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Just PVCs or AFIB?

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Posted 12/18/2013 4:32 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

I am new to the list, so please bear with me (hope I posted in the right area). My PVCs(diagnosed in my 20s) would come and go for years (pregnancy, stress, too much alcohol). As I got into my 40s, they came back with my perimenopausal symptoms and now at 47 and in menopause, they are the worst yet. I keep seeing my cardiologist (appt tomorrow) to discuss this, but he just moves me from Toprol to Atenolol and periodically orders a test or two and says I'm fine. However, now it feels like it quivers along with flip flops and the medication is not controlling it. I feel like I can't breath sometimes and I wonder if maybe it is more of an Afib type situation? How does one know which type of arrhythmia it is?

Thanks for any help. As you all know...it is nerve-wracking to deal with this day and night. It used to be night only.

I also think certain foods affect it and now I feel like I can't even drink one iced tea without the caffeine setting it off.
Posted 12/18/2013 5:00 PM (GMT 0)
blueousemom, Hello and welcome to HealingWell.   Glad you've found our online community. It’s a great place to connect with others traveling the same road...you'll find much support, encouragement and advice from others who understand.   I can understand why you are alarmed re your heartbeats and you have the right to be as most people who have PVCs experience anxiety re their heart rhythms. You need an EKG to determine what your rhythm is.  You mentioned you have shortness of breath - any chest pain with that ?  I am glad you have a Drs. appointment tomorrow and should you feel you need to see a Dr. sooner do present to your nearest ER.  Also, if you feel your Dr. is not giving you the attention your concerns call for consider getting a second opinion. I will be waiting to hear from you and again, remember to be your own best advocate. Kindly, Kitt
Posted 12/18/2013 7:01 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks, Kitt.

I have had EKGs, echos, holter and some other sort of monitor that I only hit the record button when I felt I was having "an episode". That one was last March. But he still tells me "oh, just PVCs...take your medicine or don't". I guess the odd quivering that goes on along with the flip-flopping made me wonder if it was more than just PVCs now. As I peruse the list to see what other symptoms people have, I had hoped someone would say it felt like that for them. My PVCs have changed over the years and they are not like they used to be.

Thanks,

jill
Posted 12/20/2013 5:51 AM (GMT 0)
Bluehousemom, i have afib. I had my first fib in 2009 and was in full fib twice in two weeks but before that i did notice my heart skipping at night and a couple times i had the quivering thing your talking about. Pretty scary but only lasted a couple seconds. I've gone fib free until sept of this year and had an icu experience along with dr threatening to give me a shock with the paddles to convert back to sinus rhythm, but i went to normal rhythm on my on, thank the Lord! I've been on sotalol 40 mg 2xday ever since 2009 and it has worked great until sept. My fib i think is brought on by stress. Caffine, alcohol i stay completely away from as it seems to make my heart skip around, flip flop as u say. At this time i am wearing a heart monitar for a month so my dr can see what its doing. I have never had the flip flops before until this last episode of fib and they r driving me crazy!!! Pvcs is what the nurse said they were but it feels like my heart is skipping beats every 2 beats! At this point i'm willing to do whatever it takes to make it go away. At work i'm walking around light-headed, dizzy, headaches, and stressed from flip flopping around!!! Lol i hope its not something they say to just get used to as its not dangerous or anything. That would be horrible! Oh, one more thing. It seems when my heart skips around my stomach is upset too. Diverticulitis, ibs d/c, acid reflux, bile reflux, postcholecystectomy syndrome(post gallbladder syndrome)
Posted 12/21/2013 12:13 AM (GMT 0)
A-fib can be a scary experience. From time to time in my life I've experienced some fluttering sensations in my chest that I thought mostly harmless, but twice now since my surgery on the 10th of December I've gone into atrial fibrillation. Not a nice thing to experience. I've had what seems to be gallons of Amiodarone via IV and I'm on what I feel is a high oral dose for the next few weeks, 400 mg twice daily for five days. Then I cut back to 200 mg twice daily for one week. Then 100 mg...you get the drift.
When I was in the hospital immediately post op, but after my first round of a-fib, I kept throwing pvcs. My potassium level kept dropping, I would get a few pvcs, they would give me potassium via iv and the pvcs would go away.
Good luck with it guys. I know how a-fib makes you feel.
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