Help!! Daily Erratic PVC's (no specific pattern)

[sinead_]

Hi All,

It's been a long time since I posted here... my horrible PVC's have waxed & waned, over the past 8 years, but they are now back with a vengeance. It's been MONTHS. This forum was a Godsend to me years ago when I first started suffering these awful skipped beats... I'm hoping to see some familiar names & also meet some new friends.

I haven't been evaluated re: my heart for probably 7 years now. I have tried to learn to live with this BS.. but admit, I've NEVER gotten used to it. It keeps me from traveling & doing so much in life. I am 40 years old now & have also been dx'd with Fibromyalgia, Anxiety, IC, Migraines, etc etc... fun stuff. It's been a rough decade.

I'm wondering if you guys think I need to be re-evaluated. Back when this started, I had a "perfect" Echo done, 3 different monitors worn for varying lengths of time, showing "significant episodes of PVC's". It was just bigeminy back then & random skips. I was told this was all benign & to ignore it :/

I'm writing because things are a bit different now....

1) My skipped beats are now in a *Totally Random* order (there is no specific pattern, ie. bigeminy, trigeminy).

**My heart will skip every 2nd beat for a bit, then PAUSE, then beat normal for a few beats, then skip again, then normal for a few... then every 3rd... then sixth, then stop, roll over... it's terrifying & feels like I cannot breathe, thumping... I feel panicked & my poor husband feels helpless. If it was a predictable rhythm... I *might* be able to at least get used to it! But, it is SO erratic that trying to take my pulse for just ONE MINUTE is sometimes Impossible with all the stopping & starting... it feels crazy. I had a nurse take my pulse once when it was doing this (it rarely happens AT the doctors office of course!).... she looked at me & asked... "are you ok?"... she couldn't get an accurate read on my pulse because it was quote: "all over the place". THEN she told me she'd never seen "this" before... I asked how long she'd been a nurse... & she said 25 YEARS!

Yeah... well that completely freaked me out.

2) I Cannot lay on my left side... my heart goes crazy if I even try. This makes bedtime a nightmare & the anticipatory anxiety, over laying down to sleep... is just awful.

3) My heart skips WAY more at night & especially around bedtime. This *****, because you're so exhausted & you cannot lay down, rest, fall asleep because your heart is acting psycho! I usually have to sit up & move around, to make it even calm down a little bit. Sometimes I cry myself to sleep & cannot believe, or remember how I even fell asleep, it was so bad.

4) My doctor gave me a paper to take to a clinic, that will monitor my heart if it ever "starts skipping a lot & is beating very fast" because its he says that's dangerous. But the thing is... my heart RARLEY races... usually it is skipping  erratically at prolly 60-80 bpm... so when I try to take my pulse, I can only feel 30-40 beats & its VERY hard to count them... because they are .... He seems unconcerned, since it's not "racing"... but he's a GP, not a cardiologist.

5) I've heard that having more than one PVC in a row can cause sudden death, heart attack. This totally freaks me out because when my heartbeat is so erratic... I can't tell if this is happening! Is this a concern for me?

Sorry for the long winded post, but I am wondering... should I get another ECHO done (it's been 7 years, but was perfect then).. should I go thru all the event monitoring, all over again as well? My blood pressure has been tested as high in the office, but after chilling out a little, when he retakes it... it's normal.

I have become very anxious with all these chronic pain & health issues. I haven't done any investigating into my heart because they told me it was perfect years ago, everything was benign, ignore it, blah blah blah... but is it time to have another look? I try to avoid hospitals, doctors, tests, etc... its soooooo anxiety producing.

My doctor gave me beta blockers but I've never tried them, I'm scared to. I take klonopin when anxious.

I try to tell myself...even though my skippy heart is driving me nuts, it HAS been 7-8 years... & I AM still alive! Do you guys think that I need to be looked at again?

Funny how my heartbeat has been normal ALL day today... but tonight... I DREAD it :(

Has anyone else experienced Erratic PVC's that are NOT in any specific pattern?

Please share any/all of your experiences, opinions & reassurances... I need them really badly. I'm so tired of worrying I'm about to die. My poor husband feels so bad for me. This place has always made me feel better.

Thanks for reading.

[itdood]

" having more than one PVC in a row can cause sudden death"

There is a bunch of classifications for this, many different types to choose from.  That broad of a statement isn't true!

Yes, I had a major outbreak back in 2009 when I was 42 for PVCs.  always had outbreaks here and there, which were all isolated random PVCs (I never got PVCs in patterns).  Then I was getting 6,000 PVCs per day and I FELT EVERY ONE OF THEM.  They would come in storms, usually during the same time of day.  The worst of which usually started at 2:30 am.  This went on for about 10 month.

I don't know how I made it through.  I'm 47 now.

I also sought treatment for the depression and anxiety that accompanied this.

[pacperson]

1) I don't know if totally random pvc's are worse than bigenimy or trigenimy. I had my first sustained bigenimy this evening. Pretty scary s**t !

2&3) I can sympathize with the "cannot lay on my left side" thing too. I used to always be pvc-free in bed, now mine get worse at bedtime, and are much more noticeable when laying on my left side. I try to sleep on my back. Bedtime *****. I have always been a light sleeper and unable to sleep through the night, but now it's just ridiculous. I take zopiclone often, and am fortunate that I don't have to wake up early for work.

4) I too got a standing order requisition from my EP for a echocardiogram in case I go in to tachy or notice my heart doing new funky stuff. And ya, good luck trying to get an accurate HR with frequent pvc's. If your heart would beat normal for 5 seconds, you could count the beats and multiply by 12 :)  I know...not funny.

5) As for  more than one pvc in a row causing death. Maybe, but my heart has been playing that game almost daily for 7 years now and I'm still here.
I do go pre-syncope and feel like I'm about to black out when it happens. Haven't hit the ground YET though.

So, I hope this reassures you a little. You have reassured me some too, as I can relate to most of what you describe. Sometimes this condition terrifies me and really gets me down. Once in awhile I am able to remind myself of what the doctors say (benign) and feel some relief, but unfortunately not often.
Be well.

[cambo11]

I would start all over with the test and monitoring just to be safe. Yes.....nighttime is absolute MURDER, which is new for me since beginning Sotalol for an Afib attack out of nowhere. Never had problems with increased PVC's at night (28-30 yrs free of V-Tach) but now I hate bedtime. Issues with Lying on my left side however has always been the case and no big issue.

Try to record as much as your heart allows ( we have all been there....or there now) and continue to be proactive with your care. Our bodies change but our hearts are strong resilient muscles! I have faith you'll be ok just stay on top of it with a good cardiologist.

[lou4466]

If this helps I have just spent another night awake with every 10 beats being an ectopic, my heart is all over the place. Went to a and e but they can't do anything . Saw cardio who has put me on list for ablation, I know how you feel it is such a horrible thing but I have had it for years although it has got worse recently. I would go back and get checked for peace of mind , take care

[Lebroyalz24]

I have had svt since 15, had ablation procedure at 29 after years of suffering supruse episodes and numerous ER visits to stop them. SVT is under control now but still get the PVC's, all you mentioned above are very true, the sleeping on side, during bedtime and so on.
Mine come from no where, I might be having an amazing week or day and then boom the darn thing starts. So we all have same issues and we all know how it has effected our lives, from personal to travel to work and so on.
Below are things I do to minimize and my meds,
I visit my doctors every couple of months but talk to them all monthly of all my tests and progress, I have a cardiologist and  2 ept docs, I'm not rich but middle class, I spent years fighting my insurance and HMO to get to where I am with many visits and approved tests, it's taken years from my life and countless hours away from work in my days but  we are left with no choice when living life with PVC's. I'm on 100mg metoprolol generic for toprol, baby aspirin 81 mg and 250 mg magnesium. I'm 38 yrs old male and yes the metoprolol just slows you down and I'm always tired, but u learn to live and deal with it. I avoid alcohol as much as I can, wines both white and red limit to a glass only, all other alcoholic bevs to a limit and yes soon I drink I feel the elevated heart rate and when lay down to sleep the PVC's start. Caffeine I haven't touched in over 20 years, prolly chocolate and hot chocolate drinks with low caffeine is all I have had, all my sodas are caffeine free so are all my teas, also be aware just because the tea boxes at market say decaf doesn't mean no caffeine, check labels they usually have 5 percent or more so if u are as sensitive as me, do avoid. I try to get as much sleep as possible, it does help, once I get my episodes or runs of PVC's I know I'm set for that week, I cancel meetings if I'm really bad or if ok just deal with it, breath more try to calm myself down, I'm a pretty high strung guy so I tend to be calmer and try to be more relaxed during PVC's mode days:)))
What has really really helped me on nights I can't sleep, and I also in addition suffer from insomnia, great news for me, so on my bad PVC nights I take Xanax or Ativan which are prescribed by my docs, I'm not on them for daily use even though doctors ask me to for a week to get rid of my ""anxiety"" that they so call, I usually tell all docs that I wonder what they would do or feel like if they had what we have, its misery more like anxiety and we just want it to go away. Xanax on mild nights relaxs me, I take .5 mg which is a low dose, that does me good, Ativan just knocks me out which I only take on bad nights, again I take none of these on daily basis, only when I'm having PVC days and strictly on those nights only, not during day of PVC's or on normal days, only strictly on PVC nights to help me sleep, period.
Daily life, I eat much healthier and light food much as I can, I eat in smaller portions just more frequently a bite here and there, avoid big eats all in one seating, avoid buffets, wasn't meant for us, if I have to go because of group or in vegas with friends or family, just control yourself and remember what you will have to deal with later. Don't eat after 7-8pm, I have noticed that going to bed with a full stomach just triggers PVC's more and also elevates my heart rate, I sonetimes wake up in middle of night with rapid runs of my heart. Drink chamomile or mint tea after meals or before and during course of day, they are both CAFFEINE FREE, and it does help you feel better and fresh.
Overall we all know how erratic these annoying PVC's are, we have sometimes learned to live and deal with them, meeting ppl on these forums have helped me a lot and I hope my story helps you all to. Try to be less stressed, I know it's hard, I'm a business owner and entrepreneur so its very hard for me, sleep more, eat less at one time, drink caffeine free teas, avoid caffeine completely, minimize or avoid alcohol, no smoking period, and no extra curricular drugs. Take meds docs prescribe it does help, don't be naive do your research and do question your docs on those meds as everyone should and has the right to, but after u have and are reassured so give them a try, I have tested all types meds, we all react different to certain meds so it's honestly a trail for you personally, a med that works for me might not work for you or him or her and vice versa, but honestly I don't know how worse my daily life would be without the help of my med. I hope to one day be med and PVC's free and get a better diagnosis and narrow down the cause but till then wish you all and I a smoother and easier day with our condition.

Cheers to you all.

Harry