333 beats per/min

Hi all,

So i just got back from a check up! i have had my pacemaker since Dec 2013 for SSS and Brady. The Lab tech picked up my heart reaching several high beats per/min, highest being 333 for 11 sec. After doing a 24hr holter which came back normal the Dr says its not dangerous and not to worry then put me on Bilocor (Bisoprolol)!

Can someone please give me peace of mind because everything i research tells me otherwise!

Dean

2 Comments

Looks like they're doing

by Theknotguy - 2015-02-22 06:02:11

Looks like they're doing what they did for me. Was being treated for afib. Idea was to use meds to slow my heart down so I wouldn't go into afib as often. That was OK until my heart stopped. They tried rhythm control but that didn't work so they went to rate control.

Idea is to use meds to slow my heart then use the PM to bring the heart rate up to a living rate. That was OK until I went into afib with RVR. While sitting in hospital bed my heart rate went from 60 BPM to 140 BPM. Ended up in the emergency room at the hospital.

They're using Metoprolol which is similar to the Bisoprolol they're giving you. I have a routine I go through in case I go into afib with RVR again. I'm to take a certain amount of Metoprolol but if the heart rate keeps going up I'm to go to the hospital emergency room and have my problem addressed there.

Since I had that one session of afib with RVR, and since I'm taking an increased amount of Metoprolol, I haven't gone into afib with RVR. Have gone into afib but not the RVR. So the meds are holding the heart rate to a liveable level. I'm guessing your doctor is doing something similar for you? It would be a question to ask.

Here in the States, we can easily get a pulse/ox. It's a little medical device that you slip over your finger. It will give you a reading on your heart rate and amount of oxygen you convert. They're readily available and don't cost much.

Reason why I bring up the subject of the pulse/ox is that I'm one of the rare individuals who can feel my afib. I can tell when I go into afib or afib with RVR. Other than being SOB my wife can't tell when she's in afib. So during a recent bout of afib I used the pulse/ox on her to determine her heart rate. It was 140 and she was SOB so I punched the button and got her to the hospital.

Since you're out in the bush, having a small medical device would be a quick way to determine if you're having a problem. It's not fail safe but it's a little more accurate than trying to take your pulse by hand.

Hope everything continues to go well for you.

Nothing to worry

by golden_snitch - 2015-02-23 04:02:23

Hi Dean!

It's really nothing to worry about, especially not episodes lasting just 11 seconds. Pacemakers often pick up such things, and in many cases they are not even arrhythmias, but artefacts ("events" that the pacemaker mistakes for arrhythmias). Also, I'd guess that the 333 is an atrial rate, not the ventricular rate. Believe me, you'd felt a ventricular rate of more than 300bpm! Sounds rather like a short episode of fast atrial flutter. You won't feel the 333bpm, because the AV-node filters the fast atrial rhythm, and allows only every other beat to make the ventricles contract. In atrial flutter a 2:1 conduction is quite often seen, so you end up with a ventricular rate of 167 or so.

In your situation the EPs I know would probably not even put you on a betablocker. I don't know how many episodes you had, and how long the longest lasted, but if these episodes all lasted only seconds, not minutes or hours, I'd say that the betablocker is a bit overdone. Had LOTS of different atrial tachy-arrhythmias myself, tried many medications, had many ablations, and have a pacemaker since more than 15 years. I have been in the situation like you are now several times.

My experience with patients buying things like puls/oxymeters is not really a good one. Yes, there are some who benefit from having this thing at home and being able to check their parameters - it gives them some peace of the mind. But I know much more patients who became excessive in the use of the puls/oxymeter or the blood pressure machine or the heart rate monitor. They checked, and checked, and checked, ... Know what I mean? Anyways, if it gives you some peace of the mind, get one.

Best wishes!

Inga

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