I was just at the ER during the night on Monday. I keep feeling these thuds or kicks in my heart and pauses in my pulse. It started a few days before I went to the ER and was not letting up so I decided I better go.
At the ER they hooked me up to the heart monitor and nothing was found other than PAC's. They did not tell me how many or anything. The EKG was normal and the doctor just told me to follow up with my cardiologist.
I am still having these thuds/kicks and pauses in my pulse. Sometimes I do not feel much and other times there seems to be several every 5 minutes and it will go on for a while. It just feels to me like I am having too many of them and I do not know if it is safe or not. They are not going away.
I am due for my period and it has not started yet. I have depression and severe anxiety. I feel really shaky and just horrid. I feel this heart mess has something to do with my period, etc because it happened last month too.
I just had an echo 3 weeks ago that was good and also a 24 hour holter monitor that did not show a single PAC, PVC, arrhythmia, etc. Now I am having these thuds and pauses all the time and they will not stop.
I really do not want to go back to the ER again and have them do nothing. Is having a ton of these PAC things dangerous? I feel like they are happening a lot. I just do not know what to do. I do not know if I should ride it out or go back to the ER if this is dangerous.
Any advise or insight on this would be great. Thank you guys so much. This is just very scary for me.
-------------------- Lyme, Babesia Microti, possible Bart. Posts: 173 | From A little south of sanity - PA | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
I just wanted to say that I know how you feel. I have PVC's and lately they are coming at times every other beat for hours. I too have been to the ER too many times over the years and had many holters etc. I just try to focus on something else and try not to get a lot of anxiety over them.
I say "try" cause as you know this is easier said than done. Somedays I am better able to tolerate them than others. I even take a beta blocker and they are this bad. I do know htey get worse before my period. Like 2 weeks prior they start going nuts.
I can't tell you what to do but it seems the ER probably won't help much. You could call your cardio and let them know they are happening more frequent. Sorry you are dealing with this..I know how scary it is and it's hard for people that don't experience it to understand. My husband just tells me to not worry about it and ignore them...I have way too much anxiety for that, but I am trying to find a way to not get so scared w/them. Hope your period comes soon and they settle down.
Posts: 146 | From Midwest | Registered: Feb 2005
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charlie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 25
posted
Kind of like thunka, thunka, thunka, thunka............WHAM....thunka. thunka.
it's babs...a lot of us get that sort of disconcerting heart rhythm.
Mine got much better with treatment, there have been a lot of posts on the subject. Consensus is it's not harmful but it sure is scary.
Charlie
Posts: 2804 | From Texas | Registered: Oct 2000
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posted
Thank you guys. Yes it sure is scary for sure.
I just do not know how many of these things are dangerous?
-------------------- Lyme, Babesia Microti, possible Bart. Posts: 173 | From A little south of sanity - PA | Registered: Jan 2009
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Ocean
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3496
posted
It's a tough call. This week my heart stuff started up again too, I had really bad sore legs this weekend, which I get every 2 days, not sure if it's related to the heart stuff or not.
When you get them, do you get a burst of adrenaline that shoots through your body? I can feel it in my fingers. I was having them yesterday morning or else Tuesday morning, I can't remember.
In nursing school, I'm pretty sure they said fewer than 6 PVC's per minute isn't harmful (Lyme brain, can't remember right now). More than that can mean V Tach.
How is your resting heart rate? Is the POTS still there? I'm sorry if you told me and I'm forgetting, I do that a lot.
If you feel like you need to go to the ER please do so. I know how awful it is. The last bad episode I had I told myself that I wasn't going unless I passed out or had severe pain (which I didn't, but it was scary for sure!).
Like others have said, it is probably the babesia. Are you taking anything right now for Lyme or co's? That could be stirring stuff up.
nenet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 13174
posted
I have had this, along with tachycardia and what I recall were PSVTs (but I can't remember well), and have an inverted T-wave that showed up on my EKG at the beginning of the big heart symptoms. I have had tons of testing that found nothing else, but never did a Holter, though I was supposed to.
For me, the symptoms have decreased in frequency and magnitude as I have been on long-term antibiotic therapy for Lyme - it took about 7-8 months of low doses of Ceftin to notice a marked improvement.
I still get them sometimes, generally when I get less sleep than I need, but mostly a week or so before my period is supposed to begin. If my period was ever late, the heart symptoms would be at their worst.
My pre-menstrual heart symptoms generally were accompanied by a low-grade fever, and an overall flare of my Lyme. My monthly Lyme flare seems to be matched to my monthly cycle, which makes sense to me because our immune systems ramp up right before our periods.
Of course, if you have any symptoms that concern you, a call to an ER Nurse can help you determine what to do. If you have any symptoms resembling heart attack, do not hesitate to go to the ER. It's always better to be safe than sorry, though I understand how difficult trips to the ER can be, and how taxing.
I would definitely call your Cardiologist, no matter what, and get their advice on your worsening symptoms, and schedule a follow-up visit. I would also let your LLMD know what is going on. Are you currently on any treatment for Lyme and/or co-infections?
Your LLMD may decide they could be worsening due to strong herxing, and lower or break from your medication for a short while, to ease your symptoms.
nenet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 13174
posted
I wanted to answer your question about whether they are dangerous, but I just don't know. That is something you need to ask your Cardiologist, for sure.
I understand how stressful and fearful these symptoms can make you, and most of it seems to stem from just simply not knowing what is going on, and what to expect. For me that has seemed to be the worst part of all, when dealing with so many multitudes of symptoms. The fear of the unknown.
So, I would call your Cardiologist and get a follow-up as soon as possible, but also ask for a phone consult to let you know whether this is a serious change in your symptoms.
Then call yourLLMD and see what can be done to address this, whether by addressing Herxing or changing treatment strategies.
Good luck BlueCheetah - you've got us by your side for support and understanding.
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