Does Anxiety/Panic cause PVC's

[Michaelccc]

i'm a 34 year old male and have been suffering with anxiet/panic since the age of 23. I have never in that time felt PVCs . i remember feeling like 1 pvc every year never paid much attention to it , didnt know what it was. About 2 months ago my aunt died from cancer and i started to feel pvcs a few times a day. i went to a doctor to find out what it was and was explained that it was PVCs. Here is my question does anxiety cause pvcs or do pvcs cause anxiety. If anxiety causes pvcs then do they cause the actual pvcs or does anxiety act as a catalyst in bringing out the existing condition in the heart. Meaning - my understanding of pvcs is that pcvs are caused by an "extra" pathway in the heart, if that is so then how can anxiety cause a pvc a pvc is described as some physical problem. can someone explain this to me? Also if anxiety and panic causes pvcs then what if i have a huge panic attack what would happen lots of pvcs over and over and over ? and if so what would keep this from turning into V-tach? someone please help. One more question if most people have pvcs as doctors sometimes tell us then why aren't beta blockers prescribed to everyone?? i mean most of the population

[deedle1976]

Hi oatbucket,
I think betablockers only help with the physical symptoms of anxiety such as feeling edgy, breathless, lump in throat, feeling, palpitations etc (by blocking adrenalin). That is why they are often used for panic attacks. They don't haev any affect on worrying and anxious thought though. I think only antidepressents and tranquilizers do that. Although I suppose it's possible that by controlling the physical symptoms associated with anxiety they might make one feel better physically and then more less likely to worry abotu their health. Best wishes to you and you daughter.
Deedle

[Michaelccc]

So you guys are all telling me that since most of the population has PVC's then it is logical to say that most of the population has the "extra wiring" as it is described that causes PVC's ?????

[deedle1976]

Heart muscle is very electrically excitable. Most of the population have areas in their heart that are more easily excited than others and can 'fire off' from time to time instead of their heart's normal pacemaker.

[Michaelccc]

new board for PVC's ??? where? right here at this site? i looked under forums can't see anything for pvcs.  doctor to patient portion? or peer to peer? either way i see a forum for "heart" that we are in but no forum specifically for PVC's

[deedle1976]

The forum is called heart rhythm. There is alot of discussion about PVC's there. Several members have tens of thousand of PVCs per day.

[sueinns]

This has been my experience.  I am definitely not an anxious person and even when the palpitations were at their worse, I didn't have any feelings of impending doom.  However, that being said, anxiety (and everyone gets anxious from time to time) will bring them on .  I do find this interesting how stress/anxiety evokes a physical response, whether it be migraines, an upset stomach, etc (true mind/body connection).

There is more at play here.  I have read articles that indicate the people with low heart rates (eg. athletes) can be prone to PAC's or PVC's that adversely affect their working out. For years I had them on occasion and never gave them much thought.  Then WHAM, they came on after a bout with the flu and never really abaded. They prevented me from doing the things that I love.

When they get so frequent that they affect your quality of life, then treatment is warranted.  Even if you have a structurally normal heart, "live with it" doesn't work for someone who is very active and can't bike, run, etc anymore because every time they do, they get dizzy or very fatigued.  The calcium channel blocker that I take has been a godsend.