Anyone else have PVC heart condition?

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

Im curious if anyone here has had to deal with PVC. It’s something I developed last fall and has been pretty disruptive to my life if Im being honest. For those who dont know its like a stutter step in the heartbeat. The heart does like a double pump and then pauses for a beat and kicks back in. In my case pretty hard. It feels like someone thudding on my chest when it happens and makes it hard to sleep when its going on. Ive been on a beta blocker which helped for a few months but it has recently started again even with the pills. Im wondering if anyone else has had it and what treatment you may have received to help

Edited July 20, 2021 by LeatherRebel5150

[Tabonga | 2,326]

I had a mild case of it when I was much younger (early twenties) - it was pretty minor and very erratic.  Part of the problem was having it occur when they had me hooked up.  

Since I had moved to Denver a few years earlier they thought it was a reaction to the higher altitude.   It was minor enough that they didn't treat it and as they predicted it went away in a year or so.

 

[Jeevan | 8,920]

22 minutes ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

Im curious if anyone here has had to deal with PVC. It’s something I developed last fall and has been pretty disruptive to my life if Im being honest. For those who dont know its like a stutter step in the heartbeat. The heart does like a double pump and then pauses for a beat and kicks back in. In my case pretty hard. It feels like someone thudding on my chest when it happens and makes it hard to sleep when its going on. Ive been on a beta blocker which helped for a few months but it has recently started again even with the pills. Im wondering if anyone else has had it and what treatment you may have received to help

my man!  I have it all the time.......it sux, literrally feels like my heart is stopping when it happens.....the damndest thing, very scary......

All that said, mine has been constant throughtout my whole life.  I went to the ER a year or 2 back because I thought i was dieing.  Turns out it was just PVC's and well, I found out I had them.  They say most people can't feel them, but we must be some of the elite......or unfortnate ones.

I heard they can go in and burn the cells that are acting up, but I just deal with it as mine aren't constant daily, just have bouts of them.  Good luck, supposedly Beta blockers are what are supposed to help medicine wise, but I didn't wanna take them, and I figure I have literally dealt with them my whole life so I can just continue to deal with it.  

Best of luck and hopefully you feel better  

[Reed Rothchild | 9,563]

I had heart palpitations for a few straight days a couple years ago.  Not fun.  Ended up wearing a monitor for a bit just to make sure nothing insidious was happening.  My take away was capping the amount of caffeine I can have.

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

4 hours ago, Tabonga said:

I had a mild case of it when I was much younger (early twenties) - it was pretty minor and very erratic.  Part of the problem was having it occur when they had me hooked up.  

Since I had moved to Denver a few years earlier they thought it was a reaction to the higher altitude.   It was minor enough that they didn't treat it and as they predicted it went away in a year or so.

 

I went to the Emergency Room in the Fall after I had my girlfriend listen to my chest because I couldnt tell what was going on. It didn't hurt it was just really uncomfortable. She said my heartbeat would stop and that scared her (and me) enough to go to the hospital. They couldn't find anything either, though all they really did was hook up an EKG for about 30secs and said nope nothing there, of course it wouldn't happen when I needed it to in order to show what was going on.

4 hours ago, Jeevan said:

my man!  I have it all the time.......it sux, literrally feels like my heart is stopping when it happens.....the damndest thing, very scary......

All that said, mine has been constant throughtout my whole life.  I went to the ER a year or 2 back because I thought i was dieing.  Turns out it was just PVC's and well, I found out I had them.  They say most people can't feel them, but we must be some of the elite......or unfortnate ones.

I heard they can go in and burn the cells that are acting up, but I just deal with it as mine aren't constant daily, just have bouts of them.  Good luck, supposedly Beta blockers are what are supposed to help medicine wise, but I didn't wanna take them, and I figure I have literally dealt with them my whole life so I can just continue to deal with it.  

Best of luck and hopefully you feel better  

Yea I feel them very much. My problem is I don't just have bouts of them for a little while. They reappeared three times so far since the fall and every time it's been for 2+ weeks and it is constant during those weeks. I don't get much sleep during these stretches both because of it feels like someone flicking my sternum every 30secs to a minute and also its just unsettling to think there is something wrong with the heart functioning properly and that keeps my mind racing when I try to sleep. I started taking the pills a month and a half to 2 months ago and it was great! But they stopped working just out of the blue a little over a week ago and it's really draining me.

4 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I had heart palpitations for a few straight days a couple years ago.  Not fun.  Ended up wearing a monitor for a bit just to make sure nothing insidious was happening.  My take away was capping the amount of caffeine I can have.

The initial visit to the cardiologist had me wear a stick on monitor for about a week. That's how they ended up figuring it out. At this point I just need to find a way for it to stop so I can sleep again. Caffeine never seemed to affect mine. When it happened the first time I had actively been avoiding caffeine for months before it ever happened and have had soda/tea after it went away and it didn't cause it to come back then. So I dont know

[Jeevan | 8,920]

@LeatherRebel5150  Don't know how you feel about it, but I believe this is what I was talking about before.......I don't think I would ever want to do it myself, but might have to be the option if beta blockers aren't working and it is disrupting your life......

• Radiofrequency catheter ablation. For PVCs that don't respond to lifestyle changes or medications, your doctor might recommend ablation therapy. This procedure uses radiofrequency energy to destroy the area of heart tissue that is causing your irregular contractions.

[OptOut | 8,890]

Yeah I also suffer from PVC's. I'm pretty sure I've had them for years, but it's only in the last year that I've really started noticing them more and paying attention to them. They have coincided with a much increased period of exhaustion and stress associated with running my business, and they also seem to be affected by caffeine and alcohol.

My doctor prescribed me some beta-blockers which I took for a month. They helped, but I realised they couldn't really solve my problem with all the other stuff going on, so I stopped taking them to focus on lifestyle and mental changes to try and reduce the problem.

I would say as the months have ticked on by, the problem is getting better for me as I have greatly reduced my caffeine intake and refocussed my mental health training to reduce sources of anxiety. I HAVEN'T cut down on my alcohol as much as I probably should though, lol! I still feel it sometimes, although a lot less often and it seems a little weaker than it used to be, so I feel as though I'm on the right track.

My advice would be to check yourself for ways you can reduce your stress, as that seems to have been the number ONE factor in my PVCs, whether that would be in doing your best to identify and avoid external sources of stress, or to better internally deal with anxiety. The beta blockers may well be useful for you, but personally I would say they are not a cure, more a mask for the symptoms tbh.

Please let us know how you're getting on tho, peace brother!

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

9 hours ago, Jeevan said:

@LeatherRebel5150  Don't know how you feel about it, but I believe this is what I was talking about before.......I don't think I would ever want to do it myself, but might have to be the option if beta blockers aren't working and it is disrupting your life......

• Radiofrequency catheter ablation. For PVCs that don't respond to lifestyle changes or medications, your doctor might recommend ablation therapy. This procedure uses radiofrequency energy to destroy the area of heart tissue that is causing your irregular contractions.

That’s definitely a last resort. “Destroy the area of heart” that’s really comforting

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

2 hours ago, OptOut said:

Yeah I also suffer from PVC's. I'm pretty sure I've had them for years, but it's only in the last year that I've really started noticing them more and paying attention to them. They have coincided with a much increased period of exhaustion and stress associated with running my business, and they also seem to be affected by caffeine and alcohol.

My doctor prescribed me some beta-blockers which I took for a month. They helped, but I realised they couldn't really solve my problem with all the other stuff going on, so I stopped taking them to focus on lifestyle and mental changes to try and reduce the problem.

I would say as the months have ticked on by, the problem is getting better for me as I have greatly reduced my caffeine intake and refocussed my mental health training to reduce sources of anxiety. I HAVEN'T cut down on my alcohol as much as I probably should though, lol! I still feel it sometimes, although a lot less often and it seems a little weaker than it used to be, so I feel as though I'm on the right track.

My advice would be to check yourself for ways you can reduce your stress, as that seems to have been the number ONE factor in my PVCs, whether that would be in doing your best to identify and avoid external sources of stress, or to better internally deal with anxiety. The beta blockers may well be useful for you, but personally I would say they are not a cure, more a mask for the symptoms tbh.

Please let us know how you're getting on tho, peace brother!

Im not really an anxious person or am very stressed out. I take in fairly little caffeine as Ive never drank coffee, cut out soda almost entirely years ago, and now only drink tea occasionally. So I don’t think that would make a difference. At this point I just gotta work on my diet food wise

[OptOut | 8,890]

15 minutes ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

Im not really an anxious person or am very stressed out. I take in fairly little caffeine as Ive never drank coffee, cut out soda almost entirely years ago, and now only drink tea occasionally. So I don’t think that would make a difference. At this point I just gotta work on my diet food wise

Yeah, diet could be a part of it too! I guess everyone's body works kind of differently, I hope you can find something that works for you dude!

[GPX | 1,371]

@OP, have you tried a health check eg. blood test?

Erratic heart rhythms can be from either a problem with the heart itself, but also from general health conditions and diet/drug intake that can act as stimulants. I'd recommend you see your doctor for a blood check and then if nothing is apparent, you're better off discussing the options with a cardiologist. Perhaps changing of medications is an option, or a cardiac procedure if all else fails.

Also, if you drink or smoke, might be the time now to cut down on them.

Good luck!

[Estil | 1,265]

Well my wife had congestive heart failure and a pacemaker...is that at all similar?

[OptOut | 8,890]

1 minute ago, Estil said:

Well my wife had congestive heart failure and a pacemaker...is that at all similar?

No. PVCs are a very common, generally harmless condition, which may or may not be linked to any other heart problems. Most people will experience them to some degree, at some time or another, and for many they may be mild enough not to be noticed at all.

However, they CAN be linked to further heart problems, especially if they persist for a long time, if they are particularly severe and/or in those with pre-existing medical conditions. For this reason is advised that people experiencing them frequently seek medical assistance.

Generally PVC's do not require treatment and will be aided in other ways, particularly through lifestyle changes, although as mentioned above there are certain treatments prescribed in more severe cases.

[Jeevan | 8,920]

1 hour ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

That’s definitely a last resort. “Destroy the area of heart” that’s really comforting

agreed, that is why I didn't opt into doing it

[fcgamer | 4,738]

I've had several health issues over the years, luckily PVCs are not one of them.

Here's my advice to you regarding it, especially if the prescribed medication stopped working. Take a week and go online to research PVCs, including general thoughts regarding causes, options for resolving the issues, etc; however, also take the time to read anecdotal stories and reports from average people who have had the problem, see what THEY did to solve the problem, then start connecting the dots to go from there.

Here's the thing: doctors don't know your body, you do. What works for one person won't necessarily work for another. I've known so many situations in my life (as well as with family) where popping pills absolutely did not resolve the issue, yet addressing underlying issues did fix the problem.

Not some sort of conspiracy guy or anything, but for a lot of these situations, medicine honestly isn't the answer.