PVCs Need some reassurance please :(

[sb786]

Hi everyone

Just wanted your advice. I have been getting pvcs for almost 5 months now. The maximum i have ever had is 100 pvcs in 24 hrs. Since starting the beta blocker i now get about 10 a day. However for the past 3 days i have started getting about 200 a day even though i am on the beta blocker.  I am so scared and can't stop crying.  
Please give me some advice. Is there anyone else who gets sudden increases in pvcs like this? :(

[anacyde]

Many of us can tell you about the rollercoaster that goes from completely symptom-free to times where there are several PVCs a minute and back again to being symptom-free.  It's quite unsettling because there is a confidence that comes from the lack of PVCs, like overcoming them, so when they return it feels like a setback.  I find it healthier mentally to think of it as just another up or down in the cycle of PVCs.  They're probably not ever going to disappear for good, though we can hope, so I try to just take them as they come.  It isn't always easy, but knowing I'm not alone in it helps.

[Momto3]

Unfortunately, pvcs are like that...They come and go and it is usually impossible to attribute their reappearance, or increase, to anything in particular.

I remember when my sister had a holter done b/c of forceful beats and thumping.  The doctor told her they recorded 400 pvcs/24 hours and that there was nothing medically wrong. I could NOT believe it!!  HOW could THAT be normal???

In the meantime, I had pvcs long before her holter and never really quantified them.  At times, they drove me crazy.  Other times, I managed and they didn't bother me...THEN, I find out I was having over 20,000 a day!! More importantly, what I found out was that the number of pvcs wasn't really relevant.  Mine were also medically insignificant! Rather, what is important is the function the pvcs have relative to your heart's overall health. IF your heart is healthy and the doctor has reassured you that you are fine, it is just something that you must learn to accept.

Think of them as an "itch," a "hiccup," a "twinge," or a "twitch."  They come out of nowhere and are weird, but medically harmless.

I hope you are able to accept the pvcs as just one of your heart's little quirks.  It's funny b/c now that I get them much less frequently, I am much more aware of them...Now, they feel even weirder. Nonetheless, I've come to understand that they are medically insignificant.  Sometimes treating the anxiety is the best medicine.  

[sb786]

Thanks for the message. I just wanted to ask you a quick question. I read one of your previous posts which said that you had an ablation done for the PVCs as you were getting wasy too many. In the post you said that the EP couldn't trigger the VT. Did you have VT ablation or does it mean that alot of PVCs triggers VT??

[Momto3]

You're welcome!  

I had two ablations for NSVT and frequent pvcs. Prior to the sedation, my pvcs were doing their thing - mostly bigeminy.  However, under sedation, the ectopies were significantly reduced so the doctor induced the pvcs and tachycardia by giving me IV meds.

It seems as though a lot of people worry that their pvcs will turn into VT.  But, despite having so many pvcs, I never went into actual VT on my own.

[sb786]

The only reason i worry aboutthe pvcs turning into VT is because the PVCs started suddenly 5 months ago for no reason at all. Its hard to believe that they are benign i keep thinking there must be a reason that they have just started.
So your ablation was for NSVT? I think i have had a short run of NSVT caught on a monitor. I was told NSVT is not dangerous so why did your EP agree to do the ablation? Am i right in thinking that the EP had to induce VT so he could ablate the NSVT?
I'm sorry for all the questions.

[Momto3]

That's what's so peculiar about the ectopics.  One day you don't have them, then you do, then you don't...As for their starting suddenly, that's pretty normal.  Crazy, but normal : )

I had so many ectopies that my EF dropped. That is the ONLY time the doctor would even consider an ablation. Even when I had a holter with 22,000 pvcs and 2500 couplets, no ablation.  NSVT is not dangerous in a structurally normal heart. When my heart function was affected, that's when the doctor considered ablation.

I also have mitral regurgitation and initially when my EF dropped, all the doctors suspected that it was time to repair//replac my valve.  However, stress echos and other tests confirmed that it was not the valve. That's when the doctor considered that in rare cases frequent pvcs can lead to cardiomyopathy.  Up until then, I had thousands of pvcs and ablation was not an option.

The doctor ablated irritable foci (with a line of burns) for RVOT (right ventricular outflow tachycardia) and LVOT (left...) They told me that if I stayed on versed, my pvcs would not bother me.  Not too good of an option ; )

No problem on the questions.  Try not to worry over the pvcs...they really are just annoying in almost every case. Mine were just frequent enough to cause some trouble. Today, I still get pvcs and occasional bouts of nsvt, but they aren't causing any problems so I just accept them.

Hope that helps : )
connie

[sb786]

Thanks so much Connie, :)
I'm just a mess at the moment and just want the PVCs to go so i can be "normal" again but thank you for the reassurance.

[candi65]

Just starting down the PVC road after cardoversion.This forum is a God send. Starting anti anxiety med so I don't freak out at every one of them. Have not kept track of number of PVCs but soon will strap on the Holter monitor and see what the hey.  Hoping for anxiety med to quell the fear and sadness associated with this problem. Just know you are NOT alone.

[dv8lady]

OK everyone, I'm gonna throw in my 2 cents in here if you don't mind. If your anything like me you have read and studied PVC's and PAC's till your blue in the face! So here is the best thing I can tell anyone who has this same problem. We have to remember that our brain is VERY powerful and when we get worried,scared,mad,sad ect. our brains release certain chemicals SOME people who are anxious or worried all the time can have PVC's related to how they act.

Let me give you an example. When I was about 17 I experience my first PVC's, I freaked the hell out!!! I jumped in my car got half way to hospital on the freeway and I almost cause a major crash because I got myself so worked up over my heart doing something "weird" thank god I pulled over and called 911 before the ambulance could get there I passed out from a panic attack. I woke up in the hospital doped up on adavan. The doctor came in sat down and said I needed to just calm down or I was gonna work myself up so bad and pass out again. I explained to him what had happened. He told me "well while you were passed out we didn't see any PVC's on you monitor" I was SO stressed out at that point! I really,really thought I was gonna die that day. I felt as thou he was gonna let me die and that I was a mess and didn't deserve any help and that I was a bother to him. Worst ER doctor I've ever had an experience with. In the months to follow I went to the ER at least 10 times in a 6 month period. I was hopeless. Until I finally woke up one day and said I was not going to live this way anymore. I had already cut out caffeine,booze,cigs,and lowered my salt intake. I drove out in the desert with a 1911 hand gun, parked my car and got ready to end it all. As I sat there in tears, the only feeling I didn't have was fear. I told myself that morning that I was not going to be afraid of this. So as I sat in my car about to end it all I thought to myself wait I have not had a PVC once today!!! I knew just from the one day of relief I was on to something and from that day on I have done everything in my power to manage my stress and lower my anxiety. I went as long as about 2 years with out any PVC's but about 9 months ago they have come back but im doing just fine because I am not scared and I now have the tools and knowledge I need to get through life without fear of dieing or being doomed if you will. Now I will say I was put on Atentnol 25 mg and that did wonders for me and I only took it when I had a bad strain of PVC's that lasted longer then an hour. But stress was my biggest problem. I'm not saying that it's your issue but it just may be. Getting worked up when having PVC's WILL make them worse!! Just keep that in mind. Good luck to you all!!

Btw I am now 22 if anyone was wondering.

[martinlee43a]

i want to know if the meds work
ML

[martinlee43a]

some good points to think about. other than taking your own life,(but won't get it that), i do agree that its stess and worrie that makes them worse. Heck my own Dr. said that, its really hard.

ML