PVC's

My background:
I used to play professional soccer in Europe. I played in Romania, and Switzerland, and have been very physically active my whole life.

My situation:
Im a 23 year old male, and last summer I started getting pvc's. They started out as just one in a blue moon and today I sometimes get as many as 100 in a single day. I have had an 2 echo's done, one came up perfectly normal while the other suggested boarder line LVH. I've had a holster monitor done, and that's when my pvc's were diagnosed as being pvc's, as well as a stress test which came back normal. I sometimes go for days and even as long as 2 weeks without any pvc's, and then they return (grrrrr).
I tend to get them at random... this means, one week I can have caffeine and nothing will happen but the next caffeine will trigger them.
I sometimes get a random one during exercise, but most of the time I don't have them during exercise. I sometimes get them after exercise, and sometimes I don't
My cardiologist is considered to be a very good one and has told me that my pvc's are benign. Even with borderline LVH they are still benign.  
II do fine that i mostly get them when I do mild activity (heart rate of about 100-130)

My Concerns:

* why have they increased in numbers over the last year and does this mean anything, dfoes this increase mean anything
* Ive read some people can get thousands of PVC's a day, does risk of heart failure increase with this if they are benign
*Why all of the sudden am I so aware of them?
*I like to be physically active and I like to push myself, but lately I am often scared of doing anything to strenuous because of my pvc's.. does doing extremely strenuous exercise increase my risk of cardiac failure (example: 90 of intense soccer training (sprints sprints sprints sprints!!!) )
* have there been any cases where one's pvc's go away? without the usage of medications?
*Can a person have both benign pvc's and none benign pvc's?



If anyone can provide me with any answers to these questions I would be grateful. At the same time feel free to tell me of any similar experiences as speaking with others about this condition might prove to get me over my phobia

[paanda2]

i can go days without having any, but then have like, 4 in one minute. i notice that sometimes i get them when i'm in a certain position, at certain times of the day, etc. ...in other words, it's totally random. i also started out just noticing them out of the blue (little over a year ago). my feeling is that once you randomly feel one, you are able to notice them more. because the first time you feel them, they're scary! then you're better "trained" to feel them. also, i'm three years younger than you, and while i'm sure i had some when i was young, i think that as you age, you're more in tuned with your body. also when you're younger, you're less likely to notice little bodily things because young people are just so invincible. ;).

i've never heard anything about there being a higher risk of heart failure with them. if they're correlated with having high blood pressure, high cholesterol, being over weight, etc, then maybe? but if they're benign i don't think there is a correlation.

if you had the stress test, and you got your hr as high as you would during strenuous exercise, and everything was fine, i would say it is okay, but ask your doctor about it. if you're scared because you hear about athletes dropping dead from an arrhythmia, keep in mind that it is a) incredibly rare, and b) because of some genetic defect/physiological issue of the heart itself. the echo i think would rule anything like that out. if they're benign, then there should be no change in your heart from before you first felt them, and now. i would exercise as you feel is good for you; test yourself and see how you feel.

my PVCs seem to have decreased, but i'm on a beta blocker for tachycardia, so i think that has something to do with it. i only get 20 or so a day, which is nothing! 100 a day sounds like very little (although you probably don't think so); a lot of people, who have never even thought about PVCs, experience probably more; they just don't feel them.

by non-benign PVCs, do you mean based on a structural defect of the heart? this can be from having something wrong with the electrical pathways, or from physical defects. problems like that can be seen in an echo or a ekg (or holter or event monitor). if you do not have any of these, i think that it is safe to deduce that your PVCs are benign, and not "malignant." if your doctor has ruled out structural problems then you should be fine.

[stutterheart]

Hi 65,
I don't have any advice for you but can empathize. I played pro sports too and have been unable to train for the past 2 years. The doc says I'm ok but I get really bad arrhythmia when I exert myself so don't any more. It's ruining my life. For you it sounds like it's a bit better. If it's just PVC's you are having, studies have shown that there is no increased risk of sudden cardiac death and that exercize does not increase chances above what you would have just sitting down. Check out the data from the Framingham study which collected data over a 30 year period from 48-78. It's kind of old but I don't think human's and math have changed much since then in a sample size of a few thousand.

[100165]

thanks for your replies.

I've actually seen a couple of cardiologist lately so I've had my questions answered pretty good.
after my discussion with my cardiologist I consider myself lucky and don't worry about my pvc's very much anymore.
where I might get 20-30 pvc's in a day and am very aware of them, other people can get as many as 20-30 thousand and are not aware of them. It's not how aware of them that you are that matters. In fact I feel lucky I am aware of them and that I had them diagnosed and found out they are benign.

I also want to tell you guys that i've been doing belly breathing and have found that it helps A LOT with my pvc's I don't know if it just makes me un aware of them or I don't get them, but i find if I do belly breathing ona  daily basis after a while I stop getting my pvc's and just feel over all more relaxed.

I would highly suggest this to people who have anxiety like I did, and who's pvc's are brought on more by anxiety. It takes a while for it to work, but if you do it daily it's pretty powerful stuff. I recommend you get a dvd or audio tape to help you with your belly breathing as well. I bought some dvd's off a doctor Ive been to at a drop in clinic a few times and they have helped me tremendously!!