Guest guest Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 In a message dated 7/7/04 7:10:56 PM Pacific Daylight Time, jfburke@... writes: << have a new side effect which has been diagnosed as PVC's which really suck. The cardio thinks that they are not harmful,but it sure scares the heck out of me everytime i have a bout with this junk. ( which has been everyday for the past week) when i ask him about the problems he just says get used to it. Should i change doctors >> JFB, Has your doctor see you since you began having the PVC's this week? How do you know they are PVC's? My experience is that the nature of ectopic beats cannot be determined certainly except by EKG. If your doctor has not examined you recently and is taking your word for it that these ectopic beats are PVC's, you may need a second opinion or at least and exam from this doctor. You aren't taking a very high dose of the beta blocker (at least compared with my 150 m.g), so you might ask about an increased dose to see if more med will stop the ectopics. I would be suspicious of a doctor who says " get used to it " without examining me and trying to come up with a solution. If they are indeed PVC's, these beats will not harm you. The problem, in my experience, is that they are often the precursor to an afib episode, which also won't kill you, but which is annoying at best and scary at worst. Although I know it's difficult, try to relax and distract yourself because anxiety and upset make ectopic beats worse, according to my experience. After having ectopic beats since childhood, I know how scary they can be. I sympathize with you. You can " get used to " them, but maybe you don't want to unless you know for certain that they are harmless, ectopic beats and not something else. in sinus in Seattle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 In a message dated 7/7/04 7:10:56 PM Pacific Daylight Time, jfburke@... writes: << have a new side effect which has been diagnosed as PVC's which really suck. The cardio thinks that they are not harmful,but it sure scares the heck out of me everytime i have a bout with this junk. ( which has been everyday for the past week) when i ask him about the problems he just says get used to it. Should i change doctors >> JFB, Has your doctor see you since you began having the PVC's this week? How do you know they are PVC's? My experience is that the nature of ectopic beats cannot be determined certainly except by EKG. If your doctor has not examined you recently and is taking your word for it that these ectopic beats are PVC's, you may need a second opinion or at least and exam from this doctor. You aren't taking a very high dose of the beta blocker (at least compared with my 150 m.g), so you might ask about an increased dose to see if more med will stop the ectopics. I would be suspicious of a doctor who says " get used to it " without examining me and trying to come up with a solution. If they are indeed PVC's, these beats will not harm you. The problem, in my experience, is that they are often the precursor to an afib episode, which also won't kill you, but which is annoying at best and scary at worst. Although I know it's difficult, try to relax and distract yourself because anxiety and upset make ectopic beats worse, according to my experience. After having ectopic beats since childhood, I know how scary they can be. I sympathize with you. You can " get used to " them, but maybe you don't want to unless you know for certain that they are harmless, ectopic beats and not something else. in sinus in Seattle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 In a message dated 7/7/04 7:10:56 PM Pacific Daylight Time, jfburke@... writes: << have a new side effect which has been diagnosed as PVC's which really suck. The cardio thinks that they are not harmful,but it sure scares the heck out of me everytime i have a bout with this junk. ( which has been everyday for the past week) when i ask him about the problems he just says get used to it. Should i change doctors >> JFB, Has your doctor see you since you began having the PVC's this week? How do you know they are PVC's? My experience is that the nature of ectopic beats cannot be determined certainly except by EKG. If your doctor has not examined you recently and is taking your word for it that these ectopic beats are PVC's, you may need a second opinion or at least and exam from this doctor. You aren't taking a very high dose of the beta blocker (at least compared with my 150 m.g), so you might ask about an increased dose to see if more med will stop the ectopics. I would be suspicious of a doctor who says " get used to it " without examining me and trying to come up with a solution. If they are indeed PVC's, these beats will not harm you. The problem, in my experience, is that they are often the precursor to an afib episode, which also won't kill you, but which is annoying at best and scary at worst. Although I know it's difficult, try to relax and distract yourself because anxiety and upset make ectopic beats worse, according to my experience. After having ectopic beats since childhood, I know how scary they can be. I sympathize with you. You can " get used to " them, but maybe you don't want to unless you know for certain that they are harmless, ectopic beats and not something else. in sinus in Seattle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Hi to all Well here goes, about a year ago i was sent to the hospital with afib and spent about 2days until i went into NSR on my own. The Cardio gave me mavik for BP and Toporol 50 mg for the afib, now i have been on both meds and have a new side effect which has been diagnosed as PVC's which really suck. The cardio thinks that they are not harmful,but it sure scares the heck out of me everytime i have a bout with this junk. ( which has been everyday for the past week) when i ask him about the problems he just says get used to it. Should i change doctors jfb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 > ...have a new side effect which has been diagnosed as > PVC's which really suck. The cardio thinks that they are not > harmful,but it sure scares the heck out of me everytime i have a bout > with this junk. ( which has been everyday for the past week) when i > ask him about the problems he just says get used to it. Should i > change doctors > Hi, Jfb, My understanding is that if your stress echo and echo results are fine, doctors no longer worry about random PVCs. (There seems to be some controversy about whether someone can distinguish between PACs and PVCs by how much of a thump they feel. Did they catch these on an EKG to tell them from PACs?) However, I believe any doctor who tells someone with afib or frequent ectopics that they should " get used to it " should be dumped. Everyone deserves a doctor who understands how disturbing these are in terms of (admittedly groundless) anxiety and who will work with the patient to minimize them. At the very least, this offers emotional support, in that you know you have a doctor who is trying to help. My cardiologist recommended I take one Slow Mag tablet a day, even though my blood tests were okay in terms of magnesium level. Numerous people find that this reduces the number of ectopics felt. It may take a couple of weeks to have an effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 > ...have a new side effect which has been diagnosed as > PVC's which really suck. The cardio thinks that they are not > harmful,but it sure scares the heck out of me everytime i have a bout > with this junk. ( which has been everyday for the past week) when i > ask him about the problems he just says get used to it. Should i > change doctors > Hi, Jfb, My understanding is that if your stress echo and echo results are fine, doctors no longer worry about random PVCs. (There seems to be some controversy about whether someone can distinguish between PACs and PVCs by how much of a thump they feel. Did they catch these on an EKG to tell them from PACs?) However, I believe any doctor who tells someone with afib or frequent ectopics that they should " get used to it " should be dumped. Everyone deserves a doctor who understands how disturbing these are in terms of (admittedly groundless) anxiety and who will work with the patient to minimize them. At the very least, this offers emotional support, in that you know you have a doctor who is trying to help. My cardiologist recommended I take one Slow Mag tablet a day, even though my blood tests were okay in terms of magnesium level. Numerous people find that this reduces the number of ectopics felt. It may take a couple of weeks to have an effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 > ...have a new side effect which has been diagnosed as > PVC's which really suck. The cardio thinks that they are not > harmful,but it sure scares the heck out of me everytime i have a bout > with this junk. ( which has been everyday for the past week) when i > ask him about the problems he just says get used to it. Should i > change doctors > Hi, Jfb, My understanding is that if your stress echo and echo results are fine, doctors no longer worry about random PVCs. (There seems to be some controversy about whether someone can distinguish between PACs and PVCs by how much of a thump they feel. Did they catch these on an EKG to tell them from PACs?) However, I believe any doctor who tells someone with afib or frequent ectopics that they should " get used to it " should be dumped. Everyone deserves a doctor who understands how disturbing these are in terms of (admittedly groundless) anxiety and who will work with the patient to minimize them. At the very least, this offers emotional support, in that you know you have a doctor who is trying to help. My cardiologist recommended I take one Slow Mag tablet a day, even though my blood tests were okay in terms of magnesium level. Numerous people find that this reduces the number of ectopics felt. It may take a couple of weeks to have an effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 > My cardiologist recommended I take one Slow Mag tablet a day, even > though my blood tests were okay in terms of magnesium level. > Numerous people find that this reduces the number of ectopics felt. > It may take a couple of weeks to have an effect. I want to have a mag test done. Can I just go to my Dr and ask for one? I am seriously going to try the supplement route. It can't hurt. I know in the past when I was having a lot of paplitaions and panic attacks when young my mother took me to a dr that dealt with supplments. He put me on some B supplments and I did get better.I figure if my heart is normal like they said it was from all the test they did than it has to be something else causing this mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 > My cardiologist recommended I take one Slow Mag tablet a day, even > though my blood tests were okay in terms of magnesium level. > Numerous people find that this reduces the number of ectopics felt. > It may take a couple of weeks to have an effect. I want to have a mag test done. Can I just go to my Dr and ask for one? I am seriously going to try the supplement route. It can't hurt. I know in the past when I was having a lot of paplitaions and panic attacks when young my mother took me to a dr that dealt with supplments. He put me on some B supplments and I did get better.I figure if my heart is normal like they said it was from all the test they did than it has to be something else causing this mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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