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Heart Rhythm Conditions – Welcome to the group
Welcome to the Heart Rhythm Conditions group on Mayo Clinic Connect.
Did you know that the average heart beats 100,000 times a day? Millions of people live with heart rhythm problems (heart arrhythmias) which occur when the electrical impulses that coordinate heartbeats don't work properly. Let's connect with each other; we can share stories and learn about coping with the challenges, and living well with abnormal heart rhythms. I invite you to follow the group. Simply click the +FOLLOW icon on the group landing page.
I'm Kanaaz (@kanaazpereira), and I'm the moderator of this group. When you post to this group, chances are you'll also be greeted by volunteer patient Mentors and fellow members. Learn more about Moderators and Mentors on Connect.
Let's chat. Why not start by introducing yourself?
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@ness125
Thank you for your input. You are the first person I’ve checked with that has gotten along with the metoprolol. My husband takes it and has been very unhappy with the effects it has on him. It’s hard enough trying to stay active without taking something that will make me tired. I’ve been praying about it and that has helped. Thanks again.
@mmst4 Metoprolol is a beta blocker. Specifically, it blocks the beta-adrenergic receptors in the heart and prevents your heart from racing, especially when you are emotionally or physically stressed and your adrenal glands, which sit atop each kidney, secrete more of the fight-or-flight hormone called adrenalin (epinephrine in some medical circles). The results are two: slower rate and less forceful contractions when they happen...at that slower rate. Accordingly, metoprolol is a 'rate control' medication, and it is also sometimes prescribed for 'incipient hypertension' because of that one property, less forceful contractions.
Your physician must have done a pretty comprehensive assessment of you and decided that metoprolol, at least initially, and for now, is worth trialing to see how it works for the desired effect, but also that it doesn't make you truly miserable and not want to live anyway...or at least to continue to take it voluntarily. If you find that your spidey sense is telling you the metoprolol is degrading your performance in some measurable way, let him/her know!
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1 ReactionHello, I am new to the group (also wrote a post in another chat). I am here because I have PVCs. I did have a heart attack in the past, and the PVCs started sometime after that.
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1 ReactionI am 54 years old. Female. Living with SVT ,on metoprolol for ten years. Recently episodes have ramped up. Cardiologist appointment tomorrow. Very nervous at this point. Haven’t ever been this anxious before and that’s making things much worse. They want to put me on flecainide and I’m terrified. Anyone out there have any experience on this drug ?
@grandmar
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1 ReactionI have berry suffering for years myself
These doctors just want to pack your body with side effects meds
I get severe palpitation every day
I try breathing exercises at times
However I get anxious an anxiety with it
I learned to live with it but it is debilitating
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2 Reactions@anjimlynch
@anjimlynch Flecainide is a very popular, and usually well-tolerated, anti-arrhythmic drug. Some people, when their episodes come and go, now and then, use what is called a PIP approach to Flecainide, or 'pill-in-pocket.' You keep a single tablet in your purse or wallet and only pop it down if you happen to have a run of SVT that lasts over 5 minutes. Many self-correct in just a few minutes, but if it persists, you get the tablet and wash it down. Takes about 40 minutes typically if your stomach has a recent meal in there. Many cardiologists suggest the PIP approach to their patients whose arrhythmia is transient.
Your cardiologist should, depending on how up-to-speed he/she is, offer to refer you to an electrophysiologist, or an EP for short. They are cardiac electricians, specialists, whose job is to assess your heart electrically and to then suggest a remedy for you, most often either drugs, a catheter ablation (more in just a minute), or a pacemaker. A lot depends on how symptomatic you are since occasional SVT and atrial fibrillation are not problematic. Only if the total 'burden' approaches 3% of all heartbeats in a 24 hour period. So, how you feel, and how you communicate its effects on you, will be as important to the EP and cardiologist as the disorder presents heart deterioration typically. Symptoms matter, especially if they make you miserable, and especially if they happen a lot.
Catheter ablation is day surgery where the EP enters your heart chambers with a thin hollow wire and causes scar tissue around places on the chamber walls where rogue electrical signals are causing chaos. This sounds drastic and terrible, but it's really very straightforward. The scar tissue creates a dam around those 'foci' by preventing the signals from spreading. It is the spreading electrical impulses that cause the atria to beat, but they're also still beating to the normal signal coming from the SA node, the 'sino-atrial' node with is the pacemaker for the heart. You can watch videos on YouTube about catheter ablation. I have had two. You're home that evening, and if it's done well, you can expect a normally beating heart for years afterward.
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3 Reactions@gloaming thank you very much for the reply. It was very helpful. I have all of my notes for tomorrow’s appointment otherwise I’ll get in there and forget half of my questions. I’ve had so many breakthrough episodes on the metoprolol that I feel like if ablation is an option for me that’s the road I need to take. I am scared of all of it but something needs to get me back on track.
@okanda it’s amazing what we learn to live with. Although scary and uncomfortably unpredictable I wish you the best of luck. It really is helpful to know we are not alone.