PVC's? or something else, help answer this please...

[Hukeedo]

I'm a 43 year old male. I am having problems with my heart doing something that i'm not sure of. It started when i was 16 and i've had this ever since then. Ok, here is what i am going through: My heart feels like it "pops" or just skips a beat then beats really hard for a beat and it takes my breath  away. I almost fainted twice in my life of this but never have, yet! It's kinda hard to explain what it feels like except what i described above. I do not have health insurance, but seea doctor at a clinic for a sliding fee, so an exact diagnosis is not within reach anytime soon. Now, the lasy 6 days, it is doing it everyday, every 5 minutes or so, and it is affecting my life. I am afraid to go anywhere beyong the reach of medical help if i need it, and i am not myself and very very scared that i may die from this. i've read about PVC's and all the other things, and not sure what it may be. The funny thing is, if i stay active and very busy, i don't notice them, but at night or at rest, they are very noticeable and peopel can see i am going through something. I can't sleep, they keep me up at night.I know you guys are not doctors, but any support is greatly needed and appreciated. It used to be that i only got this once a month, or once a week for a one time shot, but now it's constant and i don't no why. I quit smoking 4 years ago, quit drinking, had no caffiene for years. I have high blood pressure which is under control at 122/82 with Hydroclorothiazide 25mg.
Thanks for reading. I am very concerned about this, it is ruining my life.

[Hukeedo]

Thank you so much for your response and information. I have been thinking i am going to die. You describe dth efeelign to a "T" when you said "KaBoom". Thats what it exactly feels like. I just can't understand why it has been an everyday occurrance now and won't seem to go away.But, i am going to the Doc's in a few days and hopefully he can help me get to a heart doc and get it monitored properly. I will definately get the book you mentioned.
Thanks again, i feel somewhat better and not so grim.

[woodruff]

In some ways I hate to wade in, because you have not seen a doc about this and thus don't have any EKGs to refer to (do you?).  However, that said, you sound like the classic sufferer of PVCs; and I mean classic.  If you read through even a couple dozen messages here (to say nothing of hundreds!), you are going to see yourself time and time again:  A fairly healthy person, physically able-bodied, being driven nuts by a sensation of irregular heartbeats, and finding the boundaries of his life being drawn ever smaller by fear. You are classic also in that you notice these odd beats less when you are busy and more when you are at rest.  That is good sign, by the way.  If you were suddenly required to round around the block, you would probably find that you could do it just fine.  Your emotional response would likely be the biggest problem.

So, to me, your symptoms sound like the frustrating but benign PVCs that so many of us have to live with.  I have worn a Holter monitor and have a documented 4800 in 24 hours--and I felt every one, I think.  And I'm fine.  I work out at the gym every day, I drink a little red or white wine every evening, and I live a normal life.  And sometimes I get a little squirrelly with these things, too.

Some people think a garden-variety pvc is a manifestation of a twitchy nervous system in general.  What happens is that your ventricle decides to contract just a little earlier than usual.  No one really knows why that happens, but it does happen to everyone (though not everyone perceives it).  You probably won't even feel that early beat, since it happens so early in the cycle that the heart has not had a chance to fill with as much blood as usual.  After that there's a slight pause while the heart politely waits to beat at its normal time.  However, while it's waiting, the ventricle has the opportunity to fill with just a little more blood than usual.  The heart is an elastic structure--its chambers can stretch--and the ventricle is powerful muscle, so when it contracts when it's a little fuller, you feel that beat as a strong and startling "Ka-BOOM."  All it means is that your heart is dutifully doing its job of pumping out the amount of blood that it received since the last beat.  The chances are that the beat after that will carry just the ordinary amount of blood, and you will feel nothing unusual.  However, if your heart is in twitchy mode, the beat after that might well be a slightly-delayed big one that gets your attention again.  And so on.

I do think you would be wise to go to the ER during a phase when these irregular beats are really bothering you.  Then, after you are told that you are healthy, get a little book called "Hope and Help For Your Nerves," by Dr. Claire Weekes.  It's an older book, but Dr. Weekes gives you easy exercises for dealing with your responses to the nerve-wracking but harmless symptoms the body occasionally tosses our way.