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Should I be worried about my PVCs/PACS?
I went to the doctor a few months ago for a routine physical and mentioned that I had been feeling an occasional (0-10 times a day) thump in my chest (which I thought to be some sort of ectopic beat after looking it up online). They did bloodwork and an EKG and said my blood pressure was a little high but the bloodwork and EKG did not show anything to be worrisome. My doctor said it could be stress related (because this was right after Christmas) but I am still having them. She also told me that if they get worse to let her know, but they haven't got worse and I am just worried that I should be having them checked more in depth than what was done during my physical. Any thoughts?
Best Answer
In an otherwise healthy heart ectopic beats are of no concern. They are not a threat to your well being. They can be distracting but they are benign. They usually don't do anything for them except prescribe beta blockers. Considering you have a little high blood pressure it might be worth trying a low dose to see if it helps. Otherwise just try to see if you can pinpoint your triggers and help alleviate them. Stress and anxiety are big triggers. Being dehydrated. Electrolyte imbalances. Caffeine. Sugar, carbohydrates and eating big heavy meals. And spicy foods, acid reflux can all bring them on. Work on those things and see if they help but sometimes they just pop in for what seems like no reason and we have to do our best to ignore them. The more you focus and worry about them the more likely you will produce stress hormones that will cause them to flare off. Try to make peace with them and know that a lot of people get them and they really are nothing to worry about in an otherwise healthy heart. If they get worse or you are really concerned then just ask to see if you can get your doctor to refer you for an echo but odds are your heart will be deemed healthy and they ectopics will be diagnosed as benign but it is understandable that you would want that peace of mind. Take care and welcome to the forum.
Did you experience one after the other, consistently? I get them like this and my heart goes insane for two weeks and then they stop until the next month. It's scary and I don't want it to weaken my heart. It's so uncomfortable!
I've gotten them like this for 25-30 years so far. I haven't died. yet.
seriously though, no impact on cadio health so far. I work out a lot now. I was runner until a knee injury. Now I row, about 36 km per week. I had them low grade for a long time with a major flare up in 2009 (I was 42 at that time) that couldn't be explained with extensive testing. I had everything done, was weeks away from an ablation. About 6,000 per day which slowly settled down. 48 now, back to working out in 2014. Yea it took me that long to get over the phobias I developed from the 2009 flare. Every so many months I flare back up for a few days but I'm talking 10-20 per day range.
I never could figure out triggers or what the heck happened to me in 2009. That was scary. still scares me it might come back. whatever the hell it was, I don't think it was blood flow related. I also don't think it was a cardio muscle degenerative disease either as that would have worsened. It may have been virus.
When all else fails to explain, It's "stress". I hate that diagnoses. just come right out and say we don't know.
seriously though, no impact on cadio health so far. I work out a lot now. I was runner until a knee injury. Now I row, about 36 km per week. I had them low grade for a long time with a major flare up in 2009 (I was 42 at that time) that couldn't be explained with extensive testing. I had everything done, was weeks away from an ablation. About 6,000 per day which slowly settled down. 48 now, back to working out in 2014. Yea it took me that long to get over the phobias I developed from the 2009 flare. Every so many months I flare back up for a few days but I'm talking 10-20 per day range.
I never could figure out triggers or what the heck happened to me in 2009. That was scary. still scares me it might come back. whatever the hell it was, I don't think it was blood flow related. I also don't think it was a cardio muscle degenerative disease either as that would have worsened. It may have been virus.
When all else fails to explain, It's "stress". I hate that diagnoses. just come right out and say we don't know.
1 Comments
Thanks itdood, that makes me feel better about what I am going through. And yah that diagnosis is not helpful
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