I am a 43 year old male with PVCs. I had double bypass January 2010 and since then, I'm very paranoid about anything dealing with my heart. I had PVCs before my surgery and still have them today. I have had all of the tests like 24 hr. holter, treadmill stress test, EKG, etc and everything comes back normal. My cardiologist says that everything's fine, but I just can't get that through my skull!! My last test, which was done December 2010, came back normal. It showed that I was having PVCs and that they're unifocal and isolated and there is no R on T phenomena. My issue now is that my blood pressure has been running high within the last three weeks, being anywhere from 163/100 to 189/112. I am taking 50 mg. Metoprolol twice a day, but my pressure is still high and I'm still having what I consider too many PVCs.
I was just wondering if anyone out there is either having the same issue, or if anyone might have some extra advice or insight into this. Any info would be greatly appreciated. I guess I just also want to hear that everything's going to be o.k. from people who actually have this going on, versus doctors who have never personally experienced these things telling me everything's o.k.
I too did a Holter monitor and in 20 hours, I had 2266 recorded PVC's. My quack put me on Labetalol for my BP, which was a waste. But it did even out the PVC's. Or maybe the PVC's just evened out on their own and the Labetalol is just as useless for them as it is for my BP. Whatever.
Last year at this time, I was experiencing PVC's so badly you could see my shirt "pop" with a bad one. Thought it was anxiety. All testing showed no problems but ONE HALF of my heart beats were PVC's. This had slowly been increasing for years.
I was already on an ACE inhibitor, a diuretic and a calcium channel blocker for high blood pressure. Calcium channel blockers usually control PVC's but mine was no longer doing it. My doc tried me on metoprolol as it is supposed to be "the drug" for PVC's but I had to keep taking higher and higher doses to keep them down.
So I did some research and asked my doc to change me from the calcium channel blocker I was using to a different one in hopes that would do it and I could get off the metoprolol(I'm asthmatic and I shouldn't be on a beta blocker...blocks asthma drugs).
So we decreased the CCB I was on (verapamil) and slowly increased diltaizem(brand name Cardizem but available in generic). Stopped the PVC's completely and at a low dose and they have never returned. It's been 10 months.
I had a Holter done 3 years ago and it showed 2% PVC'c then. Last February, my echo showed 50% PVC's. Latest EKG in November showed none.
Worth trying in my mind.
good luck and hugs...........Jenny
The Following User Says Thank You to jennybyc For This Useful Post: tatooine1967 (01-22-2011)
Thank you very much for the info. The next time I go to my cardiologist, I will ask him about it. Now I've got a new symptom... Everything can be going alone fine and then thump. I can feel my heart thump pretty hard and then everything is back to normal for a time. Then it does it again. When it does, it kinda hurts. Do you have any idea what is happening? I know what PVC's feel like, but this is something new. Thanks again for the help!!
I have had this for 20 years. Still alive. Thump thump and a ***** feeling like you about to pass out. Never do. My feet start getting cold or warm, not sure. Just that ache. Want to take my shoes off and put it on the cold floor. This helps.
Have you tried Cardiac Rehab-A great place to work on Medication adjustments, blood pressure issues and gain confidence back. They can monitor you and exercise you safely and check out those PVC's that are REAL! I have them too and they are completely annoying and scary. And I understand that DR's brush them off! Also have you had your Magnesium checked? I have low Mag and that is sometimes a tigger for me as is stress and fatigue.
