PVCs and any activity

[Daveyboy76]

Hello, could anyone tell me if they experience PVCs with any form of light activity?

I seem to get them at rest, singles, couplets, and any form of light activity seems to make them 100 times worse. Even walking into the garden, hanging out washing, walking up stairs, putting the bin out is enough to trigger lots of PVC’s.

Had an echo, bloods, exercise ecg, ct angiogram, 2 week zio patch and all come back normal except for the PVCs. Take 3 x20mg propranolol but this doesn’t seem to be helping.

Anyone out there with similar? Would love to hear from you. Thanks, Dave

[Hidden]

Hi Dave,

Yes I have times like this. It can last a few weeks, then settle down. Have you done all the usual - no caffeine, reduce sugar, reduce stress etc?

Two of the biggest triggers for me are lack of sleep and chocolate.

Some people swear by doing breathing exercises daily to help get them under control. It might be worth a google!

[Daveyboy76 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for your reply.

Yes I’ve cut out caffeine and reduced sugar, trying not to get too stressed! Lack of sleep is definitely an issue at the moment, and I haven’t tried cutting out chocolate so I’ll give that a go. Thanks for the tip.

I’ll get a few PVC’s at rest, but as soon as I get up, move around they tend to go haywire. I can’t even call it exercise, just moving around the house!

Hoping to have a cardiac mri soon and see if they can pinpoint where in the heart they’re coming from

Dave

[Hidden in reply to Daveyboy76]

I had an MRI and it was the only test that got results to set me on the path for diagnosis. I need annual MRI scans to monitor for now.

PVCs are really irritating and can really stop you in your tracks sometimes.

Fingers crossed, for you getting an MRI soon! Hope you get some sleep too

[Daveyboy76 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you! Can I ask what you were diagnosed with after the mri?

[Claire1994 in reply to Hidden]

I got same ... week I got them ... then month or two they gone .. then coming back .. but I wanted ask if someone can feel them during the eating ... I think this is worst for me ... I am going to have ecg on tuesday .. I had one ecg during november I got bad flue .. but nothing found ..I never had problems with my heart .. I don’t even got racing heart during that skips .. maybe my vagus nerv is iritated ... or don’t know ...

[Daisee1963 in reply to Claire1994]

Hi Claire- yes I get them when I’m eating- it’s driving me mad and making meal times a complete misery!!

[Athlete5496 in reply to Claire1994]

Mine seem to be aggravated by eating. Also standing up, and pretty much any activity. I have been a well trained athlete for over 10 years with a strict workout regimen and diet. Maybe 8 percent body fat, and have an appetite for great cardio workouts as well as weight lifting. Can’t for the life of me figure out why this started, but I have loads of them all day everyday, started out of nowhere two weeks ago. EKGs showed PVC, nothing else, blood exams and chest X-ray fine. Not out of breath or anything. But funny thing is, mine are sometimes painful, and feel like they kind of choke me a little. Scary stuff, but after all this time, I have to just deal with it. Been doing magnesium taurate and COQ10, not really that much difference. Changing my sleeping position did make a huge difference though. I sleep on a wedge pillow now, and the next morning I did indeed feel less of them. I read somewhere that sometimes they are connected to sleep apnea, so I’ve been trying to see if that will fix them. You know how scary these are, I’m sure a lot of us are willing to try almost anything, as for me it has to be natural for me to really want to give it a go. Like others, I have learned that they are made worse when I worry about them, so I had to let that go. I have been waiting weeks to see a cardiologist at this point. I just have to let it be what it will be unless more serious symptoms come. I feel for all of you having these, they are indeed scary, but I am so grateful for you all sharing your stories and concerns on here, it brings me comfort. Thank you so much. I hope we all get better soon.

[Valleyhorizon]

Hi there sorry to hear that, they suspect I might suffer from pvc as well especially during at rest at night when I’m in bed. What do you feel? For me I feel like my heart drops and slows down like in slow motion and pauses then comes back with a pound and fast heart rate. Any similar experiences?

[Daveyboy76 in reply to Valleyhorizon]

I’ve had ectopics for 20 years, they can feel different depending on timing, location etc. Sometimes it’s the classic ectopic of an early beat, pause then a thud. Sometimes it’s 2 together, 3 together, short runs, sometimes I feel the ectopic with no pause whatsoever, sometimes the ectopic beat causes severe chest pain lasting half a second, it all depends on what I’m doing. If you think you’re getting PVC’s then best see your doctor for a baseline ecg to see what’s happening

[Valleyhorizon in reply to Daveyboy76]

Thanks for responding and Yeah maybe I am. I done ecg so many times unfortunately it’s never done when I have an episode of it at night. More frequent actually recently. I’ll be sure to mention it. I have a stress test on tue.

[Daisee1963]

Hi Daveboy,

I was so glad to see your post (for all the wrong reasons!!)

I too get bad ectopics the minute I do anything!

I can be fine lying in bed but getting up to clean my teeth and boom if they go.

Every time I get up, walk, make a cup of tea, go upstairs- you name it if they go.

I’m really not coping well at all as I too am getting runs now of 3,4 and 5 together.

It’s wearing me out.

I hope you’re better now x

[Daveyboy76 in reply to Daisee1963]

Hi Daisee, sorry to hear that you’re suffering from them as well.

I still get them, some weeks are worse than others. Actually had a good couple of weeks and then bang, off they go again with any activity or movement. I don’t understand it! I also get runs of 3-5 together, it’s horrible and totally get how you feel.

Spoke to my cardiologist, he’s referred me For another exercise ecg, a 7 day monitor and finally an mri scan so they can see where the PVCs are coming from.

Take care of yourself

Dave

[Daisee1963]

How are you doing now? Mine are still going strong and driving me mad!

[PaulMichaels]

I'm 57 and have atrial bigeminy which is almost constant, my resting heart rate ranges between 38 and 44 on average. I've had ECGs and EKGs showing my heart is strong but misfiring. A 24 hour halter monitor revealed very frequent ectopics and I've been waiting over a year for a treadmill stress test (apparently the machine is "broken"). I don't really feel the symptoms apart from light headedness when getting up quickly. I do 15 mins on a cross trainer most days at a good pace and a daily walk. Anxiety or thinking about my heart rate makes it worse. My cardiologist says they won't attempt any treatment unless the symptoms get worse and want to leave well alone. It would be good to know if my daily exercise is causing damage, but I feel fitter than I have for many years. I'll be glad when my NHS trust fix the treadmill. I wonder if I can get a test elsewhere.