can someone tell me difference between PVC & PAC pls!

Hi i would like to know the difference between PVC's and PAC's. Iv been having these missed beats on and off for 3 years but they have recently got worse as im now 20 weeks pregnant. I have never actually been told what i have because when i had the 24hr monitor i never had any (sods law). Can you tell me the different feelings you get from a PVC and PAC, i would like to establish which ones i have!

[CollegeGirl143]

the only way to establish that for certainty is with a monitor..

Why are you concerned with where the premature beat is originated?  Do you have some other type of arrhythmia?

[myowncrazybeat]

I am no expert on this... but in my case, the pvc's feel stronger, sometimes hurt my chest and sometimes cause me to feel dizzy/short of breath.  

I have paroxysmal a-fib and now my new cardio (whom I love!!!) thinks I have silent a-fib.  He offered one possible cause being my pulmonary veins and atria were stretched a little too far during the last preg.  He said it was like turning on a switch that you can't turn off.  I get wired back up tomorrow for another 72hr holter.  You should insist on a repeat holter or ask for a 30 day loop monitor.  Most of my prob. were discovered on the 30 day.

Incidently, my heart issues appeared (properly diagnosed?)  after my second delivery.  I often felt short of breath and a very few flutters about 1 year after my first delivery, but docs were never worried.  I wonder how long it's really been going on.  

This has made me a real advocate for womens cardiac health issues.  My first visit, without looking at the ekg first, I was told "you're a woman... just had a baby...need an anti-depressant... all in your head".  I wanted to put a bilboard up in the guy's yard when I was PROPERLY diagnosed.  ")

God has blessed my life.  I'm still here and still a little scared.  Prayers are with you.  Enjoy your pregnancy.  I loved every minute of mine... just had terrible deliveries (big babies).  Keep an eye on yourself too.  You are your best advocate.  

[spratty]

I first started getting palpitations (missed heart beats) when i had a miscarrage (miscarriage) at the age of 16, but i wasnt planning on having the baby so it wasnt due to sorrow. I then had severe panic attacks and depression. I was put on anti-depressants and this really helped. Since then i have had them on and off but i was free from them for about 7 months until i got pregnant. Because of these palpitations i was living in constant fear that i was going to have a heart attack. Iv had numerous ecg's an echocardiogram, 24 hr monitor, blood work e.t.c. My blood pessure is always perfect and apart from these i am healthy. Before falling pregnant i played competetive hockey 3 times a week. I dont smoke or drink! I have called an ambulance about 7 times in the past 4 weeks, however im starting to feel abit better now! Mine are like missed beats or flutters or sometimes a bit like a shudder and i get like a warm rush through my body sometimes. I get told that i have a healthy heart but then when i have these feelings i feel just as scared. I often get them more if im run down or tired! I dont get as many as some people get on these posts, probably about 10-20 a day sometimes just a couple a day. I have just had another 24 hr ecg but waiting for results. Do you think theres anything to worry about or does this sound common and do you know if there is any difference in symptoms between PVC's and PAC'c xx

[mariop]

This site has a pretty good description of PVCs and other things.  You may want to see if the symptoms match.

http://www.heartpoint.com/ventricular_arrhythmiasmore.html

[kitcurious]

You cannot know what type of rhythm it is without it being caught on a monitor.
PVC/PACs are very common, just about everybody gets them sometimes and in the absence of a true heart problem they are generally harmless.

[anacyde]

PAC = premature atrial complex, originates outside of the ventricles.  Common, benign.

PVC = premature ventricular complex, originates in the ventricles.  Also common, benign in the setting of a structurally normal heart.

They feel quite similar, in fact, most people cannot distinguish any difference.

[spratty]

yes i am very scared because im only young and it worries me. Its like i dont want to accept that they are harmless because i hate them and don't want to have to live with them. I'm hoping that they will reduce after the babies born! I was informed today that i do not need to return to the hospital for the results of my 24 hr ecg as there was nothing significant! So i do feel a bit better now as i did have a few PVC's on the tape. I think i have got to start accepting these to be able to move on but it is really hard! Yes i am suffering with health anxiety. I get anxious because of these weird beats and the more anxious i get the more there gonna happen i suppose. I know i suffer with anxiety but my problem is that i dont believe that all my symptoms are down to anxiety!

[PghPanther]

PVC and PACs in many cases being harmless are hardly harmless when it comes to one's long term mental state about them.....

......they can drive you batty and disrupt your life....

But there is good news!

You can make a big difference yourself.....

Start by making a constructive effort to eliminate them the way God intented to........by replenishing the body with a healthy source of food intake.

First, if you want to regulate your heart naturally get rid of caffeine, and sugar from anything you drink or eat.

Second, get rid of any kind of artifical sweetener or chemical that you can from your diet. Avoid processed foods and fast foods.....for example MSG is an enemy of the heart and its everywhere in processed foods and many fast food sources.

Third, eat as healthy as you can with whole foods.......use chicken and fish as protein sources instead of red meat, plenty of green vegtables, fruits and whole grains........plain natural yogurt....cooked egg white omlets etc.........take 2 to 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil each day and also eat a handful of shelled walnuts each day.........both are key to a healthy and regular heart beat.

Suppliments?........Not yet.........first establish a baseline with the right foods.....then look into vitamins/minerals that can help later on.....

Try this for a while and see if they start subsiding.....if they do decrease it will give you a better outlook which will lower anixety and decrease them further.............

Is this too extreme for you?..........Try a few months out of your life to see if it might make a lifetime of difference......its worth a few months of depriving yourself from unhealthy social drinks/foods to see if it makes a difference.........then you can incorporate it into your lifestyle and relax a bit from time to time to indulge in something but moderate that indulgement moving forward........

Beside you body will thank for you taking care of it the way God designed it to be.....

Check with you doctor if you have any questions about this but tackle your anixety and do something that can make a difference.

and you can with what you put in your body...........anixety is real and needs to be dealt with.....most medical doctor's just don't have time to address that component of a patient's makeup but you can but starting with what goes in the body first...

I really hope this helps because I know how you feel....

[CollegeGirl143]

Yes, you can stop eating foods you like, such as chocolate or anything with alot of sugar, any kind of stimulant.. It may help with the pvc's, but it probably wont help with your fear..

Pregnancy commonly makes palps worse.. although everyone has them, not everyone feels them, and we cant figure out why.. but thats ok :)  Alot of us here are very young, i started having problems when i was a teenager... the best thing you can do for yourself, rather than letting the pvc's change your life, whether it be by what you eat, or what you do,  when they are harmless, is get some help for the health anxiety.. its not good for new mommies to be so stressed out :(

[PghPanther]

agreed fear can be devestating to one's ablity to function in life.........but if PVCs and other irregularities are a major source of the fear.....then any ability to reduce them through lifestyle choices will add mental confidence that you can continue a trend of reduction..........that hope of trending the irregularity issues downward can begin to reduce the fear........then it can further snowball effect to the positive....

I would do anything in my lifestyle changes to help reduce any physical symptoms in my life that was the source of any mental fears I had about it.......

Also, finding someone sympathic to your situation or better yet someone who has those same symptoms that you can share company with can go a long way to help reduce the anixety too.......

Anxiety and fear is definately real..........it is a normal reaction of the mind trying to comprehend the source that in time will appear abnormal to others but quite rational to the person trying to deal with the situation.....

[CollegeGirl143]

the symptoms can differ, but there is no real clinical significance between the two... both are benign, so in the absense of structural abnormalities or other extreme electrical disturbances (would have been caught on ekg's or monitors).. Whether its a pvc or pac is irrelivent.. you seem really scared :( Maybe you're dealing with some health related anxiety.

[spratty]

thanks for all your comments. I had a rough night again last night with these dam things. They were starting to reduce alot and then bang all of a sudden out of the blue i had these massive ones last night. Really strong thuds in my chest, those are the ones that really scare me, i dont mind the little flutters from time to time, i feel like iv gone straight bk to step 1 fromlast night. I am definatly gonna change my diet though, i didnt ever think that would have an effect because when you think your gonna die or u have a heart condition, what u eat doesn't seem relevant. I just realised that i had chocolate cake with cream on friday night and then saturday night at a party and then again sunday night at pizza hut, because it was my birthday at the weekend and my mums, i dont normally eat much chocalote. I also dont like vegetablea and never have so i might start experimenting with them and force them down me. Thanks all xx