Sudden development of persistent PVCs

[wychwood58]

I am 66 and fit for my age but was recently diagnosed with gout. I live a healthy lifestyle so the gout is a suprise! I was put on Allopurinol and after 3 weeks on this drug woke experiencing PVCs (ectopic beats). They are frequent (averaging 3-4 per minute) and persistent now for 4 days. I feel very tired and if the ectopics come in quick succession I feel dizzy. My resting HR is low (55) and gentle exercise raising the rate to 80 seems to "cure" the ectopics - or at least the sensation. I have contacted my GP surgery but there are no available appointments. I will get a phone call today. There seems to be no association between the drug Allopurinol and arthythmias but that is the only thing that has changed.

So when do PVCs constitue a real problem? To warrant a trip to A&E as GP surgery is unavailable. Should I just try to ignore them even though I am feeling washed out?

It is depressing that GPs are no longer "reachable".

[Happyrosie]

if you have a phonecall from the doc today then that’s an excellent result!

I do think this is one for the professionals, though. Your doc’s group of surgeries probably employs pharmacists and they would throw some light on this especially as they will have access to your medical records. Your practice website should have details on them and on how to contact them - probably via the receptionist.

[nextadventure]

The frequency of these ectopic beats with the fact they are symptomatic and of new onset means you need to be seen asap. I presume you can't know if they are ventricular or atrial origin. You need an ECG and follow up. If you can't see the GP today, I would recommend going to an ED. I presume you're not taking anything else such as decongestant with ephedrine in it. As you've probably read, exercise does tend to reduce ectopics. All the best

[Brainboxes]

Several counties in the UK, the NHS now offer a walk in ECG service, although you need to be referred by your GP so it may be worth asking. You just turn up the to hospital department anytime and they'll do a quick ECG and they'll examine to see if there is anything that needs emergency treatment or analysis.

After that you'll then likely get put on a NHS waiting list for a cardiologist which in my experience and reading some of the posts on here is extremely long (several months for urgent, much longer for non urgent)

If you are experiencing ectopic beats for the first time then they may want to do an echocardiogram to check for a structural normal heart. However i was told it would be 9-12 months for mine (although you can ask to go on a cancellation list in some cases)

I ended up paying private. It was £600 for echocardiogram, another ECG, and appointment with a cardiologist. I got all results, consultancy and on medication within 3 days. Its well worth it if you are lucky enough to afford it.

[devonian186]

As far as I can see that drug can cause a variety of side effects relating to the heart although not specifically ectopics. Can I suggest you actually write down the questions you want answers to and get back here after you have spoken to your GP?

It seems a bit of coincidence they should have started after taking the drug. Is there anything you can change in your lifestyle to reduce the gout?

[mozart27]

You could try phoning 111. At the age of 74 nearly, I had my first attack of gout a couple of weeks ago and phoned 111 at about 4.00 am in desperation for advice. They sent a message to my surgery who phoned me at 8.00 am and I had a face to face appointment at 9.00 am with tablets prescribed (colchicine) which dealt with the attack. I have blood tests arranged for next week, presumably, to test uric acid in order to see if I should be taking allopurinol. By the way, were you prescribed colchicine when first prescribed allopurinol? I understand that there is an increased risk of attacks of gout when you start on this medicine so a maintenance dose of colchicine is given for a while as well.

[DinoCat]

Might help to make a call to one of the BHF nurses? Maybe also keep a 'diary' of occurrences & whether there might be any common patterns or triggers - e.g., food/alcohol/caffeine- related, exercise etc? Suspect it'll need a specialist referral on from the GP. They may initially need 24 hr (or 7-day) Holter monitoring to verify the nature & frequency of the ectopics, which in turn will suggest what type of treatment is advised. All this will take some time on the NHS, so seeking Private 'shortcuts' might be worth considering if affordable? There is a 6-lead Kardia domestic ECG machine on the market (c£100) where one can capture readings when symptoms occur & for a supplementary subscription one can send readings to a cardiologist for interpretation. There are also some recognised breathing exercises which many people find helpful in relieving the symptoms. Good luck!

[Grannysue12]

Hello 😊, I had suffered from the occasional ectopic for years but 6 months ago they became continuous. Almost 24/7 . They are very scary and unpleasant, I can feel them banging away and nighttime is terrible. Several trips to A&E three times via ambulance and each time they said ectopics and not to worry. After a very severe run of them the GP sent me in and I had a contrast CT scan that showed slight Left sided enlargement and a minimal amount of fluid but again nothing to worry about 🤷‍♀️, easier said then done. Fast forward to now and because they have a significant effect on my day to day life they have put me on Bisoprolol, I’ve had a 24 hour tracing and have a referral to a Cardiologist in November. If I move around I notice them less but they are still there. I would say persevere with getting seen by a Cardiologist, they can rule out any other problems that may be going on but in my case my heart has always been healthy, always good B/P, cholesterol etc and although overweight I’ve always lead a healthy , active life. Sadly for some of us ectopics are something we have to learn to live with. Let us all know how you get on and good luck.

[Sambobs17]

hello there wychwood so sorry your going through this I absolutely feel for you it’s the pits, I’ve replied to a couple of people on this forum as I’m going through exactly the same problem with ectopics, I’ve dropped off a 24hr heart monitor this morning, praying it won’t be ages before somebody looks at it - I’ve been here before with this problem back in 2021 ecgs holter monitors echo eventually they went away, echo showed mild LVH - I am on meds but think something needs changing - I’m like granny sue 24/7 sorry sue your going through this!all I can say thank god for my husband who is doing his best to reassure me who incidentally has a pacemaker so as the saying goes ‘he’s been there got the tshirt’ I have been to A&E as this has gone on for 9 weeks I had twinges in my chest which made me go the hospital had a trop test that was fine so now just left the same as everybody else waiting for answers - sending best wishes to everybody suffering these awful heart issues ❤️xx