Re: Heart flutters

[Guest guest]

> Had a heart attack 3yrs ago (age 49) which

> left me with atrial fibrillation, ... going in for secound ablation

later

> this year. That the history now my question.... for the last

couple

> of weeks i have been having what i can only describe as a feeling

> that my heart is quivering this occurs mainly at night and wakes me

> up my pulse rate does not increase it usually about 50/55 a minute

> and now the last few days i have been getting a sharp pain in

centre

> of my chest some times made worse by moving does not feel like my

> angina pains any advice. also could someone tell what PVC's, PAC's

> and SVT' mean

Hi,

I am clueless about heart conditions other than afib, but since you

have had a heart attack already, I think you should check with your

doctor promptly about chest pains.

Of course, it could be totally unrelated, it could be muscle strain,

or anxiety, or heartburn, etc. but why take a chance? And then you

can ask him about the other stuff as well.

PAC = premature atrial contraction

PVC = premature ventricular contraction

SVT = super (supra? anyway, means " above " i.e. not in) ventricular

tachycardia

I do have a quivering feeling sometimes myself, and I was convinced

it was tachycardia, but it did not show up on a heart monitor nor in

my pulse, and the doc said it was just some muscle thing.

[Guest guest]

-Trudy has already given the best message - someone with your history of

ventricular damage (heart attack) needs to be concerned about chest pains

and any unusual heart rhythms, because alterations in ventricular rhythms,

unlike atrial alterations, can be life-threatening.

People who have had heart attacks not uncommonly have some residual

PVC's ( the things that feel like a " skipped beat, " but in fact are a premature

beat, resulting in weak contraction of an unfull ventricle, followed by a

thumping

contraction of an overfilled ventricle as the longer pause (the " skipped beat "

feeling...) after the early beat allows more filling...that's brief, check it

out on

other internet sites for a better explanation of PVC's.)

And assuming all is well on the ventricle side of things, stick around on this

forum. There is far more info here than you will need or want, but the info

that

you DO need and want is here as well. AF is complex, complex, complex, and

the more you read about it and talk about it with other knowledgeable people,

the more comfortable you will be with your " life with AF. "

All our best.

Kathleen (24/7, atenolol,digoxin, coumadin, a little lasix).

[Guest guest]

> People who have had heart attacks not uncommonly have some residual

> PVC's ( the things that feel like a " skipped beat, " but in fact are

a premature

> beat, resulting in weak contraction of an unfull ventricle,

followed by a thumping

> contraction of an overfilled ventricle as the longer pause

(the " skipped beat "

> feeling...) after the early beat allows more filling..

There's been some controversy in the group, though, about whether

PVCs can be told from PACs just by the sensation in the chest. Some

people and some docs say yes, some no, that it takes an ekg to tell

the difference.

And PVCs may or may not be dangerous, it depends on the overall state

of the heart.

As an ignoramous, I am more concerned about the chest pain he is

having.

[Guest guest]

-

To Trudy: I couldn't agree more, which is why I first concurred with your

concern about the chest pain. And you're right, PAC's and PVC's feel the same

most of the time, only the ekg tells the diff, and most PVC's are not

problematic

- except that they can be much more worrisome in people who have already

had heart attacks. I was just trying to add a little info to your fine

definition of

the initials he had asked about. Kathleen