I have been having PVC’s since chemo/covide vaccine (disagreement on what triggered them). They are almost permanent. Sometimes I get a couple of hours a day that I can’t feel them. My GP and Oncologist have been fab. But struggling to get cardiology to take me seriously. I’ve done a 24 hour halter and been kept in on a monitor for 24 hours/chest x-ray and they all show significant burden PVC’s/low heart rate (50’s)
But the cardiologist just told me that lots of people have them and they are not harmful. I feel sick, tired and like I may faint. He gave me bisoprolol; but I have asthma so I am now also struggling with breathlessness. So I either have breathlessness or PVC’s. Anyone else managed to resolve a similar situation? I was on 2.5mg once a day, cardiologist put me up to 5mg, I was so ill I self reduced back to 1.25 mg twice a day. But still very breathless.
I'm meant to go to USA for 3 weeks and consultant told me I was fine to travel. But I don’t feel fine. I feel awful. So frustrating as my insurance most likely won’t pay out given his view.
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Have you tried the slow deep diaphragmic breathing exercise? Slow to six or fewer breaths per minute for at lest five minutes (longer when you learn to do it properly) using stomach not shoulders. Work at it and I am sure it will help and yes though annoying they are benign.
It doesn’t have to be a beta blocker. I was taking a beta blocker for my blood pressure for years. I have developed AF since the Covid vaccines. I was seen by a cardio specialist, taken off the beta blocker, as I also have asthma, and put on Verapamil (calcium channel blocker) and Apixaban (anticoagulant). Initially, I had problems with bad constipation, which is a common side-effect of Verapamil, but now ok with a daily sachet of Laxido. Good luck.
I couldn’t tolerate Bisoprolol due to having asthma; I am now on Verapamil 80mg, split into 2 doses, the PVCs have gradually stopped. I wish you well x
Thanks. My doc has asked if I want to try something else, so hopefully I can get something that works. Between this and the chemo side effects I’m like a burst balloon. Used to walk 5 miles a day. Now need to sit down after bringing the washing in 🙄
I am on Nebivolol and Flecanide I did have two ablations for ectopics but neither worked, these meds help it doesn't eliminate them completely but life is a bit more bearable! Hope you find a solution let me know if you do, I also have breathlessness I think it's the medication but it's the lesser of two evils I think, I am a 62 year old women, all the best Ingrid
I was the same on bisoprolol. Really breathless, no energy, light headed. There are other drugs you can try and that's great that they are offering that. That could make all the difference. Unfortunately the response you've had is probably fairly typical as a response to PVCs but a change of meds could certainly help. If it doesn't, maybe another view would be useful.
A private consultation in the UK with a cardiologist would cost around £200.
I’ve had multiple PVCs and PACs for decades. I take a total of 125mg Magnesium Taurate per day, half in the morning and half in the evening. It settles my ectopics to the point that I hardly ever notice them.
Bisoprolol is among the most selective of beta blockers, so that was why you were given it. Clearly, it is still not leaving the receptors in your lungs sufficiently alone, so maybe you might ask to try a different selective BB such as nebivolol (different mode of action, too)?
The cardiologist is right, even if not sympathetic. Frequent ectopic beats can feel truly awful (worse at times than AF for me) but are essentially "safe" and shouldn't affect what you are able to do in life. The problem with them is that they can be impossible to ignore and they induce a deal of anxiety to the point, I find, that unpicking the physical from the psychological can be impossible. When mine are heaviest they cause me an odd feeling in which I feel the need to breathe in more deeply and can also cause a slightly light headed feeling.
I am having an ablation for them, and the AF, sometime in the future (long waiting list). Another drug that can help is flecainide, but his is a riskier choice and will need some extra tests from your cardiologist.
Thanks. If I could just get rid of/reduce the ones that cause my heart rate to drop I think I could cope better. When they come on they can last for an hour or so. I feel like I am going to faint so need to sit down. They have mentioned/ablation or a pace maker; but I would like to try and manage them with a mix of holistic techniques/safer drugs first.
I was told that the light-headedness is caused by blood pressure falling in the flow to the brain but in ways that isn;t picked up by a sphygmomanometer. It was explained the the missed beats cause a wave of low pressure so rapid that the brain reacts in a kind of "shock" way.
You seem to have this worse than I do. I wonder if you will find another way using a non drug approach? I have tried various things but found no success. The cardiologist I see who did my flutter ablation in 2019 reckons only a further ablation will help, and even then a third might be needed to give an over 90% chance of success. Alternatives are flecainde or, as I also have occasional bradycardia, a pacemaker to take over everything. I don't fancy the latter!
I have had PVC's as far as I can remember. I am now 76. I still have them but not as often, as I am taking Flecainide 50mg x 2 a day for Afib. I get them mostly when I am stressed. Exercise does not exacerbate them, it is mostly when I am inactive. I was told by my GP,many years ago to simply ignore them when they occur. Not to think about them. I have come to the conclusion, that it was good advice. If I do not dwell on them, I don't have them! I cannot say this would work for you, however I do think trying not to think about them helps. I also know that even with Afib, the more I worry about it, the worse it gets. It's been over a year now, since my last episode, and that was two months after stopping Flec entirely. I was then told to take the minimum dose, and so far so good. The same goes for my at one time, constant PVC's.
Thanks for this.Mine are exacerbated by exercise, so having angiogram just to double check.
I can ignore the regular ones if that makes sense, but when my heart rate drops to between 37&47 I feel like I am going to pass out/be sick so have to sit down. That can last for up to a hour. The beta blockers defo help, but the trade off is that I am very breathless with them.
Seeing doc again to try and get a middle ground. Apparently there hasn’t been a lot of research into chemo induced PVC’s in the UK, but a pace maker has been mentioned.
Before that happens I am going to try the holistic route.
I found magnesium really helped with ectopics. Have you tried that? Also, the usual lifestyle changes should not be underestimated. Which you are probably doing already. I think my AF/ectopics is partly down to inflammation and so changing my diet (high fibre, mostly plants, low/no alcohol).
I'm in a delimna as what caused my flip x 3 heart sensations and vertigo as I had a untreated UTI at the same time as 2 & 3 days after COVID jab pfizer last Tuesday week.
I did the survey about the jab.
Dr felt it was UTI but Chemist decided it was the jab.
But I took 2 antibiotics 1 before and 1 after jab. Justas well the Chemist said. Her husband gets AF from apnea.
I don't get those symptoms at all, never have and I had rapid Day H/Rate for 2 years 3 months. It was a private Heart Specialist that control my heart with CCB Diltiazem twinked down to 120mg AM low dose.
I kept Bisoprolol 2.5mg PM control of BP.
It's not Ok for the specialist to say you will cope and get used to it. Metoprolol @ 186 made me breathless and pauses @ 2 secs at night. No pauses with Bisoprolol or breathlessness.
Your Asthma status could be a factor.
Others on this forum can help you with that one.
In some circumstances AF causes the breathlessness.
Strangely Diltiazem does not bring down my PM normal night rate any lower than 47avg. I take my CCB Diltiazem early morning.
I hope you get sorted. Can we ask what was the chemo for?
I have possible thyroid cancer return. Awaiting a 6 mths repeat CT scan in November. The Pet scan could not be compared with another image of the same area.
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apixaban and hematuria 
shortness of breath
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