I agree that taking the doc's diagnosis is best, still I'd ask about getting onto a regular aspirin regiment, say one reduced dose. This is something one can decide to do without a prescription, but all the warning say talk with your doctor before taking aspirin on a continuous basis. I have been taking a reduced aspirin a day for about 5 years, and not stomach problems for me (yet). I always take the aspirin with breakfast to be sure I take it when I have food in my stomach.
I suggest the aspirin, just-in-case. One key concern about AFib is the formation of blood clots, and low dose aspirin is the "softest" way to reduce that risk.... low cost and now blood tests needed. I understand there are other unexplained heart benefits from taking a regular aspirin, and I am sure you've seen the aspirin companies in the USA use this "fact" in their advertisements.
Even short runs of AFib that are more often than a few a year should be considered for their associated clot formation risk. I don't have numbers, but I do know the risk is very low, but higher than for those who don't have any runs of AFib.
For me it is constant AFib, and I am also a "senior", so I take an anticoagulant, warfarin.
Usually a skipped beat feeling especially if there is gas pressure in my chest from acid re-flux.
Yes, they can (more or less) look like A-fib on EKG regarding the irregular heart rate with narrow complexed beats.
A-fib is a completely irregular rhythm with no so-called P waves (atrial contractions), while sinus rhythm / sinus tachycardia with PACs have P waves, but they are not always easy to see, especially if the heart rate is a bit high.
I would trust the doctor and not the nurse. In a 24 year old man with no heart disease, PACs causing A-fib is extremely rare, and if it happens, it usually goes back to normal shortly after. A normal heart rarely have the structural changes needed to maintain A-fib for a long time.
How do you feel your PACs? As double beats or skipped beats? (just curious, as I suffer from PACs myself..)