So Scared, Please Help!

10-27-2007, 08:41 AM

Hello - I'm a 38 year old male with no family history of heart disease. I have a fairly healthy diet and exercise regularly; or at least I did up until this past week.

I’ve been dealing with PVC’s and PAC’s for about 10 years now. Over that time, I’ve had limited occurrences of the annoying extra beats; some days I could have 10 or 20 and on other days I would not have any. However, due to my discomfort with the extra beats, my doctor prescribed a daily dosage of 25mg of Atenolol, which I’ve taken over the past 10 years.

In April of this year, I began experiencing an increased amount of the PVC’s and PAC’s and the increase has been very alarming to me. If I had to estimate, I’d say that on my bad days I’m having between 10K to 20K extra beats a day and they are sometimes accompanied by chest pain. They sometimes come at a rate of 20 to 30 a minute and they come every beat, every other beat, every third beat; there’s no strict pattern to the palpitations. My doctors have given me all the standard tests: EKG’s, stress test, and halter monitors. The tests showed that there are no structural issues with my heart, but the tests also confirmed that I am having PVC’s, PAC’s and very random SVT’s.

Needless to say, the large number of irregular beats has rendered me ineffective personally and professionally. I recently began taking Xanax to help me sleep, but once it wears off I generally awaken to a wave of palpitations. I’m also beginning an outpatient therapy program next week so that I can begin to explore other ways to deal with this issue.
My questions are, how dangerous is the elevated number of irregular beats that I’m experiencing? My doctors tell me not to worry, but I’ve also read conflicting articles that state more than 6 per minute should be concerning.
Also, my family doctor suggested that I slowly discontinue the Atenolol and start taking 120MG of Verapamil to help control the palpitations. However, I have also read that taking these 2 drugs consecutively may be dangerous; can someone please comment on this?

Anyway, I’m using this forum to reach out to others for support and advice so please feel free to offer your advice and suggestions. I just want to get better!

Thank you,
Andrew

10-27-2007, 11:24 PM

Andrew,

A beta blocker and a calcium channel blocker can be dangerous taken together.

I have had the PVCs every other heart beat to every third beat for several years and went to many Doctors that could not find the problem and like you describe no one seemed concerned even 2 heart conduction specialist and several Cardiac Doctors.
But it was not them laying awake at night hearing every other heart beat--
I went to the ER many --- many times with no real help-- so as you know it becomes extremely frustrating.

I finally went to an Alternative Care MD and he changed my diet to a blander low calorie diet and the PVCs just went away. We never discussed the reasons that they disappered. I was so glad they were gone!!

I think an Acidic Diet can irritate your esophagus including the Vagus Nerve that causes PVCs --
It is certainly worth looking at your diet and trying something that no one has suggested.

I eat fish, chicken, turkey--- and veggies and fruit that are not acidic and no red meat or pork. No Dairy products except yogurt. Nuts and seeds are OK. I drink only steam distilled water! I did not eat any cereals or breads of any kind -- except rice seemed OK but not alot.

I wish you well---Harry

10-30-2007, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry

Andrew,

A beta blocker and a calcium channel blocker can be dangerous taken together.

I have had the PVCs every other heart beat to every third beat for several years and went to many Doctors that could not find the problem and like you describe no one seemed concerned even 2 heart conduction specialist and several Cardiac Doctors.
But it was not them laying awake at night hearing every other heart beat--
I went to the ER many --- many times with no real help-- so as you know it becomes extremely frustrating.

I finally went to an Alternative Care MD and he changed my diet to a blander low calorie diet and the PVCs just went away. We never discussed the reasons that they disappered. I was so glad they were gone!!

I think an Acidic Diet can irritate your esophagus including the Vagus Nerve that causes PVCs --
It is certainly worth looking at your diet and trying something that no one has suggested.

I eat fish, chicken, turkey--- and veggies and fruit that are not acidic and no red meat or pork. No Dairy products except yogurt. Nuts and seeds are OK. I drink only steam distilled water! I did not eat any cereals or breads of any kind -- except rice seemed OK but not alot.

I wish you well---Harry

Hello Harry,
Just wanted to thank you for sharing the diet info. I'm at the point where I will try anything to get rid of these stupid palps. Just like you said - the cardiologists aren't the ones lying awake every night, feeling the irregular beats!

I'd love to hear some more info about the Acidic Diet, if you'd like to share. I know there are several folks here looking for help with their palps!

Cheers, and I 'm glad you found something to help you!

10-30-2007, 07:37 AM

It is not an Acidic Diet but an alkaline type diet that contains more blander foods like I said.

10-30-2007, 08:02 AM

I have taken CCBs with beta blockers, of course there are slow and fast acting CCBs, with more chemical differences. I have forgot which kind I took. I think that there are still a lot of people that take CCBs for coronary artery spasms, that also take certain kinds of beta blockers.

I took the CCBs for BP control, because I became allergic to ACE inhibitors and ARBs. Now, I am on a new beta blocker Coreg, with a small dose of an ARB. The small dose even bothers the muscles of my body. Anyone who has heart disease needs the angiotension or the angiotension receptors blocked to protect the kidneys.

Your doctor is asking you to do the right thing. You CANNOT abruptly stop atenolol, so he is starting the CCB correctly. I read info on your particular CCB. No danger from what the doc says to do

10-31-2007, 07:20 AM

I was on verapamil for many years and didn't have SVTs for five years and then whammo. So the cardio put me on atenolol 25mg at night and it made me dizzy and whoozy that I had to miss a day of work. The switched me to diltiazem and it helped. I would reconfirm with your doc and just make sure someone is nearby. What my doc said is that it could lower my bp and heartrate too low and cause me to passout.

11-01-2007, 09:30 AM

Hi,

Quote:

A beta blocker and a calcium channel blocker can be dangerous taken together

Like Huckfinn, I too have been on both the beta blockers and calcium channel blockers. My medications are reviewed periodically by several doctors. No one ever suggested these two should not be co-administered. Clinical studies have shown that this combination is well tolerated and has no significant effect on cardiac conduction. That's not to say it does not cause some very unpleasant side effects, which can become intolerable at times, contradicting the study results (at least in some people...

)

flowergirl

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