Question for all pvc sufferers............

[sb786]

Hello all,

I have had a really bad week with the pvcs (if you look at my previous post you will know why) which resulted in me spending alot of time (and money!!) talking to 2 cardiologists. Both of them have suggested that the pvcs no matter how annoying are still benign. They explained that there were meds they could give me but the meds were not worth trying in my case. I am having couplets and triplets at times. they are really bad when i try to lay down.It felt like they would never stop until i got up out of bed. in fact last night i couldn't even eat, walk, sit or yawn without getting runs of them. Does anyone else get this at times? My docs have said "EVERYONE gets them, you have probably had them all your life without noticing and you are only noticing them more now." i find it sooooooo hard to believe. IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE THAT I HAVE ALWAYS HAD THESE PVCS BUT JUST DIDNT FEEL THEM BEFORE!!!" I am trying my best to try and remember if i ever felt anything before that may have been the pvcs, but cannot. I just want to ask you guys if anyone is sure that they have always had pvcs/pacs but have just become more aware of them now. Also i have SVT and only noticed the pvcs after being diagnosed. is there anyone else who has only noticed the pvcs after finding out about svt? sorry for the million and one qs but i'm going crazy here!!!

[LadyNRA]

Well, let's face it, you know that IBS is or can be really painful regardless of whether it manifests mostly as constipation or the big D (or a combination of both).  So the stress and pain alone of an IBS attack can probably provoke PVCs in some people.  Straining during constipation does for sure because when doing my Holter test they told me to mark down every time I did #2 during the 24 hours.  So it may not be the IBS causing the problem itself but discomfort and stress associated with it could easily raise a heart rate.  And since it can be stress related in itself (IBS), I guess it makes sense the two might be connected.

[sb786]

I'm not saying that the IBS causes the PVCs but i think that there must be some link for me because when i have really bad IBS symptoms i have loads of PVCs too. Perhaps its just a coincidence? Other people who think that digestion problems are linked somehow also find that they get more pvcs when laying down and especially after eating.

[LadyNRA]

I have IBS too.  Had it diagnosed when I was 12 so you know I've had longer than that. Ironically my daughter had appendicitis symptoms not too long ago and I have been maintaining that she had IBS before that (she was about 12 when the pain started), yet when they did all the tests, the pediatric gastro doc said that it was abdominal migraines most likely (she does have migraines).  So I mentioned IBS and he told me she was too young for this, and I'm thinking...hey wait a minute!!!  If a doc back in the mid 1960's knew about IBS and diagnosed it, and a colonoscopy a few years ago confirmed it, why couldn't she have IBS.  But that is getting off the point, isn't it?

I have never made any connection with IBS and my PVCs.  As I've told others on here, I get them all day every day, not so much painful as downright annoying.  Worse in certain positions (i barely feel them when I'm upright and walking, and I don't feel them when I sleep).  Worse after I eat.  

And i still maintain that the best method for me to try not to think about them, is to get out there and have some fun. The more engrossed I am in some pleasurable activity, like visiting friends, playing games, watching a fascinating movie, going for a brief walk on the treadmill (limited at this point given how out of shape I am).  

To fwilson:  If you are reading this... thanks for the explanation of the problem you are having. I had been thinking when you mentioned it in another thread that myocarditis basically means heart muscle inflammation in medical jargon, and I was also thinking that you don't get that "itis" tacked on there without something provoking inflammation and that is, generally speaking, either an infection of some sort or perhaps autoimmune issues (I don't know about this specifically).

[sb786]

Thanks fwilson. If there definitely is a cause for the pvcs which lies outside my heart (i.e not due to heart damage etc) then in my own situation i would say it is related to my digestive problems as i have IBS and at times i feel that as my IBS is became worse i started to get the pvcs. when the IBS is bad i have loads of pvcs... who knows? my docs and cardiologists believe there to be no connection but there are some people who see a connection between indigestion and pvcs. I guess i will never find out and will continue to just suffer...... :(

[sb786]

Mmfd: I'm sorry if i sound like i'm ignoring the advice given to me. I am very anxious you're right but its the pvcs that are causing the anxiety. I am new to all this, i have only recently been diagnosed with the pvcs and had a bad experience with SVT. If i had the pvcs every single day then perhaps i would get used to them but somedays i have none, 2-3 and even 100!! Yes they probably are harmless, I'm just finding it difficult to understand why after 27 years i am now having pvcs. I do trust and appreciate everything you guys have told me i cannot tell you how much it has helped. The reason why i find it so hard to trust docs is because they misdiagnosed me for 10 years. i used to describe my svt attacks and they kept on telling me it was stress, anxiety, depression etc. One doc told me to SNAP OUT OF IT and that IT WAS ALL IN MY HEAD!! it go so bad that i stopped going to my docs, everytime i had an attack i suffered at home too embarrassed to go to my docs!! Eventually i had a really bad attack and ended up in hospital where they helped me convert back to sinus rhythm and the svt was then officially diagnosed. i couldn't wait to go back to the docs and tell them that it wasn't all in my head!!

justlookingforanswers: Thanks for the post!!! Wow can't beleive you have above average missed beats but you don't feel them! thats great and i hope it stays like that for you!! In my case i feel every single one, i would do anything to not feel them   :(

SMC: you sound just like me!! i have had all the test done which suggest my heart is fine etc but the anxiety the missed beats cause have totally destroyed my life. If you don't mind me asking do you get them everyday?

Anacyde: thanks once again for your kind words! I think you are right, time is the only thing that will help convince me that they are nothing to worry about i just hope i can speed up the proccess somehow!

[sb786]

I'm so sorry that you had that heart infection which injured your heart. When the pvcs started did you have a heart echo done? How do you know that your heart hasn't fully healed? I have seen on many studies that older people get many more pvcs even if they have healthy normal hearts so that theory maybe true. I am 27 years old so i do not think that theory applies to me yet!! I am however sure that something does trigger the pvcs in my case, i did not have them before, i just hope that whatever is triggering them is not dangerous.

[sb786]

thank you for the post. mine are sometimes painful too. However, how would i know if my heart has been injured in some way? i have had an echo and numerous pvcs which shows everything is normal? wouldn't you expect them to stop once your heart has healed??

[anacyde]

Yes.  I was diagnosed with SVT (paroxysmal) when I was 16.  Only when I was about 18 did I start my PVC/PAC obsession ;)  That said, I do remember a doctor saying when I was about 10 that I had "extra beats", but that is was no concern, a normal finding.  I assume he found PACs or PVCs back then, it just never occurred to me to care.

I too get couplets, triplets and even runs of them.  I know it can be extremely unsettling, but I also figure if I've lasted 12 years with them I'm probably okay.  Many here have had them MUCH longer than that with no problems.

I find, for us, that time is truly the only thing that can convince us fully that we will be okay.

[smc123]

That is what I have been told also "you have probably had them all along and are just noticing them now"  It dosen't make them any less annoying or scary.  I want to know how do I get back to NOT noticing them????  I have had all the tests echo, holter moniter, 30 day event monitor and tons of blood work--all with a negative result.  I guess I should feel better knowing that my heart is normal--but the anxiety this has created really stinks!!  At this point I do not know which is worse--the pvc's or the anxiety!!!

[justlookingforanswers]

Hi there, I have read the posts about pvc's for a while.  A little background on me.  I have had chest pains of unknown cause for over a year.  It has been a long road, filled with lots of docs (3 cardios among others) and  A LOT of money.  

I had a 24 holter monitor in Jan. 2006, and of course, I thought it was uneventful.  He told me my results were normal.  When I actually looked at my report it said, "above average pvc's....".  Of course, PANIC.  But wait, I thought, my monitor was UNEVENTFUL!!  I called him immediately and he explained the PVC's in a structurally normal heart are benign, everyone has 'em, blah, blah blah response everyone has gotten.   So, to answer your question:

IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE THAT I HAVE ALWAYS HAD THESE PVCS BUT JUST DIDNT FEEL THEM BEFORE!!!"

I would say, YES.  It is possible.  I have them (apparently) but they do not bother me.  (KNOCK ON MAJOR WOOD!!!)  It is possible that one day I'll feel them.  I hope not because I really feel for all of the people that suffer with them.  But if I do, then I'll know that I had them FIRST without feeling them and I am still okay.  

I hope this helps.  

[mmfd]

Dear, I think you really need to go back, as someone else suggested, and re-read all the replies to your questions.  Are you REALLY  reading your responses AND taking it all in?  No one is ever going to be able to assuage your anxiety....you have to do it for yourself.  There are no new answers left!  We have all already told you, but you seem unable to believe your doctors or fellow posters with a lot of wisdom!  Do you know that all this obsession and  mega anxiety-way-of-out-proportion to the *problem* just feed the PVC's?  I'm hesitant to even respond to this as it may just fuel your obsession.  Please seek out counseling as soon as possible.  Then go and live your life!