I need to know the differance

What do pvc's feel like?
What do pasc feel like?
What does v-tach feel like?
What does svt feel like?
What does a long run of pvc's feel like?


I am so comfused i need to know what i have...When i have these feelings it feels like my heart is doing a summersault,,or flip flops...and im scared its only happened a few time this month one big one and a few little ones..i am new at this...my doc called it short burst of v-tach but what  dont get is my heart didnt go fast and then another doc called it a run of pvc's..then another one called it svt AHHHHHH!!!!! im so comfused cause i know one is more serious then the others...can someone please!!!!!! shed some light on this ....Thank you...Gina

[SillyHeart]

PACs and PVCs can't be distinguished except by EKG.  A long run of PVCs feels exactly like it sounds: like a bunch of flip-flops or skipped beats in a row.  SVT, to me, feels like a very long string of flip-flops that eventually settles into an extremely fast, racing heartbeat that doesn't respond to anything I do (relaxing, breathing deeply, resting, etc.).

None of the things you're describing are dangerous.  Sustained v-tach is dangerous, but short runs aren't.  A string of PVCs is the same as nonsustained v-tach.  A string of PACs is the same as SVT.

[Dootles]

Hi I just wanted to say. It sounds to me like you have a ton of anxiety. Perhaps of course over what your feeling in your chest. Ile tell you the biggest dis service you can give to yourself is fear. You and alot of us suffer from this very same thing and we all have no answers that are concrete. We like you have to trust these doctors and some of them have never felt what we are all feeling. That makes matters even worse. One thing that i have tried in the past to get through better is to make sure i keep away from caffeine and chocolate and of course other sweets. I am a sweet a holic and type A personality for sure. I suffer boughts of pvc. I know this because when i have runs of every other beat for days at a time i run to the er and they hook me up to the monitor and find that its all anxiety and stress. Most of the time i know exactly what is going on in my stressed out mind and why this caused the pvc again this time. None the less i have to go to the er for peace of mind. Pvc and pac from what i understand is harmless in a normal heart. Now I know it certainly does not feel that way at all. I just want to scream when the dr's say this. O yes calm down when i feel like a fish out of water!
What ever its worth please try to stay calm your not going to die not today anyways. This is what i say to myself daily and it does help some. I like others know that when life is good i have lots less attacks. Mine seem to come on with summer faithfully every year. I do take 100 mgs of my love pill Zoloft. I love this pill because it stops my pvc most of the time for long periods. This is another indication that im under stress.
Take this advice.. Go to the dr and take something to control it if it gets to bad and so you can get on with your precious life. Nothing seems to rob me more than pvc i hate it!
happiness to you!
Deb

[Momto3]

SillyHeart gave a great answer!  For me, pvcs and pacs feel pretty much the same, and the subtle difference is medically insignificant.  Whe I get a run of pvcs (nsvt), it feels like my heart is tumbling around trying to catch up with itself.  I'm not sure I've ever had svt, but I'd imagine it feels somewhat the same. I've been in sustained VT, but to the best of my knowledge, only when it was provoked by the doctor during an EP study.    

Have you asked your cardio about an event monitor?  You can wear them for 30 days (or longer, if necessary) so you can pinpoint the arrythmia you are feeling?  I think it would give you great peace of mind to know that the doctor SEES what you FEEL.  However, the tough part comes in accepting it if the doctor tells you they are benign ectopics.  Most of us here will tell you that's the hardest part, getting past the anxiety.  Once you're there, you'll feel soooo much better.

Take care
connie

[Ginasouthcarolina]

Thank you so much momto3 you describe EXACTLY!!!!!! what i feel like my heart is tumbling around trying to catch up with itself...ive had that twice and both times right to the ER. the last day or 2 i have felt just little flutters.The question i have is why do i feel these things when i just wake up i dont feel stressed...and i feel them when im doing nothing stressfull and i dont feel stressed...And to dootles i also take zoloft 25 mgs a day ive been weening off latly cause i felt it wasnt working my doc put me on 50mgs i took it for about a month and felt no differance now im weening off..mabie thats why im having little pvc's daily now..but ive weened off before and was off for 6 months and did good but then my anxiety attacks came back so he put me on lexapro first but 2 days after i started that i had my first episode of pvcs that ended me in the Er. So my cariologist said that he felt it was the lexapro..so i stopped that and started zoloft but he also said he see's it in zoloft to..so what do i do? ive been exercizing to relieve some stress..mabie that will help.Momto3 i have an appointment with another cardiologist on the 26th of this month for a second opinion..So i will ask him for an event moniter...he want to do a ct scan on the heart to see if i have any blockage..i had the nuc stress test but that can only tell if you have 70% or higher a ct scan can tell if you have any...Thank you all for your answers i swear you guys help me more then the docs...it gives me peace of mind knowing alot of people suffer from this just like me how long have you all suffered with this problem? its only been a month for me....Gina

[Momto3]

Hi Gina,

You're welcome : )

When I get the tumbling episodes, they are long gone before I'd get to an ER.  That's why the event monitor was perfect for me.  It captured the arrythmia, the doctor identified it, and I was able to relax (a bit...lol).

As for why you feel it when you are not stressed, that is the million dollar question.  I think we are all trying to figure that one out.  I mean, if anxiety brings them on, then WHY do they seem to pounce on us when we are seemingly under the least amount of stress?  Then, when we are crazed with anxiety, all can be quiet on the ectopic front. Go figure!  That's just one of life's curve balls that I've learned is out of my hands.

As for the Zoloft or Lexapro being a contributor, I'm not sure.  It seems that you either get these pesky things, or you don't, and they don't necessarily correlate to anything in particular.  In some cases, you can pinpoint a trigger (caffeine, being tired, etc), but other times they just seem to show up out of nowhere.

Glad to hear you have an appointment for a 2nd opinion.  Hopefully, you will feel comfortable with this doctor and be able to speak frankly about your fears.  Maybe he/she will agree to an event monitor -- they can really help to identify specific arrythmias.  

I've had pvcs for at least 30 years, used to have over 20,000 a day, but not since my ablations.  Now, more like the general population - once in awhile.  For me, homonal fluctuations were big triggers!  

Hope you're having a nice weekend.  Take care.

[Soopster]

How long have you been taking Zoloft?  I've taken it in the past and have just recently started taking it again.  I'm only into my second week but have noticed that my PVC's have greatly reduced in number and I don't seem to feel them as much.  I hope it stays this way!

[surfgirl]

one is NOT more serious than another if you don't have heart disease.  WHY do you need to know the difference???  Or do you have severe heart disease?  I am not aware of your history.

[surfgirl]

PS....I took Zoloft and went nuts.........I was so anxious I was up for 2 days.  People are different.

[Ginasouthcarolina]

No i dont have any heart disease..at least that i know of..i had a nucleur stress test and it was normal but that can only show 70% or higher my doc is gonna do a ct scan to see if i have any at all...im only 30 but i have a long family history of CAD..all at very young ages ranging from 29..(my Brother) and 40 (my grandfather) so they dont think anything is wrong but they want to make sure..and ive taking zoloft in the past for like 5 years and i was great but this time its really differant im not sure if my anxiety got worse or since ive been off of it for 6 months now mabie my body is rejecting it..who knows? And all of the resurch i have read has said that they are all very differant since they come from differant parts of the heart i know that v-tach i was told is the most serious and that is what my doc told me i had an episode of..but come to find out my heart did no beat fast it just had a run of pvc's 3 then 1 then 4..but he called it short burst of v-tach mabie thats just what they call it..im vey new to this and just doing as much research as possible..thanks...Gina

[oatbucket]

About the "stress" thing.  I think people like us who suffer from stress think that as soon as you think of something that gives you anxiety you get stressed.  I don't think that's the case.  A friend of mine who suffers terribly from stress/anxiety once told me something that her doctor told her and it has always stuck with me and it comforts me.  This is what he said "when you are a person who suffers from stress/anxiety you can get stressed out or anxious ANYTIME.  You don't have to be going through something at that exact time to be stressed.  It can come out of the blue even when you think your day is  going wonderfully."  He also said that the more you go along being stressed or anxious the easier it is to get stressed out or anxious.  (I hope I'm making sense here!), in other words, your stress/anxiety TOLERANCE level gets weakened. So Ginasouthcarolina, even though you woke up feeling no stress and your heart started acting up, doesn't mean that your body wasn't reacting to some sort of previous stress/anxiety.  I know how scary it is for you, my 12 year old daughter suffers from the same thing and it's like I have it myself when she comes to me terrified, so I know exactly how you feel.  Her cardiologist says it's not life threatening so that makes it a lil better.  Just remember that, but do get it checked out so that YOU can be comforted and informed.

[SillyHeart]

Zoloft was AWFUL for me.  I felt absolutely terrible on Zoloft.  However, Celexa and Lexapro both drastically reduce my PVCs and SVT.  I took Celexa for 5 years and had no SVT at all, and maybe one or two PVCs per month.  It was amazing, because prior to that I had hundreds or thousands of PVCs per day.

I felt so great I went off the Celexa and within months the arrhythmias returned.  This time I'm on Lexapro, and I haven't had an SVT in 2 years, but am still visited by the PVCs.