More skips in shower/bath... anyone?

I seem to notice several more skips when I am in the shower... could it be the heat or something?  anyone else notice this or have any clue why?

Thanks : )

[Acapulco]

Amazing that you wrote that.  When I had a horrible episode of atrial fibrillation a few months ago, it happened just after I got in the shower and it seemed just after the water was hitting my chest.  I was hospitalized because it was beating at almost 400 for over 7 hrs and they were going to do a cardioversion the following morning.  Thankfully the flexinide they gave me finally worked and got me back to normal.  I haven't been the same since and was recently put on Toporal.  But I almost get nervous when I'm in the shower because of what it does to me.  That and when I eat I seem to get more of the flutters, jerking, pulling, hesitation and pausing, etc.

[deedle1976]

When I had frequent PVCs they always got worse in the shower or bath.
Here's my theory.
The heat causes blood vessels to dilate resulting in a drop in blood pressure. The sympathetic nervous system kicks in to counteract this.
Increased sympathetic tone = increased PVCs.

Just a theory of course.

[SillyHeart]

I think it's the heat (a common trigger) and/or the heat causing dehydration.

[ajrenalli]

I think it is the heat and steam.

[sinead]

as always... thank-you ; )

[PVC man]

Never been a trigger for me--maybe its because its one of the few places my kids can't run in and attack-LOL!!!!!!!!!

[Celeste77]

Heat of any kind is a big trigger for me and if I don't cool down fairly quickly, I will get nasty strings of PVC's for hours.
Deedle posted a good theory and I would have to agree with her that it's possibly increased sympathetic tone when it comes to heat/sweating and PVC's.

I asked my cardio about it awhile back and while he didn't go into the cause, he did say that it was very common so try not to worry ok?!

Be well! :)

[sinead]

Thanks Celeste... have a great trip with your mom!

[Celeste77]

Thank you! I will try to do just that. :)

Hugs!

[Artaud]

Hello all,

Truly amazing. I thought I was the only one to notice this. I have no theories, but an observation.

I am required to shower at work (chemical exposures and OSHA Standards), not fun being in a locker room with 50 other people of the same sex and sharing one of three shower rooms with 15 of them (individual shower heads with no walls between each one). Being that some of the guys prefer sauna room temperatures, it can be quite hot there. I myself occasionally take very hot showers. The odd thing is that I do not get as many PVCs in the shower at work. But if I were to come home and shower, I get them, even if the time would be identical.  What's up with that?  

This has long perplexed me. In addition, when I shower at work, almost every time shortly after (while dressing), I get truncated hiccups, they are they same thing as hiccups, but I only get several and not a continuous chain of them. I do not get this at home. In neither place am I swallowing water, incidental amounts as I wash my face and hair, but the same amount should occur at work or at home.

It will be interesting to see if this forum thread continues. For me, my theory has always been that the rapid movements of arms and body elicit the arrhythmia, but this does not explain why I don't get them at work EXCEPT for when I shower at home, it's usually preceded by sitting, and at work, I need to walk considerably to get there. I've noticed that when I first stand, especially when I am symptomatic, I tend to get Trigeminy. After standing for awhile, the episodes often diminish.

Best to everyone.

[Barbarella]

Artaud,

Your mind is a powerful thing, and sometimes our PVC's are psychosymatic.  For example I had a big attack of bigenemy PVC's one time starting at a certain spot where I do my exercise walk.  Every time for a long time even when I was PVC free whenever I came to that certain spot where I had this PVC bigenemy attack the PVC's would start again in the same pattern.  Maybe you had a frightening experience when your PVC's started in the shower at your house, and everytime you shower there again they come back.

All,

Sometimes I get the PVC's in the shower and sometimes I don't.  I think sometimes when the water is hotter than usual I get them, just a guess I do not know.  Other times I can shower for days and never feel a single PVC

[Demarco2k4]

I thought it was just me, but ever time i breathe in steamed water from a shower, or washing dishes, or even boiling water my heart skips. I've had just about every test from stress echos to chest x-rays with and without contrast, and a dozen EKG's. all Dr.'s says nothing is wrong with my heart but whenever i'm in poor air quality, or i exert myself i can feel the urge for a skip or two. even after a large meal, heck i get them after I swallow sometimes, maybe because my heart speeds up after i swallow. IDK.

[kay2486]

when the water hits our faces our body thinks we r in a state of panic the flight response, completely natural so then all the blood is drawn to the  major organs n the heart slows down this  is normal i get them too if i have a really hot soak, just ignore them or you'll have more n then you'll end up to scared to shower, n we dont want that do we lol :)

[aylish28]

an er nurse recently told me that pvc/pac do not like the heat and are worse in summer  so yes heat is a trigger and i have noticed that in shower and also after /dureing eating too

[jondsam]

Fancy you say that.  I always get them worse in the shower skip skip skip.. Also I usually get a nice run of tachy along with it.