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DESPERATELY FRIGHTENED, PVCs, AFib or panic attack
Heart Rhythm Conditions | Last Active: Oct 3, 2019 | Replies (20)Comment receiving replies
Soph...…...I can't thank you enough for responding so quickly! I am much calmer now, and know from YEARS of having Panic Disorder that when I let it get out of control, it's really hard to reign in. I've had "palpations" since I was a teen-ager......at least, that's what they called them way back then. I became very use to them, but they were never a daily occurrence, they didn't last very long and they did not cause any arrhythmia...….my heart was flip-flopping, but my heart rate was completely normal. Fast forward many years and the "palps" became much more frequent, much stronger and I now noticed that my pulse was really rapid and these episodes would last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. Naturally I saw a cardiologist immediately and after wearing a holter monitor for 72 hours, he diagnosed me with AFIB and also explained to me at that time that what I had always thought of as "palps" were actually PVC's/ (Who knew? NOT my GP!) But he assured me they were harmless. He put me on Xarelto immediately for the AFIB. The next month we discussed trying anti-arrhythmics, and after reading a lot of opinions on this forum and others, I knew they weren't for me.....not with my panic disorder. Just reading about the side effects caused a panic attack. Soon after, I met with an EP and it was decided that an ablation was the best choice for me. So I had it done a few weeks later. The first month was rough, there had been some issues during the procedure and I was on the table much longer than they expected, nothing life threatening, but it left me feeling like I'd been hit by a bus. The GREAT part was that I had so few episodes of AFIB.....and the ones I DID have were very mild and didn't last long at all...….a few minutes at most and as a real bonus.....no more PVC's which I was not told the ablation would stop as well. I'm sorry......I feel like I'm repeating myself. When I saw the EP at my 3 month follow up and said I was having some PVC's, that was when he upped the atenolol and as I said, it worked. They stopped. At least from June until the end of August or beginning of September. Rereading this, I see how redundant I've been and I am really sorry. I don't have any personal friends or family who have ever been through anything like this. My husband is one of those guys who has never had anything worse than the common cold (But he acts like he's on DEATHS DOOR) So while he tries, I know he get's a little tired of me worrying every time I get a little tweak or twinge in my heart. You folks on this forum are really the only ones I have to turn to, which makes me sound pathetic.
So. I guess what I'm the most scared about is that for quite a few months I've had NOTHING going on with my heart, then suddenly, I'm now having these infrequent PVC's. Soph, you've done great in calming me down and understanding that even this long after the ablation, PVC's are nothing to freak out about. I know when I see the EP on Monday, he'll hopefully tell me the same thing and I'll get my head screwed on right again. Do you think I should request a holter or ZIO monitor? I know he'll do an EKG, but those only tell them what your heart is doing for the minute you're hooked up to it.
I will stop now. I will let you know in three sentences or less what the EP says on Monday. Again, thank you so much for helping me get through this bit of rocky road..
RubyWitch
Replies to "Soph...…...I can't thank you enough for responding so quickly! I am much calmer now, and know..."
@rubywitch67, how are you doing?
Try cbd it should make u feel calmer. Also look at the triggers for your episodes l found that caffine in coffee, the evening glass of wine was one of my triggers even though the cardiologist was telling me it should be ok . I found that any kind of alcohol even small amounts would set me off
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Hi RubyWitch, I went through a few very similar heart events for years and like so many of my conditions. They’re not like the conditions that are easily detected so as I mentioned elsewhere even today I’ve been told many times that my conditions are in my head. In fact it was the arrhythmia problems that found my writing about it in my journal as well as prose and poetry pieces that I wrote because it was oddly funny to say “ my heart is in my head “
I wore many monitors and halters and did many stress tests and had other tests that looked at the heart. They could never find anything definitively and after hearing a young women on a morning talk show in NYC tell a similar story to yours and mine she talked about the doctor she found who figured it out “ I wrote his name down, looked him up and called his office telling the person answering the phone what I just saw on TV and asked if I could make an appointment. She asked me to send her an email detailing how long things were going on and anything else that I thought was important.
I got to see the doctor and he also recommended ablation and also added that it wasn’t life threatening so when I was ready to let him know. He RX’d Metoprolol but oddly and often to the chagrin of other he told me to take it as needed explaining that taking it regularly will actually cause high blood pressure.
Interestingly enough the symptoms that I was experiencing happened less and less and I’ve never had the ablation.
Once again I think what happened to me would not have happened had I had the procedure done. I also think that is this doctor was interested in me as a person and a patient he might have discovered something he would otherwise never know. In fact no one knows about what might be a whole new way at looking at and treating this condition. I think there would need to be a doctor or a research team to look at what happened over time. It appears to me to be an alternative way of treating these symptoms. Just my humble opinion.
Hope you find a solution and peace