PACs, PVCs, Tachycardia - possibly how to cure them

[is_something_wrong]

Most of you know me, I've been suffering from ectopic beats and sinus tachycardia for a couple of years now.

In my struggles to reduce the PACs and sinus tachycardia (PVCs have never been much of an issue in my case, even though some of my PACs feels like PVCs), it seems I have ignored how much of importance both stress, proper nutrition and exercise are.

First thing first, the stress. It's a bit strange, really. I've discovered that you don't necessarily have to feel stressed to be stressed. I had one week vacation now. And I didn't feel a single PAC. Not even before sleep, when they usually appear in large numbers. It seems, if you remove the underlying stress factor, they seem to go away, at least after some time.

Second, I know the last monts, my diet haven't been the best, with too many meals at McDonalds and unfortunately some chocolate now and then. It has caused some tachycardia events, and they tend to appear 30 minutes to one hour after eating. Some time ago, I stopped eating sugar and easy digestable carbs (like white bread) and the tachycardia events were gone. My heart rate got more stable, with less fluctuations. It seems the explaination is, when you eat sugar and white bread, your blood sugar levels increase, and the body responds by producing great amounts of insuline, which, again, makes the blood sugar levels drop. This is considered "dangerous" by the body, which responds by releasing adrenaline to increase blood sugar. And you get tachycardia.

Dark bread, carrots, white meat and fish is excellent. Trust me.

And make sure you get enough exercise. No need to go to the gym 5 times a week, it's obviously enough to go for a walk 30 minutes to 1 hour 3-5 times a week. Try to climb some hills, and/or jog a 2-300 meters now and then. It's a great stress remover.

I suggest that everyone who suffer from PACs/PVCs and other "light" arrhythmias give this some thought. It may actually work!

[CheckmateJames]

Wow, i guess i am the youngest here. I was diagonsed with Psvc last year, and i am 16 this year. I am a male btw. The sad thing is, i am not even allowed to exercise, and the palpitations just come suddenly, I am always worried whether when would the palpitations come, and stuff like that. Sigh.. My life is being ruined. And whenever i fill in medical forms for some kind of school organised trips, I have to fill in under the heart disease, "Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia" and people would come and ask. "What? You have a heart problem?". I feel that i am so left out, so abnormal.

[colleendawn813]

it is amazing to me how many people suffer from these and how clueless the medical community is about stopping them.there should just be a pill you can take every day to make yourheart beat normally and THATS IT!!! Plus i dont know about any of you, but none of my family or friends suffer from palpitations, so i hate to bring them up.whenever im aound people i just have to smile and pretend my heart is not flopping around.i ask people to repeat themselves because i just cant focus on what theyre sayingover my stupid heart.and not to mention the sneaky pulse check when it looks like im just standing with my hands clasped haha!ridiculous right!
the best medicine for me is this forum.i am not alone, and others have it worse than i do, so i need to just suck it up.thats what i tell myself.even with probably 10000 palps a day, my daughter still needs picked up, and dinner needs cooked, etc.etc.thank you to everyone who comments, you help me live a normal life.and one day ill find a cure on here!!!

[gman648]

So many similarities between us all. Does give some relief but the pvcs still are very frightening, to say the least, for me. What can aggravate mine are, or have been from several happenings. I used to swim but when I got into water up to my neck, the pvcs would happen, at times. I used to ride a motorcycle and the wind pressure, at times, would trigger the pvcs. Bending, twisting, sitting in a leaning forward position, deep breaths, straining and other aggravants can trigger these nasty pvcs. But not every time do these body moves create pvcs. They can get frequent and very intense and they can calm for a while. Thank you all for responding to these posts. They are so much help in trying to deal with something I thought I was THE ONLY ONE who suffers with these, especially after years of testing, EP Study, blood work and many holter monitor tests. Thanks to you all and I hope we can whip this problem with medical technology break throughs.

[is_something_wrong]

Hi,

A-flutter (and PSVT) can be triggered by a PAC, but it's not the PAC that is the cause. Arrhythmias require a re-entry pathway to maintain. In the setting of so-called PSVT (AV reentry tachycardia) this pathway is either a dual channel through the AV node, or an extra pathway in the setting of WPW syndrome. With a-flutter, this pathway is within the atrium, usually the right atrium.

Some of us are born with extra pathways. In some cases, changes in the heart causes them.

A PAC is the trigger because it appears early, before some parts of the heart are fully recharged, allowing the impulse to conduct through the extra pathway, by the time it has, other parts of the heart are recharged, and so on.

[chuparosa]

Hi Linda,
I don't control my svt, wish I could. I am on no drugs, valsalva doesn't work. If they don't convert on their own I go to the hospital for a shot of adenosine which stops it every time. Sorry to hear you are having the a flutter. Hope it's just part of your healing process. My fingers are crossed for you. Hang in there!

[LindaTX]

Hey thanks, it seems like I'm sure to have an a-flutter episode if I notice even a few of those beforehand.  Chuparosa, how do you keep yours under control?