During the past month or so I've had many episodes of what I called "skipped heartbeat" where my heart would skip a beat and then beat hard. Saw a doctor yesterday and he said it was benign, although he did refer me for a stress test. He gave me a long explanation about how sometimes the bottom of the heart can go off without any blood in it, so it's not a skipped heartbeat but rather an early one.
Anyway, I never noticed these before about a month ago. I had a cold at the time and had the skipped heartbeat in conjunction with a need to cough. The cold has gone away, but the skipped heartbeat / cough combo comes and goes.
The most likely trigger to this seems to be eating dinner - but not breakfast or lunch. The past few weeks have been stressful, but I've been under stress before and didn't have anything like this.
So, the doctor says the skipped heartbeat is benign, but it sure is scary. Any insight from the group?
Scroddfather,
I had a bout of skipping beats for about an hour a couple days ago. Even though I KNOW it's benign it STILL feels like impending doom. I hate it and I'm glad it doesn't happen more than once ever month or two.
I have found magnesium supplementation to help keep the missing beats at bay.
I have never bought the "premature beat" nonsense...for me it's a very definite metronomic beat that goes something like:
beat beat skip beat beat beat skip beat skip skip beat beat beat...that sort of thing.
Hi, As Lenin described (Hi, Lenin) a skipped beat or premature beat every two beats is called trigeminy rhythm, and a pvc every other beat is called bigeminy rhythm.
If you stay in this for very long, energy will be zapped because the pumping action is being compromised---lowering the output of blood being pumped to the rest of the body, causing fatigue and weakness. Having random pvcs that come and go is annoying and bothersome....including scary. I hope you can also get an echocardiogram--measures the volume being pumped from your ventricles (primarily your left ventricle) and measures size of your heart, also evaluates your valves. Take care. Penk
Thanks for the info. Yesterday I didn't have any skipped heartbeat episodes, although I had a few one-offs that came and went. I'll try the Magnesium supplements. Yesterday I took some Potassium. And got a lot of rest.
Part of my concern is that my company is asking me to relocate to Australia for five months. I don't know the lay of the land here near as well as I do back home, so getting the proper medical care could be more difficult.
But, on the plus side, Australian medical care seems to be pretty good. The Australian doctor I saw seemed to be pretty well informed, and they saw me quickly.
Thanks for the info. Yesterday I didn't have any skipped heartbeat episodes, although I had a few one-offs that came and went. I'll try the Magnesium supplements. Yesterday I took some Potassium. And got a lot of rest.
Part of my concern is that my company is asking me to relocate to Australia for five months. I don't know the lay of the land here near as well as I do back home, so getting the proper medical care could be more difficult.
But, on the plus side, Australian medical care seems to be pretty good. The Australian doctor I saw seemed to be pretty well informed, and they saw me quickly.
I would be very careful when self-administering potassium. Your sodium/potassium balance has to be between certain levels or you could make things much worse, and overdosing on potassium is potentially fatal.
I personally would get a blood test and see if you have a potassium deficiency first, and if it is low, work with your doctor to adjust it.
Magnesium is much more forgiving and is safer to self-administer.
If you think you have a potassium shortage, try eating more bananas.
HubbleRules
__________________
When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.
Thanks very much, Hubble. I'll lay off the potassium. And buy a banana. (g).
I've taken Magnesium, but the PVCs continue. They are on again / off again all day. I've also had a cold in the last two days.
On the plus side, the Australia project did not sell. So I'm going home tomorrow. And when I get home, I'll get a stress test and a few other tests, and see what I can do about this.
I have an update, and since peeps here were so friendly, I thought I'd share.
First the good news: Blood pressure is normal, 120/80 or 120/70 depending on which visit you go with. Heart function is normal, resting pulse in the doctor's office is 70 (at home it's 65 or so.)
As for the PVCs: They went on and were annoying. I saw a doctor in Urgent Care (a walk-in service for cases less than emergency) and he referred me to a cardiologist. The cardiologist referred me to tests: Echocardiogram, treadmill test, and nuclear test (Thallium.) He spent a whopping two minutes with me and did not look at my cough/throat/bronchitis problem.
I saw a general practitioner for the cough/throat/bronchitis who diagnosed a sinus infection and prescribed an antibiotic. Within a day of the first pill, the PVCs cleared up. Bronchitis improved and I coughed up a frog yesterday, no phlegm since then. Throat feels better although it's not stopped hurting completely. (Right side of throat and bronchitis in right lung only.) Cough continues but is much less. It's hard to say what the underlying mechanism is here. The sinus infection had lingered on, had been misdiagnosed as acid reflux by an ENT specialist, and had lasted six months. Presumably I had some chest irritation going on. Since the cough/bronchitis and PVCs got worse when I laid down, I figured there was some fluid in the lungs.
Now, the various tests by the cardiologist showed a potential 70% blockage of one of the coronary arteries. He has scheduled an angiogram and possible angioplasty for this coming Tuesday. I've never had an operation in my life, so this is a bit scary for me, but I'm glad that he looked. The cardiologist is big on the ego thing, kinda full of himself and he barely talked to me, but he's well recommended and clearly well trained, so I trust his expertise even if I don't like his bedside manner. There's a chance this is a false positive and I'll have an angiogram but not an angioplasty.
If anyone has perspective on what a 70% blockage means, please let me know. I understand the AMA calls this "severe" and recommends surgery, but I have no idea what it means. For instance, if undiagnosed (or if this were 50 years ago) what would have happened?
I'm also wondering if a stent means I won't be able to go back to Karate practice, since there's always a chance of getting hit in the chest during sparring. If anyone has some insight on that, please chime in.
And finally, a big middle finger to the HMO doctor who wouldn't listen to me last year. At my physical I specifically asked about heart issues since a guy at work had had a heart attack (we got him to the emergency room in time) and I was concerned. He spent an additional 10 seconds looking at my chest and declared that my "arteries sounded clear." No stress test ordered despite my specific concerns. Offhand, I'd call a need for a stent means your arteries are NOT CLEAR!
