Constant PACs

[Phoneguy65]

I had an ablation 3 months ago. Had some PAC episodes that lasted a few days about a month after the procedure. My EP put me on Flecainide 125mg per day. I also was on Atenolol 175mg per day and was doing good for the last 2 months and I woke up one Monday with these horrible PACs. They’ve been going steady now for the last week and a half. I’m having Bigeminy and Trigeminy a lot of the time that will last for many minutes without a break. My EP is taking me off the Atenolol and starting me on Diltiazem to see if maybe the that does anything. I just want my life back. Wondering if I’ll ever be able to enjoy some wine or a couple beers with the wife again.

[mlp3434]

I had my cryoablation 3 1/2 months ago and still have flipps going on especially after I eat. I hate it and it causes me a great deal of anxiety. But from this site and the people who read our posts ...we are not alone. 3 months is a short period pf time for our heart to recover. I just keep praying that one day that this will stop and I will be fine and you will too.

[Phoneguy65 in reply to mlp3434]

Thanks. Same to you

[Sal55 in reply to mlp3434]

hello just wanted to see if you are still feeling the PACs?

[CDreamer]

Hi and welcome.

As you will see from reply above, not uncommon. Many people suffer ectopics and short runs of various other arrythmias and some do need treatment. All I can offer is empathy as I do know just how uncomfortable these things are and how tiring and difficult they make life.

The most important thing about ablation recovery and prevention of reoccurring arrythmias are Lifestyle factors so in answer if you are ever able to enjoy wine and beer - depends if you want to risk further arrythmias.

Alcohol, drugs and smoking are going to be the biggest antagonists for arrythmias. Some people find they can enjoy the occasional glass without consequences but few and far between.

It was a full 12 months after 2nd ablation before my HR lowered completely and 9 months when the ectopics and PACs went away completely although I was able to work out what triggered them and so avoid the triggers - most of the time.

Best wishews

[Phoneguy65 in reply to CDreamer]

Thanks for the reply.

[Sal55 in reply to CDreamer]

hello CDreamer. I am almost 3 months out ablation for SVT and feeling lots of PACs specially in the morning and at night. Didnt feel these before my ablation so very depressed about it. I wanted to ask you, are you still taking meds? You said you dont feel any PACs at all? If you dont mind me asking your age? Thank you in advance.

[CDreamer in reply to Sal55]

Hi Sal - I always felt ectopic beats and they were horrible and yes mine only appeared after ablation, lasted about 12 months and then as I got stronger and improved disappeared. Don’t get depressed about it as that means you are worrying and worry will always exacerbate ectopics. Learn breath control and breath exercises - they will help you control the ectopics. I have never felt ectopics since recovery and no meds, I stopped all medication, apart from anticoagulants, when I discovered that all of the heart drugs for AF made me worse. I’m 71 and since pacemaker inserted in 2018 hardly seen a doctor for AF, pacemaker was the sliver bullet for me.

[Sal55 in reply to CDreamer]

thank you for your feedback

[Fortescue]

Hi there, I have had AF for 15 years, well controlled mostly by Flecainide, but was on too high a dose, so opted for cryoablation a week ago - so far so good, but for a few missed beats and electrical surges. Regarding alcohol, I very quickly realised 15 years ago that any alcohol consumption at all would have to be relinquished, as even a tiny sip kicked off AF despite the medication. I really missed a nice cold glass of wine at first, but that went off after a few years and for many years now I have not missed it it all, even when others are drinking. In fact the clarity of perception, thinking and equanimity that came with drinking only sparkling water and occasional tea are as important to me as the avoidance of AF. Drinking plenty of daily water in this way, much more than before I got AF, seems also to contribute to minimising AF episodes.

[Phoneguy65 in reply to Fortescue]

Thanks for the reply. I understand what your saying. Funny thing is, my episodes, both AF and PACs, never happened after drinking. This current episode of PACs started on a Monday morning as soon as I got up out of bed. I did have some alcohol the night before though. Also, this current episode has lasted for 11 days now with no real let up. I haven’t had a drop since before it started. I just want to get some answers from the doctors on what could be causing this and can we stop it?

[RichMert]

I would ask for an alternative to Flecanine. If they deem it an alternative, ask for Propranolol.

[Ppiman]

I get these quite often, although in my case they are "PVCs" rather than "PACs". They feel much like AF to me. Luckily, so far, they don't affect me over-much unless they go on for hours, which happened only 2-3 times last autumn. On two other occasions they "turned into" AF. On each occasion, I just sat it out as it was in the evening. I sent the recordings to my cardiologist who said he wasn't worried except he hoped the AF wouldn't become more frequent. Luckily, my heart rate stays low enough for reasonable comfort, with a maximum of 130bpm.

Steve

[Shemac52]

Same here cryoablation 3 months ago, going in and out of rhythm. More NSR now though. Still taking Digoxin, Diltiazem, telephone appointment with EP in two weeks. Not sure what they will do taking me off the medication

[Mirhadi]

Deltiazim is very useful medicine. It helps healthy function of heart. . Just after my first ablation my heart went back to normal with help of deltiazim.

[Phoneguy65]

Thanks to all for replying. I guess I’m just getting very frustrated and worried. These PACs have been going steady for almost 2 weeks now. Not sure if I’ll ever get my life back.

[listerines]

Hey there phoneguy65, been there where you are with the PACS after both my ablations - 16 months ago and about 6 months ago. At my worst the PACS were 10000-17000 beats a day so about 10-20% of all heart beats (experienced lots of triplets and couplets and long runs like you are experiencing). So I know that they suck and can be extremely disconcerting, especially if you can feel the palpitations from every skipped beat (for me feels like someone is ricocheting marbles down a tube connected to my heart during every missed beat).---

In the short term you need to find a way to get your mind off them even for short periods of time as this helps with resilience - may mean going for lots of short walks, meditations, light exercise or stretching/ yoga, hobbies etc.. The battle here is getting your mind off the incessant physical/ mental symptoms. In the longer term you need to find ways to reduce the burden of them which may mean you still have them on a regular basis but for shorter periods of time and with longer periods between episodes. Certainly discuss switching antiarrhythmic medication with your health professionals, especially if you are having intense episodes daily, you may also want to look at daily magnesium taurate and CoQenz-10, to reduce burden. I have also found that light exercise and breathing exercises can reduce episode intensity and duration (though they are not a silver bullet). I have also spoken to people on other forums and they have had good success reducing PACs with traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture -but I cannot speak to this directly.

----

Take heart though that over time the ectopics have a tendency to wax and wane on their own and you may wake up in the coming days weeks with them gone or greatly reduced (took a few months but in both cases my PACs have come down to more manageable amounts even though you may have a bad day here and there for no apparent reason) - so try your best to get through the coming days and weeks and certainly bring these to the attention of your health care team as they will likely reinforce that these are benign (even though they sure as hell don't feel like it at times) and this can help with the mental adjustment needed to survive the early days. Rest assured you will get through this and life will be more livable soon.

[Sal55]

hi, how are you feeling now? Still feeling the PACs? Are u still on any meds?