[QUOTE=hrschk;3478700] ... 7 weeks ago had another 24 hour holter done - this time I actually read the report - which has scared the pants off of me!!! It showed 4 Ventricular Ectopy ... 2,436 Supraventricular Ectopy ... 44 sudden rate increases ... 14 sudden rate decreases ... 1,206 pauses ... Sustained Sinus Tackycardia with a Max HR of 164 BPM. ... Rare VPB's were observed. ... That seems like ALOT of SVPB's and Pauses. I don't even know what to think about the pauses!!!
Most of your life, you've had problems with irregular heart beats. As you've gotten older, and birthed children, your problems have increased. Childbirth, for some women, seems to cause long-lasting hormonal imbalances, which can cause the heart to beat more erratically, cause higher blood pressure, and can result in other health problems.
You should ask yourself, and your doctors: "What can be done to improve your heart function, and insure that your heart problems don't continue to get worse as you get older?"
What medications do you take now? If you aren't on medications to calm down the beating of your heart, you should be. If it were me, I would opt for a low dose of a generic medication for which you can get 30, to 60, pills a month for $4. I would try something like *CARVEDILOL (Coreg) 3.125mg, (not a good choice if pregnant) ONLY once a day, to see how well it helps at that low a dosage, and would not let the doctor increase the dosage, if it seemed to help at the lower dose. At $4 a month, it is both cheap and effective!
[QUOTE]I am out of shape - don't exercise (have really avoided it because the irregular beats scare me) and I get a sense of breathlessness once in awhile which resolves within a minute or two.
Two things that you can do that are very, VERY healthy for both you and your heart, are eating a balanced, low calorie diet; and physical exercise.
I've had heart failure for over twenty years. I have learned NOT to exercise if my heartbeat is unstable. If my heart is beating fairly good, I lift weights and exercise using the stepper. I also walk, to music, 30 minutes, twice a day, up and down my hallway. If you feel dizzy, or if your heartbeat seems too erratic, that is not a good time to exercise, or do anything physically demanding. When my heart is beating too weakly, or I am fatigued, I sit down, relax and do deep slow breathing, which really helps.
If you feel weak, or that your heart is too erratic, you are certainly wise to avoid exercise or anything too demanding. The more erratic the heartbeat, the more risky it is to push it.
[QUOTE=hrschk;3481571]Most of my adult life I have had some form of irregularity - mostly I have dealt with it with the mantra that "it is not dangerous" and have attempted to ignore it for the most part.
I am a heart patient just like you, and I wonder, when the doctors say that a constantly mis-beating heart is benign, or not dangerous, do they really know what they are talking about? If they are wrong, then you are stuck years later, like I was, with a heart condition a lot more serious, and more difficult to treat.
What is your opinion? Is the constant mis-firing of your heart good for your heart, bad for your heart, or is it normal for your heart to constantly beat incorrectly?
[QUOTE]The new holter showed different things than the last one did. I'm feeling the irregularities much of the time - granted, my stress level is off the charts with my personal relationship, my newly discovered pregnancy and my job!
There are many things, foods, drinks, calories, allergens, medications, vitamins, minerals, hormonal changes, AND stress and anxiety that can effect heart rhythm, blood pressure and other health problems. You are always going to face stress. To me, the safest paths for you to travel, would be one of good, low calorie diet, exercise ...
... and finding heart medication(s) that will lessen the misfiring of your heart, WITHOUT bringing you miserable side effects. That's not easy to do.
[QUOTE]My cardio office just called to confirm my echocardiogram for tomorrow - which, of course, made my heart speed up and jump all over!
Suggestion. Ask for a hard copy of the output results of the echo, including the doctors notes. That way you can research the results, or post the results here, so some of HealthBoard's knowledgeable patients can give their two cents worth.
[QUOTE]Beerzoids, do you also practice any type of relaxation techniques? You mentioned you do deep breathing and relax. I think that might help my anxiety level over these symptoms?
50 mgs of B-Complex and 500 mgs of Vitamin C acts as a natural relaxer for me.
Also..... To relax at any time (but not while driving ;) ), I close my eyes, and then mentally start with my legs. I make sure that my legs are as loose as possible without any tension. After I feel that I have relaxed my legs as much as possible, I then target my stomach. If I am stressfully holding in my stomach, I let my stomach out and concentrate on relaxing my stomach area. Then I concentrate on my hands and arms, making sure that my hands are not clenched, and letting my arms hang down on my lap, without any muscle tension. Then I make sure that my teeth are not clenched, and I relax my jaw. Finally, I target the most challenging area, my brain. I try to sit there with my totally limp body, and I try to blank my mind and not think about anything, while keeping the rest of my body as limp and relaxed as possible. Blanking one's mind is not easy, because the first thing that will enter your mind is that you are trying not to think about anything. But, you find yourself thinking about not thinking. Once you successful blank your mind and can keep it that way for a few minutes, you should feel totally relaxed, and feel a wave of relaxation flowing down your body (at least until one of your children comes busting into the room!).
At night, I am usually asleep within five minutes. I close my eyes and start thinking about a fun, non-stressful project, and within five minutes, I'm asleep.
[QUOTE]The exercise advice is great, also! I plan on asking my cardio about a reasonable exercise regimen to begin - I think doing something he reccomends will alleviate the stress I feel when my heart rate starts to increase while working out - my first inclination is to stop before my heart rate gets too high because I'm afraid of a fast rate AND irregular beats occuring together.
I can only comment on what I do. If I am lifting weights, or doing the stepper, if I get short of breath, or if my heart starts jumping around, depending upon the severity, I stop, sit down, relax and do slow deep breathing until my heart settles down and my breathing gets better.
[QUOTE]Do you do any low impact stuff? I'm hoping for some breaks in the weather so I can do some walking soon!
Just the 30 minute walks, twice a day, with music, up and back my hallway.
[QUOTE]I don't take any meds.
What do you think about the need for medications?
In my opinion, once the heart becomes overly sensitive, even the best lifestyle, diet and exercise won't be enough to calm the heart without some medication. But...... I have no medical training or background, and am only talking through experience as a patient.
If it were me, I would want a minimum dose of a cheap, generic drug, only once a day, that both lowers blood pressure and calms the heart, and I would take it at least two hours away from any other medications, pills, vitamins or minerals, to limit side effects. I would try the low dosage for around three weeks, and if it didn't help at all, I would want to try another medication. Earlier I had suggested something like the beta blocker, Carvedilol (Coreg), which I consider a wonder drug, but it is not recommended if pregnant.
I wouldn't want to try an expensive, new drug, at above the minimum strength. Reason? You've gone without heart medication your entire life, so, if you are going to take a medication, why try a new, expensive, relatively unproven new drug. Why not start at a low dose, well known and widely used, inexpensive generic medication, and then increase it to either a higher dose, or to twice a day, if you find that the medication not only works, but doesn't give you too many nasty side effects.
This post is a lot longer than I intended. :dizzy: Sorry about that!
[QUOTE=hrschk;3483011] ... It's a double edged sword - on one hand, I'm scared to death to find out if something is wrong - on the other hand, I'm scared to death to not know if there is something wrong and not be taking care of it! Does that make sense?
It makes a lot of sense. It would also scare you to death if you found out that something is wrong, but could not fully understand what it meant.
You need to empower yourself. You need to be the master of your own heart problems. How do you do this? Well...... first you need to understand that, whatever is wrong with your heart, you CAN help to heal it through a healthy diet, exercise and the proper medications. You also need to limit your stress as much as you can. But, as you know, limiting stress might be very difficult due to your pregnancy.
You need to become very pro-active regarding your heart medications. Doctors tend to throw a bunch of different medications at their patients, all at the same time. In most cases, heart problems require multiple medications, but the choice of medications, and when and how you take the medications during the day is very important.
[QUOTE]The echocardiogram scheduled for 2 hours away has my heart just racing and my palms sweating! I'm gonig to go in there and try to relax and tell myself the test is necessary for the doctor to determine if there is a problem and how to address it. I'm going to ask for a report from the tech today.
Hopefully, the echo will show a normal sized heart and healthy valves. I am anxious to hear the results!
[QUOTE]I certainly would love to have some medication that would slow down the racing and jumping! I'm going to have to talk to the cardiologist about that. They did try me on some beta blocker back in my teens - but, I had more symptoms with the one they tried - so they had me discontinue it. Is the medicine you mentioned a beta blocker?
Yes Carvedilol (Coreg) is a beta blocker.
[QUOTE]I'm sure my current pregnancy is contributing somewhat to the increase in racing and jumping, too! You know, to date, I haven't even had the opportunity to really even grasp the whole pregnancy thing?
How many months pregnant? How excited are you and Hubby about the pregnancy?
[QUOTE] ... Shoveling pounds and pounds of horse manure is a little bit of a workout - so, I guess I had my own little workout regimen several times a week without even knowing it! :-)
You've almost convinced me to add the shoveling of horse manure to my daily exercise regimen. :D
[QUOTE]Do you use like free weights for your weight training? I have some low weights (1, 3, 5 and 10 lbs) at home and would prefer doing it here to the local gym.
I have two, 10 pound hand weights. I do 30 curls and 30 lifts, up to 10 times per day, and do 20 steppers over 10 times per day, plus the two 30 minutes walks.
[QUOTE]I'm thinking some low weight training - some walking - and I would love to do some Yoga or Pilates - they say that is great for strength and relaxation. I think teaching myself to relax is key, also!
Good idea. There is an old say about accepting the things you cannot change, and changing the things that you can change.
[QUOTE]Do you take vitamins? I've been taking just over the counter Centrum chewables.
I take 50mg Vitamin B complex, 250mg Vitamin C, and a one a day multiple vitamin/mineral, and try to get at least 15 minutes of sunshine for Vitamin D.
[QUOTE]My blood work done 2 or 3 weeks ago all came back good - within normal ranges. My cholesterol was tiny bit high (207 when they want to see it under 200) with my "good" cholesterol being high - which I assume is good?
Great to hear about your good blood work.
What were your Triglycerides?
[QUOTE]Well, off to get showered and ready for the drive to the cardiologist. Beerzoids, I really appreciate your input - it's comforting to just have a cyber-pal to talk to.....and to draw on their experiences.
Good luck at the cardiologist! Hoping for great results from the echo, and an effective, tolerable medication plan. :wave:
