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How do you know when too many PVC/PAC 's are harmfull to the heart?

On my really bad days I figure I may have anywhere from 7000 to 10000 skipped beats a day. Granted I go through bad cycles so thankfully this isn't a constant for me. If my heart has check out fine(blood work, strees test, echo, etc). would this number eventually damage my heart. I'm 35 male with 2 small kids so I want to know my treatment options if these PAC/PVC are hurting my heart. I guess I can live with this condition if I truly know it's not gonna kill me. It just doesn't feel right when the heart is behaving this way. I really wish they could find a cause of ectopics in people with an otherwise healthy heart.
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967168 tn?1477584489
Madge270 - I totally missed the 48 hours part! woops :)  cutting out coffee is having it's effects on me lol

That makes alot more sense and would be about 97,500 hb/24 hrs - and 8500 pvc's roughly per 24/hr, which is about 9% of your total hb.

I feel ya with the exercise part.  I went from walking once or twice a day and running 3-5 days a week along with walking; to barely being able to do my 5min stress test, in a very short period of time. Work, kids, family friends etc on top of that and if I got tired just needed a nap and I was ok.

I'm 42 and feel like I'm 90 even with meds & a pacemaker/icd - I still have some pvc's but my pm converts them before they act up and cause me problems.

It's always best imo to err on the side of caution with testing; just to make sure and rule out things; because you just never know.
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Avatar universal
Lisa,

One doctor did tell me that 195,000 beats over 48 hours was about normal, since I was running up and down stairs and doing yardwork the second day, when my heart rate was higher.

Thanks for telling me about the % being important. As for exercise, I find that while the PVCs lessen or go away when my pulse goes up, I get much more fatigued after even mild exercise. I often need a nap after just a mile walk at a normal pace. That never used to happen.

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967168 tn?1477584489
Yeah pvc's are mystifying - I'm still trying to understand how I went from "normal" to over 50,000 and no doctor picked it up even though I had been to a doctor previously for CP & sob.  Do dr's just ignore them or think if we don't complain alot they aren't a problem?

Did your dr say anything to you about 195,000 HB in a 24/hr period? that averages out to 135 hb per min which is high (60 -100 hbpm is normal) - the average HB is 100,000 in a 24/hr period.  If you do have 195,000 HB I'd ask questions, but that's just my opinion, others may not.

I think how I was told was it was the % of your HR divided by the # of your pvc's that may determine damage.  For example 195,000/24 hrs divided by 17,000 pvc's = 9%
Anything over 20% of your total HB per day they tend to worry about cardiomyopathy happening, but other things may be taken into account also.

There are several articles on here and other places that show research on pvc's at lower heart rates seem to be felt more and exercise was supposed to help.  That wasn't the case for me - mine were prevelant when my HR was higher, activity & exercise.
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Avatar universal
I was just diagnosed with PVCs in July of this year, after wearing a holter monitor for 48 hours. During the two days I wore the monitor, I had 17,000 PVCs out of 195,000 heartbeats during that time.   What was mystifying to me about this was that I'd had a treadmill stress test inFebruary and there were absolutely no PVCs at all. None!

I was scared about the PVCs, but two different doctors told me that about 8000+ PVCs a day would not shorten my life or cause trouble, because my echocardiogram showed that my heart was structurally normal. I was also told that, since I didn't feel them much of the time, I didn't need to use a beta blocker if I didn't want to. (I've had bad luck with them in the past when trying them for headaches. My pulse and BP dropped so low that I couldn't function at work.) So, for now I'm not taking them. I am taking magnesium and eating smaller meals. It seems that reflux and the gas/bloating of irritable bowel syndrome aggravate the PVCs. Also, they tend to lessen or go  away  when I get my pulse up to about 85 or so. When my pulse is slower, I have more PVCs. Very strange.

Just wanted you to know that although I seem to get tired more easily when exercising, and although I do get a tickly cough whe the PVCs start sometimes, I'm doing okay and the doctors said not to worry. So, I try  not to and just get on with things. I'm 67 and dealing with sinus and allergies a lot of the time, so that might be why I don't have as much energy either.

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967168 tn?1477584489
(PVC) Premature Ventricular Contractions or (PAC) Premature Atrial Contractions; sometimes I've seen them called ectopic beats and a couple of other things - happens when the cells begin to fire before they're supposed to.  Skipping hearts [dot] [com] has some great info on their heart terms glossary explaining what most things are in plain english :)

I'm with Razzi00; even with the enormous amount of PVC's and PAC's; I was having (bigeminy, trigeminy, couplets, triplets, salvo's) you have to live life and not let these things control yours.  

I only went to the ER 1 time with mine and doctors couldn't believe I didn't stay camped out there.  I didn't let them bother me too much and found ways to cope with what I was feeling at the time.

Sometimes I did feel like I was overwhelmed with them every third beat every day, but I let myself feel bad about them, then just kick myself in the butt and get over it and get on with the things I wanted or needed to do.

Lifestyle changes helps some people, meds help some, and some nothing but surgery can help.  Try and find a doctor you have a good relationship with and trust, then go with what they recommend and what you feel is right for you.
Helpful - 0
713386 tn?1235951442
I was just wondering if anyone could explain to me what PVC's & PAC's are???
I have been having heart spasm symptoms for as long as i can rem and recently have got worse i have been under the cardiologist and everything for scan, 24hr ecg's etc and have been told it's nothing serious or harmful but when ever i have a ecg i never seem to get one so I'm not convinced as when i get these horried sensations i feel like my heart is going into spasm for a split sec and then it almost feels like it gets stuck and i go all dizzy then it kicks back in again i fear i'll drop dead i have lived with this fear for so long and it's effecting my life i live in constant fear i'll get one or i'll die, i also have a very bad anxiety disorder and this makes it worse because of the fear. I live in fear i am so afraid i just wish the doctor could feel this sensation what i get it sooo dont feel like it's harmless.
He said its just eptopic beats that are common but most people dont feel them. I always have a fast heart rate and low blood pressure too and always get told i am thin and its prob down to anxiety and being slight but i am not under weight.
Any clues or advice guys
please help i am so scared lol x Lee-Anne
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Avatar universal
Am writing this to answer your question on how many PVC's/ PACS are harmfull, and the answer is I don't know ...lol, and the truth is it varies from person to person as to the amount of harm they are doing. I will tell tell you this , I have suffered with them on and off for about 25 years now, and for myself I had to change my whole attitude, let me explain...... When I first got them, my holter monitor tests showed about 3500 per day, and upon further testing , my heart appeared okay in size and structure. There seemed to be no specfic reason I was getting them, and some times I would go long periods of time with out them at all. Well about a year ago the came back with more vengence than ever, and holter monitor revealed around 7000 per day, not enough they said for amblation, but enough to try beta blockers. Well i could not tolerate beta blockers, and got off them, but I did try magnesium, which I still use, and also despite the fear of going to the gym, because i thought it would "trigger a cardiac event", I went anyway and lost 60 lbs, but mainly i was determined to not let these PVC's rule my life. I know longer feel the need to check my pulse every time I feel a flutter, and i determined to enjoy life and not let it limit me. Will these PVC's damage my heart...well perhaps.......will it cause me to go into cardiac arrest some day, yes it might, but I decided to live and enjoy rather than let fear be my staple. We are all going to die of something, and for me I choose to live life to the fullest till then.
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967168 tn?1477584489
From what my EP told me, he won't even think about treatment unless you're having 6,000-8,000 on a daily basis, and then it depends on the circumstances, but I've read others who dr's have prescribed meds for less.

I believe it was a 20% of your total heartbeats for damage to occur...I'm trying to remember.  I had over 54,000 pvc's constantly on a daily basis (sometimes more) and my EF went from 55% to 45% in about 6 weeks time, so it can definitely happen.  

What % or magic number that causes it to change I think is unsure - there's a lot of other variables that come into play for them to say ok at 50,000 pvc's this will happen, every person is different and handles things differently.

It might be good to get your test results, go over them and note all questions and ask your cardiologist or EP.  At least that may ease your mind some.

I remember asking my EP; will my heart be damaged from the rate of pvc's I'm having or can I die from them?  He said not likely that I would die from it, but I would develop cardiomyopathy in a very short period of time.

It turned out I did develop cardiomyopathy and I had malignant pvc's that triggered vfib episodes (3) during surgery and ended up with a pacemaker/icd implanted.
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