Can excess weight worsen PVCs and aggravate tachycardia?
Hello doctor,
I am 23 years old and have been diagnosed with PVCs which I know are harmless, but I have been reading a lot and people are saying PVCs that are constant or in a "run" three or more are considered ventricular tachycardia now I have had a stress test done ekg ultrasound and everything came back fine. I am scheduled for a holter in about two weeks and it is a week monitor than the last test. I am deathly afraid of this arrhythmia (I am just a kid and I know it can be worse but I thought I was doing better. Let me explain. I smoked weed and cigarettes for about six years and am quite overweight. I am 6'2 in height and 350 lbs. I quit cold turkey, all weed, cigarettes, and my horrendous eating habits about two months ago. When I was smoking heavily I would sometimes get PVCs and sometimes I would get them all day for one to three days and then I would not get them for months or weeks. I was not very concerned at the time because I was told they are benign and they did not cause any harm so I went on my merry way. Well, one night I thought I was having a heart attack, and long story short it was not heart-related but in fact, stomach, Indigestion so I went to the GI doctor and tested positive for H.pylori, I am not aware if I still have it for I just took the antibiotics for it and am waiting to get tested again. I also have a hiatal hernia and some reflux. Now I know the hiatal hernia can irritate the vagus nerve which can cause PVCs but I rarely get them while resting nor during weight lifting or any type of cardio it seems like I only get them during sexual activity. Now I do not understand why all of a sudden I get multiple PVCs in a row now. They do not last longer than 30 secs and my pulse is not over 100 bpm when I get them nor does it skyrocket as people with ventricular tachycardia get for ex something like 175 or 200 heart rate. Now I was able to measure my pulse with a reader I have during this PVC or ventricular tachycardia incident and it was around 35 bpm what that means but it confuses me considering I know ventricular tachycardia is usually a fast heart rate tachycardia meaning anything over 100 bpm. Now I did get this sensation of "ventricular tachycardia" before, three weeks after quitting my old habits and it would only be at night when I hopped into bed but it went away and I was fine after that. Does ventricular tachycardia just happen suddenly or is it induced by something? Do I even have ventricular tachycardia? My heart rate never has gone over 90 when having PVCs run episodes. So I am uber confused and scared. I have high anxiety from all the health problems that have arisen. It seemed like they came out of nowhere cause I never had problems when I was smoking. Also, what does ventricular tachycardia feel like? Is it a super fast heartbeat with irregular heartbeats? And should I be worried? I am a very obsessive person and very worried about this which I know makes my PVCs worse. I will tell you they have never been this bad in my whole experience with them. Please help.
15 May 2024 - 1 min read
What causes breathlessness while climbing the stairs?
Hello doctor,
I have been suffering from a problem of breathlessness when I climb stairs. I got an angiography done two years back. The concerned cardiologist said there is no problem except for a sluggish blood flow. He recommended Ecosprin for two months. But the problem persists.
14 May 2024 - 1 min read
Could heart palpitations be due to over-exercising?
Hello doctor,
I am a 46-year-old male. I have a desk job where I need to be sitting for eight hours continuously at the computer. I am suffering from these problems since 27 years. When I was 19 years old, I did heavy exercises once and suddenly the heartbeat increased to approximately 180 times per minute. It came back to the normal rate in a minute. But, from that day I have been having heart palpitations. I stopped all the exercises. I tested ECG and 2D. Both the tests were normal. The doctor said my heart is 'almost' normal. But another doctor said that it may be a valve problem. He said this just without testings. But my experiences are 'heart palpitations' and I feel some 'weight' in the heart continuously for four to five months. Then I felt normal and tried doing the exercise again. I feel the same experience. So, again I stopped exercising. So many times these repeated. Three months back, I experienced the symptoms. I felt giddy too. So, I feel very afraid. I immediately consulted the cardiologist. But ECG, 2D, and treadmill (this is first time tested) came normal. I did not test the angiogram. Now I have breathing difficulty, dizziness, and uneven heartbeats when I lie on my side. I quit exercises completely. I am only walking. I do not understand what is going on. Am I straining myself during exercise? Or is it a serious problem? Please help me.
13 May 2024 - 1 min read
Is it normal to get vertigo in high cholesterol and BP?
Hi doctor,
I am a 26 year old male, and I work as an engineer for a consultancy firm. A few weeks back, I noticed that my blood pressure is slightly on the higher side. I checked my BP every day at night for about 2 to 3 weeks and found that 90 % of the time, it is in the range of 135 to 150/80 to 100 mmHg. Also, I noticed in this period, that sometimes I feel mild pain on the left side of my chest. Mostly, the pain is on the lower left side and sometimes on the upper center. The pain is radiating type, and I feel discomfort on the left side of my chest. Two days ago, I was in the office, and suddenly I felt a cold sweat running through my body along with vertigo. It continued for about 4 to 5 minutes, then things were normal. Searching my symptoms on the internet made me even more scared, and I decided to go for a blood checkup.
I received my blood test reports today, and I found that my homocysteine, total cholesterol, and CRP, are slightly on the higher side. Vitamin D and folic acid are below normal. Please advise whether there is some serious underlying problem. What should I do? I am attaching my reports. My other problem is chronic tension-type headaches, since the past six years and IBS, which was diagnosed eight years ago. Also, I do get a lot of acid reflux problem and take Digene frequently. Also, I would like to point out that, for the past 1 to 2 months, it has been very stressful for me. My sleep is also not proper, as I get only 5 to 6 hours of sleep on weekdays. I feel drowsy during the day.
09 May 2024 - 1 min read
What causes chest pain along with GERD?
Hi doctor,
I have chest pain for the past 15 days. I also have upper back pain along with it. My ECG and echocardiogram reports are usual. My troponin tests are normal. I had a negative result for the treadmill test. Before three years, my CT angiography was negative. I have GERD. But I do not have chest burn. Please advice.
30 Apr 2024 - 1 min read
