Help, what's up with this?

Hi everyone,
I'm freaking out. I have been through a whole lot with skips ect and this Friday I had two afib ablations and a pacemaker put in for slow skipping beats.

Saturday I came home and everything was great. Such a relief. Normal heart rhythm for the first time in years.

Sunday started noticing small twinges. Today. they are regular little skips I can feel in my pulse. I'm scared to death. I can't stand the thought of going through all this and still have skips.

I called my EP who prescribed Cardizem until I see her on the 29th. I am so depressed. I thought my troubles were over.

Please, any comments?

7 Comments

PVC's?

by 8thID - 2010-09-13 05:09:00

Hello-

Welcome to the club! Are you familiar with the term PVC's? I'm not a doctor or an expert, but I also have PVC's. Basically they are heartbeats that beat early and sometimes they feel like a skipped beat. I think the term is Pre Ventricular Contraction. PVC. I had them before my PM and still have them. If that is what you are having you may feel a hard beat after a PVC, and this may feel strange and scary. As far as I've been told, PVC's shouldn't be a concern. Another item I will mention is that after my implant all I did was sit around and focus on my heart beats--which is the wrong thing to do. I was also depressed--I waited 2 weeks for my surgery, and that is depressing also. I've had my device for almost 2 months and I feel great. The best advice I can give you is to get out of the house--right now. Go for a walk and get some fresh air. I know it may be difficult to get out, but please don't just sit around trying to hear/feel every beat of your heart, it will make you more depressed. Believe me, I know from my own post op time. Also, definitely follow up with your doctor. I say this to almost everyone who has been implanted: There will come a day when you forget you have the device. It may take a while, but it will all get better. I hope this helps some. I wish you the best. Take Care!

Jeff

Ditto

by mike thurston - 2010-09-13 05:09:21

Jeffs advice is well put. I too had lots of pvcs after my ablation and implant. Terrifying for sure and tough not to internalize to a point of obsession. Even after 3.5 years I still tense up initially when I get some skipped beats. Like he said they feel like your heart is skipping beats but actually you are getting extra beats and so your heart holds off on the one it was getting ready to send.
Try to relax, keep busy and take a zanax or something if they are over whelming you. I had them move my low rate to 80 bpm from 70 bpm and that seemed to help. Hang in there as it may take some time. I know it is frustrating to the max. thinking of you and sending positive vibes.
Mike

Me Too

by biker72 - 2010-09-13 06:09:16

I still have occasional PVC's even two years after the implant. I did have them before the PM.

As the other posters suggested, you need to keep busy doing somthing to relax.

Take A Deep Breath And Wait

by SMITTY - 2010-09-13 07:09:35


Hello ReCop,

Welcome to the PM Club.

You had all that work done just three days ago and I have long been of the opinion that anytime we have a procedure that involves the heart, it causes heart and it may take a few days for things to return to normal.

My first experience with this was 28 years ago after bypass surgery. I had never had an irregular heart beat and a couple of days after that surgery I started experiencing skip beats, and PVCs/PACs (I can't tell them apart) and it lasted several months. Some days were not bad and some days were extremely bad. There was never any damage done, except to my nerves. Since then I have my share of heart "procedures" (but no ablation to date) and I've the arrhythmia is invariably worse after one of the procedures.

Now I'm not predicting anything, but I do want to mention something in case it happens. I've had Cardizem prescribed a number of times. It is a calcium channel blocker and if you will look at the side effects listed for this class medicine, one thing you will see is possible irregular heart beat. In fact I'm taking it right now and the doctor is trying various dosages and time of day to take the medicine to take it to see if we can reduce some of my arrhythmia caused by the Cardizem. I mention this only because you are very concerned about your irregular beat and if it gets worse it could due to the Cardizem.

My only advice is try not to freak out. Take a deep breath and bear with it as it does sometimes take a few days to a few weeks for things to settle down and become normal again. One thing you don't have to worry about is your heart rate becoming too slow as the pacemaker will keep it at least as fast as the low set point on the PM.

Good luck to you,

Smitty

One other thing

by RetCop - 2010-09-13 09:09:15

I thought the PM would stop PVCs, but I guess not. The EP did say I might be on medication also and maybe that was the reason. I will go over that on the 29th. Maybe the ablation will stop the PVCs over time too. At least they are minor now.

Thanks again.

Thanks

by RetCop - 2010-09-13 09:09:55

Thanks everyone. I feel better now. I did live with PVCs mostly all my life, but was told they were benign. I would take meds (beta blockers) to live with them better because I could feel everyone of them. I went to cardiologists every year for check ups and nothing was ever wrong. It changed about 4 months ago when I began to have pauses which made me ill. I would feel like I was going to pass out all the time. My pulse slowed way down. I knew something was different. I went for my routine tests and went through a cardio cath to make sure my arteries and veins were clear because the stress test showed possible blockage. Anyway my heart was found to be healthy, but my electrical system was not. I was sent to an EP and wore monitors and had an EP study. I ended up with two places in my heart ablated and the pacemaker put in.

I just panicked over the twinges. Not PVCs like I had before or the pauses, but feeling as though they could turn into that over time. Other than that I feel so much better. My heart rate is up to 70 bpm and I don't feel like I will pass out anymore. I have energy now. Since it is only three days, I hope to get even better. I really thought I would be totally free of the PVCs but I guess I could live with them again.

You all have made me feel better about everything and I want to really thank you. I know I have to get over the pain and not being able to use my arm, but that's only 6 weeks.

Lily

DONT SWEAT IT...

by elviscb - 2010-09-30 04:09:22

Hey Retcop.. I have what you have as do most of us here with a few monkey wrenches thrown in for good measure. I too am a retcop. Everything will be OK. If you ever need to talk let me know. Chris

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