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Worried sick from PVCs

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Posted 4/5/2016 6:14 AM (GMT 0)
All i think about is my PVCs and if I am going to go into cardiac arrest from them. The cardiologist only saw a couple on the tests she did and said they were benign. After the diagnosis there have been occasions where I have bad episodes and can have 6+ in a minute. One time I felt 3 in a row and I went into a panic. I feel certain foods may be causing it. I love to drink and I have abstained from alcohol because I am scared if I drink Im going to die. I feel like I have zero support. I compulsively check my pulse too :( This has been going on for 2 months and I don't know what to do anymore.
Posted 4/6/2016 6:06 AM (GMT 0)
hey, sounds like some health anxiety going on. keep talking withj your doc.
Posted 5/1/2016 2:52 AM (GMT 0)
I was first diagnosed with PVC's in the 80's. I never felt a thing unless I took my pulse. Certain medicines would mask them so I made sure I took those before my annual physicals with the Army. One year I forgot and the doc noted them, said not to worry and I quit hiding them.

I still have them often and it can make my pulse seem low to those who do not feel the earlier beat but over 30 years later I can say they have not caused me any problems that I know of. I have had heart issues but have been assured they have nothing to do with the PVC's.
Posted 5/1/2016 3:05 PM (GMT 0)
Ihateanxiety, the average heart beats at a rate of over 100,000 beats per day. I was told by my Cardiologist that there is no reason for concern unless you are getting pvc's of about 10,000 a day.
Your anxiety is probably causing at least some of your PVCs.

Have you asked your cardiologist about Toprol? And maybe consider going on an anxiety med, like Zoloft
Posted 5/1/2016 11:09 PM (GMT 0)
Hello all,

I am new here and wanted to add a comment also and ask a question as well.

I have had PVC's off and on since age 20. I am a 66 yo male now. I have also had anxiety disorder - severe and then got it under control so it is very mild and off and on now. It took me years to find a good, well-trained psychologist who taught me how to breathe, rest, and use other cognitive things to stay calm without having to take medications. I still get mildly anxious before dentist and due to other physical and financial issues, but I handle them pretty well 99% of the time.

I do know anxiety, lack of sleep and lack of exercise were big triggers for me. I also would get PVC's if I ate too much or had GERD. So that seems to be in line with some of what many of you have mentioned. I do recommend to anyone worried that they do the Holter monitor, EKG, and any other non-invasive tests so their doctors can be assured their PVC's or PAC's are benign, "ectopic" and also preferably, "unifocal." That eased my mind, even though when I do get them they are still annoying.

MY QUESTION: Also since college years, I have gotten PVC's when I get a strong back muscle twitch or spasm. I get them from being tired (like when your eyelid twitches) or if I have overused my back muscles, etc. They are usually fairly strong twitches, and can be anywhere from my neck to my low back, close to the spine usually. My GP hooked me up to an EKG once and then used his thumb to push against my back muscles from bottom to top until I said I felt a PVC. Sure enough, it showed up on the EKG and I felt it at the same time. He thinks it is like the vagus nerve issue with GERD, etc. When my back muscle nerves are hyper-excited or irritated, they "fire" and I get the twitch, and that also stimulates the vagus nerve. The result is I "throw" a PVC. It seems to be proven out over 40 years of testing and experience. I have seen that doctor for 28 years now, so he has also followed it with me. I have some muscle relaxant pills I can take if it gets too bad, and the PVC's go away.

I'm curious if anyone else has this same kind of thing? Also, as I am sure many of you can attest to as well, I can "feel" the PVC's in my chest, neck, or stomach area when I get them and they are strong. Again, the vagus nerve of course, runs full length almost from the bladder area to the neck, so this makes sense to me.

I would be interested to know if anyone has similar twitches and PVC's like me along their spine or in back muscles, and if not, maybe I should see if Mayo's would pay me big money since I would be a rare case study! :-)

I am careful to get as much sleep as I can now, and I do my best despite financial worries and other health problems not health related (glaucoma, fibromyalgia, degenerative disc disease and aggravating skin conditions).

It would be nice if a cardio doc would be a guest here and help with answering questions as in other forums, but I know it is time-consuming and it sounds like many of you have a very experienced handle on this issue anyhow. wink

Keep up the good work! I will subscribe to this forum and help any way I can. I have also, for better or worse, studied medicine since about age 13. I like to think it helps most of the time. Thanks for any replies to my question above!

Dennis
Posted 5/2/2016 11:33 AM (GMT 0)
Circawdm, I have back spasms on occasion from a herniated disc in. My neck. But it doesn't cause PVCs for me, at least as far as I know, that's an interesting concept.
My PVCs come from anxiety. There was one Drs visit, soon after I had stents put in, where my cardiologist had a talk with me, to convince me I was going to be ok. It helped me calm down, and right after that my PVCs stopped, at least as I couldn't feel any.

I had the holter M it or it showed 78 PVCs in a 24 hour period, which I was told is nothing.

It sounds like you are practicing biofeedback? I am doing biofeedback training with a psychologist and do the breathing exercises twice a day for 20 minutes. It seems to be helping
Posted 5/2/2016 3:16 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

Mine can be both muscle spasm related and anxiety, although at this point, my bouts with any anxiety are very few and far between and are handled when I first notice the symptoms.

I was tying into the vagus nerve issue, since it can be overstimulated and cause PVC's as many have noted or been told, from anything from GERD to intestinal gas, which would put pressure also on the spine of course. People have also mentioned "positional PVC's" - which speaks to many things I think.

Thank you for your input. As I said, my doctor proved the back muscle spasm connection when I was hooked up to the EKG. It makes sense, since the spinal nerves go to various organs in the body, that they would, as acupuncturists can attest to have some direct impact on the heart as well and what it does or does not do - even with triggering something like benign PVC's absent any real heart rhythm disease. - D.
Posted 5/3/2019 2:21 AM (GMT 0)
You will hear so many PVC stories and so many solutions to get rid of them! I have suffered with PVC's since the age of 17 and am now 58 year old male. I usually have about 50 per hour, but I have had days where I have had as many as 50,000! Yes, that is the number! I have a resting heartbeat of 42, am in very good shape, do not drink any caffeine, have never tasted alcohol, eat well , am not overweight, workout daily, and attempt to live a normal life. Can you imagine going through a day with 50K PVC's??? Try that on for size some day! I have been told to not "stress", don't have anxiety, get lots of sleep, stay away from triggers, etc.. At this point, I have no idea what triggers would be, because I stay away from EVERYTHING! I drink water! I have tried every remedy available to man! Magnesium, Potassium, Electrolytes, Gatorade, Molasses, Meditation,... you name it, I have tried it. NOTHING works! This is my demon, and I don't wish them on my worst enemy.
Posted 5/3/2019 2:27 PM (GMT 0)
PVCsufferer:

There is a good article about PVC treatment on MayoClinic.org. Has your cardiologist ever recommended seeing an electrophysiologist to do an EP study, or the possibility of an ablation? I have SVT (I know, not the same), and the EP study was able to identify the areas to target during the ablation. In my case, the procedure completely resolved the problem. Ablation is also used in the treatment of PVCs.

Sharon
Posted 8/20/2019 6:08 PM (GMT 0)

PCVsufferer said...
You will hear so many PVC stories and so many solutions to get rid of them! I have suffered with PVC's since the age of 17 and am now 58 year old male. I usually have about 50 per hour, but I have had days where I have had as many as 50,000! Yes, that is the number! I have a resting heartbeat of 42, am in very good shape, do not drink any caffeine, have never tasted alcohol, eat well , am not overweight, workout daily, and attempt to live a normal life. Can you imagine going through a day with 50K PVC's??? Try that on for size some day! I have been told to not "stress", don't have anxiety, get lots of sleep, stay away from triggers, etc.. At this point, I have no idea what triggers would be, because I stay away from EVERYTHING! I drink water! I have tried every remedy available to man! Magnesium, Potassium, Electrolytes, Gatorade, Molasses, Meditation,... you name it, I have tried it. NOTHING works! This is my demon, and I don't wish them on my worst enemy.

The thing that always gets me is when water itself seems to be a trigger! I've had days where I was drinking extra water to stay hydrated and apparently the swallowing effect triggered a few PVCs of the fluttery type. That's a double nightmare when you not only are doing something healthy that causes you to have a slew of them, but then they come on in that capacity where you feel 2 or 3 in a row.

I was doing well for about a year until some medication actually caused mine to tick up into a level I hadn't seen before which led to anxiety which led to more of them and today I'm sitting here drinking water like I always do and every time I take a sip I'm like "so are you going to be the one that does it to me, today?" (Which of course is not a healthy way to think since that thinking alone can spur them.)
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