How many ectopics are too many?

[lilkit]

During the time I wore a 24-hour holter monitor, I averaged 175 ventricular ectopics or PVC's per hour with a peak on two occasions of 400 per hour. Yet the cardiologist says they are benign, I had an echo and it showed a normal, strong heart. I don't get it.

[Breaking_heisenberg]

I always seem to get the "normal strong heart". So whats going on then???? I get it trust me.

[Vlasis]

Hi all, you will find great deviation  among the responses you get from doctors and specialist electrophysiologists. Here’s some common ground.
If you get occasional ectopics you are ok and athletes or people in high stress get them all the time. Occasional ectopics are the ones that happen once or twice during the day and last a few minutes. They usually feel like you re skipping every 5th beat: it’s thump, thump, thump, thump……………….thump, thump, thump, thump……………..
If they go away on their own you after 5 to 10mins you are 100% normal. People get them when dehydrated, over caffeinated, or low on magnesium and electrolytes.
Persistent ectopics indicate a heart condition, but not necessarily a serious one. Persistent ectopics can last an hour or two. If you get persistent your first steps are:
1. But the latest series Apple Watch with the ECG function. The watch records ECGs whoever you ask it. Cardiologists these days are helped by this even though it’s a single lead ECG.
2. Book an appointment with a cardiologist that is a  Electrophysiologist. Get a proper ECG and (this is important) an Echodiagram. The Echo will show structural deficiencies if present and with persistent ectopics, there usually are. ECG does reflect structural issues if you can read it, but the echo will make it visually clear.
3. Ask your cardiologist about Beta Blockers and Calcium Channel Blockers. It is this medication THAT WILL GIVE YOU BACK YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CONFIDENCE. Please note that doctors have a process where they start you at low doses and if they don’t stop the symptoms they bump up the dosage. This can take a whole month of expensive doc visits and ectopic events that will break your spirit down. Ask your Doc to start you up with a strong dosage. Really persistent ectopic patients (like myself) found peace with a combo prescription of half Beta Blocker and half Channel Blocker daily dosage. That’s 8mgrs of Bisoprolol and 120mgrs of Verapamil.
These drugs have little side effects and are very safe. They reduce the load on your heart, reduce the beats per min, lower your blood pressure, open up your vessels, your heart loves them.
So to wrap this one up, there are ways to get your life and confidence back.
Hope I helped another soul

[Tarantulagirl]

Anything greater than 76 beats per day apparently.

[Losingmymind47]

Wrong - I know what study you are talking about and that was relating to PACs and overall health risk not any clinical guidance as to how to proceed. No doctor is going to do anything about 76 PACs - all it means is you are likely less healthy than someone with less than 76 for any number of possible reasons.

PVCs don't rewire your heart for atrial fibrillation - as PVCs have nothing to do with the atria. PVCs in high volumes can slowly damage the left ventricle, you are thinking of two separate things. The number relating to PVCs is normally 10-20k.

[Madge270]

I get about 8500 PVCs a day on average, and I do get tired. Although at 67 I suppose I would tire more anyway. I do know that if I go for walks I  need a long nap afterwards. And with a bad knee I can't exercise a lot anyway.  My heart is structurally fine, but I do wonder what the future holds.

[Tarantulagirl]

You need to be examined. That many beats could damage your heart and/or re-wire it for atrial fibrillations in the near future.

[SkipBeatSkip]

I am glad you asked this question as I have been wondering the same thing as of late. I have had PAC/PVC's for many years I first started feeling them back in 1999. Since that time I have had them daily everyday a typical day I have 2-3 per minute sometimes a lot more very occasionaly they are every 3rd or 4th beat.

I can't stress this enough very very very rarely do they let up and by 'let up' I mean only feeling there presence a few times a day (a very rare occurence) although if I take my pulse I can usually catch a few in the space of any given minute of the day.

I've only been browsing these boards for a few hours but haven't really come across a post (yet) where someone has had them for years and gets the 'skips' every minute of every day for years on end.

I have several worries at the moment that I am trying to research and present my case for further evaluation because I feel worn out all the time and these things have totally taken over my life at the moment. My ideal would be to see an EP if possible that can provoke the really bad arryhthmia's that scare the hell out of me. I just get plain worn out by these things.

My last holter revealed 7200 roughly in about a 24hr peroid and I thought that was a good day too. I think my avg HR for that test was 82. Again I was told to ignore them and that they are benign, although in reality every holter I have worn has recorded more PVC's than the preceding holter.

I like you just don't get it !

I also have risk factors such as diabetes (type 2), male and overweight although that's not going to be a problem for too long as soon as I got my sugars under control I have just dropped 91lbs in the past eight months. This made no difference to the PVC frequency, which I was dissapointed with as I was trying to relate the diabetes and weight to the cause of the PVC's.

I hope you get some answers soon and the best of luck to you.

[itdood]

Some say <20% of total beats in a 24 hour period, some say <10%.  you can't go by just the total the number, it has to be interpreted in light of other testing such as echo, EKG, stress test.

[cindy707]

It looks to me more than anything you are worried about what is going on w. you and it is due probably to the fact that you haven't been given all of the answers that you need for reassurance so that you can move on w. your life and i know that it tough.  I personally think its great the you are so inquisitive that you are searching for the anwers but i think maybe the doc gave it to you.  If it were my body the only thing i would be concerned w. would be that my heart would be structurally sound which from what you've posted it is.  The problem is and what we all have to learn to accept is that there simply is no rhyme or reason of why the heart does what it does and was the bottom line base is here.  I am sure you know by now that your heart is just throwing in some early beats before the normal rhythm thus ectopics.....they say that a slightly elevated range and slightly is what they mean according to the AMA is somewhere between 100 and 800 so you are sort of mid stream on this one.  I am sure that there was nothing that you did nor caused this to occur it is no doubt congenital and as wel get a little older and i mean in this case 20's upward the start showing themselves.  Most times they are benign and alot of Olympic athletes were tested for them back in the 80's and the incident rates were unbelievable with an incredibly high number of pro athletes having ectopics.  I am not sure what there is to get on this one lilkit.......if you are looking for an origin you'll  probably look your whole life...and most likely won't find the answers.  You need to relax.trust your doc and if he/she didn't take the time to sit down w. you and explain it end to end i would make an appt. and have a list of questions in my hand numbering one to whatever and get every one answered so you can be at peace w. this one and not let it effect your life which it obviously is when you are still searching for answers after the appt.  I for one would have loved to have known where my situation started at but what good would it actually do to learn the answers...it is what it is and it took me too a little while to find peace w. my body deciding to do what it was going to do without my permission and once i accepted it my life changed for the better and i no longer waited for that ax above my head to fall...now it is just a distant memory unless it rears its ugly head and i now know that i am in the drivers seat......good luck to you....