PVCs and sleep/screentime

[Gojlcc]

Suffered from PVCs since my early 20s (now late 40s) - usually just the odd afternoon a couple of times a year and the occasional noticeable skip.

Around the vaccines and covid they went full-time, bigeminy, prolonged pvcs and multiple trips to cardio/a&e. All benign and supposedly not frequent enough for recommending ablation although would have been available had I pressed for it.

Anyway this has all been going on since around mid-2021 and have been trying everything, supplements, beta blockers, further cardio visits convinced something up but still no progress. Until last couple of weeks I spotted I was feeling ok in the mornings after evenings spent with friends - and that meant not being on digital devices (iphone, or large screen tv) close to bedtime. I also started taking the 'heart calm' supplement once before bed rather than through the day as I noticed it was making me tired. I've stopped the device watching at least two hours before bed and I'm waking up fresh and for now free of the pvcs - just the odd one as I had been experiencing pre covid. Maybe I'm just having a lucky break and they'll come back with vengeance but I'm certain I'm feeling different and much more like my old self. Maybe worth looking at your screentime closely to see if this is causing you similar issues - alot more folks work from home so its possible. I've heard there are glasses to filter out blue light but I was already doing that with the built in phone app (but not for TV) - something I might also look at but prefer for now to just stay off screens long before bed. Good luck.

[jeanjeannie50]

That's an interesting theory about screen time contributing to abnormal beats. Don't know why but have never thought of that before. I've worked on PC's since the late 1980's and even now spend quite a bit of time online.

Something to ponder over.

Jean

[mjames1]

Interesting observation. Thanks. Makes a lot of sense because they've known for sometime that sreen time, especially near bed time, makes for lower quality sleep, which just may be a trigger for some of us. We know sleep apnea is an afib trigger.

Jim

[stoneyrosed]

Electrical appliances like mobile phones x boxes and play stations all seem to have some kind of effect on me at times, like missed beats and even sometimes a trigger for AF but then again so does alcholol curries and stress, so who knows. 🙈😁

[Autumn_Leaves]

That’s very interesting. I do believe we all spend too much time staring at screens and it has all sorts of knock on effects, like too much sedentary time and not enough movement, not to mention the constant exposure to blue light more or less round the clock. I am every bit as guilty as the next person. The internet is highly addictive and the social media sites are engineered to keep us scrolling and liking and all the rest. I bought myself some anti blue light specs, but they aren’t the great miracle. I think they have fairly marginal benefits, if I’m honest. We really need to tackle our behaviours and bad habits on all fronts if we want results, and over the long term.

Like you, I’ve had ectopics since early 20s which became a problem at around age 50, and progressed to becoming almost constant. I developed AF at 59. I do believe that there is often an underlying reason for these problems, it can start with the beginnings of valve regurgitation and/or mild atrial enlargement, which is very common as we age and not considered a problem by cardiologists. Nevertheless, these are common findings in most people with arrhythmias despite being told that our echo was “fine” and there’s “nothing to be concerned about” etc etc. We all need to do our best to look after our health as far as that’s realistically possible, and all this screen time and blue light is something that is so easy to overlook. Absolutely brilliant that it helped you. We all probably need to try a bit harder with our self discipline around screens!

[Finlaysmum]

This is really interesting as I have definitely noticed the same almost. Like you I have suffered from ectopics for a long time. Especially after periods of stress or illness. But they definitely worsened after my first covid vaccine. Then in August last year became really troublesome. I currently take magnesium and have fleconaide as a pip. When they are intense. Echo was ok ECGs show ectopics. Waiting for a cardiac MRI. I have definitely noticed too much time looking at my phone screen can make them worse/come in after a time. So I have started to limit screen time. I also eat lighter lunches as I find large lunches can also not help. I am definitely going to continue reducing screen time. Thank you for sharing.

[Autumn_Leaves in reply to Finlaysmum]

I went from a few a day to a lot of ectopics following a respiratory illness several years back then to constant ectopics when I had flu in 2018. I can’t say there was any difference after Covid vaccines, no better, no worse, but they have become constant anyway. But understandable, because any immune response is inflammatory in the initial stages and that seems to set off the ectopics. There’s no realistic way to avoid these seasonal viruses and I’m not aware of much we can do to prevent any flare ups, other than keep doing the work of self-care, day in, day out. My husband came down with a chest infection and persistent cough at Christmas and he’s still not fully recovered yet. Me? I wasn’t affected by it in the slightest. So I’m certainly grateful for that. We just need to keep on doing what we think is best for ourselves.

[dmjtanner]

Yes, very interesting!! I used to notice that sitting at my desktop computer for a long time could induce ectopics, especially at night. I feel it might have something to do with the electro- magnetic field?! And of course cell phones would definitely be in that category.

[Gojlcc]

definitely feeling better in mornings - sleep quality has improved ten fold and PVCs continue to be in small number vs 1000s before. Will report back in a month. Forcing me to do something else in evenings which isn’t easy but a sure indication of device addiction! Plenty reports on negative impact of screen time on heart at night ….

[Autumn_Leaves in reply to Gojlcc]

Certainly food for thought. I need to double down on the screen habit in the evenings. I noticed a 99p book on the kindle store at the moment, about how to break up with your phone! Might be worth the 99p though I’d still be staring at the phone if I read it 😮

[Dollcollector]

I find that if l look at the screen too long in the evening, l feel dizzy when l get up to go to bed.

[MikeThePike]

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that staring at screens too long is detrimental to both mind and body. It's completely unnatural. Unfortunately life in this modern world often forces us to do this. I am happy that you are finding relief from your ectopics but don't be surprised if they come back full force again at some point. It seems that once you have ectopics they will never go away without medical intervention, I have not read any experience of someone who's ectopics just disappeared. Some people take flecainide for ectopics but I would suggest real caution there as flecainide can be a 'jekyll and hyde' heart drug. From what I have read it's best to avoid it if you can.

[Gojlcc in reply to MikeThePike]

totally agree I’m still getting the odd one here and there during day but it’s gone from what feels like 90% of my day down to a few %… a very marked difference and definitely feel different. Had heard of flec but agree wouldn’t go near it - tried betas for a bit and they weren’t for me either. Ablation I would consider as it’s been offered. Hopefully I can get some period of peace for now. Good luck 🤞