pvc's please help??

[ericaj]

Ok.. got a question for you all.. For the last 4 days I have been having these runs of what I think are pvc's that come and go come and go.. sometiems lasting a couple hours continous.. have the valve disease and the arrhythmia/bp issue that are currently under watch.. Taking toprol..low dose due to sob.. cardizem.. which i don't personally think does much.. and florinef so what can i do to stop these darn pvc's as they do occur frequently and are bothersome.. I see my EP card. tomorrow so will make sure and ask him or his nurse and they will be able to load some of these on there computer from my ILR to view whats going on... any other meds or things that any of you might reccomend to ask about trying??? i'd really like something that will control this pvc's and also the tachycardia which has been wild the last few weeks and month...

thanks,
Erica

 

[ALCapshaw2]

It sounds like you have some sort of monitor so the first order of business is to get that data analyzed to determine exactly what type of arrhythmia you are experiencing.

My PAC's and PVC's felt like a small 'out of balance' washing machine was bouncing around in my chest. About every third beat would have two closely spaced beats followed by two normal beats.

My A-Fib left me short of breath and 'weak' with an elevated Heart Rate around 150-160 Beats per Minute.

None of these are considered dangerous *as long as they resolve* in a 'reasonable' length of time, judging by the yawn on most cardiologists faces when you tell them you are having arrhythmias! I guess arrhythmias are the 'common cold of cardiology'.

FWIW, I was able to control various PAC / PVC / A-Fib for several years with low dose Toprol XL. This year I started having PAC's even at rest which I determined were triggered by Chocolate (presumably the caffeine in it). Then I began having A-Fib at low exertion. This is now controlled by a low dose of Sotalol (BetaPace).

Your EP should be able to help you out once he determines exactly what is going on.

'AL'

 

[ericaj]

Al

Al

Thanks Al'

you've not had any problems with the sotalol??

 

[ALCapshaw2]

I had headaches for the first couple of weeks after I switched to Sotalol. Some Doctors like to put their patients in the hospital for closer monitoring for a few days after starting Sotalol. Others just tell you to monitor your heart rate and put you on a monitor after a couple of weeks. The potential risk as I understand it is that your HR can get too LOW (<40) such as while you are sleeping.
As long as your HR is above 40, I *assume* the risks are not considered dangerous.

I do notice that I get Short of Breath more easily when I mow my yard. I don't know if it's a side effect of the Sotalol or progression of other things I would prefer to avoid... My cardiologist doesn't seem to want to move up my next echo so hopefully I will find out what is going on in another month or two.

'AL'