, but they were gone by the time I woke up the next morning. In all, that day, I had them for about 14 hours that I knew of. After that day, I only was aware of them one other time, until today. This morning I woke up feeling fluttery in my chest, so I took my BP (my monitor has an irregular heartbeat detector on it) and it was borderline (140/90) pulse was okay, 75, but the irregular heartbeat was there. I had a bad night last night, up until almost 5am trying to calm myself by playing the games here in the arcade (brilliant addition, by the way), then awake until 7 trying to go to sleep....now I am afraid, because of the obviously disturbing sensation of your heart going wonky....
How many of us get these for hours and hours? I was starting to feel very alone, since most people describe only getting a few a day, and mine start and just don't stop, but I feel a little better having seen posts on another thread.....

Thanks everyone,
Always,
Amy

debera
30-07-08, 01:18
hi amy
yes i can get them for hours and hours every other beat. when this first started i thought i was going to die for sure. i was so scared. but the doc reasured me it was just anxiety. i sure know how you feel though they are horrid. pm me if you want
debera:hugs:

Rachey poos
30-07-08, 01:41
I am with you.... what did they say to you... were they concerned at all as i getthen like this during a panic attack...my pulse misses every other beat! scarey but im learning to live with it..... no one knows do they!

Amy2Crazy
30-07-08, 03:09
Thanks for the response... The docs all said it was nothing to worry about and that there was nothing that could be done for them.... Well, actually, the ER doc said "There is no treatment for PVCs" and my GP said "We need to figure out how to get the PVCs under control" so I don't know what that means at all....it is getting quite disheartening... I need to call a cardiologist he told me to call for a Holter monitor...not sure how much that is going to cost or if I can even afford it... Does anyone even know what a Holter monitor picks up? if it is the PVCs then I don't see why I would need that since they showed on the ECG...

One minute I feel like everything will be just fine, and the next I feel like I just don't know what is going on.....I am so tired of feeling this way...

Always,
Amy

Rachey poos
30-07-08, 09:34
bless you ...it must put extra pressure for you at te fact you have to pay for your treatmrnt ! how awful... when i get these every other beat i feel my pulse miss then beat then miss then beat but when it misses in the pulse the part of my hert under my ribcage beats...is this what you get?:blush:

debera
30-07-08, 12:53
hi rach
its horrid isnt it. i feel them like you do. well the doc said just anxiety and try to focus on other things. thats hard to do. i am so phobic of doctors and hospitals and dentists too. do you get them for hours and hours too
debera:hugs: :hugs:

Amy2Crazy
30-07-08, 20:10
What I get feels like a little implosion in my lungs, like suddenly the air is sucked out, then I get a really hard beat... Sometimes I get a pain and pressure under my left ribs, almost like I've run a sprint... do you ever get that? Is that part of the palps?

yes, it is really hard to have to pay for everything... I am already looking at at least $3000 (USD, not sure how much that is in other currency) for the three ER visits. The doc costs between $55 and $100 per visit, which I have to pay when I am there. It is getting even harder, because I've cut myself down to half-time at work, and am seriously considering quitting altogether, since my symptoms always get worse when I am there (I work a 25-hour shift, but only get paid for 20 as I sleep there, used to work a 50-hour shift before I cut my hours). I worry about the added pressure this puts on my boyfriend, who will have to pull the extra weight. I worry about a lot of things, all the time....

Always,
Amy

Rachey poos
30-07-08, 22:00
Well I really feel for you hun... I have a phobia of doctors and anything medical. even passing my doctors makes my heart start flippin all over the place and it really scares me x x Debra I have never ever met anyone who has them like me...to the extent of the heart going out of sync on after the other...its almost like you have 2 hearts going on in there.... please PM me...I wake up in the night with them so bad but I find that if I lay on the bedroom floor with my legs on the wall (ive heard the blood rusehes back to the heart ) it dont last as long.... its weird ..I also get them one after the other when I walk anywhere...this is making me agrophobic and scared to go anywhere.... please click on my blog and have a read... it tells you how bad i get these. But darent go the doctors!!!!!!!!!!!!:wacko: :wacko: :wacko: :wacko: i do know its anxiety...well im begining to believe it but how the hell can your ticker do this! i have been like this a yr after having a panic attack after riding 7 miles on my own to my mums on my bike when I was suffering panic attacks at the time..stupid thing to do ...soi think i relate heart flips to excersice as I even get a run of them after climbing the stairs x do you ?:doh: :doh:

Worrier
30-07-08, 22:20
Hi Amy,

When I read your post it was like reading about myself a few years back. It all started Nov of 2002 and I thought I was dying. I couldn't believe that my body could feel like that and that I wasn't going to drop down dead. I had palps exactly the same as you 24/7 for 4 months before I finally broke down and went to docs. Was there 4 hours, had EKG, thyroid test etc etc. They finally put me on Lexapro (SSRI) and within a week the palps had gone completely. Honestly while I was going through it I thought I would die in my sleep and then I would have pains in the middle of my chest all the time with the palps. It was the WORST time of my life.

Try and talk to your doc about Lexapro (it is an anti-depr and general anx medicine) but it absolutely worked for me. I was on it about 2 1/2 years and then weaned myself off of it. I have been without meds now for 2 years and doing okay. Still suffer with health anx so now I worry about every little ache and pain but think it all stems from the palp thing.

I would be happy to talk with you or email (I am in Las Vegas) so if you are interested send me a private message and we can get in touch. I am happy to help you any way I can as I so understand what you are going through and also the stresses of paying for stuff here in USA.

Take care and I look forward to talking with you.

Natalie

ronski
31-07-08, 12:30
Hi Amy

Try not to worry about them. I had a period about 3 years ago where I had 3 weeks of loads and loads of premature atrial ectopics. No treatment given by Gp, but they disappeared as fast as the came. I haven,t had a real problem since so it may be anxiety that is driving them due to your sympathetic drive of your autonomic nervous system.
Hope this helps
Ron

Amy2Crazy
31-07-08, 19:01
Thanks everyone so much for your words of support....still worried, especially stressed today, as I had to go back to work....don't get off for 18 more hours....but it could be worse, I guess.... I am seriously considering quitting this job. The chest pains are always a lot worse here, and it was here that the palps started in the first place.... I don't know what I am going to do, all I know is that, since I got here at 6am (1 PM now) I just keep thinking over and over "I don't EVER want to come back here again"... Not sure what to do, but I AM sure that I am now just rambling =P Sorry bout that....

ronski
31-07-08, 21:24
Hi Amy

It looks as though you have found your stressor, the workplace. To my cost I know that working 18 and 24 hr shifts are not good on long term health. I have now stopped doing these shifts and when I return to work my employers have said I can stick to 10 hr shifts and no out of hours. ( I had the support of the occupational health department)
I understand that you probably feel like you are in a catch 22 but your health is more important than money.

These enormous anxieties are the ones probably driving your premature ventricular contractions due to overstimulation of your autonomic nervous system so increasing your blood adrenaline levels. Have a word with your employers and tell them your concerns, you never know there may be an acceptable alternative to which both sides may be happy with.
look after yourself
Ron

goth
31-07-08, 23:28
hi amy i had a bad time this time last year with missed heartbeats my gp sent me for ecg's 4 times i also had to wear a tape recording machine 4 24 hours and was sent for a heart scan it all came back as ectopics caused ba anx so dont worry to much i found the more i worried about my heartbeats the worse it felt i no it feels really bad at the moment try not to worry to much i no thats easier said then done. take care hope everything turns out ok keep us posted love lin x

Amy2Crazy
01-08-08, 00:48
Going WAY off topic now, I definitely feel like I am in a catch 22... I am already down to working only one 25 hour shift, getting paid for 20 because I am allowed to sleep, but it is really hard for me to sleep here...the bed isn't comfortable, it is hot in this room, and the owners dogs smell up the whole place, and she is hardly ever around to care for them... plus, she saves everything for when I get here... Also, she has made it a point to tell everyone that I am having panic attacks... I could sue her for that, but I won't.... That would only end up hurting the clients (I help run a group home for developmentally disabled adults)... We've also had a couple of deaths in the last couple of months, one was our pharmacist that we dealt with all of the time, the other was our house manager, who also happened to be the boss' mother... so I have a lot of grief and guilt and feelings of obligation wrapped up in this. Also, the clients love me... one of them, at least, considers me to be the only one that understands her (probably because I am the only one willing to listen to her)... here I go rambling again....my point is, my chest has just ached and ached today (plus it is 100 degrees here) and I find it equally bad to stay and to quit... and this is just adding to all of the stress and anxiety...

Hey I know! If everyone that reads this will just send me a few hundred thousand bucks (or pounds, I'm not picky) then problem solved! LOL

Seriously, though, thank you all so much for listening to me rant, and just...thanks so much for being here, this place is really my lifesaver right now, waiting for the meds to kick in (BTW I am taking Celexa, on day 7 now, but so far they just seem to make me sleepy).....

Thanks Y'all,
Always,
Amy

Iove
11-08-08, 01:36
Hi Amy,

I have had palpitations on and off every now and then, but today i started having them and they have not stoped yet. Probably been going on now for about 6 hours now. At first I thought it was because I had more coffee than usual... but the fact that it still hasn't gone away makes me worry as well.
Do you also get a feeling like you need to cough when the palpitations occur?

Have you recieved any update since your original post from your doctor?

As for me, if they haven't stoped by the time Im done work Im kind of tempted to go to the hospital. When I was a kid I remember having what the dr called a "minor heart murmur" that apparently went away.. does anyone know if they can come back?

On another note... Im just trying to stay calm and not focus on it... or anything else that may bring on anxiety. Try to stay positive Amy, cool and calm... at least that's what Im trying.

Letish41
11-01-18, 14:22
Hello all, I know this discussion was done since 08, but I also wanted to share my experience. that I myself have been experiencing these palpitations. And it's not easy to deal with or at least not for me. As of ystrdy 1/10/18 i experienced the lingest palpitation ever. It's been going on for 8 hours which I never had before. I think the longest I've had one come on was for about an hour to an hour and a half. But late-night I just couldn't find myself to fall asleep. It's 7:15am here Texas and I'm afraid to fall asleep. I do have an appt at 2pm with my cardio Dr. For other reason which I hope it all goes well, first time ever having to see a cardio Dr. These palpitations can be very scary..
I feel so alone to Amy,

cprelude
11-01-18, 21:38
Hey Amy, you can take comfort from some things here: First, you've done all the right things in getting it checked out. Also, there are people on this forum, posting who've had similar experiences to you and they are able to write about it, and help you put it in perspective. There are people who have got better over time too. From my experience of irregular, anxiety-related, rhythms, I can tell you, purely from evidence of my experience (I am not medically qualified) that the "hours and hours" feeling, and the fears around it, is terrifying - admittedly. But the thing about that hours and hours and feeling is that I've found myself adding to the time it all takes to settle, by, inevitably focusing like mad on the problem. In my experience it feels like, as we say here in the UK, "herding cats". I just chase round and round the problem in my head, and that unsettles me even more. Trying to break that habit, and get on with manageable tasks, and focus on generally on life around me, whilst they are still going on, is really hard, but there's no harm in trying. Things you can try are: Doing the washing up, watching some TV (cookery programmes are good), tidying your desk, doing a computer game (like you said, playing in the "Arcade" etc). Nothing in living with anxiety comes easily, but, if you are having an experience in which anxiety is playing a part, there are ways to soften the intensity of the anxiety. I am still a student in this, by no means a master...But focusing on externals, "distraction", whatever you want to call it, is a part of the process. And it is a process. The other thing is to send yourself positive messages in a relaxed tone, along the lines of, "it's going to be OK, this is adrenalin and anxiety up to its old tricks. It will settle". I call it "posting myself a letter". Eventually the letter arrives at its destination, and life gets a little easier.

So, take it gently. And very good luck. Congratulations on getting this far so far!

Paul

Daedalus
12-01-18, 23:29
Hey Letish41

I recently spent 24 hours in hospital hooked up to an EKG machine. For the whole 24 hours, the machine was beeping saying that I was getting frequent PVCs (i.e., palpitations).

The doctors, including several cardiologists, were utterly unconcerned. I was averaging about 8 missed beats every minute (topping out at 13 PVCs in 1 minute), but as far as they were concerned, it wasn't clinically significant. They discharged me - I was there for a stress echocardiogram (there was a lab error, which suggested I'd had a heart attack, they knew it was a lab error, but they needed to confirm things with the stress echo before sending me on my way - basically, covering themselves) - saying everything was fine.

Anyway, the point is I probably had about 2000 missed beats in the 24 hours, all caught on monitor, and as far as multiple cardiologists were concerned (I think I saw four different cardiologists in the 24 hour period), it was nothing of concern.

If you've got a structurally normal heart, if you don't have heart disease, and if missed beats are fewer than 10% of your total beats, it's overwhelmingly likely there's no problem (even if you have a whole load of them).