PACS and anxiety

[bennam68]

I had an Ablation almost 3 years ago.Irregular heartbeat appeared on my home heart monitor recently.Event monitor showed no afib, but it did show Pacs. EP said they were benign. They have been increasing in frequency and duration which concerns me. Doe's anyone know what I'm feeling around my heart. It's not pain, just an annoying awareness. I  feel jittery like I drank 10 cups of coffee during these events. I also have had gas issues ever since my heart problems began.  It's a lot to ask but does anyone have any answers?  

[bennam68]

Thanks for your reply. My ablation was for afib and flutter. As I mentioned it's been almost 3 years without any afib problems for which I am extremely grateful. The Pacs situation caught me completely by surprise as I thought my afib had returned. It amazes me how helpless you feel when you have one of these events,and then how quickly you appreciate life again when they calm down. I may have mentioned my ablation for afib in a previous post; if so I apologize. If you are dealing with similar issues I wish you only the very best.  

[is_something_wrong]

I would say that PACs and anxiety go hand in hand, just like anxiety and rapid heart rate may do.

You don't specify what arrhythmia you had ablated, was it atrial fibrillation? If they isolated the pulmonary veins, your new PACs are very unlikely to trigger any atrial fibrillation. It's likely that you EP knows where in the atria the PACs origin and by that is saying they are benign.

PACs feels awful sometimes, especially when you are anxious. PACs also have the ability to "mix up" with the previous normal beat, making the atrial contraction "backfire" causing a strange sensation in the neck/throat area.

You are describing well the hyperawareness anxiety can cause, just like 10 cups of coffee also do.

If you are able to relax, the PACs are likely to go away. If they don't even when you are relaxed, you may want to see the doctor again to get the PACs better monitored and determine if there is treatment available for them.