Any tricks for combatting PVC's ?

[Mgs333]

I have a long standing battle with PVC'S/ ECTOPIC BEATS and have had every test know to man. I only get them at nightime but they have been a constant problem for 5 years. Last week my consultant rang me to say that he had decided to close my file as they can't do anymore except just to recommend keep talkng my beta blockers/statins and aspirin and has put me down as having "benign eptopic beats"............well, I suppose thats it then ! what can I do ?! I still suffer every night and my meds seem to do nothing, so does anybody have any tips or tricks to combat this situation ? Thanks folks and Merry Christmas..

[Brandibell]

Hi, your heartbeat slows down at night and alot of people have etopic beats but don't feel it. I feel mine. I also have faulty electrics LBBB. Most of them are harmless it is only when our HR stays on either a high beat such as 150+ or a really low beat under 40 is when their is cause for concern along with chest pain, dizziness etc. I would question why he is keeping you on heart related tablets if there is no issues with your heart. Take care

[Mgs333 in reply to Brandibell]

Thanks...I feel my eptopics very hard during the night, like thuds in the chest...so my sleep patterns are terrible....The meds Bisoprolol/Atorvastatin and Asprin are all preventative which I understand......never had a problem with HR, its about 65 during the day and 50 during the night.

[Cliff_G]

Hi Mgs, getting ectopics at night is a classic symptom of a vagally-driven arrhythmia. The vagus is the cranial nerve which wanders through the body and connects a number of things, including the heart and the gut. It will cause the heart to slow down at night, which means there is more time between beats for errant impulses from elsewhere in the heart to fire, which causes the ectopic beat. It is known that when you have full-blown A-Fib which is vagally driven then beta blockers (which slow the heart down) will make it more likely that the AF will be triggered. From my own experience of ectopics (post-ablation and mostly NSR) I know that beta blockers also make my ectopics worse. I would strongly suspect this is the case with you. If you're actually in a fast rhythm, beta blockers are indeed sometimes necessary to slow an excessive rate, but beta blockers causing the worsening of ectopics when in an otherwise normal rhythm is often seen as unimportant - though clearly for you (and me) bad ectopics are a real pain, especially when they stop you sleeping.

I would see with your doctors if you can cut down or even stop the beta blockers for a while to see the effect. It may take weeks to show as once the heart is irritable it can take a while to settle down.

A couple of other things - do you get ectopics when you get indigestion? Eating large meals late in the evening generally doesn't help, if you are prone to ectopics. Smaller regular meals can help (I find I need to eat little but often). Also, you could try magnesium. I take 200 mg of magnesium citrate (don't use magnesium oxide) twice a day and my ectopics certainly are less now than before. Again, it will take a month or two for the heart cells to make good use of the extra magnesium. It is also necessary to have adequate potassium levels, but this is a standard test any doctor will do and if you've not been told to supplement potassium, your potassium levels will probably be fine. They tend not to check magnesium though.

Finally, check Dr Sanjay Gupta's (York Cardiology) Youtube videos on ectopics and magnesium

[Mgs333 in reply to Cliff_G]

Thanks very much for your input, yes it wouldn't surprise me if my meds were making my situation worse, the docs just seem to be blinkered when it comes to to prescribing beta blockers and such. I know about the vagel nerve because I follow Dr Gupta and in fact have had several personal telephone comsultations with him (not cheap), but still have the same problem.....Its all a bit of a worry with the docs saying they don't know why the PVC'S only happen when I am lying down and that they can do no more ! ..... thanks anyway.