PVC changes?

[Abeybaby]

Dear dr- I have one question. A year ago I used to get PVCs every few months lasting 2-3 days and then no PVCs for another 3-5 months. Since last year about 1 year now I get them everyday. Can you explain the significance of this change? I have had a recent stress test and echo came back normal just the nagging PVCs daily now. I am 41, male, not overwieght, non smoker etc ...

What has happened that all of a sudden I can't get rid of them- several hundred per day 100-400 per day avg? Have you seen this wax and wane of PVC behaviour?

Many tks-

[Forum-M.D.-bkj]

abey,

thanks for the post.

We see it frequently. A quick look through the forum will show that many people have cyclic variations in their PVCs. Maybe looking into some of the previous post will help you with the coping mechanisms others have used to deal with their symptoms.

good luck

[sandrabel]

I have a question to everybody. A few months ago i went to a doctor because i had a lot of pvc's. After a lot of tests he told me that a have a normal heart and that my pvc's are benign. But he also told me that ten pvc's in a row could be dangerous. Why is that?

This is an answer i found on this forum.

kaceyj
1/22/2007
C3 . ten pvc's in a row like that is dangerous i was told b\c it then turns into v-tach.

IS THIS REALLY TRUE?????
Thanks.

[Abeybaby]

Ten PVC in a row you would become symptomatic and perhaps faint. Can 10 PVCs in a row turn into Vtac? Perhaps it could under the right circumstances. If you have a normal heart structure the likelihood of this occurring are pretty rare and even if it did it may not necessarily go into vtac. On the other hand getting 10 in a row is not comforting and perhaps I would not feel all that comforted regardless of which cardio told me not to worry.

I know of someone who used to get 6 -8 in a row and he was a cardio and died of cancer at 83 not of cardiac arrest. He just ignored them..... Go figure.

[mariop]

My PVCs also come and go.  Sometime they stay for weeks, and they pound me relentlessly day and night.  After a while the whole chest area becomes traumatized, all the way up to my throat and head.  When you get PVCs the blood doesn't flow normally and you will feel the effects.

You may be able to ignore some of them but not if they go on 24 hours a day.  Common sense indicates some damage has to occur to the heart muscle after a while.

Because all meds that I've tried have not controlled the problem, I'm having A PVC ablation, where hopefully they can burn out the focal spots where they originate.

[sandrabel]

Ten pvc's in a row or more is this what they call NSVT?

[Linda21]

I'm not sure what is meant by 10 in a row, but I have runs of "beat-beat-PVC-beat-beat-PVC-beat-beat-PVC" that go WAY past 10!  Or does this mean literally 10 PVC's in a row, which I'm not sure I could even imagine.

[Rag123]

Yeah, I'm not sure that they would be dangerous in the setting of a normal cardiac workup. That seems to be the main thing that is consistantly repeated. I don't get PVC's frequently, but I've had one every other beat(bigeminy) lasting for a minute or two.

The thing with PVC's seems to be that if they are caused by heart disease/disorder or something like that - then they could be dangerous - but if you've had an echo to check your heart structure and it's ok - then the PVC's themselves are not supposed to be dangerous - regardless if it's an occaisional one or several of them.

Supposedly, there have been numerous studies on this...

[NurseKagome]

First off, if it makes you feel better, not just myself but countless other PVC sufferers seems to have that same pattern of not knowing what will happen next. Sometimes alot for months and other times I can go like 2-3 wks without one (heaven!!)hehe.

I had something happen yesterday and I am wondering what other ppl think it might be or if anyone has had similar experiences I'd love to know. I was in the shower and boom!! A huge HARD palp that felt like a punch in the chest and I got short of breath and dizzy but then it passed after a couple mins. Wow, really freaked me out. I would love some comments!

Nurse Kagome

[CollegeGirl143]

10 pvc's in a row would probably be NSVt (non-sustained ventricular tachycardia) Its is not dangerous in a structurally normal heart and is a completely different entity than VT, so dont let that VT at the end scare you, and NSVT will not just "turn into" VT.... I dont know where these rumors about 6 in a row or 10 in a row or however many in a row pvc's are dangerous came about, but its just a rumor.

[mariop]

Here's a site with some good info on PVCs.
http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic2364.htm

[sandrabel]

Thank you very much for y'r answer.  I'm a professional athlete and i know that my left ventricul is very little dilated (it disappears when i have one month rest).  Do i still have a structurally normal heart with this?

[karie2]

Started experiencing pvc's , like a few a month ten 12 years ago, This last holter showed 1,500 and feeling these flip flops daily is no fun, It is our engine.
See a cardiologist yearly, Heart healthy lifestyle and learn by sharing at medical web sites.
Wanted to learn of clinical studies on women entering peri-menopause and if the hormones add to our palps.
How many are to many and what is the cause and we are just born to either be aware and feel these flip flops.

[tickertock]

My cardiologist has PVCs and he feels them. He tells me the doctors just don't know why some people feel them and others don't. By the way only a small percentage of people feel them compare to the number of perons that has them as literally nearly everyone will have PVCs or pacs at sometime in their lives.He explained to me that just as some people have a super sense of smell and hearing, some are super aware of the inner workings of their bodies(ie heartbeat perception), funny thing i also have a great sense of smell, as to what number of PVCs are considered too many , as explained to me in the absence of symptoms and a rare complication of PVCs , PVC induced cardiomyopathy there is no magic number , though generally when 10-20% of your total heartbeats are PVCs that is considered very frequent from my understanding and what I've been told, yet treatment is mostly only aimed at very symptomatic persons regardless of frequency!My understanding only, I'm not an MD.

[sandrabel]

PVC induced cardiomyopathy: from what i understand this is a very rare complication and you need at least more then 20.000pvc's/daily and this for many many years, even decades.  Momto3 developed a CM after more then 20years having +20.000 pvc's daily.  If you have 20.000pvc's daily then you have a faster heartrate = +15bpm = tachycardia (when you have a heartrate over 100bpm).  So a pvc induced CM = a tachycardia induced CM.  

[Momto3]

PVC induced cardiomyopathy is rarely reported.  I had pvcs for many years, but I have no idea how many I was having up until the holter in 2001. I never asked for the reports before that. In January 2001, my holter showed 22,000 (24%) pvcs. Other than noticing the palps, I was asymptomatic until later that year. In December of the same year, I had a routine echo to evaluate my mitral valve. That's when the CM was discovered. Initially, it was thought to be related to the mitral valve, but after a thorough evaluation, it was determined that the CM developed as a result of frequent palps. I don't think there is a magic number since when I had 22,000 pvcs I wasn't treated (medically) any differently.  It's just something to keep in the back of your mind if you become symptomatic and have very frequent pvcs. If you have very frequent pvcs and find yourself short of breath, probably good to be checked out.

[sandrabel]

Hello Momto,

How are you now?  Is the CM completely resolved now?  I know that you had pvc's for about 25 years.  Did you always had +20 000 pvc's over the 25years?  I have around 4000 pvc's/daily since 1 year but when i take "deanxit" (AD) the pvc's disapears so it is stress related for me.  Frequent pvc's is this + 10 000pvc's a day?  

[Rag123]

Is "deanxit" (AD) an antidepressant(SSRI) or something like Xanax. I believe my skipped beats are anxiety related, however, I don't like the SSRI's and I'm considering Xanax. Alway's curious to see what else might be available that people have tried...

I feel for those who get 10's of thousands of these...  I had a holter that showed 7 PVC's and 40 PAC's and the one's I feel bug me...

Thanks.

[Momto3]

I'm doing well, thanks.  I still get pvcs and an occasional nsvt, but probably more in line with the avg. person. My EF returned to normal and the CM has been gone for 3+ years.  Yep, I've had pvcs for a long time -- Prior to the ablations, I had them all the time, days, weeks, months on end.  I really can't remember not having them.  I have no idea how many I was having prior to the holter report in 2001.  I had lots of holters, but I never asked for the reports.  I do know that my doctor had never heard my heart beat "in rhythm" until after the ablations.

I'm not sure what constitutes a "lot" of pvcs, but like I said, my doctor didn't flinch at 22,000 UNTIL the CM...Then, we were all flinching : )

Take care.
connie

[the_DJ_from_Brooklyn]

38 year old male. my story started about 10 years ago, a thump in the chest .I seen my doctor he simply said pressure in the chest. years went on. until 3 weeks ago when they started a lot more.so much more I got really scared and started staying home from work to take little napes,because when I woke up from the napes it didn't bother me as much.

then I told him ." I'm really scared about this thumps in my chest " that was it,here come the tests...stress test,ekg,echo,holter. they say I have sleep apnea..so what ever I got the machine...dyes me up, but I still get the thumps. ( I call them Thumps )..

NOW..while this was all going on..the NYC transit authority called me for a job I applied for 14 years ago.......and guess what Thump, Thump was heard during the heart test.. now I'm put on hold. until I show all the tests were negative

what to do  ¿

[sandrabel]

Thx momto for y'r answers.  So if the doctor had never heard y'r heart beat "in rhythm" until after the ablations then it is possible that you had over 20 000 pvc's for about 20 years.  I wich you all the best.

Deanxit?  My doctor told me that deanxit is not an AD or SSRI because the doses are very very low.  I know that Deanxit has no sideeffects.  All i know is when i take it my pvc's dissapears.  But if you have only 7pvc's and 40 pac's i would take nothing because everybody has 7 or more pvc's.  

[ozguy42]

I have been diagnosed with Superventricular Ectopic Episodes. I was wondering if that is the same term for PVCs?
Problem for me is I get anxiety when I get them, which makes them worse and then the anxiety increases more which is a no win situation.
worse times for me are when I am lying down at night, I can have about three in a row, then I can't sleep which makes for tiredness the next day.

[mariop]

Most of the time you can identify PVCs using a good stethoscope.  A normal beat goes: 1-2,1-2,1-2,etc.  Any deviation from that rhytm and it likely is a PVC.  This is a much more reliable way than pulse taking.  A good cardiology stethoscope is about $100 on ebay.

[lisagolfr]

It sure is comforting to know that so many feel exactly as I do. I've had pvcs for 15 years so you would think after a period of time without them that I would be relaxed when they hit me again. I still get very anxious even though everything I hear and read says they won't kill me.
I do seem to think they're hormone related and also it seems as though fish oil supplements make them a little noticeable - not such a hard thud in your chest. Anyone else?

[sunnyeyes]

I have had pacs for years and they ruin my life at times.  Any suggestions? I like reading the posts as they are a lifesaver for me knowing others suffer like I do.  Any good coping techniques?

[bdbsn]

Help,  I started having PVCs 3 days ago with no break.  I have been to the ER and cardiologist, but no one seems very concerned.  The are driving me crazy and scaring the heck out of me.  Has this ever happened to anyone else?  What has helped?

[77PIP]

Try taking Q10 and L.Taurine....stopped the pvcs 4 me.