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High BP, Anxiety, Heart Murmur, Dizziness, On Birth Control, Done EKG, Echo, History Of PVCs, Arrhythmia. Treatment ?
Question: Hello. I'm a 31 year old female. 5'8", 150lbs, non smoker. I've had what I think are pvcs my whole life. It feels like skipped beats. The first time I noticed them I was 12 years old. I generally have one with anxiety or only occasionally. Last year I had a run of them pretty frequently during one month, that scared me but it cleared up. This was a bit after having my son and starting birth control seemed to help or maybe it was coincidence. I had what I am assuming was an EKG during pregnancy and nothing was said about it being abnormal. I did have high blood pressure during pregnancy but no other complications. I saw my doctor about this during the run and she just said it was probably from anxiety, caffine, or tacycardia. I've seen different general doctors who listened to my heart and said nothing was out of the ordinary. Last month when I saw my doctor (for anxiety) he said that he noticed a heart murmur but he said it could be due to my high blood pressure at the time. He just said that if I ever had any dizziness he would send me for an echo. I recently had mono and have had a hard time since getting my potassium levels and everything regulated. I'm also losing a lot of hair (handulls) daily which I assume may just be due to following infection? I don't have any bald spots or anything but it is annoying. My question is about the pvcs. I haven't been having a lot lately but two or three a day. What could I be lacking that may cause these and should I see a cardiologist about this or ask my doctor for specific testing? I'm scared I may have something wrong with my heart, I have anxiety issues. I don't suffer from shortness of breath or faint spells, walk regularly. My grandmother and mother were both diagnosed with arrythmias and high bp. I've been taking my blood pressure regularly and it is usually between 110/70 to 125/80. Heart rate usually 80-84. Medication wise.. I am just taking a general vitamin and have started birth control back up about three days ago. I had stopped it prior because I had oral thrush after the mono and a stomach infection. Thank you for your time.
Hello
Thanks for writing to us.
Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) are premature heartbeats originating from the ventricles of the heart.These premature discharges can be caused by heart attacks, electrolyte imbalances, lack of oxygen, or medications. Immediately after a premature ventricular contraction, the electrical system of the heart resets. This resetting causes a brief pause in heartbeat which is detected by you as abnormal beat.
PVCs can occur in young healthy individuals without any heart disease or high blood pressure.
To find out the cause, you need to have holter monitoring, Echo cardiography, exercise cardiac stress test- treadmill test, Stress echo and nuclear imaging.
Some of the blood tests are also needed like serum electrolyte levels, thyroid levels, cardiac enzymes, etc.
You can get all these investigations done under the guidance of your cardiologist.
I hope my answer and recommendations are adequate and helpful. Waiting for your further follow up queries if any.
Regards.
Thanks for writing to us.
Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) are premature heartbeats originating from the ventricles of the heart.These premature discharges can be caused by heart attacks, electrolyte imbalances, lack of oxygen, or medications. Immediately after a premature ventricular contraction, the electrical system of the heart resets. This resetting causes a brief pause in heartbeat which is detected by you as abnormal beat.
PVCs can occur in young healthy individuals without any heart disease or high blood pressure.
To find out the cause, you need to have holter monitoring, Echo cardiography, exercise cardiac stress test- treadmill test, Stress echo and nuclear imaging.
Some of the blood tests are also needed like serum electrolyte levels, thyroid levels, cardiac enzymes, etc.
You can get all these investigations done under the guidance of your cardiologist.
I hope my answer and recommendations are adequate and helpful. Waiting for your further follow up queries if any.
Regards.
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
Answered by
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