PVC & PAC

[river1961]

I am a 46 old female no health problems.

I have been to the cardiologist and they say nothing is wrong with my heart.  I get a fluttering or a - beat, beat, pause, skip - sensation around 20 times a day.  I really don't like the feeling but I see a lot of people get the same thing.  I read a lot of things that say occasional skipping is okay.  Would you consider 20 times a day occasional?  There is really nothing I can find that will give me the answer.  I would say it is frequent but I just don't know.

My question is what is occasional and what is frequent?  Also my doctor says at one point she thought she heard a heart murmer on me but the cardiologist says not?  Would my doctor be wrong about hearing it?  Also is is possible to have a holter that gave inaccurate results back in 1990?  They say salvos on it and they have never seen anything since on my holters except some couplet PVC's and some couplet PAC's.  Does it sound to you like I have a normal heart with these weird things going on in it??

[Forum-M.D.-MJM]

Hi River,
You are correct that this is a very common concern.  Some people feel them and some don't....and of those that feel them, only a minority are bothered by them.  In that group, some people have thousand a day -- we did a PVC ablation on someone last week that had over 22,000 per day -- and others that only have a few a day, but are extremely symptomatic with the few they have.  The definition of what is occassional and frequent is in the eye of the person having them. By that I mean that if you are the one having the symptoms, I am going to have a hard time convincing you that they are not frequent.

Regarding the murmur -- some heart murmurs come and go depending on your volume status (dehydrated), heart rate, etc.  It is also possible that your murmur is what we call an innocent murmur and your cardiologist didn't think it was that impressive.  

Also is is possible to have a holter that gave inaccurate results back in 1990?

It gave an accurate result for the 24-48 hours it was on, but it may not reflect how frequently you are having them if you happen to wear it on a infrequent day.

In general, PVC/PACs with a normal heart are not a concern for your medical health.  It is important for you to learn to live with them for your emotional/mental health, because if you are constantly afraid you are going die, that is no way to live.  Try to trust that PVC/PACs with a normal heart are of no grave danger to you.  

I hope this answers your questions.  Thanks for posting.

[netrox]

This is interesting and may give clues to what may have caused PVC's in some patients. Virtually everyone had PVC's but this study involves a patient who took Provigil, a stimulant that doesn't have the same effect as conventional stimulants and he developed PVC's after two months of using it and when he stopped, his PVC's went away. When he took it again, it came back. And when he stopped again, it went away.

http://www.ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/162/10/1983-a

I get PVC's and I often wonder if it's related to my insomnia. I take Ambien every night for sleep and it does wonders but I wonder if Ambien merely mask my sleeping problem and my heart is not well rested enough to beat flawlessly during the day.

Oh well... we need to look at possible causes of PVC's. Stimulants are known to cause PVC's but keep in mind, MOST people don't experience them when they consume stimulants.

[suzy61]

I also take ambien every night, however it is not working as well as when I first started taking it which was a few years ago.  I know I should get off it but I need rest  just to  endure all these pvc's pac's etc, also atrial fib.  Anybody have this problem and have tried to get off it.   susie

[jen34]

hello. im new the the forum but definitely not the pvcs. i am 34yrold female who started experiencing pvcs three years ago. i had a cardiac event monitor last year and it showed rare pvcs and a few pacs while i was exercising. dr said this was normal although ive always heard that they are more serious if they come more frequently with exercise.does anybody else out there get them more during exercise also. i have stopped all exercise for the last year for fear of having a heart attack and am very depressed. thanks