Can you live without taking medicine with PVC'S?

Question

I'm 63 and 10 months ago, because I had to have surgery, found out by a EKG that I have PVC's. Went to cardio doc, and wore a monitor, she said I had over 21,000 in a 24 hour period. Normal is about 300. She put me on Coreg to start with 4.5 mg, then will up it slowly. I do a Nuclear tomorrow. Had an echo and the heart is normal and strong. Just the lower left Ventircle is very slightly enlarged but hardly noticable. The doc said it is the electrical system in the heart that is "misfiring" come again???
She may send me to a specialist that does the electrical part.
I've had these so long, I never gave them any thought. I go to the gym and work out 3 tiimes a week, and have lots of energy and no pain. I don't want to take this Coreg because it is supposed to make you tired and fat. I'd rather have a bad heart, then be tired and fat.
That is so depressing to me. Can you live a life with these PVC without medicine? My mom and both her parents had congestive heart disease

Answer 1

You are having a huge number of PVC's per 24 hours - 20-30% of your total beats. The question is why. Your cardiologist is attempting to rule out the reasons that could be fatal or severely injure you. If your heart is left to beat as it is, it is likely that it will become less efficient, eventually leading to congestive failure. (So inefficient that the heart backs up and can not keep up with moving the blood).

So instead of whinning about taking medication, potentially being tired or fat (which are not common side effects from taking Coreg), perhaps you should invest some time in understanding the physiology of your own heart. When these professionals talk to you then you will have a basis to understand what they are trying to say. Also you mention that you would rather have a bad heart than be tired and fat...if you have a bad heart then you are guaranteed to be tired and fat.

Try this link as a starting point. Pay special attention to the ventricular tachycardia section. Although you are not yet having that rhythm, you are certainly having the precursors to VT (Several beats in a row from the ventricle). After you are done with this current battery of tests, there is a certain condition that may need to be evaluated by MRI as well.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heartarrhythmias/DS00290/DSECTION=3

This one is more advanced but gives more information.

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic2367.htm

Good luck.

Answer 2

I too, just found out I have PVCs. I won't know the results of my echo or holter until next week. In doing too much research, I found this site: http://www.medhelp.org/ There are gobs of people there on the Heart forum who have PVCs and all kinds of other heart-related things. Some are on meds and some are not. It's a really interesting place to lurk and read the messages. The good thing is that there is a physician who responds to the questions, it's not just laypeople giving non-medical advice, you know?

Oh, and about the "misfiring", that's what I was told too. I guess the heart has like an electrical signal that starts it beating at the top, but our hearts sort of misunderstand the signals and the bottom part pumps first, and it's the biggest part of the muscle, so it's got a bigger "kick" than if the atrial part was misfiring, which are PACs.

one thing I found in my research is that PVCs are potentially more dangerous than PACs, so listen to the people who have a bazillion dollars invested in medical school!! :)

Best wishes!!

Answer 3

Most people have an occasional PVC, but you are having way to many. They need to be controlled.
PVC's are premature ventricular contractions another words your ventricles are contracting (systole) to soon and aren't allowing the heart to rest (diastole) between cycles. Listen to the person above and also follow your doctors advice. Eventually if the contractions happen in runs or land on top of each other (called the R on T phenomena) you could die.

It isn't easy dealing with diseases if you have been basically healthy most of your life, but as we get older our bodies tire and changes take place. Few are lucky enough to avoid health problems as they get older. My husband is dealing with a situation similar to yours only his is atrial fibrillation not PVC's. He works outdoors and got bit by a tick; it caused a lot of problems with a residual problem atrial fibrillation. He never took much medication or had any health problems before. Now he is on medication to keep his heart in a regular rhythm and is taking a blood thinner to prevent the formulation of clots in the atria which could lead to strokes.
The medication for regulating the heart rhythm makes him tired and difficult to do his work. It is slowly being regulated, hopefully when they get the right dose he will feel better.
The blood thinner (coumadin) could cause severe bleeding from a cut and a fall could mean death from internal bleeding. He has to have blood drawn every week to check his clotting time the results vary according to stress, what he eats, how much he exercises and many other factors. He deals with it because it keeps him alive. He gets depressed and angry, but he deals with it because he wants to be able to have a good quality of life while he lives.
What I am saying I guess is that if you want to pursue your life to the maximum that you can you will take the medication and deal with it. If you want to end up with congestive heart failure or dead, don't take the medication.

Sorry if that seems harsh, but my Dad died sooner than he should have because he refused to take the medication he needed for his heart problem.

Answer 4

Just ask your doc that- is it safe to go without the meds?