Daily PVCs

[Majormummy]

I am 70, fit and - up till now - healthy!

In November I started to get very uncomfortable palpitations. I experienced these on a routine GP check up and they gave an ECG, which was fine. The GP suspected ectopic beats and said nothing to worry about. 2 visits to A & E later - one for wild palpiations and one for prolonged tachycardia - yielded more normal ECGs and bloods. However, in the meantime I had bought a Kardio mobile which showed PVCs regularly throughout the day - every day. The consultant on my last visit did detect the irregular rythym but, again, said nothing to worry about. I have had 24hr monitoring - some increased frequencyof ectopic beats but "no significant pathological rhythms seen". I am still having PVCs daily; sometimes with a "thump" and a drop in HR to 34, then back up to over 80 (resting). My GP says there is an 18 week minimum waiting for a cardio appt; she says they may go away ( not so far) that there doesn't seem to be any significant risk and the cause is unknown. Obvioulsy they are significant to me! I've given up caffeine and cut alcohol to a minimum. Does anyone else have a similar experience and/or advice ?

[devonian186]

You are able to pin this to November. Are you able to be more specific? Its worth trying to backtrack and see if anything changed around that time.

Emotional stress? New diet? Moving house? New phone/change of position of your server? New cleaning fluids? New medications?

Its worth trying to reconstruct your life to when the changes occurred -no matter how apparently trivial-before they recede into the depths of time.

[fannief]

I can relate to exactly what you have posted as I also have very similar symptoms. Currently being investigated. Was investigated for similar in 2020 and cardiac consultant put me on beta blockers which made no difference and gave me brain fog so she switched to blood pressure meds which also made no difference. At the time I had echocardiogram, ecg and mri of the heart and all looked normal and she diagnosed ectopic beats that I shouldn’t worry about, however, now, 4 years later, they have got more frequent, bigger, and can be squeezy feeling. So GP has done 24 hour monitor which picked up more abnormal runs of beats than I was actually feeling so she will do a 5 day monitor next. She thinks it could be a pacing issue and will determine what to do next after she sees the results of the 5 day monitor. I am 61 and fit ( lots of walking and running) and it doesn’t seem to affect that. But it does give me anxiety. Even if they tell me it is nothing to worry about, it is still not normal and quite alarming when it happens, which I think can make it worse.

[Blackwolf_7619]

This happened to me. Out of nowhere, I started getting PVCs all day, every day for weeks at a time. The longest was 10 weeks, then 8 weeks then 5 weeks. Literally all day, every day. No ibe believed me until I too bought a Kardia and recorded my own PVCs and it was a cardiologist that you get with the 6L Kardia that diagnosed me with ventricular bigeminy and it is life changing. I was ready to not carry on living anymore after a couple of weeks, but they stopped as soon as they started, before they started again. Not had them in a while now (knock on wood!) But it could come back at any time...

I decided to book 2 echocardiograms a year, 6 months apart but privately.

[Choccie55]

Heart arrhythmias are notoriously difficult to catch on ECG and diagnose. I had ectopics then flutters for years. Finally diagnosed with SVT - supra ventricular tachycardia. If possible request a 24/48 hour ECG or perhaps look into investing in your own device. Beta blockers can help with ectopics if they become frequent and troublesome. I’m in Bisoprolol and more recently Flecainide which keeps things under control.

[honeybubs]

I had too many ectopics, past out after a hot bath, taken by ambulance and wired up, in hospital for a week, 34,000 extra ectopics a day are not good. Diagnosed with Bigeminy arrhythmia and also had Myopericarditis. I recovered with lots of rest and the heart inflammation went down but took a few months. Cardiologist said I had got to have a CRT-D resynchronisation device fitted. My Ejection Fraction was 32. After nearly 2 years I feel a lot better and my Ejection Fraction is now at 49 which is good. Yes I still get tired sometimes but not breathless and I have low blood pressure still but not as dizzy as I was. Everyone is different but I was told in the beginning that my ectopics were ok and it was because of anxiety. I think that too many ectopics though are not good and need addressing. I went private in the end so I could speak to an actual cardiologist. It’s normal to have anxiety when you aren’t well. If you can go private I would recommend it to get some answers. This is what happened to me everyone is different. Good luck.