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Posted 9/7/2006 2:06 PM (GMT 0)
Well, I'm getting really desperate for some kind of relief from the pvc's/pac's....at this point in time, I don't get long runs of them, but I do get at least one or two every day or every other day. I did an event monitor that showed infrequent pvc's, infrequent pac's, and rare ventricular and occasional atrial couplets. I don't know if I'm actually feeling the single pvc's/pac's, I'm starting to wonder if the ones that really make me jump are the couplets. The doctors telling me that they're not life threatening is not really much of an assurance or help to me, however. In fact, it seems to only frustrate and aggravate me even more because they say it so matter-of-factly, seeming to think I should just be able to brush them aside and move on. It's gone past the point of being able to brush them aside, because I cannot lay down and try to sleep because the anxiety of having one is so severe that my mind won't shut off about it.

My question is this....has anyone on here found any relief from having them or relief from feeling them by taking beta blockers? I have heard that they can be really good at eliminating the sensations of having the stupid things. Second question is, if any of you do take beta blockers, did you already have a blood pressure that normally ran on the low end for you before starting the beta blocker? My bp always runs around 100/60 to 90/60. In fact the last two visits to the cardiologist, my bp was exactly the same, 90/60. I know that people with low bp can sometimes take beta blockers. Actually a family member of mine who is pregnant has normal low bp, and recently started to go into labor way too early, so the doctors put her on beta blockers to stop the early labor. The only thing she notices is sluggishness, like she always seems and feels very tired. That said, if anyone here as any information on beta blockers, please share. I'm getting desperate, and although I hate the idea of taking any pills for anything at this point, I'm seriously teetering on the edge of losing my mind because of these things.

April

Posted 9/7/2006 3:08 PM (GMT 0)
Hypotension is the medical term for low blood pressure which is BELOW 90/60. Your blood pressure sounds FINE to me. I'm happy when mine are in that range. Try having your readings consistentyly around 83/53. That's my normal. My bottom number has gone down as low as 45.

Yes, beta blocker help some people not feel the premature heart beats. Some people will FEEL more on beta blockers. I would worry about ANY doctor who would give you medication for only feeling one or two a day. What are you going to do if you develop 1000+ a day as do some people that I know?

I suggest that you go to this web site and read the questions/answers and discussion about the palpitaions. Do an archive search their on PACs, PVCs, Palpitaions, Premature Heart Beats, etc. The web site is www.medhelp.org/

My suggestion is that you find a counselor who can help you work through your health anxiety. That way you can cope with this benign condition which is probably not going to go away.

Those of us who have to deal with this do have our times of anxiety and fear about it. Yes, we occasionally think "Oh my gosh, this is going to kill me." Of course, It NEVER does when your heart is structurally normal. The trick is to minimize the time you are in the anxiety and fear.

You've got to find healthy ways to deal with it or you are going to cripple your life and waste it away by being paralyzed with FEAR. Don't live that way. I have done it before! You've got to find a way to overcome this!

Wishing that they would stop and never come back is probably not going to be effective. I've tried that! It didn't work. So now you've got to take the next step and move beyond that. Medication for what you are describing is iffy. I think you need some counseling help. Then you won't be dependent on meds for a benign condition.

I hope you are able to find some peace of mind.
Posted 9/7/2006 3:25 PM (GMT 0)
I don't know, I can't find the courage to get through a day with any success when I start to let myself think they'll never go away. Doctors have told me it's possible that they will stay, and it's possible that they will go away. So I would rather think it's likely that they'll go away. I had what was supposedly a bad "panic attack", and then after the 3rd panic attack I shut down and stopped going to work, school, etc. Then the pvc's/pac's started to follow the 3rd attack.

So if this is not heart related, then that especially should be encouraging that this isn't permanent. Please encourage me! I don't want or need to be told that this will most likely never go away. It's gone away for other people before. And beta blockers have helped other people before, so that's why I'm really considering them. Even the cardiologist suggested it as a possibility if counseling & anxiety/depression medication didn't help. I've been attending counseling, actually, and a psychiatrist as well. I've tried 4 different antidepressants, all of which made the stupid things worse. In fact, after starting with the first antidepressant, that seemed to bring them on more often. I'm pretty much unwiling at this point to try anymore antidepressants. I take klonopin right now, but very minimally as it doesn't really help the anxiety over this anyway, and ambien for the time being to get to sleep as I lay awake worrying about these things.

Yes, I do want to continue counseling, for me counseling alone isn't going to do it. Only some kind of relief from these things, whether it be decreased sensation of them or decreased fear of them or both, will do the trick for me.

Posted 9/8/2006 5:16 PM (GMT 0)
I get the same amount of palpitations as you.

I have been taking metopropol for the past three days and have not any palpitations. I get more palpitations if lay on my front or side also, if lean my chest against a desk.

I just find them to be annoying and I just try not to think about them.

 I take herb pills for anxiety, I don't know if they work or that I am getting over my anxiety.

Posted 9/9/2006 9:16 PM (GMT 0)
Hello April,

I also felt at least 1 palpitation everyday, they were never in runs but just one pronounced one that I could expect... This happened for maybe 6 months until I seen my doctor, he said that he is almost certain it was down to stress or anxiety... I looked at what can reduce cortisol and adrenaline, aswell as reduce palpitations via other mechanisms.

What totally stopped these palpitations were two things:

Large divided doses of Vitamin C - This prevents big increases in cortisol and adrenaline in response to stress/anxiety. I recommend you start on 1000mg a day and slowly go upto at least 3000mg, 1000mg 3x daily. Give it a few days and see what happens.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20030425-000001.html

Another thing that I recommend is that you take Fish oil or flax seed oil. These will help keep the heart rhythm normal and is very good for mood and stress reduction.

Fish oils can regulate heart beat
http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?id=54635-fish-oils-can

I noticed these effects quite quickly, maybe within 2 to 3 weeks... Please give it a try, both of these totally stopped my palpitations.

EDIT

Another thing, go see a lot of comedy's with friends or whatever, laughing is one the best things and will take your mind off it.
Posted 9/9/2006 11:26 PM (GMT 0)
REALLY?! Vitamin C, fish oil and flax oil? You took all these things and they worked for you that fast??!! I'm so desperate at this point, I'd really started considering the B-blockers because I'd heard they can help, but I'm really leary of taking any medications at all, including the klonopin I take for anxiety (which I've been trying to cut down on) and Ambien for sleep. I guess I'm scared that there's some kind of problem they haven't found yet because I've been told I've got an abnormal ekg (non-specific ST-T wave abnormalities)....supposedly, this is a "variant of normal" and "nothing to worry about". But when you get skips AND you're told you've got this abnormal test, that makes it really hard to NOT worry. My whole life has basically turned into subsisting from day to day because of this....sometimes I get more than one of them a day, usually just one or two that I really feel. It's either an electric shock feeling or a pause feeling. I HATE IT!! When you were having these things, were they causing you severe anxiety?? If you don't mind me asking, what is your age, sex and weight? I just ask these things because I'm trying to gauge my physical build and experience with that of people who've found relief from these things. Oh yeah, did you ever have chest pain at anytime, by itself or following a skip? Oh, and I'm also hyper-sensitive to a lot of medications (SSRI's, SNRI's, some anxiety medication, strong antihistamines, codeine, who knows what else). I guess just another reason why I'm scared to try any medications to help with this. I'm so bothered by these things that I've even considered the idea of getting that vagus nerve surgery done where they implant this device that's supposed to modulate its activity, since I've read in numerous places that these things can be caused by vagal nerve activity. Oops, rambling! But really, if you have anymore information, I'd really appreciate it, I'm so upset that I've been having these things that my days have been alternating between getting really angry and hitting things (which usually ends up in things being broke and bruises for me) or just crying for so long that my eyes end up totally red and puffy and sore. My anxiety and depression didn't come on until heart symptoms came on, and as some of them have increased, the anxiety and depression has increased. I would've been willing to stay on antidepressants and/or try new ones if I hadn't had such bad reactions, but I couldn't take what they did to me when I was already anxious and scared! Rambling again! Anyway, please, if you've got anymore information, please share.......
Posted 9/10/2006 9:58 AM (GMT 0)
I am male and have quite a low BMI due to Caloric Restriction With Optimal Nutrition, if you look at my website on the link in my signature at the bottom of this post you can see details about me on my site.

Vitamin C had an almost immediate impact on anxiety and stress symptoms. In studies it have shown to totally blunt the rise in cortisol and adrenaline which can cause palpitations. Fish oil may take a little longer to have an effect but you should be getting omega 3 anyway, regardless of whether you have symptoms or not. Actually I couldn't believe it when I had no palpitations for a whole month! then I had a few for a couple days, but on those days I ran out of Vitamin C and I could feel adrenaline rushes again, which I knew would cause palpitations. Another thing that has been a big help is getting a job, I stayed in the house way too much and never got out a lot. I wasn't scared of going out or anything, but everyone else was in work, and I just had too much time to think about my symptoms rather than keeping busy with something. I don't really like to take any medications so I try to stay away from them, my doctor asked me about 6 months ago about beta blockers but I declined, with good reason I thought because my blood pressure and pulse is really low due to CR and I don't want it going lower!

I've always had short periods of anxiety since I was about 8 years old, and a lot of my family has it, I think its learned behaviour. But you can overcome it, I'll list a few things that I did all at once:
Vitamin C 3000mg a day
Omega 3 2800mg DHA/EPA
Power Yoga 60 minutes a day

The palpitations did cause me excessive amount of anxiety, to the point of almost being depressed I think, but I just pulled myself together and thought this can't go on, I'm doing this to myself. So then I just tried to do lots of different things about it and it seemed to work. You can get vitamin C and omega 3 for real cheap, please try it and give it some time. I've also never really had chest pain along with palpitations, but have had pains in my chest, which was likely indigestion and didn't bother me... plus havent had it for over a year now anyway. I did also become very sensitive to things like caffeine, something I could tolerate very well before, but even caffeine doesn't cause palps no more.

I would really like to hear if those suggestions help at all.

Eating a healthy diet is also very important is helping with the effects of stress/anxiety.
Posted 9/11/2006 10:20 PM (GMT 0)

I feel like I am going crazy!  I have been having these palps for the last three days steady.  They are ruling my life.   I have asked a friend of mine to hook me up to a monitor (she works in cardio).  Any time she said.  I know that by the time I get up there they will stop.  I need to see a counsellor. 

I know that a lot of you have been through this and have found peace of mind.  How?  Thank you all for hearing me out.

Maxx

Posted 9/13/2006 5:31 PM (GMT 0)
To whoa182,

what brands of Vitamin C and fish oil do you use? I'm really considering trying these supplements, but I don't want to get a brand with compromised integrity. Are they brands that I can get in the states? Thanks confused

April

Posted 9/14/2006 5:17 PM (GMT 0)
Update I am still have palpitations sometimes,but they are not as severe as before. From that I quess beta blockers do help somewhat.
Posted 9/19/2006 3:57 AM (GMT 0)
:-)  Hi April, just my 2 cents, i buy my fishoil capsules at costco, do not take too much, what whoa suggested is jusst about right. i know vit c is good, but watch for stomach issues if you have any intestinal or stomach problems, they can be bothersome and more than 1000 is just too much in my humble opinion. there are many other things, i think getting on a low dose of metoprlol, imean low,like 25mgs, could help if iat doesn't make you too tired.whoa has some great stuff, i love reading very valuable info, so this is just me giving my thoughts, check with a few more people, i have been on the fish oil for my arteries, i know it has increased my good ldl and trigs
Posted 9/19/2006 1:52 PM (GMT 0)

Maxx,

I have been getting LOTS of them recently also.  I HATE it.  I was at the gym the other day and all of a sudden my heart just started doing flip flops like crazy and I left.  I think i was overly tired I have been working a LOT.  Its SO scary.  THats really nice of your friend, that will hook u up to a  monitor.  I work in a  ER but of course I hardly ever get them while im at work!!!  Take care and get your mind off of them, that DEFINITELY makes them WORSE!!!

Bria

Posted 9/19/2006 9:37 PM (GMT 0)
April, I had a heart attack in 2000, was on BB for 4 years, went in to a hospital for chest discomfort and my blood pressure was so low they refused to give BB. When I got out I never used them again, that was 2 years ago. My heart flutter was worse on BB,s, now I rarely feel them. Did you ever get a stress test? There is a reason I ask that.
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