Are these PAC's?

I've been having increased amounts of ectopic beats over the past year. A Holter done 2 months ago showed around 800 PVC's and 200 PAC's during 24 hours. My EP says all benign. I have a lot of anxiety about all of these beats I've been having , despite the fact that I know they are benign. The past 3 days I've noticed a HUGE increase of a fluttery feeling in my chest. I have been trying not to take my pulse very much, but when I do, I feel something like beat beat beatbeat beat beat, or beat beat beatbeatbeat beat. I would describe this as a very fast double beat. It doesn't have the pause of a PVC. Is this a PAC? It is really bothering me. I get this feeling several times a minute if I am standing up or walking, and occasionally when sitting. Is this merely a symptom of anxiety? Help!

[curmudgen]

The only one to really ask is your doctor.  You have to trust your EP's analysis of your particular arrhythmia.  Sorry that this isn't a straight forward answer to your question.

[is_something_wrong]

Only way for anyone to tell for sure (both doctor and us for that matter) is seeing it on EKG. However, with sensable premature beat, and no compensatory pause, chance of this being PVCs is almost 0%. One important thing to remember though, it really doesn't matter. Trust your EP and both PACs and PVCs are benign in healthy hearts.

[tom_h]

I awoke 2 weeks ago to the symptoms you're describing.  This comes 8 months after ablation for SVT.  I had been running, and working out without incident up to that point.  Coincidentally, I had a stress test scheduled several days after this started up.  My cardiologist is present during the test, and corrected me when I started reporting PVC's.  I was in fact now throwing PAC's along with "salvos" of brief SVT that were not sustainable.  I plan to visit him upon my return from vacation to discuss possible antiarrhythymic therapy as well as a possible visit to the cath lab again.  In the meantime, hen told me to continue with my running and working out as the PAC's in my case were benign.  Now that's easy for him to say because he's not feeling them, but it's good to know they aren't dangerous. If I get a steady stream of them, my chest will begin to ache.  How about you?

[tom_h]

By the way, for the stress test, I got a little over 10 minutes, 4.2 mph, and about 120% of my max target heart rate before my cardiologist "punched me out" with "Dude, you ok?". LOL!  At that point, my sinus rhythm was beginning to blend in with the SVT.

[itdood]

To me, I can feel PACs, but they are much less of a feeling than a PVC.    I gave up monotiring myself though.  There's nothing anyone can do about it so there's nothiing to be gained by worrying about it.  easier said than done,  I know.

[tom_h]

I agree about the feeling. PVC's hit much harder.

[itdood]

I was laying on my recliner once, almost flat out, with a TV remote on my chest.  A PVC hit and the remote moved and fell to the floor.  yea those things can slam sometimes.

[is_something_wrong]

It's weird. I experiencw the opposite (though what you decribe is more common I think). I have what I think is an occational PVC, but I only notice it when checking the pulse. A beat is missing and the next one feels normal. Not sure if this is a PVC though and I haven''t noticed it in months (maybe because I'm checking the pulse less frequently). Holter said no VE's.

[itdood]

When I was in my teens/20s that's how they felt.  I couldn't really tell.  They were just an interesting anomaly to me then.  The hard hitting stuff started in my late 30s.

[is_something_wrong]

Just because you're getting old :p haha

The strange thing is how well I notice the PACs, or some of the PACs at least. Some of them are almost as late as the next sinus beat, just slightly premature, those I don't notice unless I check the pulse. Some of them occur in the middle of two sinus beats (hard to differ from a PAC couplet by the way) and some of them occur early, those I notice well because of the flip flop sensation (canon A or what the name is).

[Mom2four85]

I notice both...and definitely pvc's hit me alot harder but could this be due to where they hit in the rhythm and responses of the rest of our systems?  

pac's/psvt certainly are a nuisance and feel terrible - that fluttering then pushing through a straw and feeling a popping feeling in my throat area after each one is a pain but pvc's/vt symptoms are much worse for me - hard thumping like I have a someone hitting me with a jackhammer then pauses then the one after the pause smacks me into a wall; sometimes passing out from them.

dbranden go get a full cardiac workup so you know if there are any changes.  our hearts can handle alot and it may be really helpful to you if you see if you can find a cause and a way to relax and relieve some anxiety; easier said than done I know.