New and Nervous

[Nervous Nelly]

I'm 43 and a longtime hypochondriac, but that has enabled me to firmly know where my vitals normally are. As I have taken my pulse and temperature a billion times over 2 decades, I know what's normal for me. I'm also a dentalphobic and for the last 10 years have been going to a special dentist who uses general anesthesia, so I sleep through the whole thing. Anyhow, this past Tuesday, I was at the dentist again and they had me all hooked up to the monitors, about to put me under, when they noticed I was having PVC's, which is absolutely and completely out of character for my heart. My heartbeat has ALWAYS been solid as a rock. You could set a clock or metronom to it. But again, I can be a very nervous person and at the time they were getting me all hooked up in the operating room, I was very nervous and shaking like a leaf, which was a bit more than usual for me. I'm going to see my doctor in a few days and will probably go through a battery of tests. But right now, I'm like afraid to go to sleep, wondering if I'll wake up in the morning. I can feel these skips in my chest and when taking my pulse. I know it is possible for this to be anxiety related as less than a year ago I passed a stress test during a physical, but still, I'm in complete parylizing fear and have sat up in bed for most of the past two days worrying about moving around too much. I'm a nervous wreck. I even feel like writing out a will, I'm so consummed with this PVC thing. Like everybody here, I've had the panic attacks with all the symptoms since about 1989, but this is so scary when you fear for your life with each and every heartbeat. I feel like I should go to the emergency room, which I used to do 20 years ago when I'd have attacks and didn't know what I was experiencing. For the past 20 years, I've managed not to head to the emergency room at the drop of a hat, but these PVC's/palpations are scaring me to no end and like the hypochondriac I am, I seriously wonder if there;s an issue and I should high-tail it to the ER. Anybody out there struggling with this or have suggestions?

[ThePhoenix]

I think the most likely answer is this: PVCs occur under anxiety and stress and given your dental phobia it was brought on by that, the fact you felt it was out of character then further fuelled your anxiety and increased their frequency and thus your fear. I am pretty sure you dont need to run to the ER, just relax, have a bath, read a book and chill out.

Good luck!

[Charmbracelet81]

It is good to get the tests done, but when the results come back "fine" please beleive that your heart is fine.
I have had PAC's (atrial not ventricle) for almost 8 years and I'm still here. I did go throught a period of time last year where the reassurance from the cardiologist was never enough and I went back several times in only a few months. I fnally realized my heart is ok and I had to deal with my anxiety issue. So I started therapy and have been going for over a year now and I understand that my heart is ok, but it will "act up" with all the extra stress I put myself under/it is a normal occruance in normal hearts. I still get them now, not as mucha s when my anxiety was at it's peak, but I still do and I manage the thoughts that come with them better because it's the thought that's more worrisome than a heart that is normal.

[Itzomi]

PVC can show up at any time. Just because you haven't had them in the past doesn't mean that can't be a new anxiety symptom that crops up for you. We hypos always have new symptoms cropping up - if it's not one thing, it's another - so it's just your heart's turn. It's harmless. My mom DID have serious heart problems, and she did not have PVCs, so PVCs aren't necessarily a signal of heart trouble. I used to have palps as well, but they left in favor of newer symptoms.