Palpitations, PVC, heart flutter please help

Hi All, hope you are enjoying your weekend so far.

I`m really confused as to what symptoms I am having from my heart. Ive had a holter moniter for a week and a couple of ecg`s with normal results and my doctor said my symptoms a benign but i just wanted to ask people what they think.

I wanted to know for sure if what i think are pvcs are infact pvcs and not something else. I get palpitations often mostly when im lying down after a exertion or alcohol, caffine and anxiety. Sometimes I get palpitations where the beat is steady but some beats seem more foreful than others. I can notice a slight skip too. I can usually anticipate this happening. it is just a thud not a fluttering feeling. Is this palpitation?

And on the other hand i get this flutter feeling that feels like my heart has done summersalt in my chest, like it bops up and down, this is alot more alarming. with this i get no warning it comes completely out of the blue i could be laughin and joking with my friends, playing football, reading a book and it just happens, sometimes they are followed by another couple shortly after.

I always get palpitations and forceful thuds alot of the time, i have come to terms with these and dont worry about them, but its the flutter that freaks me out everytime.

I think its worth mentioning that i never get pain os dizziness with them. They seem to be happening recently but then again more anxiety is growing stronger, My doctor thiks that is due to my life style of binge drinking and eating junk food along with anxiety,

I just wanted to make sure that these flutters are common and not some life threatening problem.

Thanks so much everyone

Hope you are all having good days

[Jon10]

Please someone have the heart to help me!

Get it? Have the heart? Ha

[Barbarella]

When your doctor says that your symptoms are BENIGN you have to TRUST him/her.  I went through the same you are going through for the last 40 yrs and I am still alive and kicking, and have a healthy heart.  I hate it when these PVC's come in full force, but I trust the Cardiologist that I have a healthy heart.

You said you had a holter monitor for a week and normal EKG's.  Doctors/Cardiologists do not take chances with something as important and serious as the heart.  Malpractice suits and ruining their reputation is not on the top of their list.

If you still are in doubt, tell your doctor exactly how you feel, and insist on more tests i.e. a stress test, but if your doctor thought these tests were necessary believe me he/she would've ordered these tests.

You are not the only one, they are tons of people like you who are told by their doctors that their symptoms are benign yet they still don't believe their doctors or doubt their doctors.  Why see a doctor at all if you still don't trust him/her?

Caffeine, alcohol and stress can aggrevate PVC's and heart flutters, but I know of people who are very calm, nothing upsets them, do not smoke or drink, say they are happy yet still get these PVC's big time.

I assume you told your doctor about these heart flutters, and if he/she would have thought more tests are necessary he/she would've given you more tests or admitted you to the hospital if he/she thought your flutters were life threatening.

Please believe your doctor otherwise you will drive yourself nuts with the "what if's"

[Boaster]

The most important thing is to try to calm down. The worst that can happen from PVC's and flutters is that you might eventually experience an episode of Atrial Fibrillation, which is when your heart flutters but doesn't go back to a normal rhythm. This probably won't happen to you, but I'm mentioning it because it did happen to me and I had the worst panic attack and rushed to the hospital, and I wouldn't want anyone else to be as scared as I was. But, as it turns out, even this is not particularly dangerous as long as it doesn't continue more than 72 hours. My heart returned to normal rhythm after an hour and I've never had another episode, and now try not to let the flutters bother me.

If you exercise a lot by any chance, make sure you keep your electrolytes up, particularly in hot weather. Things like Gatorade and Vitamin Water are good for this.

If you have heart disease in your family, you might want to have a treadmill test done. But if your doctor says not to worry, then I wouldn't worry. I, too, have had heart flutters for more than 10 years now and, except the one incident mentioned previously, have never had another one.

[April2]

Hi Jon! I started getting PVC's and PAC's several months ago. I had all the tests run on me. EKG looked normal. The did a treadmill test and they did discover the PVC's with that but said many people have them and not to worry. We went ahead and did the nuclear test since my mother and brother has heart disease. That came back normal. Lastly, I did the 24 hour holter test and it did show quite a few PVC's and PAC's but they didn't think it was enough to worry about. They told me they don't like to see too many PVC's or PAC's in a row and I did have a few in a row, but again they said it was not enough to worry about. So I put it out of my mind. I notice that I get them more if I'm anxious, have too much caffeine, too little sleep or I'm dehydrated.
I was just coming out of a VERY stressful year this last year and I think my body was reacting to all that stress. I've also had digestive problems and they recently diagnosed me with Crohns Disease. I believe stress can really do a number on your body. I'm personally just trying to relax more and let stuff go. Prayer and journaling help with me.
I hope this can reassure you. If the doctor believes your heart is fine,then try not to worry anymore about it. Believe it or not, you do get used to the flutters and can ignore them a lot. There are a lot of us out there who get these! I hope you feel better soon.