PVCs after exercise

[Zenobie]

I am a 21 year old female. I have recently started exercising moderately for half hour every other day. I have been getting PVCs when I stop exercising and hours after when I am resting after exercise. I have also been getting them whenever I drink alcohol. I am in my third year of Uni so am a bit stressed but nothing too bad. I am a bit worried about them as I have heared about a mortality increase in people who experience PVC's in the recovery phase of exericse. I have stopped the exercise over the past few days and the PVCs have gone away but I still experience them every now and again for example after I run for a bus or get out of a hot bath. Is there anything I can do? Thanks

[Mom2four85]

Oh I know what you mean about being scared.  

I was dx with malignant pvc's that stop my heart, had to have a pacemaker/icd implanted and it scares me even pushing a grocery cart shopping.  Daily exercise was such a part of my life before, I've missed it, but I am a baby and really don't want to be shocked again and exertion/exercise causes me heart to go crazy.

If you do exercise, take it easy and listen to your body just in case more is going on than you or your doctor's know.

[Zenobie]

Thanks for your reply Lisa; I am going to keep a diary from now on thanks for the tip!
I know what you say about exercising is right I am just terrified about experiencing them bad again!  I am going to try out some light exercise and see how I go. I only had two yesterday while drifting off to sleep so that is encouraging. I have done some research on the net about a connection to magnesium deficiency and PVCs and I fit a lot of the symptoms for low magnesium to I have started taking supplements to see if they make any difference.

[Mom2four85]

I would encourage both of you to watch them closely, even keep a journal of times, dates symptoms.

I too experience this and have for so long I can't remember -  from middle school on and I'm 42 now.  On my treadmill test (4:55) I had Frequent pvc's - 2 PVC couplets and 1 PVC triplet.  I passed out during the 1 min cool down; my QRS segment narrowed substantially with exercise, widening again in recovery (180 ms to 80 ms)

I don't know what it means exactly other than they told me it was bad lol Even after ablation, pacemaker/icd implanted I still have problems upon exertion of any kind, and been converted a few times upon exertion.

I'm there with Itdood; I would take recovery phase pvc's over the 54,000 daily I had, except for those naps I kept having :P

I do know the dr told me if I had not been exercising 5-7 times a week for the past 3 or 4 years, I would not have made it through my surgery - they feel my heart is strong from exercise and it kept my arteries free of clogs, plaque etc.  

It's a catch 22 when you have problems like this, but the alternative is not a pretty picture.

[Zenobie]

Thanks for your reply; I am sorry you have been having trouble with them for such a long time but it is reassuring to hear your story. I hope you find a solution soon. I just had a couple now so it’s freaking me out a bit! I seem to be getting them in a completly relaxed state today. For the moment I am just going to put them down to stress and hope they clear up on their own. Fingers crossed they will go away!

[itdood]

I was getting recovery PVCs up through my mid 30s.  That kinda stopped in my late 30s which is about the same time I had kids and stopped working out :-)

I had a stress test done when I was 35 and had two during the recovery, the cardiologist thought nothing of it.  he was staring right at the monitor when it happend.  I had these flip flops most of my life and didn't know what they were.  That was the first time they were caught on an EKG and a cardilogist saw it.  I was still on the treadmil, and I said, hey I just felt something wierd and I could see the whacked QRS wave on the monitor.  He just sorta shrugged it off and said it was a PVC.

These days I would pay good money to have only recovery PVCs.  Those were the days....in Jan of this year I started getting them alot.   had tons of tests done, even a cardiac MRI which is really good at detecting stenosis even before it starts as it can detect calcium deposits.  I had none.  No stenosis or ischemia.    By no means am I saying this is the norm.  Just relating my experience which is probably an 'outlier'    :-)

[Zenobie]

That is interesting, personally I have very low cholesterol so I doubt I would be able to have statins perscribed. Do you still have the PVCs after exercise now?

[itdood]

I know the study you are talking about.  It was done by Dr Frederick E Dewey (Stanford University Medical School, Palo Alto, CA) and et.al.   It was reported in the January 28, 2008 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine

I follow this closely as-well.  At one time in my life, in my early 20s, I only had an occasional PVC here and there and it was during recovery from a workout.

What I find interesting about this study is that folks with recovery PVCs showed a reduction when placed on a statin.