Lots of PVCs

[LadyNRA]

Anyone else out there get lots of PVCs (but have no evidence of heart disease).

I just wound up in the ER last week because of a lot of fluttering in my chest and lots of missed beats. After much testing (yes, these beats showed up frequently on the EKG), including an echocardiogram and cardiac enzyme test, they say that nothing if wrong with me. My regular doc says the same thing. It's one of those things that may or may not ease up soon (I was averaging about 1-7 a minute). I have felt these fluttering feelings but only very briefly (less than 30 seconds and only a few times a year). They were so short lived and so rarely occurring, I figured it was my stomach (I have GE Reflux) producing gas.

So I'm doing okay mentally with the fact that these might be with me from now on (supposedly most people over 40 have these now and then and just don't feel them). In other words, though I may be a little bit concerned, I am not terrified.

I'm also struggling with my weight and my hypertension which didn't act up til my early 40s. So I am on beta-blockers already (which supposedly lessens the # of PVCs or is it that it just makes them less obvious, I can't remember) and an ACE inhibitor which I just started about 4 days before this all happened rather suddenly. And yeah, I spoke to 2 cardiologists at the hospital and my doc and all say the newly increased dose shouldn't matter to this.

In any case, I just wanted to know if any readers of this are experiencing the same thing and how are you doing? Mostly just to chat about it.

 

[Pats]

I can't say I'd know if I've experienced PVCs myself. I used to secretary on a heart floor though, and I know the docs weren't too concerned. Also, my younger sister has a very fast heart rate at times (tachycardia) and her doctor was not concerned about it.

 

[desmalia]

I've been having PVC's almost non-stop for two and a half weeks now. They show on the ECG, but every test they do comes back negative. It's driving me nuts. Sometimes it's so bad that I can't sleep at night. And I'm afraid to do any serious cardio workout because increasing my heartrate seems to make it worse.

Doctors are not concerned for the most part because the tests are negative. I saw one today who actually prescribed Paxil! But I'm under no stress right now, so that was rediculous.

I'm already doing the standard stuff to try and get better like taking fish/borage/flax oil, CoQ10 and Magnesium. Not sure if those will help or how long it takes them to work. Caffeine is a major trigger for most people, but have totally avoided it for years, so that's not my problem.

I'm nearly convinced it's a hormone related issue. But how to proceed with that hypothesis is anyone's guess.

 

[GrandmaW4boys]

Hi,

I hope you feel better soon. I also have PVC's. But for me that is normal. I'm 54 and have had them off and on all my life. Seems I have more the older I get. The good news is I've also had every Heart Test you could almost think of. And my heart is fine. Stress sometimes causes them for me. But if a doctor listens to my heart he can hear a small murmur, but that's just the way I'm made : ) The way I understand it is some people feel these more than others. Hope this helps you a little.

 

[PrimeTimeNuttah]

[wash my mouth][wash my mouth][wash my mouth][wash my mouth]in' hell, man.....

 

[PrimeTimeNuttah]

CENSORSHIP! I'VE BEEN CENSORED! DAMN YOU ADMIN! I've been trying for an hour to do something to incur your wrath, and now I have....I REPENT! FORGIVE ME!

 

[Kellylaine]

I can't say I'd know if I've experienced PVCs myself. I used to secretary on a heart floor though, and I know the docs weren't too concerned. Also, my younger sister has a very fast heart rate at times (tachycardia) and her doctor was not concerned about it.

Um is that misfiring, I have that it had gotten a lot worse, so my dr. had to up my dose of Metroprolol from 25 2 times a day to 50 mgr twice a day it's calming down the misfiring plus my chest pain.

 

[Kellylaine]

and on top of that, it is very annoying, and the er doctor was so kind, and said that he knows it seems serious but it won't kill you

 

[tigercub]

Anyone else out there get lots of PVCs (but have no evidence of heart disease).

I just wound up in the ER last week because of a lot of fluttering in my chest and lots of missed beats. After much testing (yes, these beats showed up frequently on the EKG), including an echocardiogram and cardiac enzyme test, they say that nothing if wrong with me. My regular doc says the same thing. It's one of those things that may or may not ease up soon (I was averaging about 1-7 a minute). I have felt these fluttering feelings but only very briefly (less than 30 seconds and only a few times a year). They were so short lived and so rarely occurring, I figured it was my stomach (I have GE Reflux) producing gas.

So I'm doing okay mentally with the fact that these might be with me from now on (supposedly most people over 40 have these now and then and just don't feel them). In other words, though I may be a little bit concerned, I am not terrified.

I'm also struggling with my weight and my hypertension which didn't act up til my early 40s. So I am on beta-blockers already (which supposedly lessens the # of PVCs or is it that it just makes them less obvious, I can't remember) and an ACE inhibitor which I just started about 4 days before this all happened rather suddenly. And yeah, I spoke to 2 cardiologists at the hospital and my doc and all say the newly increased dose shouldn't matter to this.

In any case, I just wanted to know if any readers of this are experiencing the same thing and how are you doing? Mostly just to chat about it.

Yup I had a pretty similar thing, with the PVCs (lots) and same with me, they found nothing, bar the PVCs. I really hope you have found some answers by now, or at least the fluttering has stopped!

Though, I don't have hypertension, and I'm 21.

Good to know I'm not alone with PVCs tho!

 

[LadyNRA]

GRandmaW4Boys, I have had a lifelong murmur as well. finally, my work doc made me go for testing (about 6 mos before all this started) and they told me it all looked fine though I also didn't have PVCs then. Said that I just had a noisye beat which isn't uncommon.

Kellylaine - this things can start at any age from what i hear. I was on Toprol simply for blood pressure. Under huge stress at work, one of those production environment type jobs where they are always pushing for more more more, and the water pills, while working fine, were eventually making me run to the bathroom every 20 minutes whether I had to go or not. So they switched me to Toprol. That didn't work by itself so they put me on Lisinopril, doubled that dose (and 4 days later I was getting the PVCs) so they halved it again, and gave me Norvasc in addition. Now seems fine in the BP area though I need the 3 drug coctail. Eventually, as I said in another thread, it calmed down a bit. It's been 2 years since I did the original post above, and I still get them but not nearly as often. I agree that hormones may play a factor and stress too. And I wonder about time of year because mine started the first time in the first week of November, then started to slow down after February that next year, then kicked in again that September for about a month, then stayed a lesser rate of occurrence (more or less) unitl this October. Now I'm 53 and still getting regular cycles but I was late this month by 12 days and the PVC's increased around that time so maybe it is partially related to hormones. And like I've said, thinking about it, like this moment, makes them worse.

Tigercub - oy vey, don't I wish the PVCs would just stop and go back to a normal rhythm. but I'm stuck with it for now and doing the best I can. Like I told someone just now, I have had a murmur my whole life. And when I was a firefighter, I decided to take paramedic classes and the doc used me one day to show how the defibrillator paddles could also pick up pulse, so he just put it on my skin and said, "Oh, well, will you look at that." and then he promptly explained to the class, and poor unsuspecting me, that I had something called sinus arrythmia, which simply meant that I didn't have a regular rythym. It speeds up as I oxygenate my blood (breathe in) and slows down as I breathe out. I was 20 years old at the time.

My biggest fear isn't from the palps, it's more my age, my weight, my family history on my dad's side. I have acid reflux which causes chest pain if the Nexium doesn't work as well as it should, I have costochondritis which can be brought on by the acid reflux effecting the nerves in the area, that makes the cartilage on either side of the breastbone ache something fierce. It's hard sometimes for me to tell what's what. I can't afford to keep running to the ER for these things. It's $250 just to walk in the door. I have a copay insurance system so the $250 is all I pay unless they take me in and then it's another $250 to be hospitalized. But for me the discomfort leading to fear is worse than any of these things by themselves. I have had a stress test about 8 years ago. I am no heavier now than then but I'm older now and worried about how that would go. I really dislike that the medical profession feels that they have to drive your body to the point of a heart attack or a stroke just to inject a dye to do a CT scan. When are they going to get a good look at blood flow issues through heart vessels without forcing your body to get seriously dangerously stressed out!!! Hah! Okay done soap boxing against the folks who devise these torture devices.