Connect
← Return to Heart Rhythm Conditions – Welcome to the group
Discussion
Heart Rhythm Conditions – Welcome to the group
Heart Rhythm Conditions | Last Active: Jan 13 1:37pm | Replies (1091)Comment receiving replies
Hi my name is Tom. I’m a seventy year old white male. I have recently been diagnosed with PVCs. They came on like a thief in the night with the principal symptom being inability to draw breath (fluid in left lung). My PCP, refered me to a Pulmonologist who in turn sent me to a Cardiologist. ECG disclosed the PVCs. Echo cardiogram showed really bad efficiency. Cardiac MRI to look for damage (still waiting for interpretation), and ablation scheduled in two weeks. Currently taking metropololol and a diureticbut the condition is barely controlled. I would love to know a couple of things like: what did I do to cause these? I’ve always been a competitive or amateur swimmer and distance runner. Heart never had a problem before.
Replies to "Hi my name is Tom. I’m a seventy year old white male. I have recently been..."
Sorry to hear of your problems. This is rarely a medical condition with a quick fix. PVCs can often be thought of in oversimplifjed terms as an electrical signal bouncing off a zone of bad tissue. The signal can often be rerouted by destroying the related path, but only if a specific location giving rise to the pvc can be observed. This is often done by observing the number and types of pvcs recorded on a 24 hour test, or when mapping during a study when an ablation is to be attempted.
Then there are meds
Doctors will almost always start with safe medicines that might not be as strong. They can often rotate through medicines, or combinations, to see which work and what you can tolerate. It’s always about balancing the risk of the PVCs vs the side effects of the meds. In some cases they will not start a new med unless you are in the hospital hooked up so that you can be observed
It seems to me it isn't all physical, what about your emotional life? And all the grief from TV news showing us images of starving children in Yemen. I think this has an effect on us even if it bypasses the brain and goes directly to the heart. I'd take a fast from world suffering.
Connect
Hi Tom,
high end athletic stress on your heart can cause it. many olympic athletes have it.
best wishes,
Larry