Does anyone have an irregular heartbeat?

My heart feels like it stops beating for a second or two. It is called something like PCV or something similar. It scares me to death sometimes. The doctor says it is okay. I take Coreg and have had the treadmill stress test and the doppler and the echo. I feel lightheaded at times. I have seen 2 heart specialists and my regular MD. Just wonder if anyone has the same condition and how does it make you feel. I was wondering if I need a different medicine for the blood pressure.

yep, theyre PVCs (premature ventricular contractions) im 22yrs old and get hundreds sometimes thousands per day (what really sucks is youre suppose to get more with age). theyre pretty comon, ive done a lot of reading on them and its estimated anywhere between 5%-70% of the population has them on a regular basis, just some people get a lot more than others...

Coreg actually has beta blocking capabilities (beta blockers are usually used to decrease the frequency of PVCs, carvedilol doesnt have as much effect as drugs like atenolol or metoprolol though that they usually give to people for PVCs) but it can aggravate them in some people as well. if you arent good about taking your coreg every day, they could be causing them; suddenly stopping and starting that drug can cause irregular heart rhythms, which is why your pill bottle probably says somthing about how you shouldnt stop taking it cold turkey.

anyway, PVCs are scary, especially when you first get them. ill admit that; but they are harmless if youve been evaluated and have a normal heart. its tough to beleive a doctor when he tells you that its "normal" to feel your heart stop hundreds of times every day, but it is..... youve seen 3 doctors now, you just have to have faith in them. i know i use to wonder if i was misdiagnosed too, but my heart has always started back up. youll get use to them eventually, just relax and try to ignore them. dont obsess over them, eventually youll get use to them and once the scare factor is gone, they wont bother you nearly as much, you just get the old "heart hiccup" feeling.

try to figure out what your "triggers" are that aggravate them and then avoid the activities, mine are mainly stress and lack of sleep. caffeine, alcohol, medications, are some other common ones. you can also check out the heart forums at http://www.medhelp.org there are a ton of people there that go crazy over PVCs. you shouldnt even have to answer a question, just browse through the older questions and you should find a lot of advice and support type stuff


and for the person that is talking about PSVT, PVCs and PSVT are two very different arrythmias, PVCs are completely harmless.

hey, it sounds like you should go and see someone and possibly get a second opinion, my brother has an irregular heart beat and he does sometimes get quite ill from it. He gets really light headed and feels sick loads when his heart is bad but is really OK normally. every month or two he goes and has this thing done where they check he heart beat and i think that they kind of buzz it back in to rhythm again. Last time he went was ages ago and he hasn't been back for ages so we are all hopeing that thins time it will stay normal, this might happen to you.
hope this helps. xx

yes this has happened to me on several occasions , its frightening cause i eat healthy and I am only 24 years old

You should definitly see someone other than who you're seeing. I had the exact same thing, but I also had a problem where my pulse would be around 200+ for over 6 hours at a time. I actually had to go to the hospital and have my heart stopped with an IV push. The medicine was called adenasine (they didn't tell me in the hospital it would stop my heart so that was a warning for you more than anything. If you hear that medicine, at least you'll know what it might do.) Anyways, I think the disorder you were talking about is called PSVT. I had that disorder also. I also had something called POTS, PSVT, disautonomia, and some other problems that I can't begin to spell. But enough about me. Please get help. I was in 7th grade (I'm a junior now) when I had to get my heart surgery (not open heart but up through my arteries) and it was the best thing I ever had done to me. It was about a four hour procedure and I didn't feel a thing when I woke up. I would willingly have it again if I needed to. Also, with the lightheadedness, I had that all the time when I stood up too fast, or if I moved too fast, I would get up and almost fall from being lightheaded. But, I think I wrote a novel here so I'll stop. But please, get a second, third, how ever many more opinions you need until you're satisfied. If you have any questions about medications I was on, or anything that you think I may have went through that you have a question about, please e-mail me at my_most_beautiful_mistake@yahoo.com. Good luck!
~Grace

I've had this problem for a few years, I also have low blood pressure. The lightheadedness seems to be a common thread and that indicates low blood pressure as well.

I find that it gets quite bad when I relax too much, like when I'm on vacation and inactive, so what I do is get some light exercise to the get the heart rhythm back to normal. It seems to work - at least for a while.

So my advice would be to do brisk walking for 30 mins every day with the aim of keeping the heart rate as stable as possible and drink plenty of water to thin the blood a bit and give your ticker and easier job.