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PVCS all-day every day wrecking my life!!Anyone else??

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ciiahn72419
ciiahn72419

Hi I'm just wondering if there is anyone else out there that has this problem? Im 27 usually active quite healthy aside from asthma & for the last month I've had pvcs from the minute I wake up to the minute I fall asleep sometimes it gets to the point of every few beats I'll have one, I literally can't take it anymore I'm so scared to do anything. I've had countless amounts of emergency room visits for it and been told I'm fine but somewhere I don't believe it and I'm expecting the worst. they get so bad to the point I get dizzy short of breath and sweaty. They say my ecgs are fine my bloods are unremarkable and xrays are normal. so don't know what is causing them. I'm so scared I can't live like this much longer.

2 likes, 62 replies

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  • georgia24334
    georgia24334 ciiahn72419

    Edited

    hello,

    So sorry to hear you also suffer with these. I'm a 22 year old who has suffered with PVC's and PAC's for over 4 years and it is soul destroying. I have mine very very often and not had a day without feeling them.

    They are petrifying and no one will ever understand how much they affect us mentally. I went to my gp numerous of times and was always shut down due to my age. But persevere with it, demand an echocardiogram which is a jelly scan that looks at the structure of the heart for peace of mind.

    I had mine a few months back after begging and am still waiting results. I am a nurse myself and know that most people do get pvc's day to day but we are the unfortunate ones who feel them. But for your own sanity and peace of mind get this scan so that you can put your mind at rest.

    Hope this helps. Stress and also worrying about them makes them x10 times worse. I am working on putting them to the back of my mind.

    take care.

    • ciiahn72419
      ciiahn72419 georgia24334

      Edited

      Hi, Aw it's so good to know that I'm not the only one dealing with this. it feels like my life has been ruined. I'm so scared every night that I'm not going to wake up the next morning cause my hearts just gonna give out. I have them constantly and I can't think of the last time I didn't get one. how frequent are yours if you don't mind me asking and do you get any other symptoms?

      I definitely will ask for a echocardiogram that's probably the only thing I haven't had. no matter what though it still doesn't feel reassuring enough.

      I'm so scared I just wish there was a definite way to stop them 😦

    • tony11072
      tony11072 georgia24334

      Edited

      I have dealt with this over 20 years. It's terrible. It's impossible to be happy. Even certain Meds trigger them. I honestly think it 60% a mental thing , but that doesn't help. Good to see this Forum on it.

  • roger1942
    roger1942 ciiahn72419

    Posted

    Hi Ciiahn..I had the same problem for about 3 years ; missing about 10% beats a day...horrendous...no known cause... My cardiologist suggested a supplement of Magnesium citrate ... after about two months the problem disappeared overnight... so I still take 200 mg a day .. You can never be sure if the magnesium helped but its worth a try .. good luck

  • thomas36686
    thomas36686 ciiahn72419

    Edited

    have you tried eating more foods that are potassium/magnesium rich? ideally you want 4g of potassium a day and ~320mg of magnesium. those are not easy figures to achieve, i still dont hit my targets even when trying. potatoes, avocado, bananas, tomato juice, and magnesium (citrate only) tablets help me.

    also if you havent already quit all alcohol, caffeine, nicotine

    a good nights sleep is also very helpful

    • ciiahn72419
      ciiahn72419 thomas36686

      Edited

      heya.. yes I eat a very potassium rich diet and drink a whole lot of coconut water which gives a lot of potassium aswell and I take magnesium daily. it is hard to get a good nights sleep with a little baby but I do try when I can. Im also on verapamil 120mg tablets daily and they've seemed to do nothing. it feels like I can't win no matter what.

    • thomas36686
      thomas36686 ciiahn72419

      Posted

      i hear you on the baby front, ive also had issues with my son!

      id highly recommend keeping a food diary here:https://cronometer.com/

      youll see exactly how much pot/mag youre getting, its really important to be getting the recommended amount. im not doubting you eat a lot of health foods i just want you to make sure your getting the recommended!

      have you tried vagus nerve stimulation? holding your breath with a full chest of air and trying to breathe out can provide some temporary relief. ive noticed things are worse after lunch for me, i suspect its food affecting my vagus nerve...

      best of luck, please keep us updated with hoe you get on 😃

  • jx41870
    jx41870 ciiahn72419

    Posted

    Hi ciiahn, all I can say is I've been there too, pretty nearly all of the year 2015 I was suffering continuously, and four different doctors looked at them, took EKGs and Holters, and just shrugged. You can look for a specialist in heart electrical issues - but I'm not sure how much more they can do. Has anyone offered you even a beta blocker? It's an easy thing to try, and for me it helps quite a bit. Magnesium also helped.

    I had a really bad year, but time, and magnesium, and controlling my blood pressure which was a little high, and now the symptoms are under control. Primary physicians - no help. Cardiologists - no help. I have not searched out the specialist, because by the time that was mentioned I was already doing better.

    And there is this - the doctors all say that, for as awful as it feels, they are not actually dangerous - well, I don't know about that, but they are this much correct: I'm still here, and I've had no actual heart attacks or strokes - afaik.

  • sarah87162
    sarah87162 ciiahn72419

    Posted

    What are pvcs?

    Sarah

    • thomas36686
      thomas36686 sarah87162

      Posted

      Premature ventricular contractions, a type of are extra heartbeats that begin in one of your heart's two lower pumping chambers (ventricles)

  • abdd
    abdd ciiahn72419

    Edited

    hey, yeah i totally feel you, no one can truly appreciates the impact it has on your life unless they experience it, i wish it on no one.

    i get them almost everyday for the past 6 months, it feels like my heart is about to give up, my stomach sinks and it leaves you panicking.

    i havnt figured out what stops it or even reduces it.

    hang on in there i hope it all works out

  • Pvcmike
    Pvcmike ciiahn72419

    Edited

    I have the exact same thing, it started when I was 27 and I would have the odd one here and there but nothing to be concerned about and then it seemed like they'd go away for years and they would come and go in my 30s but now that I'm in my mid-40s it seems like this year they've hit me like a ton of bricks I went to the emergency room three times because of it and sent home three times being told that there's nothing wrong with me after doing EKGs and even sending me to get a echocardiogram which I was told everything was perfectly fine but it's hard to believe it's perfectly fine when you get a PVC every third heartbeat and sometimes three or four PVCs in a row, I'm currently dealing with day five of what I'm guessing is called a PVC storm where I'm okay for a few hours and then for a three or four hour period I get hit with PVCs every third heartbeat for hours and then it seems like it just all of a sudden disappears and then it comes back and hits me again and I'm honestly scared half to death even though everybody has told me there's nothing to be scared of, I'm a big strong guy that likes to work out and I'm in pretty good physical condition, I was even given metoprolol for this and it seemed to help at first but now nothing seems to help, I was recently prescribed antidepressants and I believe that triggered the latest ones because of the norepinephrine reuptake mechanism of the drug that was prescribed but I'm not a doctor so I'm not sure so I'm just here to let you know you're not alone and I'm honestly sh*tting my pants I'm so terrified right now writing this and I hope somebody can maybe help me as well.

    • william26081
      william26081 Pvcmike

      Edited

      Hi Mike,

      I also get pvc's and pac's and have been getting them since i was 34(I'm 41 now). I've have multiple ekgs, an echo when i was 34 and 38 with stress test at the same time. I was told everything is fine(frustrating!). I wasn't officially diagnosed with pac's til last month after wearing a holter monitor for 1 month. I've gotten this flutter that never caught before on the other test, but i kept telling them about this flutter besides the pvc's which I accepted from the previous monitors. I was worried about this flutter they couldn't detect until they finally did. They said I wasn't going to die from it after asking that specifically. I love to lift weights and exercise, but have been hesitant to do this. They said to continue with exercise even though I sometimes get them briefly when working out. I don't consume any caffeine nor do drugs. I tried to link these to everything under the sun, but since I was told my results over 1 month ago I've started to enjoy foods and activities I was avoiding for years. I've actually has them, , but they are less noticeable. They tell me they are related to anxiety and I think that factors into it, but I feel like they caused the anxiety. This forum has been great for me to help me realize I'm not the only one going through this. I take cardizem, I use and potassium chloride salt in place of regular salt and after my results I switched from magnesium citrate to magnesium glycinate. Not sure if this helps or it was the results from the cardiologist, but I feel like I've been having less pvc's and pac's that are less noticeable. My doctor and cardiologists know what I'm taking and are ok with it. Talk to your doc's of course before adding any supplements. At one time I was on metoprolol and antidepressants, but I stopped those over a year ago after talking to my doctor. I hope you figure something out that works for you. I figure it's not going away so I'm gonna try to enjoy more things. My wife says she notices I've been better since my results.

      Will-Salamanca, NY

    • MaryR25
      MaryR25 Pvcmike

      Posted

      i wanted to follow-up and see how you're doing now? have your ectopic beats got any better? i've been dealing with this for the past 4 months and oh my, its a horrible feeling!

    • cheryl89204
      cheryl89204 Pvcmike

      Posted

      I hear what you're saying. This is hard to deal with. I'm 61 and in good shape, exercise each morning - cardio or weights. My cardiologist fun began in 2005, but they told me my heart was healthy. I've had some episodes since then, but they ebbed after a few days. This time the pvcs have been apparent for 2 months. Mornings are the worst - every third beat, sometimes 3-4 in a row. I did a cardio session 4 days ago when I was having a good morning. It felt wonderful. About an hour and a half later they hit heavy again and didn't slow down until yesterday. I actually had a few good hours yesterday, so I did an easy lifting session this morning with no strain and they came back. I've tried stopping exercising -- doesn't help and makes it harder to deal with the anxiety. Sometimes exercise helps, sometimes it makes it worse. It's such a mind game. Is it my diet? Activity? Nothing I can control? The anxiety hits me right away, even though I tell myself I know what these are. It's like my lizard brain panics and then the anxiety hits. I'm trying to hold off the anxiety, but this is hard.

    • JenRev
      JenRev cheryl89204

      Edited

      I love what you said about lizard brain. No amount of logic, yoga, meditation, funny movies or supportive people can shut off that part of your being that feels (legitimately) threatened when your heart isn't beating right. I have described it as feeling like a tiger is chasing you, but no one else can see the tiger. I feel for anyone who does whatever they can do to cope with the anxious feelings that arrhythmias bring on. It can be VERY hard.

    • thomas00008
      thomas00008 Pvcmike

      Edited

      Hey Mike: I know what you're going through a lot of fear involved. I've been dealing with this now for a lot of years. pvc's pacs a racing heart been through it all. I took all kinds of tests for the most part everything came out pretty good strong heart no heart disease no blockage and I believe that's what you're trying to say to. Now the doctors will tell us if your heart's in good shape you're fine. but we all have a hard time convincing ourselves of that. Like I said these things are scary cause a lot of fear and anxiety which makes the problem worse you have to try to control that but it's not easy. So I would say if your heart is strong you're pretty much on the safe side as far as dangerous arrhythmias go like VTech and Vfib that can cause cardiac arrest. you'll probably never get rid of these things but the main thing is you want to reduce it. I know I changed my diet I eat healthier and cut way back on sugar which triggers them. we know about magnesium but doesn't work for everyone. you can try beta blockers and don't forget about catheter ablation which can a lot of times totally take it away. Try your best to reduce stress and anxiety and I hope something works out for you. There's some great videos you should look up from Dr Gupta cardiologist about palpitations and PVCs he tells you a lot try to check it out.

    • Hammer6969
      Hammer6969 cheryl89204

      Edited

      hey chery, sounds exactly like me. any kind of straining causes them to go crazy. i will have days/ hours of nothing and then all of a sudden they start up and off to races i go with a full on panic attack. i always thing I'm going to die from them. Completely ruining my life. Hope you're getting better. You're not alone.

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