PVCs and Caffeine

Is there caffeine in decaf coffee?  Now that the warm weather is here, I enjoy one or two glasses of decaf iced coffee each day.  Yesterday I had 3 (ahhhh!  delicious!!!!).  But, last night and now into this am, terrible, terrible pvcs!!  Could the decaf be the cause?  What about my new favorite artificial sweetener - Splenda?  Does the coffee and Splenda have to go??????

[is_something_wrong]

Well, not all PVCs are caffeine-sensitive.

You can say, caffeine works most effective towards about the same parts of the heart that are sensitive towards adenosine. In other words, the atria, the AV node and to a certain degree the RVOT (where I assume from another post that your PVCs did origin). Caffeine is an adenosine antagonist, which means the caffeine blocks those receptors (which is why people drinking a lot of coffee complains that their SVT is hard to convert with adenosine, there are a couple of those posts here).

From what I understand (not completely sure) caffeine works a bit opposite to adenosine (increases condution speed and irritability) on the affected areas.

In my personal opinion, I think effect of caffeine and similar stimulants on the heart and possibility of arrhythmias is a bit overrated. In my case, it increases the heart rate, but not necessarily the ectopic beats, even though they are PACs. Things like anxiety and stress are far worse in my case, but we are all different :)

[itdood]

Yes, there is still some caffeine in decaf.  If someone is sensitive to caffeine even a very low dose can trigger the issue.  Studies have been done on how much caffeine is left in "decaf".  I read one article that showed certain starbucks offerings had as much caffeine in decaf as the regular coffee.  The instant coffees seem to have the lowest amount to zero caffeine in them.

I think it has to do with how instants and decaf are made.  Decaf is made by soaking the beans in a solvent which is like brewing it.  They take the liquid and filter it which removes the caffeine.  They then take the liquid and soak it back into the beans. They actually call this "naturally” decaffeinated.  This process is prone to not getting it all out.  In some tests they measured  anywhere from 5 – 80% of the caffeine remained.

The process to make instant decaf is to first decaf the beans.  Then they brew it.  Then they spray the liquid into a large silo furnace.  As the liquid falls through the water evaps and the instant crystals gather at the bottom.  This is a harsh process and burns (oxidizes) off any remaining caffeine (along with other natural flavors), which is why instant decaf is the lowest.  It’s also why instant tastes so bad!

[dmacd74]

Damn!  My one remaining pleasure!!  I am currently on a low calorie, but healthy diet.  I'm trying to lose weight - lost 18 pounds, just need to lose 10 to 12 more.  My cardiologist is working with me, his nurse is the administrator of the diet and he overseas it.  I had to get my GP to ok it too.  Anyways, my daily iced coffee has been such a pleasure - hate to cut it out, but hate pvcs more.  Boy, those decaf processes don't sound very healthy....

Debbie

[curmudgen]

were you drinking any decaf coffee before starting the iced coffee drinks?  were you experiencing pvcs then as well?  perhaps it is the increase in decaf coffee now that the warm weather seems to have arrived.  mine have a mind of their own and I have no idea what triggers them from one day to the next.

[goingcrazy1029]

I agree with curmudgen. I stopped caffeine almost 7 months ago. I still had PVCs. I do drink decaf soda but it does not seem to cause an increase. I stopped having any chocolate in my diet. The PVCs went away and then came back. Had some chocolate low fat frozen yogurt last night just to see. No PVCs. So I still can't figure out if I truly have a trigger.My PVCs do have a mind of their own as well.

[is_something_wrong]

Well, not all PVCs are caffeine-sensitive.

You can say, caffeine works most effective towards about the same parts of the heart that are sensitive towards adenosine. In other words, the atria, the AV node and to a certain degree the RVOT (where I assume from another post that your PVCs did origin). Caffeine is an adenosine antagonist, which means the caffeine blocks those receptors (which is why people drinking a lot of coffee complains that their SVT is hard to convert with adenosine, there are a couple of those posts here).

From what I understand (not completely sure) caffeine works a bit opposite to adenosine (increases condution speed and irritability) on the affected areas.

In my personal opinion, I think effect of caffeine and similar stimulants on the heart and possibility of arrhythmias is a bit overrated. In my case, it increases the heart rate, but not necessarily the ectopic beats, even though they are PACs. Things like anxiety and stress are far worse in my case, but we are all different :)

[is_something_wrong]

Forgot to add: in my case sugar can be really bad. It makes the blood sugar fluctuate (and often get too low some time after sugar intake) which really makes adrenaline increase and ectopics to occur. I think this is worse than the coffee :)

[dmacd74]

Thank you for all the comforting and knowledgeable responses.  I honestly don't know what I would do without this forum.  Update:  I drank 3 decaf coffees yesterday, and the pvcs have subsided - back to square one!