Chest pain when arrythmia is not present

Posted by baruska57 @baruska57, Feb 15, 2023

Does anybody else with non serious arrythmia have chest pain, shortness of breath, blurry vision and a feeling of heavy heart beat and wobbling in the heart muscle when tachycardia is not happening? Have you been told whether ablation would help this if it’s not happening in relation to the tachycardia? I live in Canada and all of the testing that happened to identify my condition-stress test and echocardiogram etc which were normal two years ago are not going to be repeated any time soon. Holter monitors are repeated sometimes on request. Invariably that’s the 24 hours when I have not much tachycardia and clearly they don’t measure when my heart is hurting or somebody would have mentioned it. (My smart watch shows everything the holter monitor does- I have spikes up to 175bpm that cycle back down to normal almost immediately but this can happen multiple times in a row sometimes 5 times a day and sometimes not at all in a day. The chest pain didn’t start until I went on metoprolol two years ago. Could metoprolol therefore be the cause of these scary symptoms? (The chest pain weakness etc?) The cardiologist says he doesn’t think these symptoms are even to do with my heart based on holter monitor results and was scornful that I would link them to the metoprolol-refused to prescribe a different beta blocker. He gave up on me when I couldn’t keep taking propafenone for longer than a few days- it made me so sick I felt like I was poisoning myself- in addition to it exacerbating all the symptoms it was prescribed to treat. I have been labeled anxious. And yes I am! For someone with a non serious arrythmia I feel like my life is close to being done. I’m a 65 year old woman. I don’t feel like there’s any point in going back to the cardiologist (you have to go to the same one here) unless I’m going to make a case to try and have ablation for this. He says that given my anxiety about drug side effects the proximity of the issue -Ectopic atrial tachycardia- to the phrenic nerve could give me even worse problems if it was affected by ablation. If curing the tachycardia with ablation would cure the chest pain it might be worth it. And I’m considering going back to him and ask for that. I can go back 4 months from now apparently…

How I wish I could go to the Mayo clinic!

I have other symptoms-chronic pelvic pain, bladder issues and now bowel problems related to pelvic floor dysfunction … vagus nerve related? I keep wondering if these might be the source of the tachycardia and I’m barking up the wrong tree even going to a cardiologist. My GP can’t even remember who I am let alone help me much with this problem. It’s not her fault -it’s just the way things are structured here.

With all these mystery symptoms and being female, old and labeled anxious I am not the best candidate for successful treatment in Canada’s overburdened system of universal healthcare…

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Heart Rhythm Conditions Support Group.

sallyr | @sallyr | Feb 16, 2023

What are you doing about the anxiety? I know my own PVCs PACs can be triggered quite radically by even mild anxiety, And gut issues also. And as you know, it's a feedback loop, they escalate together. A little Xanax tends to damp things down for me and even if the arrhythmias don't subside right away I don't feel so bad about them 😉. Some of the mindfulness/meditation things have also given me a little bit of help but they take a hell of a lot of work to maintain, Xanax is easier. But a tricky balance since it actually is something you can get stuck on. I try not to use it too often.

baruska57 | @baruska57 | Feb 17, 2023

Thank you for this. It’s good to be reminded of this connection. Anxiety has been a big part of my problem from the start. I felt blown off by the cardiologist when I was open about it though and I’ve kind of downplayed it after that. I do think metoprolol made the anxiety worse. But I do notice that mindfulness and non attachment attitude really helps. Thank you for responding. 🙂

sallyr | @sallyr | Feb 18, 2023

In reply to @baruska57 "Thank you for this. It’s good to be reminded of this connection. Anxiety has been a..." + (show)

I'm glad if it helped. It is beyond irritating that doctors are so hidebound about staying in their own silos. My cardiologist is pretty much the same, tho his NP is a little better. We need more medical people working on the mind body connections.

greff | @greff | Mar 6, 2023

I have dealt with angina ( chest pain) throughout my years of being in and also out of A-fib. For me, it was common. They would give me nitros and other prescription meds to try to deal with it. I've been cardioverted many times due to the on-going A-fib issues I have had. I just got tired of going to the heart hospital to get the paddles put to my chest to get me back in rhythm. I decided to pursue getting a cardiac ablation done last year. They said I was a good candidate for it. This procedure has helped with the chest pain and I've only had one day of being in A-fib so far. I do feel that I am worn out since the ablation. Go figure, they burn a wall to remap the electrical current in the atrial chambers. For me, ablation has been a good decision. I encourage you to at least see if your a good candidate. God bless and I hope you start feeling better.

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