Questions not answered lately--this is about heart and PVC's and if I should be concerned--again!?

Question

Posted 2 questions last month--no answers. Not sure why. Usually get several. My PVC's seem to be occurring more frequently--lots of stress in our family right now. I take Toprol/Diovan for moderate hbp, amd 70 and female and in otherwise good health. I had cardiac cath in 2004 and have had all the tests for the heart. Still these PVC's when they occur and last for 2 or 3 hours, sort of concern me. My primary doc says it's nothing to worry about. So I try not to but as it did last night, I felt flushed and a bit 'like you do when you take a diet pill' that gives you a spurt of energy---I took those years ago. By bedtime I was ok but it occurrs once or twice a month and startles me so just wondering if anyone has a comment? thanks. The beats are 1-2-3- steady, then fast 3 or 4, then steady and an occasional skip. Sometimes it just races for 30 mins. or so---around 100 beast a min. Strange. No chest pain/nausea or light headedness either. Thanks. yanksgirl

Answer 1

You seem very knowledgeable about the heart. The only thing a heart cath can show is if there is blockage somewhere in the heart. I would suggest a Halter monitor. That way it can monitor the electrical activity of your heart over a specific time, and relay the data to your doctor. A stress test might show something, but this something you do need to be concerned about.

     We all have the occassional PVC (premature ventricular contraction) that sort of takes your breath away for a moment, and then it's gone. There are couplets( 2 beats), and triplets (3 beats), but when you start getting runs of PVC's that could be V-tach, a potentially fatal heart rythm. If you have sleep apnea, that could be causing the extra heart activity also. A sleep study would help there too. Hope this helps you, and best of luck to you. Get this checked out as soon as you can. Better safe than sorry.

Answer 2

Isolated PVCs without structural heart disease are usually left alone.