I'm having a bad morning for ectopics with several spells of bursts lasting a few minutes with occasional ones in between. Does anyone know when/ if it become significant and cause for immediate concern as opposed to being disconcerting and worrying? I'm taking Bisoprolol 1.25mg for POTS and palpitations, and recently restarted letrozole (for breast cancer) after a 6 week break to see if the joint pains would improve.
TIA
Hi, I sympathise. My worst day was when I had 12 hours of ectopics and I was getting between 5 and 30 a minute. Had we not been in lockdown I would have gone to A&E. When I saw the cardiologist he was unconcerned and said that, providing I was not breathless or having chest pains, I could safely ignore them (only wish I could). He told me it would only be if they went on at that level for a few weeks that they would want to ensure it was not harming the ventricle. Having said that, you should probably get advice about your particular situation from your doctor or 111. Good luck.
Thanks Thatwasunexpected. It's the 3rd morning this week it has happened but they stopped again by lunchtime as before so, in the absence of anything else out of the ordinary, I've decided to leave it until Monday and then go for the GP route - or at least try to!
Have you managed to record any of these "runs" on a holter/Kardia etc ? NSVT (Non Sustained VT) is VT for less than 30 seconds, anything over is sustained. NSVT is generally thought of as less of a concern, although it can be a serious issue. More than three PVC's in a row is counted as NSVT.
Also have you had any tests to see if your heart is structurally normal? In a normally structural heart, cardiologists tend to be less concerned, although any runs should of course be investigated.
From personal experience, I have had a 10 beat NSVT recorded and after further investigation (angiogram/echo etc) I have no structural issues and my EP seemed to be not too bothered, its electrical rather than plumbing. However any runs/PVC's that I do get are pretty uncomfortable and certainly bother me, but the doctors seem pretty OK about it all. I get hundreds of PVC's and couplets on most days as well.
The short answer is best to get it checked and if you have any recordings send them to the doctor.
There is a great Facebook group. NSVT Support group if you want to talk more to others who have it, I have found it useful as not too many on here have experienced it.
All the best.
Thanks Thecyclist. Yes I have a trace of some of it on my Kardia. I tried to post a photo of the trace but failed - too big! I have 1 30 sec trace completely made up of alternating normal and PVC beats. Does that amount to VT or is it bigemini? I had a an echo done 2 1/2 years ago prior to surgerywhich was OK and a 24hour holter in Sep 22 but typically that was on a good day with a PVC load <1%. I agree - it is certainly very unpleasant. I will send/ take it to the GP. In the meantime I'll look into the facebook group. Thanks again
Will do - thanks again
Sounds like Bigeminy or possibly trigeminy, NSVT/VT is always consecutive beats of more than three. They are also always broad complex. The QRS (the big spike) on the ECG is also wider than a normal beat, so more than 120ms, you can see this as soon as you look at the trace.
I sympathise greatly , they are a a daily occurrence for me and I hate them. I’m on 5mg of Bisoprolol and doesn’t make any of difference, was on 10mg but my HR was dropping dangerously low during sleep, less than 40bpm. I seem to be stuck with them. Food is a big trigger for me as is stress.
Hope you get some insight from the doctor on Monday! I’ll say Hi on the Facebook group if you post !
Tried a different approach to posting a copy of one of the bursts of PVCs - hopeflly successful this time!
I am definitely no expert so take this as you will, but looks like trigeminy, i.e. a PVC followed by two normal beats, the PVC's are the big spikes followed by the dipping ST interval, QRS of the PVC much wider than the sinus beat. Doesn't look like NSVT in that none of the PVC's are consecutive. I am sure that they felt awful though. 😟
Looking at the trace again in the light of people's comments and the internet(!) I agree that seems likely. So no need to panic - just yet at least... Try to see GP tomorrow. Thanks again
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