Had my first Doppler echocardiogram yesterday and the tech first picked up an irregularity while taking my pulse. Hmmmm, nobody ever mentioned THAT before. So he hooks up the sensors and I get to see it on screen. “Dude,” I say, “It’s every fifth beat.”
“Yeah, they used to get freaked out by any irregularity.”
“I remember those days. That’s why I’m freaking out.”
“Don’t. They see so many these days they probably won’t do anything about it.”
So, while I’ll be seeing my regular doc–you know, the guy who never pointed it out before–tomorrow and can ask him, I’m curious if it is true that irregularities (mine: ^-^-^-^-W-^-^-^-^-W-^-^-^-^-W) are so common and apparently non-deadly that “they probably won’t do anything about it.”
I’ve had irregular heartbeats before, but not like yours. They gave me blood thinners because clotting is a problem (Its basically the main problem). You can live just fine with an irregular heartbeat.
My dad’s had an irregular heartbeat contiuously for about 5 years. Mine happens every few years and lasts about a day. Its called atrial fibrilation. Its pretty common I guess. I’ve heard they can laser-burn a portion of your heart to stop it permanently.
Laser my heart? Nah, that requires planning and scheduling and an attention/worry span longer than mine. I’ll forget about by lunch, probably. And I have no clotting problems like my father did. His would clot almost before it left the vein. Mine dries more than clots. Hemophilliacs clot faster than me.
When investigating my irregular heartbeat, I recall that the preferred treatment (according to my cardiologist) was to put me on a medication that kept it more regular – but also kept it from speeding up when needed. That would really get in the way of life in general. So in my case as well, we decided to forego the treatment and simply monitor it.
Incidentally, I found that using a daily magnesium/calcium supplement helped considerably.
My atrial frib has been under control for some time just with Lanoxin (there is a generic brand of this, but forget the name).
I also found out, unfortunately, that having a glass of wine before dinner also tended to trigger it later in the evening. Red wine was worse, but I have reluctantly given it up all together. One time it was so bad had to go to the ER, as the rate was around 180. As my resting rate is only 46 or so, that was a bit scarey.
Totally depends what kind of irregular heartbeat; they come in many flavors. I was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse about 12 years ago, and was told that unless it was really bothering me, they wouldn’t typically do anything about it. For a few weeks (when my heart rate was around 180 and up) they tried beta blockers, but those just lowered my blood pressure to even more abnormally low levels than usual and made me feel worse, so they just told me to lay off the caffeine and try to relieve stress. I haven’t had any symptoms in years, so the only thing I do about it now is take antibiotics before a dentist visit.
I have MVP with v-fib and I take beta blockers because I get dizzy spells and chest pains. Not because of the wildly irregular beat, altough I think the wildy irregular speed helps(my resting pulse was normally over 100).
The ultrasound tech, who has seen a few mitral valves in his time, thought mine looked good.* And I don’t have any problems with a fast pulse, with a resting heartbeat around 70. (I’m as healthy as a horse. A fat horse with asthma, aches, edema, and, apparently, a heart that’s lounging like a whore on a pillow of fat.**)
I have never, in my life, had a tech willing to go out on a limb and COMMENT on something. I was under the impression they take a class in Poker Face 105 where they repeat, “You’ll have to talk to your doctor about that,” until it is the only thing they say in response to any question. I’ve asked my wife what was for dinner and she has said, “You’ll have to talk to your doctor about that.” Okay, not really, since the dinner she prepared for after my bank of health tests was–get this–eggs, sausage, and toast with butter. I think the woman is trying to kill me.
