PVCs--They Come and Go

[JamesAA]

Hello.  I'm a (assumed) healthy 36 year old male.  Normalish BP (a bit on the high side of "normal" but still falls within the normal spectrum), eat fairly healthy, I exercise regularly (3-4 solid cardio sessions/wk), and physically fit, etc.  My last ECG was a couple of years ago and the heart appeared normal (only very mild mitral valve regurgitation which is so slight every time I go to the Dr for a checkup he cannot even pick it up on his stethoscope).  

My first encounter with PVCs came in 1993 when I was 20 years old.  I had been drinking a lot of coffee and one night I got dozens of PVCs.  I didn't know what they were and I panicked...rushed myself to the ER.  The explained to me that night that they were PVCs, most likely brought on by the caffeine.  Since then I've had a few brief encounters with them my whole life, mostly after a sprint on the basketball court or something like that.  

This past January however I was getting them in mass numbers...hundreds (or more) a day.  Right about in the middle of Feb they just went away for the most part.  Now here we are in middle of May and they are flaring up again.  My life is the same everyday..nothing has changed.  Why are they flaring up?  My cardiologist told me in Feb that they are "normal" based on my EKG and ECG but is it possible he has overlooked something???

Can it really be "normal" to go 2 months with virtually none (a few here and there), then all of a sudden have hundreds a day, everyday for no rhyme or reason??  It just seems to me like something has to be wrong with my heart.  I don't know what else to do but I hate these things and I find it very hard to believe that they are benign.

I'd appreciate any help or knowledge anyone (medics and PVC sufferers) have.

Thank you,
James

[JamesAA]

I hear that Bill.  I want a 2nd, 3rd and maybe 4th opinion...then maybe I could learn to just deal w/these buggers.  LOL

[BillTheCat]

Yes.  My cardiologist told me not to worry that they are a normal abnormality.  He said the cahcnes of anything bad happening are almost nill.  I am going in for a 1 year check up but I am going to the Mayo clinic in in Phoenix.  My cardiologist is from a good medical group, but i want that second opnion for peace of mind.

[JamesAA]

TatiSD--Yes, the PVCs I have feel exactly as how you described. I can feel every single one the holter monitor recorded.  I sometimes feel that there is a connection between hormones and PVCs but medical literature I've seen cannot confirm (nor deny) this.

BillTheCat-- (cool name btw).  Your story and mine sound very much alike.  I'm also very athletic with good vitals (BP, weight, etc), so it's perplexing why we get PVCs.  My doctor and cardio both say I'm fine but they are both Kaiser MDs which isn't the leading med. institution...not by a long way.  Like you, I hope they go away.  It's still a struggle for me to "chill" when they are going bananas.  Have your Docs told you not to worry also?  

[BillTheCat]

I would do anything to go months w/o PVCs!!  I get them every day.  Some days more than others and they are terrible.  THe truth is that without underlying cardiac desease, they are harmless...mostly bothersome.  I am 34 yo male, good BP, 6' 185lbs atheltic.  Hit the gym 4-5 week for weight and cardio, had 2 holters, stress echo, ekg - all came back normal.  Yesterday, I had anywhere from 9-10 per minute ALL DAY!!  SOmewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000.  Today, I think I had 3 or 4 while jogging this morning then maybe another 1 or 2 at  the gym during lunch (yes, that is my schedule).  NO reason why these things happen.  That being said, I keep hope that one day they will stop as quickly as they started.  

[TatiSD]

I'm curious to know if you physically feel your tens of thousand pvc's or was this number confirmed mostly by the monitor?  What sensation do you get while they're happening?  I feel every event - thumps, quivers, rattle, fish-out-of water flip flopping of the heart.  I am wondering if you feel all of your  arrhythmic disturbances without taking your pulse or being on a monitor?  I am also in the throes of hormonal storms :P

[trrn]

I too am a PVC sufferer. Out of the blue I had them daily for 18 months. Many thousands of times during the day. One point I developed a horrible cough from them.  I finally went to the Doc in January and asked for another  holter monitor. By the time the holter monitor was scheduled, the PVC's nearly stopped.

As an ED RN, I knew that I was having anywhere between 10,000 to 15,000 per day. I have had the opportunity to put myself on the monitor while at work and noted to have often couplets and occassional triplets.

Now I get them now and again, sometimes bi or trigeminy lasting for hours. But I don't have them days on end.  I don't know why they flare up. I personally thought it had to do with my age 47 and hormones.