Cardio not worried about Palps.?

[ericaj]

Can anyone of you tell me the answer to this.... Are palps/skipped beats that last longer than a few minutes and keep re-curring over a weeks time smething to be concerned about?

I know I keep asking about pvc's so please forgive me. My EP card isnt worried about the tachycardia and palps that I have been having on and off for the last week but they are bothersome and keep coming back. He said if the Florinef and Toprol havent taken away the tachycardia in a couple weeks to call him and he will add a med.. But I would like a way to get these palps to stop sooner.

thanks,
Erica

 

[Harrybaby666]

Have They Considered...

Have They Considered...

Hi Erica,

Have they considered putting you on a loop-memory monitor to be sure and catch the palps when they happen? I am in the same situation myself, and tomorrow I will be calling the cardio to see if he will switch me to a loop-memory monitor, as I don't seem to be catching them with the event monitor....I hope this might help ya...Take Care, Harrybaby666

 

[Karlynn]

There are "benign" arrhythmia. It's disturbing to feel and not easy to brush out of your mind, but they aren't dangerous. I had almost constant arrhythmia for 5 years. Some people can feel these beats, some can't. I felt every single one and because of that it was hard to function normally. That along with my valve progressively getting worse, made my life a bit difficult to live until my replacement. I had many holters, EKG's and even an EPS done and nothing ever came back as dangerous. Unfortunately for me, they could never find a medication that controlled them very well.

When you get into the true antiarrhythmics you are walking a mine field because they can be pro-arrhythmic for some people (like me ) so have them start slow.

 

[ericaj]

HarryBaby666 and Karlynn

HarryBaby666 and Karlynn

Hi HarryBaby - In answer tp ypur suggestion about asking about a memory loop recorder.. I actually have an implantable medtronic loop recorder. Much the same as a pacemaker in that it is implanted under the skin in my upper left pectoral-shoulder area but my ILR is simply a more permanent diagnostic
recorder. It picks upany heart rate that is above 180bpm - which is pretty fast but in my case not unknown to occur and also picks up any heart rate below 30bpm. I also have a pager sized decive to record with and then the ILR is interrogated about every 2-4 weeks depending if I have had to record anything and then reset. It's an interesting lil' machine and nice to not constantly be hooke up to the loop recorders and there many wires. The procedure is fairly simple - in my case I had it implanted while I was still out from the EP study and now 2 weeks out I am on the tail of a more accurate diagnosis and healing fairly well.. This device does bother me some as I can feel it under the skin and it was pretty sore for a week-2wks after having it put in but not unliveable. And I have even adjusted as far as sleeping positions.

Karlynn - My EP cardio just doesnt think that the skipped beats and/or the tach are really of any concern -- I don't believe he is taking into account the
valve -- as him and the other cards. seem to think the arrhythmias are a separate problem from the valve problems which are moderate at this pt. with no muscle enlargement but more symptomatic -- But he did say that if in a couple weeks I am still having them/and/or still bothered by them he will try something to calm them down. Next week tues. I do also see a adult/pediatric congenital cardio at the children's hsopital adult heart clinic here in WI so will definetly talk to them about all of this as well.

Thanks for your advice Karlynn and HarryBaby,
Always,
Erica

 

[Karlynn]

Erica, so you haven't had any replacement done yet?

I was told that arrhythmia is one of the symptoms of mitral valve prolaps, so it may be something that comes with valve issues in general. I was also told that surgery would probably not get rid of the arrhythmia. The good news was that it did about 95% of the time. Toprol seems to control the rest well. I find I have more of them when I'm stressed or very tired, or getting sick.

When they did an EPS on me, they couldn't find the source of the arrhythmia, so couldn't ablade anything. Looking back, this should have been a good clue that it was valve related, not electrically related.

Be aware that some antiarrhytmic drugs should be started in the hospital because of the possibility of being pro-arrhythmic. You may want to ask your doctor about that. I had a doctor (a bad one) that didn't know that and it landed me in the ER a few times. The doctor I finally ended up with couldn't believe how cavalierly the other had treated some of the drugs.

The easiest "rememdy" is to make sure you aren't under a lot of stress over something. And did they start out mild and then increase as you became concerned about them? You may have a good idea if it's more than stress that causing them.