PVCS

[julesluvsdrew]

Hey everyone.Normally I get my pvcs ect.when my heart is beating a little faster then average..but recently I have noticed my heart rate has been normal lol (usually on the higher side) and its increasing my pvcs.I have read on here that a lot of people get pvcs when their heart rates are on the low side!Ive noticed it going in to bigemy???(excuse me if I spelled that wrong)..I think thats what I meant to say..when it goes regular beat,pvc,reg,pvc..ect...I have had that in the past,but it had been so long it really scared me!Yes and this is from someone who gets NSVT on a regular basis hehe.Im on blood pressure medicine and I know that slows my heart rate down some,but I havent experienced what I have this past week before while being on my medicine..so I thought it was strange!Who else on here experiences Begimy a lot?(again sorry about my spelling):)

[artskip]

For the last 2 years(give or take a few months) I have had bigemini PVC's every day, every other heart beat. Some days are not to bad, thats when I get a PVC every 4th beat. Most days I'am in constant bigemini. I've had a few instances of nsvt and I'd rather have the bigemini than that. It dosn't matter if my heart rate is slow or fast. When my heart rate is very fast I have very fast skipped beats, when it's slow the beats skip slowly. I am just constantly skipping. I don't think heart rate has much to do with it for me.

[julesluvsdrew]

Yea it happens either way,fast heart rate or slow...you cant win:( Your right though the nsvt is the worst..I just had a episode while sitting at this computer!!!!!!!How scary to have that happen and im not even doing anything:( When did your heart troubles begin?

[Bromley]

Hi. I get PVC's and NSVT more often when my heart rate is slow. In my case this might be because when my heart rate is slow my body has usually been under some physical stress (long distance running) that has caused by parasympathetic nervous system to slow my heart down, but at the same time I get more catecholamines, which tends to cause the odd beats. I take a little beta blocker to help with it and it slows my heart down even more, but the overall effect is that I experience my PVC's less.  

Actually, I find the whole matter very confusing.  All I know is that a little bit  of beta blocker typically knocks all of it out. I use less than 25mg TOPROL XL as needed (not very often).

I believe a doctor once told me that the beta blocker doesn't do a lot to eliminate PVC's and NSVT.  It merely reduces the "severity" of your experience, and you feel it less. In my case, after I take the blocker, I dont often experience them at all.


Bromley.

[manny777]

I've had PVCs for 2 days already ater having a break for 2 weeks, sometimes I get them every 15 regular heartbeats and sometimes I get them every 3rd or 4th heartbeat. Well today I felt great, pvc and all, I run for 1.5 miles and felt great after but about 4 hours later I went to a Mercedes dealer and did some design work for about 1 hour and when I was finished I felt nauseous with a slight pain in my chest which lasted for about 40 minutes. My question is: do PVCs get worst as the months and years go by or do they get better?

[bobad]

Good question.  All I can tell you is my personal experience. In my case, they got worse.

I guess this is the wrong place to ask if anyone's ever get better.

[greendave]

Hi Julie
So you get both too.
SVT's have been my nightmare for 21 years in my case it's usually a 2am wake up to a racing heart and the lonliest time in the world -  doing evrything trying to get it down. Do I lie still and try breathing exercises and relaxation (very difficuly) or do I get up walk around and try to do it that way with the added risk that the activity speeds it up even more!. then the next morning again with even slight exertion resulting in an ultra fast heartbeat and the nightmare of driving.
I remember being on an hospital treadmill test when they were deighted with how fast my heart was going under exercise - I wasn't!
Then I took up mountain walking getting really fit only to get PVC's with the doctor looking at my ECG prints and offering me beta blockers which I do not want ever again if I can avoid it.
So now I'm fit and healthy but my good slow beating heart now likes to do its own irregular tap dance leaving me wondeirng waht would happen if it decides to combine the two!!
dave
.

[upbeat633]

Mine have increased (does that count for gotten worse) ever since I can remember having them. I'm up to a comfortable 20,000+/day.

However, whatever the reason, I have noticed, especially recently, periods in the day of no pvcs at all. I definetly think that counts as better.

From bigeminy for hours and hours and hours to days and days and days. Then, nothing for several minute stretches. I'm trying not to monitor my pulse except when I notice something "different"-- which is the quiet of no pvcs! Then I listen for a minute or two, because it's like meditation really, its so regular. I estimate I have a few hundred to low thousands a day compared to tens of thousands. While it's been just a couple of days in the hundreds, that's a vast improvement from tens of thousands every day. So, it can get better

[julesluvsdrew]

Wow,we all sure have a lot in common dont we!!!!!!! It is funny because I often tell myself that I would think I would be "used" to my heart doing this,but to no avail it surprises me daily and SCARES ME:(Some days the pvcs feel totally diff then the day before..same with the nsvt...I think thats something we all can agree on! My main focus is getting insurance so I can see a cardiologist and electrothesiologist.Its been about a little over 3 years since Ive seen anyone or had an echo done,and my symptoms are back just like they were before my ablation:(  Sometimes I try to make myself feel better and remember that some people have them thousands a day..mine arent that bad but the episodes of nsvt make up for that some days!Now that is scary!

[manny777]

Ok, today I went to see the doctor and I told him I had pvc's, he knew what they were and checked my heart with the stetoscope and guess what! the pvc's hid from him. He told me my blood pressure was just a little bid high, he sent me to a cardiologist which gave me an appointment for next Friday at 3:45.
This time I've been having pvc's for the last 3 days, about 10 each minute but yesterday and today I felt a little nauseous, I had to sit down for a little while for this nauseous feeling to go away, is this normal with pvc's? feels like when I am tired past my bedtime I get nauseaus until I lay down and go to sleep.

[mariop]

Was your ablation temporarily successful?  How long before PVCs started again?  Could it be you have developed a new firing spot, or is it the old one?

So far I have been PVC-free for 9 months post ablation, but I always wonder if someday they will come back.

[PRADA001]

Don't worry, I got nauseous last weekend with my PVC's for the first time. I've never had the nausea before so guess what I did? I came on this forum and asked other members and guess what? I got replies saying that others get that feeling too so feel assured that you and I are not alone. I too have the habit of feeling my pulse! I'm not quite sure what I expect to find but I can't seem to stop when I have a bad run of PVC's - I'm guessing too, that you and I are not alone in this habit either!!

[upbeat633]

The nausea could be related, or it could be totally separate! I have had so many different sensations with pvcs that at least one doctor said "patient complains of symptoms with bigeminy, but does not experience any symptoms at other periods of bigeminy, suggest there is no correlation". Well, hmph.

The funny thing is, I can have long stretches of bigeminy and be (almost) totally unaware of it, I feel fine except I can feel my heart flip-flopping, then other times when I'm having fewer pvcs I feel short of breath and dizzy and I being to wonder what is up with my PVCs? There have been rare occassions, when I have no pvcs at all, I feel ill, almost like something very bad is going to happen. I can't explain feeling worse with no pvcs.

Like you and your doctor, I saw an electrophysiologist this year and it was one of those rare occassion when I had no pvcs. He looked at me like I was nuts, even though he reviewed the holter showing 24,000 pvcs. I'm glad you have an appointment to see the cardiologist, it's really not that long away, if you don't look at the calender and clock every day!

[mariop]

If you have over 24,000 PVCs and the doctor doesn't take that seriously then you obviously need to get another doctor.  Go to a doctor in a different city.

I was in your shoes last year, where my local doctors started to invoke anxiety and other pseudo explanations for my PVC problems.  Fortunately I went to the Clev Clinic, and  I just could not believe the different attitude.  The doctor at Cleveland told me anxiety was not my problem.  Moreover, those PVCs could be fixed, and he did too with an ablation.  Of course I went back to my local doctors and told them they were nothing more than witch doctors.

[upbeat633]

I'm glad you have some relief of these nasty pvcs. I have, in my 27 year history of them, seen three cardiologists and recently an electrophysiologist who all recommend against ablation. In fact, the electrophysiologist said he would absolutely not perform an ablation for pvcs. He said, "no matter the number, no matter the pattern, in the setting of a structurally normal heart, pvcs are benign" My life would have to be so terribly affected by them that there would be no alternative, and my life isn't really all that bad. I DO have some bad days, but generally I can tolerate them, grudingly.

I am sure the ablation procedure has improved substantially, but is still comes with a small risk (I was told about 1%), for stroke and even worsening arrhythmia. I decided that if I wouldn't do a lasix surgery for my eyesight because there is a 5% chance I could have irreparable vision afterwards (halos etc) then why would I chance any risk for my heart if pvcs are benign. It was funny too because the opthamologist who does the lasix surgery wears glasses and when asked why he doesn't have the procedure done his answer was that he needed perfect eyesight for his job so he wouldn't trust the procedure to be done by anybody else but himself. How ironic.

[manny777]

Yesterday I had about 80 all day and today I haven't felt any and I feel good, I also jog 1.5 miles a day without a problem but still I would love to get rid of them if I could.
I callem my mom today (it's her birthday, she's 70) and I told her about my heart, she told me, oh, I had those since I was 50 where your heart jumps everywhere, just get pleanty of sleep.

[Momto3]

My experiences have mirrored Upbeat's.....LOADS of PVCs = no ablation, no anti-arrhythmics, benign, benign, benign.

Like artskip, I was pretty much in constant bigeminy, still no doctor was willing to ablate.  I'd think about running fast and hard from any doctor wanting to ablate PVCs in someone with a structurally normal heart.

After having tons of PVCs for many years (probably at least 25), I developed PVC-induced cardiomyopathy.  Only then was the doctor willing to consider anti-arrhythmics or ablation(s).  If that hadn't happened, I'd still be flip-flopping daily.

Jules, getting closer to insurance day?  Hang in there!

connie

[mariop]

On the contrary, Doctors that do not do ablation are those that cannot do ablations.  The Docs at Clev Clinic are at the forefront of this business, they are the masters.  They are the ones who do the research and write books about the procedures, and teach other doctors how to perform these procedures.  Let me tell you, they have at least 5 operating rooms and they are filled up all the time.  It takes almost 4-5 months to get an appointment.  And this is the worse part of it.  As for the risks, they are over exaggerated.  They probably come from doctors that are not very advanced in this business.

[julesluvsdrew]

Sigh,still no word.Have missed the last 3 days of work because of my heart.I do housekeeping for Kaiser so it makes it really hard for me to work when im goint in to nsvt or just having pvcs all day:( Luckily now my boss knows the severity of my situation and is going to try to get a move on everything,or find out whats taking so long!Thanks for asking!How are you these days?

[Momto3]

I am from Cleveland and have been to the CCF.  I have a cardio there and saw a number of physicians at CC, but an ablation was not recommended until I developed cardiomyopathy.  I just think we need to be cautious since the procedure carries unnecessary risks for patients with healthy hearts.

Jules,

So glad to see that your boss understands.  I remember missing so many days of work because of the anxiety (PVCs, digestive problems, etc) and fortunately, I did not lose my job.  Thanks to all of the employers who try to understand!

I'm doing very well.  Had a few days of flurries last week, but nothing that lasted.  In October, I have an appointment with my EP, in Cleveland.  I'm hoping she'll let me cut back on the lisinopril, but we'll see...

[julesluvsdrew]

Hey!I think my boss understands because she has her own heart issues!(enlarged heart). She knows how scary it is to have to work and deal with those kinds of things. Plus she says she is worried because since I dont have insurance if something were to happen they could be liable???