PVCs Irregular Heart Rythym

[Guest guest]

Hi:

I had an EKG yesterday by my GP and today an echocardiogram and I am

wearing the Holter Moniter as I write this. My Echocardiogram

didn't show anything abnormal with my heart except what he said was

a very, very MINOR mitral valve prolapse that I have had since birth

and is common in the population and wouldn't explain my symptoms.

Based on what I described as my symptoms, my EKG and what he heard

when listening to my heart he said I have PVCs premature ventricular

contractions. He said my symptoms and EKG are classic for them.

I got the same rundown as you all seem to have had, they are benign

and that unfortunately I feel them more than most people.

They started wham out of the blue almost 2 weeks ago and are getting

worse. I will have two beats and then what feels like a missed beat

with a thump or flutter in my chest. They happen all day, I must

have about 500-1000 abnormal beats per day. They happen at night,

especially when I roll over or get up to pee, when I get back in

bed, my heart is skipping the beat and pounding on the next beat. I

am really a MESS!

He seems like a good cardiologist. He drew a diagram of the heart

and explained what is happening in my heart.

He said based on my EKG (they will know once I finish with the

holter moniter) the abnormal beats are coming from two places in the

left ventrical.

I can't function at ALL, especially in the morning when I first get

up and up until the afternoon, for some reason they subside some in

the later afternoon, but then return in the evening. My chest feels

sore from all the deep breaths I have been taking and just all the

thumping and pounding going on. I have been an ANXIOUS wreck over

them and they make me feel like I am having a panic attack, I am NOT

having a panic attack, they are the culprit in making me feel like

my heart is going to explode and I am so anxious.

He doesn't seem to have an answer as to why this is happening. My

lab results were normal, potassium, magnesium, cbc count, thyroid

etc all came back fine.

He said that he has never seen Lyme cause PVCs, that Lyme can get

into the heart, but not into the area where my PVCs are originating

from. Does anybody know anything proven about this?

So, what to do. He wants to also do a stresstest on Friday as he

said the PVCs go down when you are active, although they come back

worse when you stop and the heartrate slows down. For sure this is

when my chest really thumps away and my whole body pulsates and is

wracked by that strong beat!

Beyond that he said I could go on Toprol, but probably stupidly I

started to read online about this drug and the terrible side effects

people have said about this drug. I have also read it can make

heart arrythymias worse. I asked him about this, but he said that it

will not make me worse.

So, here are my questions:

(1) How dangerous is Toprol and should I avoid it at all costs, he

wants to start me on 25mg/day, but said I may need 50 mg/day. He

also said they won't cure me, but will hopefully make them less

noticable. Should I do Toprol or is there something more holistic I

could try first?

(2) I have read about Mag/Calcium and also Hawthorne and Potassium.

I have a irritable bladder so Potassium might not be good, it is

notoriously hard on the bladder.

(3) I TRULY can't go on another day/night with these arrythymias so

of course the drugs are very appealing, but I also don't want to

make my life worse by starting a drug that has lots of aweful side

effects and/or does damage to me. I have had a bad experience once

before with a medication giving me peripheral neuropathy so I am

very scared to take any medication without a big safety record.

Can you please help me? Sorry this is so long...