View Full Version : Read something I shouldn't have and now am terrified
I really really hope this doesn't scare anyone else, but I've got to talk to someone about it and no one else understands.
I started having the occasional ectopic beat during my pregnancy 3 years ago. It has continued happening ever since. In the past year or so I've gotten "runs" of them. It could be every other beat, or less that go on for hours, sometimes days off and on. They REALLY scare me when they come in runs. Sometimes I have to catch my breath and they can make me dizzy. I haven't figured out if it's because of the beats I'm feeling that way, or that I get freaked out because of the beats. Anyway, I am pregnant again now and one of my biggest fears is having a heart attack because I have heard that can happen during pregnancy more easily.
I had the tests done 3 years ago and they came back "normal". However, I was planning on going back to have them again since they come in runs now. I've just been putting it off because I'm so scared of what I will find out.
The big problem that has me scared is that we went out of town to see my husband's family this weekend. I was having a ton of runs the whole time I was there. My father in law is an ER doctor and I noticed he had an "EKG book" on the counter. I picked it up and read it. BIG MISTAKE! It doesn't give a ton of information (doesn't list causes or treatments or anything) but it does tell what PVC's are. The things that scared me were.... 1.) 3 or more PVC's in a row increases the risk of ventricular fibrulation and subsequent cardiac arrest 2.) 6 or more PVC's in a minute does the same as above and was even said to NOT ignore a patient with this because it is a sign their heart is not handling PVC's well.
I am SO SO SO scared. I always thought they were benign and nothing bad could even come of them. But then why don't all of our doctors worry about this or tell us about it? Gosh I really don't hope I've upset anyone because I would hate to cause the same anxiety in you it has caused in me..but I'm looking for reassurance or something I guess. :weep: I just keep thinking I am not going to make it through this pregnancy, that my heart will give out because it's been through so much. :weep:
It will be weeks before I get in to see a cardiologist but I am really nervous about it too.
Rachey poos
13-08-08, 23:02
this maybe the\case in an abnormal deseased heart hun.... not one like urs..... xxxx your fine!!!! i get about 500 in a row...still ere! xxx:hugs: :hugs: :hugs: :hugs: :hugs: :hugs: :hugs: :hugs: :hugs:
Thank you for responding Rachel.
I have read your blog from time to time and know that you suffer with them badly as well. :hugs:That's what I kept trying to tell myself all weekend, that people on NMP have had them for longer than I have and are perfectly fine. As far as I know we haven't had someone post that their PVC's turned into a heart attack.
I also thought about the diseased heart thing...that maybe it is just a precaution to make sure they check everything out and catch those diseased hearts. I'm hoping. But I'm sure going to ask the dr about it when I go.
I had such a time of worrying on our trip, and all the ectopics..and on the plane ride home last night I had a major panic attack. I went to sleep last night and I kept waking up feeling really lightheaded and it is still here..it's been this way all day and I feel weird, sometimes short of breath and lightheaded constantly and really weak all over. The logical tells me that my body is tired and weak from the stress I put myself through over the weekend, but the illogical says I feel this way because my heart isn't working correctly and my body can't handle that and the pregnancy too. I'm really a mess. I was doing SO well for SO long. :weep: Now I'm alone with my kids while my hubby is at work and I'm scared something is going to happen to me. The ectopics are gone, but the weakness, lightheadedness, shortness of breath is here. :weep:
xBettyBoopx
14-08-08, 03:31
Kimmie, first of all big SLAP for reading the book:ohmy: :shades:
Seriusly though, rachey is right in that these ectopics can prolly cause a problem with someone with a heart problem to start with. Having lived with them for near on 32 years, I can tell ya that they are NOT harmful, if they were I wouldn't be here:noangel: I also gets runs of them like you have & many others, they make me feel weird & dizzy & catching my breath also. Mine seemed to be linked with indigestion. If these are more prominant in pregnant women then that is the reason, cause preggers women get more heartburn & indigestion, don't they?
Please be reassured that so many many thousand & millions & zillions of people suffer with ectopics, normal every day-today ppl:ohmy: who don't suffer with anxiety. Tis just one of those things & they aren't harmful.
Stay safe, take care.
Love
Elspeth
http://www.44gatti.net/public/gatti2_002.jpg
Oh no, now im terrified too! :ohmy: :scared15:
Oh no, now im terrified too! :ohmy: :scared15:
I'm sorry. That's exactly what I didn't want to happen. :lac:
I just didn't know where else to go at the time. I am doing better today...trying to ignore them when they come and not think about that. I'll see a cardiologist in a few weeks and I'll update then.
Try not to worry. I've been reading that site that Rachel posted (it's another thread on this forum) and it's really helped reading all the dr's replies.:yesyes:
Hi there Kimmipie..
Relax :)
There's no such thing as PVC's developing or degenerating into fibrulation disorders.
Either you are suffering from fibrulation, or you don't. If you have 6 PVC's or more in a row you are not having PVC's (per se), you are having fibrulation (a disorder that in most cases are not at all life threatening but requires medications).
Also, remember that runs of PVC's or PAC's that appear every other beat or every third beat, or every fourth beats and so on... are not the same thing as having 4 PVC's in a row. These people in most cases have damaged heart structure (extremely rare condition).
Most of us probably have had these runs, mine appeared every second beat for about a minute, multiple times a day. A normal, healthy heart can handle long runs, and even thousands of ectopic heart beats a day without problems.
Most fibrulation disorders will give the patient a very distinct, easily recognizable heart rythm besides the PVC's that your doctor would have found on your resting ECG (or even by listening to your heart with his/hers scope). You would also most like have experienced a heart rythm of over 160bpm (or even over 220) without exercise on one or more occations (most people with fibrulation seeks helps based on this experience, and not the PVC's).
I was pretty freaked out by my own skipped beats, and visited a lot of doctors. I have PAC's and not PVC's.
Luckily they appeared on a resting ECG in the ER, so I knew what I had without wearing the Holter monitor.
I even wrote a rather desperate letter to an aknowledged american cardiologist who had a bunch of awards and had researched irregular heart rythm for years.
He told me that PVC's are ONLY potentially dangerous to people with a severly damaged heart structure. PAC's are never dangerous to anyone, and you need do nothing if you have them.
Experts in my country tells me PVC's and PAC's are only treated if:
1) they apperar so often your heart has trouble has problems delivering oxygen to your brain (extremely rare)
2) or apperar so often they severely ruin your quality of life (we are talking thousands and thousands a day).
I once read about a female american doctor who herself had ectopic heart beats every seventh heart beat, and she wouldn't even consider treating them, as most medications for the conditions have unwanted sideeffects.
If you have PVC's and not PAC's you should require an echo of your heart, I know it's not cheap without insurance in your country, so hopefully you are insured, but this will tell you if your heart is ok (which it most most most propably is as the chance of your heart beeing structurally damaged in the past 3 years is almost like null).
Remember, PVC's are ONLY _potentially_ dangerous to people with massive damage to their heart structure.
And don't worry about cardiac arrest, other than quit smoking if you do so and try to exercise some. Cardiac arrest almost always appears in individuals with extremely rare genetic diseases and syndromes, or in very old people having massive heart attacks. There is no link between ectopic beats and cardiac arrest whatsoever unless you have a damaged heart structure, and again, that is very rare).
Once you are sure that your heart is ok, you should stop reading up on the subject. Mine went away as soon as I stopped beeing scared of them, and my fear was fueled by all the things I read.
PS.
Heart problems in general are a rarity in young women.
yanksforever
16-08-08, 17:57
Heart problems in general are a rarity in young women.
WOOHOOOO!!!!!!!!! I'm 19, I'm a woman :D
That was SO helpful to me Mikke. Thanks so much! :D
You know, I'm not actually even sure if I have PVC's or PAC's. I didn't know it really made much difference. When I had my tests a few years ago they were normal and nothing showed up because I didn't have any during. From that point on I had lost my insurance (oh I DID have an echo at the time that was also normal. He said something was stretched and he said it was from pregnancy..maybe it never went back) and found NMP. From reading everyone else's symptoms I knew that I was experiencing the same feeling everyone else was here...followed the same pattern etc. I just kind of picked PVC's because it seems to be what I commonly hear and is easier than describing the beats.
All I know is that I have some sort of ectopics and now that I have insurance again I am going to find out which kind. Now I'm hoping they're PAC's since those seem safer. :winks: I have an appt with a "regular" doctor on Tuesday and then I'll be referred to a cardiologist, hopefully quickly.
Very helpful post! Oh and I'm 27 but was 24 when they started.
*Update*
Saw the dr. today. He was very nice and when he listened to my heart he said it sounded pretty normal. I was having a few mild ones at the time so it's strange he couldn't hear them. Anyway, he sent me over for an EKG and at the time they stopped. I prayed really hard for me to just have some so that I could get to the bottom of this and find out what's wrong. (How often do we pray to HAVE them?? lol) Sure enough!! I had a bunch of big ones all during the EKG, which was about a minute long. I heard her doing a lot of clicking and after we were done I peeked at the screen. I saw 4 of "something" in a row that were labeled what I'm pretty sure was AVT. There were a few other ones above and below but I didn't see the labels on those.
So I know *something* showed up at least. But it got me concerned as to what AVT meant so I just looked it up on the internet and didn't find anything. :huh: Then he sent me over for a 24 hour holter monitor. I made a mistake (why do I keep doing this??) and looked at the poster on the wall. It showed different types of arrythmias and said that Ventiricular ones were the most severe and life threatening. :scared15: And of course I saw the "V" on my EKG and assumed that meant ventricular.
Anyway, I'm wearing the monitor until tomorrow afternoon and then I'll have an appt for the results of everything next Wednesday. I'm SO thankful that I had some that showed up because I really needed to not feel crazy. But I'm also very nervous of the results.
One thing I'm looking forward to is finding out the sex of my baby on Thursday! :yesyes:
I'll update when I know about my heart.
Hi again Kimmi! :)
Are you sure you didn't read AVF?
This is a standard measurement with ekg's.
You are right about the fact that atrial tachycardias could be a bit dangerous, but they are in general called ATs (and not AVTs). The most common subcategories of these arrytmias are not called AVTs either.
But most important of all: If your doctor found something really dangerous on the monitor, he would either have you put you in the hospital or given you a prescription to medications which either slow the heart rate or revert the heart rhythm back to normal.
It is not very likely that your doctor would nod and smile and send you home emptyhanded after an episode of ventricular tachycardia.
You MUST stop reading up on these thing, and especially labels from medical equipment, which are greek to most of us anyway (and could mean a bunch of different things).
And remember to get your blood checked out. I got my test results back today, and it turns out I have a rather uncommon anemia caused by the lack of folic acid (vitamine9) because i work out hard and diet strict - and this is why I get my skipped beats. This is a benign condition, I just have to eat a lot of green vegetables and take a vitamine supplement for some months.
PS.
Good luck with the baby's gender :)
Thanks again Mikke.
It may have been AVF and not AVT...I guess I could have missed the extra - :D
It was actually a nurse at internal medicine that did the EKG and wasn't even in my doctor's office. She asked if I was taking it back over to my doctor and I told her I had a follow up for next week. She said okay we'll send it to him then.
I'm trying not to worry about it, but I've just had a huge run of the beats on this holter monitor and I just fear the worst: "Mrs. S can you please come in right away, you have a life threatening arrythmia that needs immediete attention!! You're lucky you're not dead yet." :doh: I'm tempted to call the dr office tomorrow to see if they can tell me anything about my EKG. I know it takes a week to get the holter monitor results back, but I'm curious about the EKG in the mean time.
Anyway, thanks again and I'll continue to update. Thanks for the support.
Oh, I also meant to add that I have had a TON of bloodwork..thyroid, heart work up, iron, heavy metals, and b-12....the list goes on. My grandmother actually had what you have (Pernicious Anemia?) so I thought I might to, but it came back normal.
Yes, nurses do the "dirty work", the doctors just interpet the results.
Don't be afraid to call your doctors office if that put your mind at rest.
Also, you could try this guy:
http://www.allexperts.com/expert.cgi?m=1&catID=964&expID=47111
This is a retired cardiologist who answers questions about pac's and pvc's for free. He handles about 4 questions a day, and he's like a prodigy on ecg's :) and arrythmias.
Check back if he's status are set to "Maxed out", which refers to his answering capacity maxed out for the day.
I'm sure you'll be fine :)
Turned in the monitor today. Haven't called my doctor about the EKG yet though...not sure if I will.
I was relieved after reading your post and looking at the website you gave me. But today I started to worry again. I know that risk of stroke (especially) and heart attack are higher when pregnant and that has me worried. And that has me worried not knowing "what" my problem is and if it could contribute to that.
I'm just going to try and stay calm for another week until I get the results. *sigh* :lac:
You'll be just fine Kimmie :)
Remember that totally benign pac's and pvc's during pregnancy is extremely common. Everytime I google these cardiac events, I find that about 50% of the websites that pops up are discussion forums for pregnant girls/women that experience them while beeing pregnant.
I'm a bit scared today myself :weep: My pac's went away for about a week or so totally, but I had one really terrible while exercising on one of these step-machines in the gym today.
And then I start googling again, finding sites that says these events are only concerning if you have them while exercising...
Ouch, tired of beeing scared, it's really depressing that one gets reassured one minute, then back to beeing scared again the next.
It showed different types of arrythmias and said that Ventiricular ones were the most severe and life threatening. :scared15: .
Mine is Ventricular!!!:scared15: :scared15: :scared15:
You'll be just fine Kimmie :)
Remember that totally benign pac's and pvc's during pregnancy is extremely common. Everytime I google these cardiac events, I find that about 50% of the websites that pops up are discussion forums for pregnant girls/women that experience them while beeing pregnant.
I'm a bit scared today myself :weep: My pac's went away for about a week or so totally, but I had one really terrible while exercising on one of these step-machines in the gym today.
And then I start googling again, finding sites that says these events are only concerning if you have them while exercising...
Ouch, tired of beeing scared, it's really depressing that one gets reassured one minute, then back to beeing scared again the next.
I totally understand. :hugs:That is how I have been feeling lately. I have heard/read that people get them at rest and while exercising and it didn't make a difference.
In fact, I found out some good news last night. I talked to my maternal grandmother and told her the tests I had done. Apparently she was diagnosed with PVC's 25 years ago!! She said her doctor has never been concerned, and she has never taken medication for them. She's in otherwise great health too for an almost 70 yr old woman. She exercises ALL the time too.
I will admit that I avoid exercise because I am afraid of something happening to my heart. But I've been told that exercise makes them better and that I'm more likely to drop dead from NOT exercising than from exercising. lol
Hang in there. :flowers:
I saw the title of this thread and thought it was gonna be about the front page of the Daily Mail. :whistles:
Thank you so much for the kind words Kimmie :)
They helped a lot.... :)
Yes, PVC's are very common. Turns out my own mother have them too. She did all the tests, stress-tests, echo, ekg, bloow tests, and was told it's all stressrelated and never dangerous.
Found a great article that put my mind at rest again, especially these lines are nice to know:
"- Norfolk County Cardiologist Association...
PACs are extra electrical impulses arising in the atria. PACs are always completely benign (non-life threatening) and usually do not require therapy unless the palpitations they produce are extremely symptomatic. In most cases, reassuring patients that the palpitations are completely benign, and that there is virtually no chance they will progress to anything more serious, will significantly reduce the degree of symptoms they are experiencing. .."
The PVC's are considered just as benign in the same article :)
I saw the title of this thread and thought it was gonna be about the front page of the Daily Mail. :whistles:
:roflmao: Not quite.
You're welcome Mikke. Yes, and I read at my cardiologist's office that PAC's are even better to have than PVC's. I'm still hoping mine are PAC's but I doubt it.
I will update on Wednesday when I find out! *nervous* :wacko:
How did the results turn out? :)
So sorry in taking a while to post. Been so busy. :wacko:
Well, just as I suspected, PVC's. I had a total of 2,113 in 24 hours. Several sets of runs. He said that they are harmless, there's nothing to do for them or worry about and he didn't need to see me again.
He told me the same thing I've heard, that tons of people have them, just that I seem to have a bit more sometimes and that I feel mine. I also found out today that my midwife gets them as well.
So, here I am. Although what I read in that book was scary, apparently that is not the case with a normal healthy heart (no structrual abnormalaties or heart disease). It's also more worrisome if a patient has never had PVC's before and gets them just before a heart attack or something.
I even noted breathlesness and dizziness with some of the runs and they didn't say anything about it. So I'm relieved for now. Hopefully I will learn to accept them for something normal for me, even if they are extremely annoying. :D
Thanks for keeping up with me!!
Good news :)
PVC's are harmless. My own doctor have them as well.
They can be induced by stress, so you willl most likely be less bothered by them as you now hopefully can rest assured that they are in fact completely harmless :) Think I read somewhere that one should have about 7-8000 a day before they are even considered to be treated.
I'm seeing a psychologist who says that people with anxiety will pay extra attention to a lot of harmless symptoms (like headaches, dizziness and stuff other people don't really notice or care to much about), and "symptoms" from the heart are especially anxiety provocing for people like us, as they are so easily perceived.
Happy for you. Take care and don't read up on the subject more than necessary - you have been cleared by your doctor and that will hopefully sink in with time, as it did for me :)
Hi Kimmiepie, that must be such a huge weight off your mind. Ive been following your story and anxiously waiting for your results. I only get the one episode of palps a day so i feel a bit silly now seeing how many you have. I must admit though, after you being told your heart is perfectly fine considering how many palps you get, i feel so much better myself:yahoo:
Hello Everyone!
I'm new to the forum, been reading all your posts and been getting some much needed reassurance! Although I've suffered ectopics on and off for about 20 years, I 've never had much help from my Doc., have had 24hr holter once which showed nothing much (typical!), he just puts it down to stress and anxiety which I admit I do suffer from! But recently I've found eating big meals brings them on with a vengeance and reading your info about the vagus nerve makes a lot of sense! Just good to know this is apparently benign and harmless (even if it does drive me barmy!) P.s. anyone find that bending down after a big meal brings them on too? My thinking is it's your full stomach pushing upwards into your chest?:unsure:
Hi there Jillybean.
yes, leaning forward can bring them on, just as:
- standing up from leaning forward
- lying on your left side (this doesn't really bring them on, but makes them easier to feel)
- eating large meals
- psychological arousal
- elevations in your heartrate (walking stairs etc)
- lifting heavy
and many more situations...
Pac's and PVC's are very common, and represent an important function of the body, which needs to be able to regulate heartrate...
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