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20-30 pvcs per minute

I cant sleep with all the vibrations in my chest. I am having 20-30 pvcs per minute. The ones I can count. Whats up with this? I am tired but I feel like I am on a train ride with all the jerking. Very scary. Hours of this! Hopefully it will stop soon!
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Avatar universal
***** THIS THREAD IS CLOSED TO NEW POSTS *****

This thread is now closed to new posts.  It has served its purpose.
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187666 tn?1331173345
Not to be mean but sometimes I wish we could trade bodies with these doctors for a few days so they can see how annoying the arrhythmias can be at times. It's hard to sleep when the ectopics hit hard. Most of the time mine are just mild ka-thumps, no more than a hiccup. But that rough period I had of ectopics literally kept me awake most of the nights. I was a grumpy person.  :-)
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Avatar universal
Actually the nurses said "well as long as you arent having runs we arent worried". When the doctor came in I questioned him about 8-15 and he said "so what-dont worry about it"
I dont think that was a great response from a doctor, but I did say to myself "well hes the doc in charge of the ER, if hes not worried I guess I shouldnt be"
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177337 tn?1310059899
I can feel all of mine too.  I'm also thin.  I can be doing anything and can feel when I get one.  Strangly enough (although my doctor tells me that many people feel them that way) I feel them in my upper stomach because I feel the pause more than the thuds or the early beat.  Although sometimes I feel the early beat.  But, 75% of the time, I feel them in my upper stomach.  I was shopping at Nordstroms Sunday and they just started up.  I don't have to be feeling my pulse or anything else.  I just know.   So, when you were pointing out to the nurses that you could feel every one, were they concerned that you had so many?  Just curious.  If they sent you  home having them, then that makes me feel better.
Glad YOU are feeling better.
Jodie
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Avatar universal
Thanks Jodie. I wish I could say it only felt like 20-30 per min. but due to health issues I have been in and out of the ER and the nurses and doc were convinced I could not possibly feel every one of them--but i did--I had to prove it to them, which I did. lol One nurse came back in and said she couldnt imagine someone feeling them like that. I never could feel them like that til I got thin, so weightloss has its negatives.
I did stop feeling my pulse after a couple times, but yes--I continued to have them.
All is well. :)
Lisa if you are reading this, I have tried to pm you and send you a note but its not working. I will try again later. :)
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177337 tn?1310059899
Man, I really feel your pain.  I'm so sorry that you had to deal with that last night.  I did have something like that happen to me after a bout of stomach flu.  I got up and drank gatorade and thankfully my heart settled down.
Most of us are here because we want to share our stories, help others so they don't end up in the same fear/adrenaline/fear trap that feeds these pvcs, and for reassurance when we are going through bad spells.  
Everyone has been so helpful and I appreciate all comments.  I can't imagine having to live through what Lisa has been through.  Lisa, you are passionate about helping others because I'm sure you don't want any of us to end up in your situation.  That is why it is good to share stories.  It would seem that a lot of us (or at least me) have that type "A" personality and therefore sometimes THINK too much after reading certain posts (not Lisa's)  And definately WORRY too much.  Just our nature.
bbxx - You will be fine.  Just call your doctor.  At this point, that would be the only thing that would help me get some of those pvc's to settle down.  Your doctors reassurance.   Also, I really thought I was having 6 - 10 pvc's a minute when I went in for my holter a year ago and found out I had 288 in 24 hours.
So maybe, you aren't really having that many.  Maybe they are coming in clusters like mine were.  Hopefully you were having several minutes when you weren't having any.  My point is, our mind can really play a number on us.  As soon as I feel one, I'm waiting for that next one and so on.  But were you really feeling your pulse non stop?  Probably not.  So hopefully there were times that it wasn't skipping as much as you thought.  That is how it was for me.  As soon as my doctor called and told me I wasn't having thousands like I thought, and only had 288 pvcs and a few pacs, my heart settled down and within 48 hours was back to just a handful a day.  That is how I know stress from just waiting for the next one plays a big part how many I get.  Then when he told me they were multi focal pvc's I (not my doctor because he wasn't concerned) had something new to worry about  lol
It is always something.  
Sometimes it helps to take something like a small dose of xanax when you feel them start up.  It keeps the anxiety from building and sometimes they settle down pretty quick.  My doctor gave me xanax (.025mg).  I break it in half and just started taking one (because of these bad few months) if I feel that my anxiety is taking control of the situation.   It has helped.
Hope your salad was yummy and your nap was peacful.
Jodie
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Avatar universal
I think you should talk to is-something and work things out.
All is good on my end. I love everyone.
I need a salad from olive garden-then a nap.
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967168 tn?1477584489
I think you got the numbers about 4,000 pvc's from me; I've posted it often enough.  We've discussed and discussed pvc frequency and CM on this forum, enough and everyone has their opinion.

I guess I read something differently into the reply from Is_something_wrong because my name should have never been brought up in this post.  

I gather like you're not allowed to post your complaints about CAD, I'm not allowed to post about CM and what the dr's here say, since others are 'tired' of hearing it.  

Maybe I need to just start pushing the "it's all anxiety theory"?
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Avatar universal
ireneo- thank you for telling me that has happened to you before-the sudden attack of pvcs. I appreciate that.
Lisa-I never mentioned your name nor did I mention you in a pm and I have always said how much I appreciate and respect your input. I also appreciated is-somethings. When I read his post, what I got out of the whole thing was calm. I have read stuff he has said and he is also very knowledgeable. Maybe my complaining annoyed him too and he was sick of hearing another person in fear of CAD. I dont know, and I have no right to guess. I only know he helped me regardless.
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967168 tn?1477584489
I think you misunderstood what I am saying :P  This is all great information for you to read so you can calm your nerves because I know you won't take any meds and shouldn't have to or be told that's all it is.  

4,000 pvc's is just a number that some research study came up with based on a certain criteria that someone set, just as with any other research.  Since you asked about pvc's and cardiomyopathy, I thought I would shed some light for others on what our trusted doctors here say instead of relying on other sources from research such as I've posted previously, no harm was intended - completely the opposite.

Yes, alot does happen when a person sleeps...I was sound asleep peacefully with no nightmare and got up to read this thread, my name was brought into this and someone was tired of hearing about pvc induced CM that I post,  which confused me since all I've done is try to help others; and it's reliable information from dr's here - just words of some very well known trusted doctors...guess I'll choose my words more carefully next time :P
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Avatar universal
Wow, I dont know what happened here other than I did what many have done in the past--have an exceptionally difficult time with pvcs and just want to chat about it. Is- something responded to my post and I have to say it actually calmed me down and I chose to igore them and I finally fell asleep. A little reassurance goes a long way sometimes.
Lisa I dont know how you got dragged in to this in all honesty, but  you are ticked off I can see that and I am not your enemy. My guess is that Is-something was just trying to tell me that just because some people with that many pvcs get cardiomyopathy, its not something I have to sit in fear of. Lisa I have had a full cardiac workup and the anxiety about pvcs is something I found was definately helped by others on this board like is-something, yourself, and seeing nurse rita freak out at times. I have appreciated every single persons contribution on here and I never took anyones advice as medical science. Gee, a lot happens when a person sleeps.
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187666 tn?1331173345
It's morning here, just got online. I feel your pain  :-)  I had something similar to what you're going through now. One morning I woke up and my heart decided to go into high gear in terms of ectopics. I'm used to 1 - 5  a minute but it decided to run 15 - 25 a minute without any breaks. It went on for days. I decided to check with my doctor, see if they could figure out why it was doing this sudden change. Wore the monitor and all they said was Yep, you're having PAC's and PVC's. They had no idea why it changed so suddenly. It went on like this for 5 months. During that time my heart decided to give me an hour break now and then until it finally went back to normal. My heart is fine after all that but you're right, it's nearly impossible to sleep when there's all that heavy thumping going on.

Something that helped me was to sleep in my recliner, partly upright. The sensation of the ectopics wasn't so strong compared to lying in bed. I hope yours slows down soon.
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967168 tn?1477584489
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967168 tn?1477584489
another great response by Michael J. McWilliams, M.D that may help you

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Heart-Rhythm/Concerned-about-frequent-PVCs/show/624221

This dr is great, I wish he still posted, he takes our questions seriously and has a great sense of humor instead of letting our questions bother him =)

"It is truly one of those situations where you are more likely to get hit by a truck or an asteroid than to develop a PVC induced cardiomyopathy." He's joking of course, but you get the point =)

please don't compare yourself or situation to anyone else's; just as I can't compare with others because I have a rare case BUT at one point I was in the same boat as everyone else :P
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967168 tn?1477584489
Here's another expert thread by a by Cleveland Clinic doctor:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Heart-Disease/PVCs-and-when-to-worry/show/787652

"Very frequent PVC's (more than 15% of all heart beats/24 hours as determined by Holter) can cause heart problems such a PVC induced cardiomyopathy.  At that point a PVC ablation procedure is recommended and typically has a high success rate."
Helpful - 0
967168 tn?1477584489
here's another of the expert threads by Michael J. McWilliams, M.D I was referring to about why I didn't think my CM was pvc-induced:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Heart-Rhythm/PVC-and-CMP/show/472252

1. Is cardiomyopathy caused by PVCs ?
Decreased heart function that improves after a successful PVC ablation suggests that the mechanism was PVC related.

4. Would you expect EF to improve, decrease or remain stable in the future? We were told that often in cardiomyopathy EF will fluctuate.
If it was PVC induced and the PVC is gone, I would expect it to say about the same +/- 5%.

My CM and arrhythmia's didn't correct with meds or ablation and my EF stayed 40% and my pvc's returned along with PAC's and PSVT episodes.
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967168 tn?1477584489
I found one of the expert threads by Michael J. McWilliams, M.D I was referring to that may help alleviate some of your questions -

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Heart-Rhythm/PVCs-and-inverted-t-waves/show/364399

"Cardiomypathies with no significant blockages and no heart wall motion abnormalities are called non ischemic cardiomyopathies."

"There are rare cases reports or PVC induced cardiomyopathies, but it is unclear who is at risk and how many you have to have to induce the cardiomyopathy (usually in the tens of thousand ran)."
Helpful - 0
967168 tn?1477584489
I don't believe I had PVC induced CM; have I said I did?  The reason I think I don't is because P-CM reverses with treatment - mine didn't.  

Arrhythmia's are a topic we discuss here and this IS the heart rhythm forum to discuss matters such as pvc induced cardiomyopathy.  The dr's in the expert forum tell patients about cm and how it can happen and I don't think I've read they say it takes years for it to develop - that's a question  to ask them - but I bet there are no answers on how long it takes; probably all depends on the individual cirumstances.

I'm tired of doctors and the medical community pinning what we feel and symptoms we have, on anxiety.  Somewhere the heart goes funky then we get anxious and then heart goes further and I'm a bit tired of others saying that's what's wrong with patients.

Btw why am I being singled out here? there are others here who have had it and talk about it [goes back to my corner] they got their CM cured and went on about their lives; I'm stuck with mine and dealing with the crappy symptoms of it, so yeah I may talk about it because I have CM; who the heck knows if it was caused by pvc's - 9 dr's with hundreds of years experience total can't answer that question so who am I to say PVC's caused my CM or not? I don't believe I have.

When I had my cardiac catherization on 8/28/2009 my dx was Non-ischemic cardiomyopathy with an EF of 40%, yet my Echo a few weeks before said my EF was 55-60% and no CM was shown and no cause was found.

Momto3 (Connie) did have pvc induced CM which did reverse with her ablations =) there are a few others who have developed pvc induced CM and theirs reversed with treatment also, so I really think in most cases it DOES reverse.

This is a peer to peer community to support and help others.  If someone is having a difficult time dealing with symptoms and needs sympathy or support, then that's what we need to do - we aren't here to diagnose or treat others.  

Hash out conversations, questions, problems and try to help others relieve their distress about what's going on in their situation, at least that's what I'm here for =) if that means sharing information doctors or other sources give us, then that can be helpful also.

BBXX you really need to get a full cardiac workup and find out what's going on with you and talk to someone about your anxiety over your health issues; the same as me and many others here.
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Avatar universal
Yes, major stress from the beats! I was fine till they woke me up. I had been sleeping but then this massive fllpflopping shaking literally woke me up. I lay there waiting for it to settle so I could sleep. It did not. I was getting more tired and the sensations were too strong to let me sleep. I was like 'why are my insides shaking' so I felt my pulse and and it was like every other beat--I counted 20-30 a min. That got my attention. It happened for hours! The reason I am sure mine are pvcs not pacs is because every single test I have had says frequent pvcs and very rare pacs. When I was in the ER one day from dehydration I would tell them I felt one and they verified it on the machine. That day was 8-15 amin. I am going to try to sleep now--AGAIN, but doubt I will till they settle down. Thank you for the iformation. I will have to re-read it when I am more alert. lol
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1124887 tn?1313754891
Hi!

I can sense your adrenaline levels from here, and I guess I'm 10.000 miles away!

The cardiomyopathy you refer to (I'm a bit tired of reading that because it's so misunderstood) CAN possibly occur with 15% PVCs over several years. I don't understand it, because people go with LBBB or RBBB which should have the same effect, ventricular dyssynchrony, just in those cases, 100% of the beats, and they don't develop this cardiomyopathy. But then again, it's a lot that I don't understand. Anyway, forget it.

Do you know for sure that all those beats are PVCs and not PACs? That upsets me a bit, too. On this community, it seems that everyone is certain that a flip in the chest is a PVC. In fact, PACs are far more common in young healthy hearts. I'm convinced that mine are PACs, this is a lot less worrisome.

You will continue to have your premature contractions (wherever they origin) until you reduce your stress levels. And worrying about this cardiomyopathy will just get the symptoms to worsen. Even if Lisa is suspected (not confirmed!!) to have this diagnosis, it's not a sign that you do.

If you continue to have 20-30 skipped beats a minute for a long time, you should see a doctor to find out what this is caused by. Most likely it's your extreme stress levels over this, but get it confirmed.

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Avatar universal
Question--if 4,000 pvcs can cause cardiomyopathy, then when a person has a spell of lots more, are we suppose to run to the dr for another echo every time?
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Avatar universal
guess noone else is up and miserable. lol I suppose I will try once again to ignore the shaking and sleep. Yeah right! :(
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