Irregular heart rhythm + PVCs?

[gainz92]

I'm 22. Quite overweight but not obese. No heart disease in family history.

I have occasional PVCs (I think, haven't been diagnosed), I can feel usually 2-3 per day or sometimes none for weeks. The real thing that bothers me is I'm pretty sure my heart doesn't beat normally when I'm moving. If I get up out of bed to go to the toilet, while I'm there I'll feel it like 'beat.. beat.beat.beat.... beat..beat..beat' etc. This also happens after my heart rate rises (running upstairs). It feels like it's trying to regulate or bring itself back to normal but can't do it smoothly. The beat after the pause is always more forceful aswell. They're 100% not PVCs though.

My resting heart rate is usually between 50 - 65. I'm not an athlete, so I'm not sure if this is a problem either.

99% of the time it's steady and normal during rest.

1. If it was an arrhythmia, would I always be able to feel it all the time, even at rest?
2. Is this in any way normal or should the heart always be steady, just faster and slower?

Thanks if anyone takes the time to reply.

[jeff1971]

Yes do please push for a longer monitor, my personal opinion is that the 24hr holter is fairly useless

[aabmtreasures]

Definitely sounds like pvc's or a run of pvc's.

[gainz92]

Well, whatever I'm feeling comes on almost every time I do certain things.

I don't hold much hope of catching a PVC though. I'll try and request a longer one if nothing shows up.

[AGWENSCARED]

I agree, The 24 hour showed nothing, but with my persisting, the 30 day showed the PSVT'S, Which eventually turned into A-FIB. So if you keep feeling these after the monitor, push for longer time! Good Luck!

[itdood]

O trust me I know!  Many people are very confused over what they're feeling.  People misdiagnose their palps all the time based on feelings and pauses.  Its one of my pet peeves.

I've gotten into debates on this board about this feeling versus that feeling and PVCs feel much worse than PACs and the pauses between SA signals, blah blah blah!  :-)

Some of my PVCs could break a rib, I swear.   I hate those f*#$^ing things.

What you're describing fits the profile of a PAC.  

[gainz92]

Thanks for the help guys. From what I've read it does sound like PACs. However, mine don't feel anything like how I've seen other people describe the feeling.

Ah well, we'll have to wait and see.

[tom_h]

" .....I have a 24 hour holter monitor booked for mid Feb......"

Keep in mind that 24 hours is just a paper thin slice in your day to day life.  A Holter monitor may not show anything purely because your heart didn't "do it's thing" on that particular day.  If this is a intermittent type of thing, if it's something that you don't experience on a daily basis, prepare yourself to be told that nothing was found.  A much better type of monitoring for these types of arrhythmias is a long term monitor These recorders can be worn anywhere from a few days to a month.  They use just two leads across the chest, which are replaced daily by the wearer.  They don't record in detail the way a Holter does, but will captures a basic waveform for a cardiologist to usually make an easy diagnosis.  You will stand a much greater chance of capturing an event given the extended time it's worn.

[itdood]

Ah, sorry I missed some of your post.

The irregular heart beat you are describing sounds like premature atrial contractions, or PACs.

If you look at typical PACs on an EKG, they entire PQRST cycle looks normal, they're just irregularly spaced.  Just like your description.  

PVCs have a very bizarre waveform.  They stand out like a sore thumb.  It's not wonder PVCs feel so crazy.

Typical PACs look like a normal waveform, they just come quicker in succession.

It makes complete sense.  With PACs, at least the normal electrical paths are being followed when the ectopic fires.

[gainz92]

Thanks a lot for taking the time. I have a 24 hour holter monitor booked for mid Feb.

As I said though, the PVCs don't really bother me THAT much, although it is scary when it happens. It's the unsteady heartbeat I'm most worried about. I know the EKG will be able to tell me far more than anyone here but you seem to be very knowledgeable (I've seen you helping other people too). Have you ever heard of anything like I described in my original post? Not the PVCs, the 'beat.. beat.. beat.beat.... beat.. beat.. beat' and so on, only when moving, not at rest. It doesn't just come out of nowhere.

I know it's not a PVC as the sensation is 100% different. Mainly that there isn't a sensation it just feels like a normal heartbeat but there's a delay (not a missed beat feeling) and the next one is slightly harder. Then there's random rapid 2 or 3 beats here and there. The PVCs I get send a shock through my whole body and just feel completely different.

It's pretty hard to explain, sorry.

[itdood]

To understand what's going on it would have to be caught on an EKG.  I've had PVCs since my late teens/early 20s.  I'm 47 now.  they come and go.

I've gotten my heart checked by a cadilogist, even in my 20s, to be sure.  I also had a holter monitor done twice.  Once was for 24 hours.  I had another study done for 2 weeks that caught a lot of the issues.

question #1, I can't really answer, everyone is different.  according to my holter results, which let me press a button when I felt stuff to mark it on the strip, most of the PVCs I said I felt were accurate.  They were PVCs.  Sometimes I had feelings, but the EKG was normal.  Other times I didn't press the event button, and I was getting PVCs.  So my answer is, it's all over the place dude.  Some you will feel, there will be times where there is no sensation but it's happning.

2.  It would be great if our hearts were never had any hiccups but it happens.  Some studies say there is no predictive value to having a lot of ectopics, other say there is.

Live well.

See your doc and get some baseline tests done.  Always good to have those to compare as you age.