Arrythmias

I get somewhere in between 50 - 100 skips in my heart beat a day.  I am a 38 year old female.  I have been to a cardiologist and he says that it is normal to have these things and not to worry.  He said that he gets them as well.  Sometimes I will get 100's a day and other days I wll only feel around 50.  I used to binge drink in my 20's and was wondering if somehow I could have made these things happen with ruinning my heart from my binge weekend drinking.  I thought they went away after awhile but it seems I have been having skips for 20 years and wonder why they won't just go away?  Do you think I could have hurt my heart somehow with my partying days back in my 20's?

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

It is unlikely that drinking 15 years ago is causing your PVCs and PACs.  They will probably never completely go away but will likely wax and wane in throughout your life.  It is best to learn to live with them because there is often no easy way to suppress them.

Hope this helps.

[marlinspike]

Hi - I have skipped beats which come and go. At their worst I have thousands a day. There are people on this forum who have had thousands a day for years and years. If you have had the appropriate tests (like ecg) and no other symptoms, then I would take your cardiologists' word for it and try to accept that you are fine. If you have no underlying structural heart defect (tests would show this), then skipped beats are not harming you - though they do cause a great deal of anxiety I know. I don't think 100 in 24 hours is a even considered a significantly high number - many people on here have far more and are still told they are okay. Hope this helps.