How do your PACs/PVCs feel?

Me too Linda! I had a 24hr monitor last week which showed nothing but the odd blip here & there. I swear the minute I took it off I felt as though I was about to drop dead. I would do anything to get rid of this vile condition. I have noticed now that hot food & cold air are triggers for me. I don't mind that so much but when it comes from nowhere it frightens the life out of me. The doctor wants to give me mild anti anxiety medication but I'm worried about pills. I

Hullo Miriam,

                  You are SO right....it feels vile. I have to say that my VE's are not related to anything  (foods, heat, cold etc) but I feel better lying down flat and I cant wait for bed time to come to be unconscious to it all. A very strange thing is (and I keep a diary of the condition) I have frequent VE's for about 4 weeks then they disappear COMPLETELY for about 4 weeks then they start again ditto ditto. What can THAT mean?

Its a joke ........if I didnt feel so awful.  ..Bye for now.

Oh bless Linda. I know what you mean. It's as if we get a bit complaisant & then they come back as if to say we're still here! My father had the same, lived well into his 80s & didn't die of anything to do with his heart! Keep in touch. We live in France & it's hot enough to give the strongest person VEs let alone the likes of me! 

hi Linda, I hope you are well. I just came across this as I am recently new to pvcs and related to your post about being asleep & not feeling them. Mine started at 48 yrs old a few months ago & look different on all ecg's & are being helped w/medicine for now. I feel for everyone on this forum. I also have anxiety. However this condition would make anyone anxious. I am not a candidate for an ablation because the pvcs are always changing.

Be well~

hello Cookie 45... i am also new to this forum but not to pvcs. I have been suffering from these for about 20 years I am a 42-year-old healthy female with no structural heart problems . My pvcs will hit me like a ton of bricks out of the blue. May be stress realted im not sure. Right now i have had them all day everyday for over a week. They make me depressed. I have been to the hospital for them and told me they were harmless. I have trouble believing this.. I feel like a walking time bomb. But then one day ill wake up and thyre gone! Wont happen again for months, even a year! I cant find relief other than sleeping. 😦

So worried all the time. Not a good way to live. How often are u experiencing these pvcs? I get about 2 every 5-10 min all day long 😦

Hi All

I'm the exact same. I'm 49 and had them since I was 26. my last episode started Wednesday and took to emerg by Thursday. Yet again...benign PVC"S yet the alarms on the monitor never stopped. They said medically nothing wrong. I am the only one that can stop them. It's Saturday and my only relief is when I fall asleep. It's really hard to have a life and carry on. No one understands unless they have them too. But with this forum I feel relieved I'm not alone so thanks for the continued sharing. We can get through them. One day at at a time I guess. This is my worst episode by far. Hit me hard. I hate them and I feel like they will never stop this time.

The many times i have felt that is uncountable, i am 69 and have had svt, ectopic heartbeats, strong heartbeats that shake my body, sometimes it feels as if my heart is shivering, i haven,t died yet but thought my time had come many times.   My last episode of svt was 197 beats a minute and for the first time it was caught because it would not go down, they don,t seem to take you seriously until something like this happens.  over 40 years i have suffered this, now on bisoporol but early days becuse i started it on 4th february.  

Hi in a warming way it's good to know that I'm not alone even though I don't wish this on anyone, in the subject of them not taking you seriously is the story of my life , i fully understand and accept that I do have anxiety and have suffered from it for a long time . the problem it when you tell them that then anything wrong with you is anxiety related, so all they ever tell me is try and control the anxiety when it happens . It makes me panic yes what do they expect it to do ? I have told them any times that it isn't the fear of having a problem it's the fear of the problem hurting me , they tried to offer me bisoprolol the other day but I declined as I am already on propranolol, I just hope they catch it soon bad or not so I can get on with my life I'm only 28 and it's starting to affect my family aswell because I'm always sat there scared for the next episode.

You are really not alone Rob. It's a vicious circle and like Ann I'm over 60 & still here despite suffering for many years. It's hard for those who don't know what we go through to understand the sheer fear of waiting for the next episode. It's like sitting on a time bomb! I have just signed up for some counselling to see if I can reduce my chronic anxiety. I presume we've all had tests & know about caffeine, smoking, alcohol etc? I should be as

healthy as a horse but remember, you are young and if you can really get to the bottom of this you have many good years ahead. My father had PVT & a ridiculously uneven resting heartbeat. He was refused life insurance at 40. He lived to 74 & it wasn't his heart that killed him! I feel for everyone on here & am so glad it's not just me!! Have a good Sunday if you can 😀

I can be completely relaxed and it will start, often when i,m asleep in bed, how can that be anxiety.  I must admit i do suffer with anxiety in some situations, if we could control this we would, its something we have no control over whatsoever, i wouldn,t wish this on anybody.   I have held down good responsible jobs but boy did i suffer when i had meetings with area manager or something serious.  i,m retired now but the suffering continues which makes me anti social, even time with the family i can,t wait to get away, i hope its not obvious because i love my family.  i was 28 when i was first found to have ectopic beats and feeling my heart beating.  

 

Me too Ann. It wakes me up often. Sometimes it's completely random, other times I can associate it with things like picking up the phone or getting up in the middle of the night for the dog. 

Hi, Rob,

             I know just how you feel. You arent afraid of anything in particular.........but afraid of the FEAR feeling because you are helpless to do anything about it. I sometimes awaken in the morning and am overwhelmed by a wave of anxiety (with or without the cardiac ectopics). I find a tablet of 5 mgs Diazepam is amazing.....the fear melts away.  However, they dont like prescribing them  in case you become addicted.

Does your  acute anxiety fade away about 11 am? Mine is defininately   controlled by the clock ( sounds silly but thats how it is.  I give up trying to describe it all to friends as they are unable to understand.

I can relate to that,as the morning progresses I feel better.  I hate the nights, I wake up the first few hours in fear and I don,t know what the reason is, I see people standing by my bed and just a fear of  something I can,t put my finger on.

HI Linda, I was diagnosed in August 2016 with Paroxysmal AFib. I

was Struck by your comment that yours occurs in the morning

because mine ALMOST always occurs In the late afternoon and

evening. It almost seems that when I am busy in the morning

shopping, housework etc, it keeps it at a continual beat.

When I sit down to watch TV or read my email afib starts. I have

mentioned this to my Doctor and they give me no explanation.

I didn't know that anyone else had certain times of the day that

Episodes were more common. You have helped me with that

Piece of info. Thank you! I also have had 2 whiplashes, one soon

after diagnosed. I think it affected the Vegas nerve but my Doctor

does not say anything either way.

Dear Jonnadune,

                           I think every person must experience these cardiac extrsystoles  differently. I have given up going to the GP with this problem  as I come away dissatisfied. He wont be impressed unless I collapse to the floor in front of him!!!

Hi not spoke for a while , hope you are doing ok , just wanted to say in not doing very well with all this I can't stop thinking something bad is going to happen to me and it's really getting me down

"Your Doctor dosent say anything either way"  No, mine dosent either. I Guess GPs have to be a jack of all trades   (and master of none....Ha Ha !)

They look blank when I try to explain how it all happens. I realise now that I have to" just get on with it"  What a life  !!

I don't know if it's very hot where you are but I'm boiling here in France & have had the worst couple of days for months. I saw the doctor today & she told me I was fine apart from my blood pressure being up. I am getting better at coping with the fear. Nothing has happened to me, yet, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason for it all suddenly kicking off. It's very demoralizing when you think things are improving. 

Same, I agree. Get on with it is the attitude!

Yes we are melting in Manchester England, I just find it very hard to cope with the fear , I do ok and I think yes things are getting better and then boom it's all back again and I'm back to square one , there has to be a breaking point somewhere I just can't get to it

Do you mind me asking how old you are Rob? 

Keep talking about it. Tell it to b*****r off of it helps. I really know how you feel I promise you. I'm as strong as an ox mentally until it kicks off then I'm a gibberish wreck. I wrote in another post that my dad had every kind of VF, AF, Av etc. Taking his pulse was scary. When he died in his mid 80s it was of kidney failure & pneumonia. I am careful with my diet and am taking magnesium & have been better than for ages. Doctors could be better at reassurance but we are stronger than we think.

 

I'm 28 , I know need to try harder it's just lately it's all got worse and it's happening more , it feels horrible , I understand what the dr is saying but I can't seem to be able to get on with it , I just fear that at some point I'm going to go into a lethal rythem and then that will be it

Also is having ectopics and what ever else classed as having a rythem disturbance? I struggle to understand this part of it as dr's are never clear on the subject

I,m surviving as I,ve always done, you just learn to cope with these feelings, we only have one life and we must live it.   That feeling of something bad is going to happen is always there, it doesn't,t happen, it's a case of reassuring yourself it's all in the mind.  Very hard I must admit.

Hi Rob, I know exactly how you feel mate. I'm 25 M and have suffered with the same heart symptoms for over 5 years. I had a massive issue with the hospital when I first started going. Because they said I seemed anxious during my appointment they tried to pin the symptoms purely on anxiety. Obviously I "seemed" anxious, my heart is going crazy in my chest, what do you expect, me to be sitting here whistling. 

Problem was it was then in my notes that they had investigated the cause as anxiety. So as soon as I had another appointment that's the first thing they would come to. Eventually they came to their senses and realised that wasn't the reason for it hapenning, obviously I get anxious when they happen but that's pretty normal. The fact you've sufferred with anxiety before I can just imagine how they jump to that straight away. The problem is when seeing a lot of these doctors is that you feel you've got to constantly fight your corner against them!

All I can say is don't give up and keep trying to battle through it. One of the biggest comforts for me is reading through this forum when I have particularly bad episodes. Many people here have had this problem for over 30 years and theyre still here! Know the feeling when it happens is still horrible, but at least there's comfort knowing it's not going to kill you.

People are discovering new things about the heart all the time so fingers crossed they find a cure for this one day. Wouldn't wish this on anyone.

I agree with you Linda .. a cardio Dr wont care unless you have a 75% blockage on an arthery or you colapse right in front of his/her desk