PVCs Should I worry?

[Spangle14]

My Kardia is picking up fairly frequent PVCs and Dr Google has informed me that frequent PVCs can lead to sudden cardiac death. Great! Now I'm really worried. Please help if you can throw any light on this. Feel frightened to go to sleep now and not sure what to do.

[BobD Volunteer]

Google can damage your (mental) health. Ectopic beats are generally benign and few doctors worry about them. Everybody gets them but of course we AFers notice.

[Spangle14 in reply to BobD]

Yes I have always thought of them as benign but I don't recall them ever being as frequent as they have been today. I tried to get in touch with cardiology department today to get some advice, but could I get through? No chance. Interestingly I also read an article that said PVCs can predispose people to afib and I had had ectopic for many years prior to afib. Thanks for your reply

[fairgo45 in reply to Spangle14]

I get them a lot sometimes on kardia I have 12 in a 30 second reading I'm not worried about them my cardiologist says they are harmless I hardly notice them anymore

[Lilypocket]

I used to get 2000 to 3000 PVCs a day before I changed to Flecainide. They are benign. However check with your cardiologist as each person is different and best to get his advice and reassurance if you are worried .Take care x.

[Spangle14 in reply to Lilypocket]

Tried to get through to cardiology at King's today but no answer came the stern reply

[Spangle14]

Seem to be back in sinus rhythm again so I should go to bed while the going is good and hope for the best 🤞🤞

[Lilypocket]

Well try not to worry. There are hundreds off us on here who have them and generally doctors are not bothered about them. As Bob said we become more aware of them if we have Afib. Some people I believe have had ablations for theirs when they became difficult to tolerate . Perhaps they will post a reply. X

[Spangle14 in reply to Lilypocket]

Thank you Lilypocket for your reassuring words, just feeling a bit worried as I'm away from home and on my own and of course anxiety just exacerbates things.

[Lilypocket in reply to Spangle14]

Yes anxiety doesn't help especially if you are away from home and can make them worse. I listen to history podcasts which help me nod off. 🥱 Hope you feel better tomorrow - and stop googling tonight or Google funny clips like Peter Kay or whoever makes you laugh it will help relax you.

Take care x

[Anafib]

Mine really picked up ,then I started taking magnesium (both citrate and taurate) which helped allot. I take what is recommended for men and that did the trick for me. I also had a couple other problems and all of them had one thing in common , magnesium deficiency.

[Spangle14 in reply to Anafib]

Thank you, I take magnesium regularly and I have been under a electrophysiologist for years as have had an arrhythmia for many years and had afib added to the fray a couple of years back. I have tried ringing the cardiology dept at the hospital I am under but no joy as yet and getting to see a GP is another stressful story, so I am trying.

[Samazeuilh2]

This is not something you should try to self-diagnose; you need to see your GP otherwise you run the risk of worrying unnecessarily or, at the other extreme, not getting treatment for something important.

[Squidgybod]

Have you noticed how all sorts of things are suddenly said to be causing heart problems at the moment? Please watch Dr John Campbell's YouTube video: 'Myocarditis German photographs', published on 5th December, for the reason for this obfuscation.

[Auriculaire in reply to Squidgybod]

Hot weather , cold weather , loud noises. Funny how these things did not cause heart problems to any noticeable degree before 2021.

[Samazeuilh2 in reply to Squidgybod]

I’m on a cardiac ward at the moment with all sorts of people coming in with heart attacks. Many of them seem to get discharged fairly rapidly. At the moment we have a businessman who is incredibly relaxed about the whole situation and a biker. I hear them answering nurses questions and what comes across is that they are all smokers. Often they say things like “but I only smoke a little-just two or three a day”. I suppose saying this is very obvious, but the moral of the story is obvious. Quite a few seem to have AF.

[BlueINR]

Please don't rely on Dr. Google. I've had PVCs over 20 years and have been told by cardiologists that due to the absence of other problems with my heart, they're of no concern.

[Spangle14]

Have tried to do that since the increase in PVCs picked up on Kardia, but resorted to Google as getting through to hospital or GP is an uphill struggle - proof that the NHS seriously isn't working, sadly.

[GardeningMK]

Hu there, I had them. Sometimes they exist without any underlying cause so, unless you have other tests showing there is a weak function of the heart or structural changes of the heart that could lead to serious conditions. I wouldn’t worry to be honest. Mine just existed as little hot spots on the heart which looked like tiny little electric stations which generate electricity and make your heart beat for nothing. The only danger is that over time your hard work is so hard and may wear out earlier then it should . On your ECG, which has to be done by the doctors as a Kardia will not tell you this data, it would show what percentage of extra beats you have. They usually say about 7 to 10% is okay, but anything above needs treating. Usually a bit of locus sort it out but for me, they didn’t, and I had to do , a ablation. Now they’ve gone an ECG showing as normal . So please don’t worry because Whari is the worst thing you can do for yourself and for your heart. Just get to be seen by usual GP. They can also order ECG, get it done and take it from there.

Re Google-it always gives you the worst case scenario and sudden death is extremely rare, usually there is a non-investigated - and not treated condition that leads to it so take it with a pinch of salt please, get to see GP, do ECG first. Good luck!

[Spangle14 in reply to GardeningMK]

Thank you for your reply. I am trying very hard to get advice from cardiologist or GP but it ain't easy!

[oscarfox49]

How do you know it is a ventricular contraction rather than an atrial arrhythmia? Only a proper cardiogram interpreted by a trained cardiologist could be sure of that. No home testing machine will give you a definitive answer. The only course is to get the view of your doctor and express your concerns, and ask him to give an authoritative reply. Like others here, I would suspect that it is just a manifestation of your AF.

[Spangle14 in reply to oscarfox49]

Hmmm, not sure.....AF seems to come up as AF and the other readings have mainly said, Sinus Rhythm (SR) with premature ventricular contractions and occasionally it has said SR with supraventicular Ectopy and one said SR with wide QRS. From what you're saying, these could all be manifestations of AF? I wonder why the Kardia is coming up with such different terms.

[oscarfox49 in reply to Spangle14]

Very simply, from what I have been told, it is only genuine ventricular fibrillation or ectopics which are of concern, not atrial ones. but checking on this with your doctor is of course essential.

[Budken]

I would stop consulting with Dr Google, if I were you. I have suffered PCV's for most of my adult life. I was told they were totally benign, and the best thing was to try and ignore them. The more you think about them, the more they occur. That aside, I would consult with your Cardiologist. I was on Flecainide and Metoprolol for almost seven years, and suffered from frequent PVC's. A new Cardiologist I saw, suggested it was the Metoprolol that was causing them. He took me off it! I have had very few in the ensuing five years.

[Bailey2004]

I’ve been having PVCs diagnosed by my cardiologist since 2 months after my AF ablation and getting thousands per day noted from 24 hour ECG. Flecainide and bisoprolol not helping so I’m having an ablation in Jan or Feb, just waiting for date. They are draining and causing fatigue on some days when really bad. I’m only 48 and want to get on with my life as really impacting work.

[Spangle14 in reply to Bailey2004]

Yes, I found them very debilitating yesterday and felt really tired. I am a lot older than you but I have had one arrythmia or another for about close on 40 years and am now wondering if that made the afib more likely. Hope you get a date for your ablation soon - I take it the ablation is for the PVCs,

[Bailey2004 in reply to Spangle14]

I had been having symptoms for 2 years before I went into persistent AF in March 2020 but during those 2 years I was just brushed aside by GP. Had ablation in Apr 2022 as meds stopped working then left me with the PVCs. So yes next ablation is for those. AF seems to be quiet for now thankfully! Hope they settle for you or you get resolution from GP or hospital.

[Faraday954]

I also get frequent PVCs when falling asleep, mine tend to be hormonal. My cardiologist told me not to worry about them as they are benign. She also told me I could take an extra magnesium tablet if I am having a bad run of them. Hope you feel better !

[Qualipop]

OMG Dr Google is far more dangerous than PVCs. DO not GOogle. Only ever use reputable website like the NHS. If it helps I've had PVCs for over 20 years- still here. The hospital told me to just ignore them- everyone gets them now and then. I just had several weeks of both PVCs and PACS constantly , recorded on a holter monitor as 5000 in an 8 hour period. That's one every minute. GP said there was no need for medication unless I was getting really dizzy or fainting but even then they would do no harm.

[AblatedCyclist]

I was throwing 40,000 PVC’s a day and was unaware of it until waiting to be released from a colonoscopy. (They wouldn’t let me go). I’d get to a cardiologist. I had an ablation very soon thereafter. I was under the impression that they aren’t life threatening but that anything over 10,000-15,000/ day needs to be corrected.

[Roto]

I had a similar issue I was put on a 24 hour Holter monitor and clocked up 801 in a 24 hour period fed my paranoia no end until I came across this ( see link) he explained better than I can and reassured me no end: topdoctors.co.uk/medical-ar... enjoy the video...

[fairgo45]

I should say this is not every day but I'm well looked after by my cardiologist he did a 24 hour holter monitor for me which showed up to 10,000 in 24 hours borderline worrying Pacemaker was talked about but dismissed as not what i needed my meds were changed and they reduced the PVCs

I'm about to have a RHC next week with other heart issues so that's my priority not the PVCs

,

[fairgo45]

It's a Right Heart Catheter done to see the problems if any like pulmonary hypertension blockages etc Quite painless and done under local anesthetic.

[Autumn_Leaves in reply to fairgo45]

Brave lady! I hope it all goes well for you.

[Cassag]

Have a look for Dr Sanjay Gupta on U tube . He has a great video talking about all the arrhythmias. Very reassuring

[Camelia23]

Sorry you couldn't get advice from the cardiology department. It must be very worrying but many replies on here are really helpful. I know that vc means ventricular contraction but what does the P mean? I need to curb the temptation to ask Dr Google!

[Autumn_Leaves]

Absolutely yes, Dr Google is the worst doctor out there! I have a lot of PVCs, thousands every day, and just as you and many others have experienced, they are treated as no big deal. I had many years of an increasing ectopic burden before AF happened. Just about every time I do a trace with either the Kardia or Apple Watch I will have several PVCs over 30 seconds. They do have a characteristic pattern compared with PACs, but they are both considered “benign”. Benign but horrible. If you have a high ectopic burden it’s probably because you have areas of misbehaving cells and it’s probably naive to expect much from doing breathing exercises or whatever. It’s not likely to be stress or caffeine or whatever the latest “bad” food you might have eaten today/yesterday/last week. Sometimes those errant cells can settle down for a while but if they’re frequent, chances are they are coming from different locations. Ablation might be an option. I take it you’ve had a 24h ECG? You might need another one especially if you sense you are deteriorating. You might also need an up to date echo as well. Your GP can certainly organise the 24h ECG if you have no luck with KCH, but sympathise 100% as it’s not easy to access any kind of medical care right now. It really is shocking.