PVCs

Hey team, 

anyone on here live with PVCs? I've had them for years and years...going through 4 echocardiograms within the last 10 years, cardiologists chalked them up to being benign. Usually lasting a few minutes to even 8-12 hours of interrupted beats...they sure seem like the end is near and scary...

How do you all cope with them, and have you had them for years? 

I do have a dual chamber pacemaker that was installed in July 2021. I bring the PVCs up to cardiologist, but they are rather bored with my gripes. Lol. 

Thank you. 

Michael 

4 Comments

PVC

by JillG - 2022-02-09 15:36:19

Hi! 
What exactly does a PVC feel like? I'm having these strange episodes that feel like my heart skipped a beat. The feeling you get in your neck or throat that takes you breath away.  I'm not sure if they are harmless or need to be looked at further. I have an appointment tomorrow with my EP to discuss a multitude of issues, including this one, but I'm wondering if this may be what I'm experiencing? 

PVCs

by AgentX86 - 2022-02-09 18:18:56

Yeah, lots f us have had them.  Yes, many over a short time really sucks.  I had bigiminal (every other) PVCs on and off for a while.  It certainly isn't any fun, however your cardiologist is right.  They are almost always benign.  Unless the PVCs account for 30% of the beats, they don't get too antsy.  I know that doesn't help you much but at least you can relax some.

One thing you might want to do is have a blood test for electrolytes (potassium, sodium, and magnesium).  A shortage of any one of these can cause arrhythmias, PVCs being the prime one. 

I take magnesium and it's worked for me.  The change was immediiate.  One day PVCs, the next, none.  My leg cramps went away just a suddenly. Electolytes are necessary for prper nerve function.  Lotsa nerves in the heart.

What does a PVC feel like

by AgentX86 - 2022-02-09 18:27:43

Yes "skipping a beat" is the prime symptom of PVCs.  Everyone gets PVCs but most get them so rarely that they chalk them up to a burp or think they've imagined it, them move on with their life.  We tend to get more PCVs than the "normal" person and are hypersensitive to anything our heart does so it can scare us. Certainly ask your doctor about it but they arerarely anything to worry about.

PVCs really aren't a skipped beat.  They're an early beat caused by some nerve cell in the ventrical firing before it's being told to.  This causes the ventricle to contract sooner than normal but the normal beat come right behind it (could be the other way around).  Between these "beats" the ventricle doesn't have time to fill so it doesn't move much blood so it feels like a skipped beat.  It really isn't skipped but it is ineficient. You usually can't feel the "double" beat in your wrist because the arteries are too small for the ineficient beat to get there.  You can feel it on your neck (carotid artery) or groin (femoral artery).

PVC comments

by JillG - 2022-02-09 19:15:32

Interesting..... I also get leg cramps at night. Maybe I need to check into magnesium. Good info. Thanks! 

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