When to worry?

[Carrie41]

I get anywhere from 10 to 100's of skips a day in my heart beat and they are unnerving to say the least.  I have been checked out by a cardiologist and they have said I have benign PVC's and PAC's.  My cardiogist said that 90% of the people out there have them and just ignore them?  I asked how many an hour would be considered normal.  He said that many healthy individuals will have anywhere from 2 to 10 extrasoyles in an hour.  I just can't believe him this is normal!  I have had a stress test, echocardiogram, and they cannot find anything wrong in my heart except mild regurtitation.  Do you think this statement sounds accurate from the cardiologist.  I am an otherwise 45 year old female.

[Cleveland Clinic]

Listen to you doctor it is absolutely normal to have 100s of PACs or PVCs in a day without any untoward side effects, as far as the evidence shows. There is an association between PVC induced cardiomyopathy but this usually occurs in people with over 10000 PVCs per day. And you have had an echocardiogram which shows normal ejection fraction, so this is not your case. A beta blocker may decrease the frequency of such events, or at least your perception of the events. In general you should relax and not worry about these skipped beats: they are benign in your case.

[marlinspike]

Hi Carrie. The doctor will be along soon to give you some real advice, but I thought I would quickly respond as I have been in the same situation as you. I am now 44 and developed missed beats 4 years ago after an operation. These would be every third or fourth beat for hours at a time - thousands a day. I had an overnight stay in ER and all the tests like you - I was diagnosed with 'multiple ectopics' and told I was fine.

Like you, I have found it hard to accept that these skips are not harmful. However, everything I have read on this site and others seems to say that if you have had all the tests done, and have a structurally normal heart (echocardiogram would show this), then these skips are in no way life-threatening or damaging. I have been through massive anxiety over mine - which are now much reduced -  and I wish I had found this site sooner as it has given me a lot of reassurance. I am sure your doctor would have referred you for more tests if you had other symptoms or if he/she was at all concerned. I hope this helps.