I hate these thumps, bumps and speed drills in my chest!!!!!!! The last week I've had runs of ???? maybe PVC's at warp speed. My head knows-I think-that it is just short bursts of tachycardia but I can't help but think I need HELP!!!!!! You know like a visit to the ER or my doctor or my cardiologist for a holter or monitor. I know they don't want to hear about it anymore and will probably say I don't need a holter or a monitor BUT I WANT ONE!!!!! The bursts last for probably less than 30 seconds but they are fast and STRONG and pound. They feel awful and scare the **** out of me. I wish I could pretend they don't--actually I do pretend to anyone who is around me but the truth is I AM SCARED! These aren't the single kinds which I hate but don't last. They are not the every other or 3rd or 7th beat variety which I hate. These are a burst of runs or something which makes me think I feel maybe some pain in my chest from the hard pounding or maybe that it is getting hard to breath but then it stops suddenly and I can't really tell if I was feeling that or experiencing some anxiety. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT I MEAN?!?!?!? My heart has been tested and monitored so much I am sure that they would know if I had a really serious arrhthmia BUT I CAN'T HELP BUT GET SCARED AND WONDER IF THEY"VE MISSED SOMETHING WHEN THESE THINGS GET BAD! I fear an episode will start and last on and on and on. I know that I would just go to the hospital but I fear that the beats will make me faint or stop breathing or something and my heart had been behaving so nicely lately!!! I know that the single thumps and bumps are AWFUL but I wish I just had those right now instead of these 'episodes'.
Thats odd that the episodes only last 30 seconds.. I get the intense pounding too sometimes, FINALLY I captured the rhythm and it was only sinus tachycardia. If you have already had all of the tests (when is the last time), I would try and just relax when it happens. I always think something is wrong and i am going to get a life threatening arrythmia that the doctors never realized I had. It really ruins your life. Im sorry you have been dealing with these episodes. I get the PVC's all the time tooo and they scare me as well. Take care. And anxiety and adrenaline can REALLY speed up your heart. When you feel the pounding start, try drinking ice cold water . That helps me sometimes. Doctors can be SO insensitive to people like us. Its hard to think theres nothing wrong when you keep experiencing these symptoms, I completely understand.
These are real. They are happening to you. They are straining your nerves and degrading the quality of your life. I have had all kinds of palps and they are scary. It has been awhile since I had any runs and they never lasted for more than a few seconds. You have a real problem that needs to be addressed. Get serious, be assertive, and tell yourself that you deserve a serious answer, or at least an attempt at one.
You already know about hard coughing in case the runs don't stop, and I know you know about taking magnesium supplements. March into that doc's office and get in his face. Have the courage of a 400 lb gorilla. Take your husband with you and tell your husband to give a menacing stare at the doc :)
Ditto, i agree with Aldo also. we have to be our own advocates that is for sure!!!! sorry this is so scary to deal with Hopes, you sound real frightened this time, more so than before
I can totally relate. What are we supposed to do? Should they be ignored? My symptoms are the same as yours. I also get terrified by them, then I feel really shaky after the bout. You have my total empathy and understanding. The only thing I can reassure you with is the fact that after reading this column, they are so common.
Thank You EVERYBODY. The support and understanding mean alot. Once some time passes after the actual episode, I usually feel better. So right now I feel OK-just a little shaky in the anticipation of the next one. It really has been awhile since I have experienced these little tachy episodes. I was hoping they would be GONE FOREVER. I guess that just does not happen to those of us who experience them.
MAXX-I just don't know. I know that the doctors want us to just ignore them. My heart has sure been tested alot in the last five years. If there was something seriously wrong, you'd think they would have found it by now.
ALDO-that coughing thing is my ace in the hole! I really relay on it!!!The last couple of episodes I have not used it waiting to see if it would just stop quickly on its own and it does. Also I've been trying to figure out if they really make me feel dizzy or breathless but I can't tell because of the fear factor.
Bria(don't know why the color suddenly changed???)-I will try drinking the cold water. I have never tried that.
Dreamgirl-thank you for your constant kindness and understanding!
Hope, glad you're feeling better. That is what happens to me - they start, stop, I feel dizzy and shaky; then I actually feel better. I have also had quite a lot of tests done on my heart. I hate the thought of starting them again - plus, I feel like an idiot. It is always the same treadmill, I go through the tests - they tell me to ignore them as they are benign. I am just finding it hard to ignore them now. Take care Hope.
I get the same reaction "your heart is structurally normal, so your pvcs are benign". Its very frustrationg. I also get very shaky after a bout of palps, and also VERY cold. I bet that has something to do with my blood pressure.
maxx and Hopes-- I feel the same way you both do and its really helpful to know other people are going thru similar things. Thanks for all the support!
I wish you BOTh the BEST. Let's conquer these things and not be afraid of them anymore. And if it means another trip to the cardio. then so be it!
Bria, I think the shakiness and cold are from being frightened - the fight or flight reaction. All that adrenalin. How do you feel about going back to the Cardio when he has told you everything is benign. What do you say? I feel really weird asking for an appointment. I also work at a hospital and don't want to run up to cardio and ask them to put me on a monitor everytime these start. Do we just wait until next years appointment or repeat the cycle? My family md also writes them off. Great having this support.
MAXX, I feel weird about asking for another cardio appointment at this point too. I try to tell myself "You're OK. They're benign." Yeah, Yeah-that line gets hard to swallow sometimes! Right now I just try to talk myself down from going in and I'll do that as long as I can until I can't anymore. Then I'll go back in and probably start the whole process of appointments again and feel really stupid because "I'm Fine." :(
This forum is a great comfort and support for me!!
I feel exactlly the same way! Are we all nuts or do you think they just humour us? I had a workup - stress echo, three months ago. Maybe we really have to understand that they will not kill us (they have'nt yet) and move on.
Has anyone ever had counselling to try and deal with these?
Ihave been to several psychiatrists and all they want to do is load me up with meds that make me feel like zombie. You REALLY have to do research and find a GREAT therapist... but if your cardio. doesnt make you feel better, do you think you will listen more to a psychiatrist?? Just a thought. It may help, didnt help me though! I go talk to someone now about once a month, before I was going twice a week and the palps were actually worse.!
My cardio. doesnt even want to see me in a year. She wrote down come PRN. Which means I don;t think she wants to see me! But if they start up again, I am going back. Or , I may switch cardios all together. But then you have the hassle of getting the WHOLE work up again.
Thnks for the advice. Mine did the same - PRN. They have to be harmless. Dont't they? Sometimes I can ignore them totally. It's the runs that bother me and scare the @@## out of me. Do you ever feel that everyone around you just rolls there eyes? Thanks again MAXX
Wow!! This is a very helpful thread for me, even though I'm not dealing with exactly the same symptoms. I get chest pressure occasionally that doesn't feel quite like the angina I had before they fixed my 99% LAD blockage with a stent almost 2 years ago, but hasn't been something I want to ignore. After 2 trips to ER and an angiogram from November thru March of this year, I get the "you're just going to have to accept that you have heart disease but you're fine." So when am I NOT supposed to ignore these symptoms." The last time I went to ER, I not only had chest pressure, but SOB and nausea. "Don't be so anxious" he says; whatever is happening to you it isn't your heart. I love my cardiologist, but sometimes I think he needs some training (or re-training) on how ones whole body (including the brain) works together and results in emotions like anxiety and fear. After all the cardiology tests, tests and visits with 2 different internists, an endocrinologist, a psychiatrist, and a GI specialist, I've diagnosed myself: I have mild asthma that when I'm in a smoky environment results in chest pressure which pushes me into anxiety and panic thinking I'm having a heart attack. I keep some low dose Valium handy now and hope I'm right. I STILL will go to ER, however, if the Valium doesn't work, quickly.
Dreamgirl, I am doing much better thank you for asking! :) My runs have settled down and so has my nerves...lol...Let's hope they both stay that way! I think I hate the runs most of all. However I am not fond of the single thumps and thuds either. I just never know when one or more is going to hit me out of the blue. Oh well...I'm still around no matter when they rear their ugly heads. I just have to try to be prepared for the next surprise visit. :) I hope you are doing well!!!
connie, it seems odd for them to say we have heart diseaase but we are going to be okay doesn't it. i finally bent and started taking a very low dose of zoloft, it has helped greatly with the anxiety. hopes, glad you are doing okay, haven't seen you in awhile. i have been doing good myself, i will post next week after i have another test, i hope it is a good report, i really am not up for more anxiety, i have been doing so well for almost 7 months. yippee. have a great weekend
Dreamgirl: Yes, I caved myself about 4 mos ago and started a daily very low dose of Zoloft myself...it does seem to help keep me more "even" and not be as obsessive a worrier.
The last week I've had runs of ???? maybe PVC's at warp speed. My head knows-I think-that it is just short bursts of tachycardia but I can't help but think I need HELP!!!!!! You know like a visit to the ER or my doctor or my cardiologist for a holter or monitor. I know they don't want to hear about it anymore and will probably say I don't need a holter or a monitor BUT I WANT ONE!!!!! 
The bursts last for probably less than 30 seconds but they are fast and STRONG and pound. They feel awful and scare the **** out of me. I wish I could pretend they don't--actually I do pretend to anyone who is around me but the truth is I AM SCARED! These aren't the single kinds which I hate but don't last. They are not the every other or 3rd or 7th beat variety which I hate. These are a burst of runs or something which makes me think I feel maybe some pain in my chest from the hard pounding or maybe that it is getting hard to breath but then it stops suddenly and I can't really tell if I was feeling that or experiencing some anxiety. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT I MEAN?!?!?!? My heart has been tested and monitored so much I am sure that they would know if I had a really serious arrhthmia BUT I CAN'T HELP BUT GET SCARED AND WONDER IF THEY"VE MISSED SOMETHING WHEN THESE THINGS GET BAD! 
Ditto, i agree with Aldo also. we have to be our own advocates that is for sure!!!! sorry this is so scary to deal with Hopes, you sound real frightened this time, more so than before