PVCs from Anxiety?

[Dahrol]

There was a close loss that caused me to become hypochondriac for the past few months, and we were in the midst of changing doctors at the time, so I was afraid that something was wrong with me, and the fear manifested into anxiety which caused me to feel it in my heart.

I had a panic attack one day, and my heart felt numb the rest of the day, and I've had PVCs ever since. I finally got to see a doctor, had all the tests run, blood, ekg, pulse, chest x-ray, all came back normal.

The pvcs drove me up the wall, but it seemed like when I accepted them with little to no fear, they eventually got less intense, except for when I sat up and lurched forward, and I eventually started feeling like I was only days away from full recovery and back to being my normal self. In the process, I tried everything from apple cider vinegar to apple juice, the valsalva maneuver, lying a certain way for a while, deep breathing, you name it.

It seemed like one of a combination of those things over time was making them less intense, bearable, and made me feel like they were about to leave me forever.

Then, a week ago, I was reading an article about heart attack, had a little heart quiver that scared the living daylights out of me and sent me into a full panic attack, minus the breathing. Just intense fear, that took a few hours to fully subside. Seems like that reset everything back to the way it was before recovery tactics, as the pvcs got bad again, and even the anxiety symptoms like achiness, headache, etc came back.

Symptoms are just about gone again, but the pvcs are still hanging around, as they seem to be the last to go like they were last time.

My question is, because I have no true heart arrhythmia, and they were brought on by a prolonged case of anxiety, does this mean that they will just run their course, and eventually, I'll go back to only having them after intense exercise or excitement, because that used to be the only time I would have them. When I calmed down, they were gone. Now, they mainly appear when I am calm, or trying to relax.

The internet is scaring me, because it seems like from people's accounts, once you get them, you have them for the rest of your life, and I can take a palpitations every now and then, but now when it squeezes my heart really tight for like 5 seconds. Those hurt, and bring more waves of anxiety.  

I just want to know if pvcs from high anxiety eventually go away after anxiety recovery, because I'm just about recovered from anxiety itself, but the remaining symptom of pvcs doesn't help matters any.

They're manageable only when I'm in a good mood, because they're not every other beat. I feel normal, and then every about 10 or 15 minutes, I get the strong one that ruins my mood and brings anxiety.

I just want them gone, it at all possible.

Please help, don't ignore this question, and people reply as much as often. Keep talking to me, at least to give me hope. Answers, research, I don't care. I'm just tired of being ignored or being told to wait.

[Dahrol]

I've noticed that must of the pvc sufferers who say "They never go away" are the ones who are awoken from a sleep by them, or have them when they first wake up.

With me, they have yet to wake me up, as bad as they have been, and they seem dormant in the first hour after I'm awoken. Then they sorta start off slow, and work their way to full blown.

I have noticed them slowly going down in strength. They're not so bad now, and it seems like they occur less and less everyday. I feel as if they should be gone soon.

Funny thing is, I've been afraid of them this whole time, and they've still gone down in strength. They seem to be brought on by panic attacks and panic attacks only. As long as I don't have a panic attack, they start to dissapear. Then, when I have a panic attack, they're back in full force.

Interesting...

[rilesnic]

I had to pipe in here just to give you a little hope from my own personal experiences. It's my life story so here it goes :)  I have had every heart test, a 21-day monitor being the most recent ending 3 weeks ago. They found PAC's (which have been caught for the past 12 years on 24 hour holters), PVC's (which were never caught in the past by a doctor), and tachycardia (which has been caught in my sleep at 160+, and during the day in the 120's). My resting HR is around 80-84 with a beta blocker. I do have a very slight fault in the mitral valve, but was assured my ticker would outlive me. I am VERY type-A,suffer from asthma (since I was 12), GERD (since the birth of my 2nd child), GAD, since I was 22 (which is when the heart palps first began), and panic attacks, including nocturnal panic attacks, (one being just 2 nights ago when my husband had to wake me again). I have a nursing background (a little knowledge in my case is a bad thing), and I'm also a teacher. I lost the 5 women I was closest to within 6 years of each other, my grandmothers, my aunts, and then my mom. I have always had an extreme fear of dying (not death). After 2 years of hardly being able to even ride in a car, especially on Interstates (away from where help may be), my cardio told me I had to start living my life again. I asked, does the anxiety cause the palps or do the palps cause the anxiety. He told me both. It is a vicious cycle and I am very in-tune to my body. I can freak out when I feel palps and throw myself into a full blown panic attack. These attacks don't last a few minutes, they last for hours and I am quite certain when they are happening that I am going to die. Is-something-wrong and yarrow helped me through a terrible night where my heart woke me up flip-flopping in my chest. It seems easier for some to accept their palps than others. I think it's the way some of us are wired. Yes, EVERYONE has PAC's, PVC's and even tachycardia at times, but no matter what anyone says, it is not "normal" to "feel" your heart. It is quite scary and they (the palps) can be very unforgiving. I tell you all this because, we are all everyday, normal people, with professional careers, children, families, hobbies, etc. Our health issues are real, as are our fears. In the 16 years I've dealt with them (I'm now 38), there are times when they diminish and times they come on with a vengence. I find I sleep better on my back too (with the palps issue). I absolutely cannot sleep on my left side. I feel my pulse all over my body and can see my hair moving with each beat. I avoid MSG, caffeine, alcohol, fried foods, fast food, sugars, and carbs. I try to drink a lot of water, and eat small meals at a time. I make sure I let my dr know if something new comes up, and I keep my annual dr visits. I look to this forum for encouragement and to know that I'm not alone. I believe there are events in our lives that make us more aware of our own mortality, and events that cause us great stress which can cause physical symptoms to manifest. I personally believe a lot of the excitement I used to have when I was younger has now turned into anxiety. I have to figure out how to turn that anxiety back into the excitement of life I once I had. I am happy to hear that your palps are settling down some. Take those days when you can. My hope for you is that they stay away this time. Hang in there, you are not alone. I wish you the very best!

[Dahrol]

Seems like just like before, they're slowly going away. I went from the uber strong ones like one every 20 minutes, to a pvc like every hour or few hours. Most of them aren't even strong.

Looks like it was the anxiety, and I hope they'll be totally gone like they were before, or at least so minimal that I don't even feel them.

[is_something_wrong]

Hi Jondsam, long time, everything OK? :)
That quote was a good one :) The more you're trying to avoid them, the more scared you'll get which increases PVCs and PACs.

Dahrol:
Ectopic beats are beats that origin somewhere else than the sinus node. In other words. PVCs and PACs. Some young people with anxiety often have more PACs than PVCs, but it doesn't really matter. In healthy hearts, they both are benign.

[Janpes]

If you think it could be the vagus nerve, then invest in some muscle relaxant meds, I myself sometimes use them as my neck gets so tight. Then book a time for a massage a professional one, especially for the neck and shoulders. This will help loosen up the muscles and free the nerve.
Incidently if they are coming about 30 minutes after you eat you could also try taking a PPI to reduce the acid in the stomach. I use pantoprozal as the stomach acid also irritated the nerve, which in turn gave me paps.

[Dahrol]

Actually, from what I've read, it sounds more like ectopic beats than pvcs.

Are they the same?

What's the difference?