what number of PACs and PVCs are considered not good.!!!!?

[Jetcat]

hi you lovely people. As you may know from previous posts Iv been getting ectopics on and off for last 12 months, and their back again.!!

my cardiologist doesn’t seem concerned about them but Iv calculated today that in the last 24 hours Iv had around 300. or roughly 4 a minute at its worst. It’s nearly a week now and they are very annoying and starting to worry me a little.

i can’t seem to find any info on what number would be classed as a serious number to have in 24 hours but I think 300+ a day is a lot personally.? Any info would be appreciated.

best wishes.

Ron.👍

[mjames1]

That averages about one ectopic every 5 minutes. Not really a lot. I've had close to 10,000 in 24 hours at one point. Fortunately not lately.

Jim

[Jetcat in reply to mjames1]

My word Jim.!! 10.000. How did you cope with that many.? they drive me crazy!

[Bunkular in reply to Jetcat]

I've had that many as well but it's the intensity of the ectopics that cause me alarm as they interfere with daily life. About 3 X a year the severity & frequency seems to become worse but now that I'm on Metoprolol I'm hoping I won't have that problem and that my palpitations will remain less intense.

[Jetcat in reply to Bunkular]

They can definitely get the anxiety levels to raise that’s for sure.!!! They’re a dam nuisance sometimes.

[MeganMN]

I have about a 20% burden of ectopics (PACs) and my doctor was concerned enough to want an echo to make sure I didn't have cardiomyopathy. I'm having close to 24,000 a day in singles, doubles, triplets, and SVT runs. The research that I have done shows somewhere around 20-30% daily burden having a similar long term risk profile as a 20-30% burden of A fib. Your amount of ectopics would not be an issue or anything that the doctors would be concerned about. Rest easy!

[Jetcat in reply to MeganMN]

Thanks Megan. I can honestly say the ectopics are worse than my Afib regarding getting the anxiety levels going.!!

[MeganMN in reply to Jetcat]

I totally agree. The mind is worse than the heart! 😀

[Hidden]

Hi! When in bigeminy (I had it in one occasion, luckily not for long), every third beat is a skipped beat. If the rhythm is 60 bpm, it is one beat pro sec. There are 86,400 seconds in a day, so one third makes 28,800 skipped beats a day. It would be the upper limit, if permanently in bigeminy. Since the PVCs usually come when the heart rate is less than 60 bpm, say 40 bpm, than the number would be 2/3 from the above: 19,200 a day. So, for orientation, the span would be roughly 20,000 to 30,000 skipped beats a day and it is in accordance with what people have reported in this forum.

I just have read the title of your post again and have understood that it is not, what you have been asking for. Sorry, it's my poor knowledge of English and not always careful reading...

I do not recall anyone quote the lower limit... Many have said that they have been told, that all of us have PVCs or PACs during each and every day, that it is kinda normal. The critical limit - maybe when you start feeling them as discomfort, what could be individual...

[Jetcat in reply to Hidden]

thankyou Nesko.👍

[BobD Volunteer]

As others have stated, yours is a very low ectopic burden and no doubt your anxiety about them makes it worse. Do try the slow deep breathing excersice. Use diaphragm not shoulders and slow to less than 6 breaths a minute. Stopped my constant rolling ectopics in about two days.

[Jetcat in reply to BobD]

Thankyou Bob. I will definitely give the breathing exercises a go.👍

[Ennasti]

I have over 10,000 in a 24 hr period. A few hundred is nothing. Relax. Most hearts beat between 90,000 to 120,000 a day so a few hundred is really minimal. Ectopic beats are not life threatening although they may feel like they are. It’s like headaches not every headache is a death sentence - same with ectopics

[Jetcat in reply to Ennasti]

Thankyou Ennasti. 👍

[mcpacs]

I had an ablation for paroxysmal Afib in 2011. It was successful in stopping the Afib. However, in 2020 I started having continuous ectopic beats, mainly PAC's. My cardiologist told me not to worry about those, because they were benign. However, they made me feel very uncomfortable. So, a year later my cardiologist started me on Flecainide 100 mg twice a day. It has been successful in stopping the ectopics since then.

My cardiologist/electrophysiologist told me premature atrial contractions (PAC's) do not lead to cardiomyopathy. Premature ventricular contractions (PVC's) if over 30% of your heartbeats can lead to cardiomyopathy.

You may want to have a Holter monitor performed to determine exactly what type of ectopics you are having, premature atrial contractions (PAC's) or premature ventricular contractions (PVC's) and the percentage of ectopics, especially PVC's.

[Jetcat in reply to mcpacs]

thankyou mcpacs, I have another appointment with cardiologist in march so I will try and make him take these seriously.?? Iv tried already but he just brushes me off unfortunately.!!

Iv shown him my kardia ECG print offs and he said they’re definitely PACS.👍 but some recent readings are showing a few with the spike downwards instead of upwards so I guess these odd few could be PVCs.????

the ectopics bother me more than a AFIB episode does strangley enough .!! Anyway it looks like I’ll have to wait until march to get my recent ECG looked at.!!

[mcpacs in reply to Jetcat]

Ron, I agree completely that the ectopics are very bothersome. My electrophysiologist said he can do an ablation for PAC's, if the patient is extremely bothered by them, but he does not typically do it, as the PAC's are not as serious as the PVC's with regard to causing cardiomyopathy.

Hope all goes well with your visit to the cardiologist.

Best regards, Mark

[Jetcat in reply to mcpacs]

thanks mark I appreciate your replies mate. . I’ll keep you posted after Iv seen him.

Wishing you a happy new year. 👍

Ron.