30,000+ Pvc's a day

[Daivam]

I've only just recently started having PVC's a few months ago.  During that time I've been reading everything I could find on the internet regarding the phenomena.  Unfortunately I'm without insurance and get by on around 300 dollars a month.  So just the recent doctor consultation, EKG and blood work is going to cost me several months living expenses, I'm unsure how I'm going to pay for that, let alone any more serious tests like a stress test or echo.  So any knowledge provided would be a great windfall for me.

While reading the countless posts on PVC's the recurring trend seems to be that they're harmless, but almost universally extremely stressful.  I completely agree with the latter sentiment, maybe it's the fact that when the core of your being is unstable and quivers you can't help but feel ungrounded.  But regardless of the fact it's only mildly painful, I find myself mentally overwhelmed by the situation.  To the point of bringing this grown man to tears. Often the tears are not directly related to the heart condition, but deep down I know it's just this constant stress I've been having finding other outlets.

My primary concern from reading others posts is that although PVC's are almost universally seen as harmless, usually that response is directed towards someone complaining of several PVC's a day or at most a couple/few thousand a day.  These last few months 4 thousand would be a really good day.  Bad days tend to be over 30,000. A PVC every 2nd to 3rd beat, at 80 BPM.  Mostly it seems really random, sometimes several in a row then nothing for a minute..  Other times it consistent at 1 every 3rd beat, or 9th beat.  An average day is around 12,000 or so I imagine.  Do frequencies above 30,000 point towards a more serious underlying condition, and/or does it make a difference as to how benign they are?

As every test I take put's me several months in debt, I can't afford to just fall on the safe side of things.  But if my life hangs in the balance, I'd much rather be in debt for the rest of my life than not be alive at all.  If anyone could help with my questions/trepidations I would be very grateful.  Thank you.

Matt

[Mom2four85]

Sorry to hear youre going through this. As a sufferer with frequent persistent pvc's (54,181 24/hr holter) I understand what you're going through and the questions you have.  I was in the ER about 2 mths ago and was told mine were getting worse, but no clue why or what made them worsen.

I STILL have questions about benign pvc's - and why so many dr's dismiss them as "benign".  I had had that happen for years and told nothing was wrong, but didn't have any ekg's or knowledge what was going on in my chest.

I was told by my EP, pvc's continually over 20% of your total heartbeats daily, needs treatment - otherwise it can lead to pvc induced cardiomyopathy.

Right now, if yours HR is 80 pbm thats roughly 115,000/24 hr and 30,000 pvc's = 26.5% of your HB (mine was 42%)

Mine were idiopathic; nothing I did or didn't do changed them; other than getting aggrevated and I noticed exercise made them worse.  I went to my pcp when I broke my toes and they didn't heal, he picked up on my pvc's, so it was quite a shock something was really wrong with me.

I had an ablation, which cured the pvc's; but they found out I had V-Tach and I went into V-Fib; so I had to have a pacemaker/icd implanted. I have great health insurance now, but went without it for a few years due to the rising costs of BCBS we had.

Have you thought about going to your local health department or applying for medicaid?   I suggested to someone else also, calling your cardiologist or EP and telling them the situation (or in an appt) doctors are willing sometimes to work out payment plans.

Please do not be like I was and just let things go - it's better to safe than sorry and something happen like with me.  If you find out nothing is really wrong or the pvc's are benign then that will give you peace of mind you need.  

Doctors are overworked, underpaid (lol) and have a ton of patients on their caseloads, sometimes they do make mistakes and miss things or misdiagnose patients.

Good luck

[docwannabe]

Matt, there are several circumstances that can contribute to the cause of PVCs. One is the use of decongestants, particularly Sudafed. Another is the use of prescription diuretics such as Hydrochlorothiazide. Also, if you don't eat a healthy diet, your electrolytes, particularly magnesium/potassium levels, can be out of balance. Get copies of your blood tests and learn to read them. See if your mineral levels are normal or borderline low. Sometimes magnesium is not included in the tests for some odd reason, but try to get it, if not. Go to the website called World's Healthiest Foods at http://www.whfoods.com/nutrientstoc.php and read about the importance of potassium, magnesium and other minerals. In my case, all of these factors contributed to my PVCs. It is not easy to get enough potassium in your diet no matter what anyone tells you, as the minimum daily requirement is 3500-4700 mg. Read labels. Eat bananas, potatoes, and spinach and drink V8 juice for potassium. Eat spinach, soybeans, black beans and nuts for magnesium. Try taking equal parts of calcium and magnesium supplements if you are not getting enough in your diet, and most people don't. Take 750 to 1,000 mg of each a day. You can also take a potassium supplement once or twice daily as directed on the bottle. NatureMade vitamins and mineral supplements from the drug store are not expensive. It will take a while for them to get into your system, so don't expect overnight changes. Be consistent. Supplements, however, will not substitute for healthy food. They will simply supplement a healthy diet. Caution - don't take potassium supplements if you are on other prescription medications that would conflict. Check with your physician or nurse practitioner first. Google "cause of premature ventricular contractions," and you will be amazed at what you can learn. The last thing is -- learn while you are young that "you are what you eat," so further explore the World's Healthiest Foods Website, give up junk food, and don't smoke or abuse alcohol. I am assuming you are not drinking coffee or any other stimulants.  Good luck!

[itdood]

Hi Matt, What you're pondering is a really tough thing to give advice on :-).

A cardilogist would start out by ruling out harmful causes for your PVCs, or "etilogy".  So they would check for congential defects (like ARVD), myocardial infarcts, myopathy, CAD....
Getting all that ruled out can get quite expensive.  Stress test, echo, MRI, nuke stress.  MRI especially would be expensive.

If those are all ruled out then you would be diagnosed as having benign PVCs, or "idiopathic".

You should talk to your doc and outline your financial situation.  Then come up with a plan.  You might be able to stage certain tests so that you do the cheapest ones first and only move to the more expensive tests if something suspect comes up.  Best of luck to you.

[stringplayer]

You can go back and read about my skips and ablation that was a disaster.  As long as all your tests are normal 30,000 a day or worse, bigeminy all day is still considered benign.
I have stayed in bigeminy and the Dr said you could live this way.  Easy for him to say, but he was telling me it wouldn't hurt me.  I have had 25000 and more a day.  But I think we all need to make our own decisions and no one knows for sure if you have underlying problems that are more serious.  Sounds like you are in the same boat as many of us, just dealing with PVC's.