PAC's

Does anyone here experience PAC's on a regular basis with the pm? I was told I am having them after wearing a moniter. I was told they could be treated with medication but that they were harmless. The doctor said he would rather not suppress them with medication until it got to the point that they were unbearable. I might be there! and not to worry. At this point in the "healing" process...I worry about everything. I don't trust doctors and don't know what to believe.

Got to the point today with the PAC's that while I was driving my knuckles were white because I was holding the wheel so tight with fear. When I pulled over I was hyperventilating.

Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Wenditt

2 Comments

I can sympathize

by BCase - 2009-12-06 09:12:23

Hi Wenditt -- I've got lots of PAC's, too -- at least a dozen or more a minute at times. I, too, try to tell myself that they are harmless because that is what my doctor has said, but they can often be so bad I can't go to sleep because my heart feels like it is thumping inside my chest. This was before the pacemaker and continues after the pacemaker (I've only had it installed now for 4 days). I can't wait to go into my first post-procedure session with the doctor so he can read the printout from the pacemaker and let it him tell him how many there are! I know it has increased a lot since the last holter monitor study. The pacemaker is not designed to stop PACs. My doctor says my heart may experience better pacing with the pacemaker and thus be less irritated and perhaps this may lead toward less PACs and less tachycardias. For me, the pacemaker is mainly to keep my heart from having long pauses between beats. Right now my heartbeat consists of many PAC and many tiny 3 to 4 beat tachyarrhythmias per minute. It is nerve-wracking. Eventually, if this all continues to get worse, I may have to have my AV node abated and rely on the pacemaker 100% of the time.

If I were you, I'd definitely try to talk myself out of being so overly concerned about your PACs. Your concern is leading to anxiety, and that is leading to your body producing adrenaline -- and adrenaline is EXACTLY what the cardiolgists give you during an ablation procedure to induce a cardiac arrhythmia.

I sometimes get the same feeling when discussing PACs with my cardiologist. They see them as harmless whereas our natural response to them is mild panic. You've got to learn to surpress that feeling of panic.

Good luck.

Anxiety

by donb - 2009-12-07 01:12:01

Hi, Sounds like a real familiar problem. After all the PM years a person would think there should'nt be anxieties. Well, most of us have them. The heavy beats, thumps, hearing beats in your ears, especially trying to go to sleep. As being a real touchy person I've had to learn to REALLY relax, think of only the most pleasant things in your life. When I go to Cardiac Rehab regularly a EKG strip is done before starting and invariably I have to ease up the tension. I don't even try to take my pulse conventionally, I sneak a look at my Heart Monitor watch and all goes well. Many years ago I got introduced to a Bio-Feedback Monitor which shows your mental stress on your body. It taught me how my own mind really controls my every body function. RELAX !!! DonB

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Hi, I am 47 and have had a pacemaker for 7 months and I’m doing great with it.