PVC's are basically early "premature" heartbeats that originate in the lower chamber "ventricle" of the heart. The heart squeezes "contracts" before it is full of blood so less blood is pushed out to the rest of the body. (This is why my blood pressure registered low on my BP cuff when I was having the irregular heartbeats.)
PVC's are common and not usually cause for concern. They could be caused by stress or an overload of caffeine or other stimulants.
Even the number of episodes of PVC's that I have was not cause for concern. But it's the strings of 2-5 irregular heartbeats in a row that is causing the doctor to investigate further. (And even then he did not seem concerned and said these things were "very rarely" serious.)
So next week I will go back to the Heart Hospital for a Heart Echo. That's an ultrasound of the heart. Out of an abundance of caution, he wants to check to make sure there are not any abnormalities in my heart muscle or valves etc. "But it's probably fine since this arrhythmia just started."
He also gave me a prescription for a very low dose of beta blockers that I can take to see if it helps reduce the number of episodes of PVC's that I have.
The nurse and I really bonded over talk of IUD drama and how long it's going to take to see the electrophysiologist. She started to say that they only read the results of the Heart Echos a couple times a week, but she said she would make herself a note and call me as soon as she got the results.
So that's the update from the cardiologist. It's way more than I intended to type out with one finger on my iPhone, that is okay.
Two more things:
A) The nurse did an EKG on me and I asked her if it registered a skipped heartbeat. Yep!
B) The doctor listened to my heart with his stethoscope and I had a PVC while he was listening too.
C) Just for fun, here is a pic of me at the Heart Hospital this morning. Ha ha!
Thanks for all the prayers!!!
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