Any Cure for PVC's?

Hi,

I had my PM implanted last July because of slow heart rate after ablation for AFIB. Everything is fine, except my PVC's are getting more and more frequent; it's occurring now every day for many hours. My Cardiologist does not seem to be worried. But, I feel very uncomfortable when it comes, like "heart in the throat" and a nausea feeling.
Anybody experience this , and any cures?

thanks

Ken

3 Comments

PVC's

by ElectricFrank - 2009-01-18 07:01:10

They sure are a nuisance.

Do you have a printout of your latest checkup? The cardiologist doesn't agree with me, but I have seen a relationship between the ventricular pacing voltage and pulse width and PVC's. About year ago I had an incident where the pacer was intermittently losing ventricular capture. I was skipping as many as 4 beats in a row, but on the ECG the pacer was sending paces for them..my heart just wasn't responding. Anyway, we set the pacing energy to a much higher level and that solved the problem. Then over several weeks my PCV's increasedand reached 2500/day. I ask for an office check and asked the Medtronics rep to recheck my pacing voltage and see if we could reduce it a bit. By then my requried level was back down to its original value so he set the levels appropriately. Within a week I could tell that my PVC's were greatly reduced.

The cardiologist insisted the levels had nothing to do with it, but on the side the Medtronics rep said he had seen the problem before. My bset guess it that the high levels are irritating to the heart wall and over time it becomes hypersensitive.

If you have a printout look at the reading labeled Ventricular Amplitude/Pulse Width. Also there may be an area called Calculated Threshold. If you have one of these drop me note with the readings.

If you don't have a printout be sure an ask for the pre and post programming report.

frank

Some you might try.....

by maryanne - 2009-01-18 09:01:40

Frank has provided you with some very good technical information which could possibility be the cause of your V-tach and what could be done.

Something I have tried and have seen used with patients it is called "Valsalva Maneuver"....please note sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. You might have heard of this before.

This maneuver is performed by bearing down like when you are bearing down to have a bowel movement or when I woman bears down to give birth. This pressure causes a disruption in the cardiac output and thus can terminate the PVC's. Believe me it does work....I have seen it performed with patients....but as I said sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But it is worth a try...and it doesn't require any mechanical intervention just you hold your breath and bear down.

Here is an article that supports this from the American Heart Association:

Valsalva termination of ventricular tachycardia

MB Waxman, RW Wald, JP Finley, JF Bonet, E Downar and AD Sharma

Nine patients with recurrent ventricular tachycardia (VT) that could be repeatedly terminated by a Valsalva maneuver are described. In two, the tachycardia would cease for only a few seconds and then resume, whereas in seven, the tachycardia could be permanently and reproducibly terminated with a Valsalva maneuver. In all patients the tachycardia ended during the strain phase of the Valsalva maneuver, when blood pressure and radiographic measurement indicated that cardiac dimensions had been reduced dramatically. The speed with which the Valsalva maneuver terminated VT incresed in direct proportion to the strain pressure. Maneuvers such as standing or nitroglycerin, which independently reduce cardiac dimensions, enhanced the potency of the Valsalva maneuvers. Pretreatment with atropine or propranolol in four patients did not alter the response of VT to the Valsalva maneuver. Thus, it appears that a strong Valsalva maneuver can terminate some forms of VT, most likely related to an abrupt reduction in cardiac dimensions.

I hope you find this helpful. All the very best.....

Cheers Mary Anne

The unwanted feeling of PVC's/PAC's

by Christmmpace - 2009-05-30 02:05:37

PVC's can be so emotionally disturbing, the only problem is that some of us will have to live with them. Doctor's tend to not be concern with pvc's, but the fact of the matter is that many people suffer from them and they're not at risk of dying from them. Million of people suffer from pvc's, what can we do about them is another question. I myself would not go under any operations to help reduce them because the risk of having something else go wrong would be too much for my emotional state of mind. I've suffered many years, I've noticed that when I exercise and eat healthy they tend to subside. I also take toprol 25 mg twice a day and that seems to help. What I can't stop is the feeling I get, like I'm going to die because of them. It can really take a toll on your emotions. I've suffered from pvcs' for about 8 years now and they're not going away anytime soon. I've noticed that I get them more when I'm laying down and about to go to sleep. Sometimes I have to get back up and walk around alittle I then slowly sneak up to the bed so the pvc's can't notice I'm trying to go to sleep.:DLOL. They can be tricky at times, but, in all seriousness, this is not a pleasant thing to go through. I pray our pvcs'/pac's away in the name of the Lord. Take care and when I come up with a way to help reduce pvc's, I'll keep all of you in mind. God bless you all!

James
Christ Make Me Pace

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