Any help on combating heart PACs??

[MorkieMomma]

Hi,

According to my cardiologist, a very large number of people have some sort of heart palpitation issue. With some people it is serious, but more often than not, it is benign and poses no health risk.

Well...I'm fed up to be honest. These stupid things they're calling "PAC"s keep me up at night (like now), causing me to be unable to get any sleep. They're also affecting Brussels' sleep (our Brussels Griffon mix), because he won't sleep at all when I'm having these, and they can sometimes go off and on for a few hours. It's frustrating, but most of all it's annoying. It's like an alarm clock that has no 'off' button.

I have had:

Holter monitor
Clip-on monitor at home for several weeks
Several stress tests
Several stress tests w/ultrasound combined
ECGs out the wazoo

As per three cardiologists mine are completely benign and my heart appears to be healthy.

Fine...so a heart that all of a sudden starts skipping beats and then feels like it's throwing itself into my throat and lasts for hours is benign..mhmm.

I'm willing to accept the fact that I will always have this "condition". My mother, who is 63, said she's had them since her mid-30s and her heart is healthy, and both of my grandparents on her side had them.

Is there anything I can do about it except to just sit around and be annoyed, exhausted and irritable until it goes away? I don't like feeling like this and it's really affecting my mood as well. To anyone else who has these on a regular basis, I'm sure you know what I mean. It is like an itch you'll never be able to scratch....and it's VERY frightening when it happens. There's no pain, but there's an obvious 'starting/stopping/skipping' of your heart, and then it lurches back into action and it's felt in your throat; making it impossible to fall asleep.

Any experienced input would be SO appreciated, as this is driving me nuts, and causing me to be cranky and irritable, which isn't like me at all. The doctor did say that the sooner I learn to accept it, the less it will happen, as me getting irritated and angry about it will only make it stronger, as then anxiety is thrown into the mix and makes it worse. How can I not be anxious when my heart keeps lurching up my throat?

Additionally, Brussels won't sleep during this, and he's a senior dog who needs his rest. He worries and stays awake when he should be asleep. Any information or suggestions on getting him to sleep when I'm going through these PACs would also be appreciated.

We're moving in 2 weeks. Well, a week and a half. We're going to be very busy packing, unpacking, loading, moving, etc...and I'll need more energy. I have no energy with no sleep. My GP prescribed Ambien (a sleeping aid)...that doesn't help. It does what it's supposed to do and makes me extremely tired, but the PACs are so strong that they keep me awake anyway, so I stopped taking it.

*Cardiologist will not put me on a beta-blocker after review of my holter and clip-on (forget what that thing is called but it looks like a pager)*

[Wylie's Mom]

Hmmmm...why won't cardio offer a beta-blocker, bc those can help...? Or, maybe something else.

I've had palps/PACs since early 20s, and they're so jolting when they happen - feels like you're heart is either boomboomboom, super fast, and/or it drops a beat.

When you have a run of PACs, did they tell you to cough? Hopefully they did. Just a quick, forced cough can stop the run.

One thing I'd recommend is keeping a little diary of symptoms for a little while. I've found that my palps can increase when/if I'm dehydrated, or if a meal is too big.

There is someone else here on YT who knows a lot about the heart, so I'll tell her about your thread.

So sorry you have to deal with this - palps/skips are scary .

[My lil friend]

I suffer from this as well,it didnt start until I was in my 40s. I did not know about coughing. I will certainly give it a try.
Sleeping on my side helps. But the biggest help is to make sure that I eat properly,because wine and hard liquor and heave meals really mess with it, I keep that to a bare minimum. The biggest help that I have found is exercise. If I walk about 45min everyday it doesnt seem to happen as often. I dont know if this would help you,but atleast it is something that is healthy.

[jp4m2]

Morkiemomma, I have this also and I know it can be very frustrating and sometimes scary. After all it is your heart stopping. Who would think that's ok....

Mine does it all day long as in several normal beets and then a skip/stop....a few normal beets ...stop/skip.......It's always on my mind.....I suppose it would be different if I couldn't feel it, but I can, and it causes worry....

I suspect mine may be related to too much caffeine. I drink about 8 cans of diet pop a day and have done this for many years....At least I hope that's s all it is....

I hope you can find the source of yours so at least you can get some peace of mind.....Good luck to you.

[Ellie May]

I'm sorry. They are miserable, but you are not alone.

I have a list of heart issues and including benign palpitations. They are very scary. I've never talked to my cardio(s) about if they are PACs or PVCs, although treatment is pretty much the same as long as there is no underlying issue. Treatment does sometimes equal doing nothing. However, that should not be the case if they are affecting your quality of life!

Obviously caffeine will only make this worse. Lack of sleep will too (which is sounds like you can't really control right now). Stress also can cause more problems.

I'm very confused as to why they refuse to give you a beta blocker or calcium channel blocker. This would be my first suggestion - have a talk with the cardio about WHY you can't take them. And then if they still no, talk to at least one other cardio about WHY you can't take them. Sometimes they steer clear of beta blockers if there are also respiratory issues to consider. There are still options though.

I've taken diltiazem (Cardiazem, Cardia) for about four years for several reasons. It absolutely does help control the palpitations. About three months ago I started getting the PVCs/PACs to more of an extent again. My dose was upped to try and fix that and a couple other things. It was during a time of extreme stress.

For some I guess it is more noticeable on drugs. I think that is probably the exception and not the rule. I'd get to the bottom or why you can't try something.

It does feel like..omg I don't wanna die! - THUMP. Completely draining. And there is no way you can jsut not stress about them.

I'm linking to a webinar that might interest you. It is mostly about a-fib, which obviously this is not, but there is a bit about benign palpitations. It might reassure you that you're definitely not the only one (the speaker is a very respected cardio here in Michigan).

https://beaumonthospitals.webex.com/...b&format=short

[Patti]

Sorry you are having these. My good friend had them and went to 2 cardiologists, wore the 24 hour Holter monitor and had other tests. I know it showed she was having tons of them but they told her they were harmless and that was it. It happened when she was in pre menopause. They went away after about a year. I hope yours go away too.

[Britster]

You sound like my mother! They recently told her she has PVC's - she wore a heart monitor for a bit, been taking magnesium, doing all the stuff they told her to do but they still keep her up at night. It's horrible. If you find anything that works, be sure to let me know, I'll tell her.

[MorkieMomma]

Thank you for the support, and the understanding, it really is a frightening condition, benign or not! =/

The reason they won't put me on beta blockers is because they still haven't figured out what is wrong with me, lol! They don't want to prescribe something until they know what's going on (long story that started back in August and still hasn't ended). My CRP level is 38 now, and my white blood cell count was 13,000 last time they checked a few weeks ago. I can't help but wonder if it's in correlation with these PACs I keep getting. Bah...dunno.

Either way it helps to know others know what I'm going through and how frustrating it is.

If I do happen to find something that stops them or at least lets me sleep, I'll let you know.

Thank you for the link, EllieMay..I'll check that out!

Thanks for letting me vent!