So Tired of PVCs =(

I put this in the anxiety thread before, but I thought I should add a similar thread here.

I've had heart palpitations of various sorts for at least a decade now, possibly longer with me just not realizing what they were. The first time I discovered what was happening was about 2005-2006 when I'd wake up with my heart beating very fast, and one morning the dreaded skipped heartbeat got thrown into the mix. My family calmed me down and told us it was actually something that ran in our family, and not to worry about it.

I do suffer from anxiety disorder, so there was no "don't worry about it." They have gone and come from time-to-time since.

Lately I've started putting a lot of focus on them appearing after I've eaten. Again, I don't know why on Earth I picked now to focus on them. I know for a fact I've had them after eating for a decade. I remember I used to eat frozen pizzas. After two slices, I'd be full and for the next 2-3 hours my heart would beat into the 90s and once in a while I'd get a skipped beat or two.

Now, I put way too much thought into it every blasted time it happens after I eat.

I have them when I am relaxed. I have them when I'm stressed. I have them when I am worried. I have them when I am full. I have them when I'm hungry. I have them at night. I have them in the morning.

It honestly doesn't seem like there is any legitimate rhyme or reason to them, and I am so fed up and frustrated.

Earlier this year I brought them up to my doctor, and she didn't seem concerned at all. She is treating me for high blood pressure and anxiety so she has me keeping tabs on my BP, she does blood tests a few times per year, and she always listens to my heart in the exam room.

She wasn't concerned that I told her I felt skipped heart beats.

This morning (the original day I wrote this post a few months ago), I ate a couple sausage biscuits, a chocolate bar, and had some caffeine free Pepsi. (I even cut out caffeine and the blasted things still keep happening.)

about 30 minutes later, I started experiencing "air burps" as I like to call them. They are not real burps, but the feeling of compressed air out of the chest if that makes sense. Along with that feeling, I had a brief period of palpitations.

My heart rate ran up and I felt a few mild skipped beats. A bit later, I stood up to turn on the radio and I stretched while standing. My heart rate went up to about 100 for a few seconds and I felt a skipped beat.

I somehow managed to calm myself down and they went back to 90 or below. I can tell you even with the elevated heartrate and the skipped beat, I never felt faint or light headed, I never felt like I would pass out, I never had any pain, or anything of that sort.

Another thing I noticed is that during Thanksgiving my sister in law, who is a nurse, noted that palpitations weren't life threatening and for a few weeks, I noticed that mine went away. I don't know if it's because I ate more home made food during the holidays and less processed food or because I relaxed about it.

I can tell you that my average blood pressure is about 130/80 and my average resting heart rate is between 70-80.

I can also tell you these are driving me up a wall. Every time I feel my heart skip a beat, especially if it's out of nowhere, I feel emotionally dreadful and start worrying about dying. Everything I know about palpitations go out the window and I just focus on that one skipped beat or that series of mild skipped beats if my heart should be faster than normal.

So can someone help me here before I go crazy?

I have Pvcs and packs and know how annoying they can be. I just keep telling myself my heart is fine and try to breath in and out slowly.

If you are having skips beat and they are really bothering you, then you need to ask your doctor to at least do a EKG or 24 hour heart monitor. That way you could have peace of mind that you are having pvcs.

I do know stress and anxiety makes it worse. So try not to think about it.

I hope this helps. I am not a doctor just someone who has dealt with Pvcs for years.

How many of them a day do you feel? I've never asked that, but I am curious how many being felt would be considered normal.

good post jung,

Had a good week for the most part. Only a handful of PVCs that I felt. I stayed calm after all of them until Sunday afternoon (a few minutes ago.) I fell asleep on the couch and when I woke up, I felt what I thought were PVCs. I had a couple of them, so I checked my pulse.

Now, in my chest it felt like every 5th or 6th beat for a few minutes was a PVC. I got that typical feeling I get with them. However, while checking my pulse, the PVCs I actually felt (a noticeable skip to the heart beat) were only a few.

I would feel the sensation in my chest on some, but while checking my pulse I did not feel any skip for some of them. Others I did feel the skip.

None of them have been the "thump" variety that I usually get, either. I haven't felt anything like that in several weeks in fact. The PVCs I've gotten recently have been more subdued and gentle to the point that I question whether I was getting them. I assumed it was because I was relaxing and calming down about it.

After a few minutes, I checked my blood pressure and it was fine. It was showing me as having about 125/85 but my heart rate was elevated to about 95.

While I typed this, I have felt a few more sensations but, again, I have no clue if they were actual PVCs or if it was like earlier where I felt the sensation but the pulse did not match to it.

First time I've had a spell like this in a long while, and first time that I can recall one in which I felt either legit or imagined (or both) PVCs coming so soon on top of one another (one every 5-6 beats.)

So, it can be said that I am a bit uptight now which probably means I will have more.

Hello Dear friends, I am male 41 y/o,

I have PVCs for more than 2 decades now, numerous EKGs, echo and stress tests (all normal except for PVCs), 2 ablation attempts (no success).
I would like to share my experience from past couple of weeks with you. I live very healthy, eating well, moderate exercise, sleep 7 hours at least, etc.
I was PVC free for two whole weeks, without any specific reason, I did everything same like before, I live in western Norway, so weather is not changing much here, so I would exclude metheoropatic reasons. No need to say how happy I was, but for the last couple of days they are slowly coming back, and I do not know if this is the case with you, but every now and then when they are coming back, the feeling is a little bit different, so that I think, maybe now something else, more dangerous is happening. Anyhow, as I said I had countless tests over these 20+ years and the results were always the same - benign PVCs.

Good luck to you all, this forum is very good.

Hi there, I suffered from PVC's for years, sounds like my situation was identical to yours. A random Dr at a walk in clinic suggested that my Vargas nerve was irritated due to acid reflux. This nerve controls your heartbeat. I took tecta for a few months to treat the acid issue in my belly. It was like a miracle for me. Once I treated my acid reflux, the PVC's stopped. Sounds so simple, but I'm telling you, research it. This may help you, I so hope it does. :)

I started with these skipped beats about 1992. Thinking back I had an anxiety attack first, no knowing that I was, and then a skipped beat. After several I went to the hospital and so on. Every test known to man and it was benign. It didn't exactly go away but for several years I knew when I was getting stressed and to readjust myself. But a few years ago it has come back and now here I am battling these things. Here's the truth to all this. Just about everyone at some point has pvcs or pacs and many never notice them. But for us who focused on them that feeling never leaves our mind. I'll bet most of us are aware of ever single heart beat. And of course the more anxious we get about them the more we have. Catch 22.

I recall having some when I was around 20 but I never paid it any attention. Amazing how our mind knows what to use against us when stress or anxiety comes in.

I am a 51 year old male. Didn't add that. Sorry