I am so tired of PVCs

[Igor]

I started getting PVCs about 3 months ago and they are not going away yet.
I?ve never had them in a such frequency. Sometimes a couple of then during a minute. Sometimes once every a couple of minutes.
I always had them but in a range of a couple during the day.
But not as much as now.
I had a holster for 24 hrs after which my cardio doctor said (despite around 2400 PVCs I?ve had during one day), that he did not see any issues with that as they were benign.

I?ve been exercising since my AVR in 2002 regularly and I noticed about a half a year ago that my rest HR went as low as mid 50?s when I sleep and in hi 60 - low 70 during the day. My BP usually in a range between 110/70 &130-80.

I usually have noticeable PVCs in the morning or at night when I lay down.
Sometimes I notice them more frequently when I?m on my left side. Sometimes it seems that I can even control them. I do not have PVCs when I exercise and my HR goes over 80-90. And I do exercise about 5 times a week: riding the bike for about an hour with getting my HR up to 140. I used to do it much more vigorously until I started getting PVCs.
I?ve spend some time on internet and found out that bunch of different meds as well as the supplements could potentially give you palpitations. So I stopped taking niacin, sleeping and anti-allergy meds. I do not drinking real coffee any more (it really s**s). I am trying to sleep more and try not to worry about things as much as I used to.
Guess what, it has not changed much at all. The only way to get rid of it for some time is to exercise. Then after exercising I do not have it for a couple of hrs and it feels so good!
Oh, this Saturday I had a company and had a few glasses of wine. It sure bumped my HR up a bit ? so I did not have the PVCs. Here is another way of temporarily getting rid of it ? LOL ? I do not think my cardio will approve this idea though.
The questions remain:
Is there any real solution to this?
Will it ever go away?
Will it get better or might get worth?

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Hello Igor,

I agree, arrhythmia's are the PITS!

I get PAC's with a few PVC's thrown in for good measure. I'm told they feel the same and can only be differentiated with an EKG. At worst, they feel like a small 'out of balance' washing maching rumbling around in my chest. They sound like a fast 'double beat', at worst every other beat, to once every several beats.

Recently, they became more of a nuisance after only a few incidents in the previous several years. Then I noticed they seemed to occur every time I had any form of Chocolate (presumably the Caffeine in the chocolate). No chocolate, no PAC's. I don't drink coffee and gave up Cola drinks a few years ago so chocolate was my only known source of caffeine.

If you find a solution, please let us know! There are several others on VR.com who suffer this same nuisance.

'AL'

 

[bvdr]

Igor,

When a sinus rhythm slows to a low rate sometimes the natural response is for the ventricle to initiate it's own extra beat. It is really a safety net and that is why in that case they aren't treated. This could be true for you as you say that they go away when you exercise and your heartrate speeds up.

 

[ericaj]

my pvc's

my pvc's

I have the opposite problem, when I exercise or get my rate up higher than I get more frequent PVC's vs. teh exercise takes away pvc's that some of you seem to get. My doc is leary about treating my pvc's as I generally get side effects from the stronger meds. But if they continue then he will treat them. Am taking Nadolol and Florinef right now as well as Paxil 25mgs. Do have stress test next week though so we'll see what that shows.

Take care, sorry I didnt have any advice to share.

Erica

 

[Abbanabba]

I get PAC's and PVC's all the time as well (..I'm lucky if I can go 5 min without at least ONE episode..). I also have a low HR and don't really eat/drink anything that might stimulate irregular beats (..and I'm not on any meds..), so there's not much more I can do in that regard. I was told by my cardio that they could put me on beta-blockers to "smooth" out my rhythm, but because my HR is so slow they were reluctant to do that as they can slow things down even more (..which is not too good when you're HR sits in the mid 50's to mid 60's). He also said that BB's tend to slow the rest of your system down somewhat - including your cognitive functions.

I know that PAC's and PVC's aren't a really big deal to a lot of cardios, but I've had to wonder if you have them ALL the time, what sort of effect it has on your system. Surely it can't be healthy to have your heart skipping that often? I broached this with one of my cardios and he suggested that my ongoing fatigue may well be a result of the frequency of these episodes and that a pacemaker might be something to consider as a last resort.

I guess if you're not really suffering any symptoms with these episodes then your cardio probably won't worry too much about giving you treatment for them, but if you find you're suffering for them, definitely let your cardio know and discuss treatment options.... especially if you've given up the things that might aggrevate them.

All the best
Anna : )

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Igor,

When a sinus rhythm slows to a low rate sometimes the natural response is for the ventricle to initiate it's own extra beat. It is really a safety net and that is why in that case they aren't treated. This could be true for you as you say that they go away when you exercise and your heartrate speeds up.

VERY INTERESTING Information Betty...

I was put on 40 mg of Sotalol twice a day to prevent A-Fib with exertion. It does that. NOW, I'm experiencing what I believe to be PAC's in the EVENING and am VERY RELUCTANT to take my evening dose of Sotalol since that would likely lower my HR even more...

The Heart Center Nurse said "Don't skip ANY doses" as she read from wherever she found the RX info. In other words, she KNOWS even LESS about the reality of taking Sotalol that I do. What to do???

'AL'

 

[MelissaM]

PVC Ablation

PVC Ablation

Looks like they can do a cath ablation for PVCs, much like they did for Tony Blair's SVT issue. There was an article on CCF medhelp board saying that they do the procedure and are having some success.

"If your PVCs are causing significant problems you should consider a PVC ablation. We are having good success with this procedure here. If you would like to be considered for a PVC ablation you can make an appointment with Dr. Schweikert or Dr. Saliba by calling the number below."

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/cardio/messages/33105a.html

Radiofrequency catheter ablation for frequent premature ventricular contractions: a preliminary report of 15 cases.

Raungratanaamporn O, Bhuripanyo K, Krittayaphong R, Wansanit K, Kangkagate C, Chaithiraphan S.

Her Majesty's Cardiac Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Between February 1995 and March 1997, 15 patients, 13 women and 2 men, underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) for symptomatic frequent premature ventricular contractions (PVC's). The mean age was 43.3 +/- 11.9 years. Thirteen patients (86.7%) had right PVC's and the remainder had both right and left PVC's. RFCA were done under local anesthesia, using both earliest endocardial activation time and pace mapping in complement. The immediate success rate was 14/15 (93%) with only minor complications in 2 patients (13.3%). The fluoroscopic and procedure times were 40.6 +/- 24.0 and 170.7 +/- 81.2 minutes, respectively. From the Holter monitoring, total PVC count, per cent of PVC per total heart beat in 24 hours and couplets count were significantly reduced, (more than 90%, p < 0.05), by RFCA. Triplets and repetitive ventricular tachycardia were totally abolished. During the follow-up period of 10.1 +/- 7.5 months, 2 patients (14.3%) had recurrences of right PVC's within 2 weeks after ablation. Reablation was successfully done in both patients without recurrence, giving the final success rate of 93 per cent. In conclusion, RFCA could be safely performed with a high success rate in patients with symptomatic frequent PVC's. It can be considered an alternative treatment in patients resistant to medical therapy.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=98190743