[shellylabelle]

Has anyone tried Verapamil for PVCs? My cardiologist has switched me from propranolol to verapapmil. I have not started yet.

[DaniRae]

How did ur appt go?

[shellylabelle]

He said that everything looked good, urine and King of Hearts monitoring. My concern was an increased number of PVCs and strength of them. He changed me to verapamil and I am a little scared of the potential side effects I may have.

[jkfrench]

Did he say the PVCs have increased? Not that it is anything to worry about. Just wondering how many you had in 24 hours. Did he change you to verapamil because you were telling him you were concerned about the increase or was he concerned about the increase. I doubt he was concerned. I don't know anythng about Verapamil. These drugs are nothing to mess around with so if he isn't concerned then I would think twice about taking it if you are really worried about the side effects. Why did he think Verapamil would work better?

[dr461]

Originally Posted by jkfrench

Did he say the PVCs have increased? Not that it is anything to worry about. Just wondering how many you had in 24 hours. Did he change you to verapamil because you were telling him you were concerned about the increase or was he concerned about the increase. I doubt he was concerned. I don't know anythng about Verapamil. These drugs are nothing to mess around with so if he isn't concerned then I would think twice about taking it if you are really worried about the side effects. Why did he think Verapamil would work better?

Verapamil is a Calcium Channel Blocker. It has fewer side effects than Beta Blockers, and very few significant ones. I have taken Verapamil 240SR for years and years with no issues. Calcium Channel Blockers have no effect on reducing PVCs--trust one who has had experience with them.

[jkfrench]

David -
hmm I was wondering about CCB's because my doctor suggested I try diltiazem for the PVCs on an as needed basis. Breaking a 60mg in half. She says that some people have luck with that one. Have you ever tried it?

[shellylabelle]

David,
I usually get dizzy when I start new meds. Did you when you started verapamil? Also, you said that you noticed zero change in your PVCs? My cardiologist said that it would help decrease my sensitivity to them.

[dr461]

Jodie, the only thing my doctor suggested was to change the dosage of my Verapamil to 120 in the morning and 120 at night, so the dose is more distributed in my blood stream. I never had diltazem, but Verapamil is very much the same. My cardio doc didn't hold out high hopes for CCBs to do any good. He feels that suppressing PVCs with any drug is a crap shoot at best, and he says his success rate with either BBs or CCBs is limited.

Shelly, I did not get dizzy at all from Verapamil, even at the beginning. I'd advise getting up slowly, as your blood pressure will be lower, so don't jump up suddenly until you get used to the drug. Other than that, no warnings at all. It was an easy drug to tolerate.

[Cheers]

Beta blockers have helped my PVCs in the past...def. helped the tachy. I have known ppl to do well on CCB when they couldnt tolerate the Beta Blocker. I think everyone is different. According to the Docs and pharmacists I have talked to - both Beta Blocker and CCBs at smaller doses are pretty darn benign. You need to sometimes work with the Doc to find the right dose so HR and BP doesnt get too low and it can take a little while to get used to. My first few weeks on propranolol were tough getting used to but once I was it worked well. I did get SOB so i had to switch to metopolol which also worked well...I htink I just let my dose get too low (I cut it down several times) and I think sometimes your can get immune to a drug. I would take it and try not to worry.

[shellylabelle]

Thank you everyone who replied to my question. I am going to start it tonight and hope that everything works out. I guess that I am paranoid about everything. What a vicious cycle!!!