my first pvc, should i get more tests?

[bakertree]

hi,
i am 30yrs old, 17% body fat, workout 3 times a week, dad has history of high blood pressure.

i went to my family doctor and he checked my heatbeats with the heat recorder device. he verified that i was indeed having PVC's. i was only on the monitor for less than a mintute(should i not be on it longer?). he told me that stress, lack of sleep, caffiene, etc...can cause this.

well today, i got a good nights rest, cut out the morning caffee, and noticed that i started getting them again. it also seemed to happen more frequent in a minute. this lasted maybe 2-3 hours. now i feel like it has gone or now happens less frequent.

i read most posts that people do a 24 hr test with a holter monitor. should i get a referal to see a cardiologist?

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

Not everyone with PVCs needs to see a cardiologist.  If you don't have symptoms of heart failure, have a normal EKG and physical exam, no further testing may be necessary.  It is a judgment call on who needs an echocardiogram based on history.  If the PVC capture on EKG correlates with your symptoms of palpiations, there is the diagnosis.  It is true that obtaining adequate rest, decreasing caffeine / tea, stress, etc may help decrease your PVCs -- it depends on the person and what their triggers are.

If you would feel more comfortable with a second opinion,  just ask your doctor.

I hope this helps.

[Rye253]

Hello... I am worried I have this PVC I have been reading about...I get these sharp poundings on the left side of my neck and a pressure in my chest... It's been happening for a long time, but I and people I told about it just always think it is stress. Sometimes I got a month or more and it doenst happen. Other times its multiple occurances in a day. It is just a really really hard beatng in my neck that I can feel with out touching my neck if that makes sense... and also sometimes it causes such bad pains in my neck and sometimes my head and chest that I have dropped to my knees in the middle of class or had to lie down and close my eyes. Could this be the same thing discussed here? I haven't gone to a doctor or anything case i hadnt assumed it was serious, but it is occuring more often now, and the pain is worse. Any suggestions?... also I am young too, just like you are(18) and I am healthy in my opinion, rarely ever sick, and I dont have any bad habits. If they helps to narrow down what might be causing this. Thank you.

[bakertree]

hi thanks ForumMD-MJM.

i got some rest, quit coffee totally, and feel somewhat better now.  i even workedout on saturday for a good hour. i havent had an episode of pvc's for a few days now(knock on wood). however, since that experience i feel very paranoid and pay alot of attention to the sounds of my heart.

thanks for the respons.

Rye253, go see a doctor asap.

[Rye253]

Hey... well I went to the emergancy room after experencing several (5) in a 15 minute time period that were extremely painful and left me feeling exhuasted and stress and scared. By time I got there my blood pressure was fine as was my heart beat, and he saw nothing abnormal at all (though he ran no tests) and just told me that I was most likely stress related and that stressing about it may have caused more. This was a few weeks ago and I only had four more isolated heart beats like that until yesterday and today, where I have had several at a time during the course of the day that were extremely painful... should I go back to the doctor even though he siad nothing was wrong???

[EddieF]

A related discussion, do you think this is PVC? was started.