Hi,

This is my first post on the heart board.

After complaning for a while about weird heartbeats, my doc had me wear a 24 hour Holter Monitor. The report said I have "extra heartbeats." From what I read, it looks like it is benign for most people, but I would appreciate input from anybody who has received the same diagnosis. I am going to see a cardiologist on 3/23, but I'm curious as to what it means.

I am currently taking 10mg of Norvasc daily. I've tried Atenolol, Enalapril, hydrocholorthiazide, an ARB (I can't remember the name). I've had the strange heart beats with all of those drugs, except Atenolol. Before I started taking these drugs, I was having trouble with my BP being high, as well as a racing pulse. Before the last year or two, my pulse was consistently in the 60s. Other than my Atenolol days, my pulse is now in the high 70s and usually in the 80s.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi Greentea73,

It is not an uncommon event nor is it considered a serious issue. While taking an echo test the tech stated there were extra heartbeats. The tech has years of experience veiwing patients' tests, he stated it is very common and not to be concerned. The extra heartbeat events were not even mentioned in the echo report! But, for me I was/am not aware of extra heartbeats. The fact you are aware of extra heartbeats may be an issue and not the extra heartbeats. Do you experience a pounding heartbeat as well?

Thanks for the response.

For a little over a year, I've been experiencing a pounding heartbeat on and off. Before I started the BP meds, my heart felt like it was really pounding away in my chest. My pulse was also much higher than I'm used to. The atenolol stopped most of that, but I felt like a zombie, so I switched to other BP drugs. Now, I get the pounding and some odd beats. Earlier today, it was pounding away, but a couple minutes later, it was okay.

I kind of want my old pulse back.

i have had pvc's (extra or skiped beats as people say) i have several thousand a day and still no risk

Thanks. It's good to hear that it's probably nothing.

I wish I could've known that without partially shaving my chest for the Holter Monitor.

Just kidding.