How many years with PVC's???

[Bostonian08]

Hi everyone,
I've been having PVC's for about 1 year, and have been soooo scared by this whole thing. I saw my cardio today, and he mentioned that over time, it's possible to develop cardiomyopathy from years and years of PVC's. The problem is, I'm only 29 and am REALLY praying that this heart will last me another 50 years! Has anyone out there been dealing with this for many years with no damage/issues to your heart?
thanks,
Jen

[Sunshine47]

I have had PVC's and PAC's for 37 years that I know of. I also had SVT's. The doc gave me ablation which helped for 6 years but the DEMONS have reared their ugly head again. I am having a hard time dealing with it now. I get so scared but am working on controlling my breathing and trying to ignore. Itis kind of hard to when you have a normal beat then a skipped beat and so on all day long. I will work through it. I get a loop monitor on the 5th and it is going to tell me that I have lots of episodes and there is nothing that they can do so live with it. It is easier said than done. No one knows until they have experienced it. It is a thorn in my side. I can honestly say I HATE THEM!!!! Good luck. I hope that you can find peace on here. I did. You are in my thoughts.
Karen in Tennessee

[dolfnlvr]

I'm in for 7+ years.  Not as long as some of the others, but I've pretty much settled in for the long haul.  

Not too worried about Cardiomyopathy though.  This is very rare.  Also, sometimes I figure I'm one of the lucky ones.  Because I have PVC's I get checked out by a cardiologist at least once a year.  You know those commercials that say 40% of women who die of heart failure never had any warnings or symptoms?  Well, that won't be me!!!  If ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING happens to my heart, the dr. will know and we can care for it before it's a real problem.  So...thanks PVC's...I'm gonna have years and years to deal with you, but at least I'll be here :-)

[Celeste77]

I started noticing little strings of PVC's in my late teens, but never worried about them because my mother had them also. When I turned 20 they started to get progessively worse and the cycles started lasting alittle longer everytime they flared up for me. I'm 43 now and still go thru cycles of the nasty buggers. 5 months ago I came out of a 13 month cycle of 20,000+ a day. A year before that, they lasted 7 months at the rate of 10,000 a day. I also have periodic IST that comes and goes in cycles, usually between the PVC cycles.
I go in for my yearly visit in 2 weeks (it's actually been a bit longer for my stress echo) and I always get nervous, but it always comes out ok. My Cardio/EP told me the same as others have stated, Cardiomyopathy is very very rare from PVC's.
I also agree with Barbarella... the more fear, the more pronounced and agressive they seem to get!

[Momto3]

I developed pvc-induced cardiomyopathy, but I had thousands of PVCs/day for many years.  My earliest recollection of PVCs is around my late teens, early 20's and that was a LONG time ago...LOL.  I'll bet I had them before that, but just didn't realize it, not sure.  Even with lots of PVCs for 25 years, pvc-induced cardiomyopathy is really rare.  As long as your echo is fine, just do your best to just accept the blips and bleeps as if they were heart hiccups.  Since my ablations, in 2003, My EP has only referred 2 other patients for ablation for pvc-induced CM.  

Take care.
connie

[Barbarella]

Never had an ablation.  After days and sometimes weeks of an episode they disappear again.  I used to be so scared of them until a Cardiologist took the fear out of me that they will not kill me.  Oh I still HATE them but I wont let them ruin my life ever again.

A tip:  and this is from my own experience, the more you are afraid of them the longer they stay and the stronger they will be.  When I used to get the very first skip I started to panic with "omg here we go again, how long will they last this time" and so on.

Yes, your cardio is right it can develop into cardiomyopathy in "some" people but it never happened to me nor to the people I know who had them so severe that they thought they could not go on because of the fear of these "beasts" :) that is what some people call them.

Make sure you get enough sleep, no emotional stress.  Caffeine, this again does not apply for everybody, I never get PVC's from drinking coffee or coke, of course I do not drink them all day long.  A good cup of coffee relaxes me believe it or not and does make my PVC's less frequent.  Other people get them after one cup of coffee. Everybody is different.

Don't worry to much about these PVC's.  I've been there in your shoes and I know how scary they can make you feel.

[Barbmag]

I have  had them for many,many  years and I am 61.

[Barbarella]

Been having them off and on for 46 yrs.

[upbeat633]

I first "noticed" pvcs when I was 18. I'm now 44. I think I had them before that even because I remember taking a mid-day nap with my sister and she kept asking me to stop shaking the bed. I had no idea what she was talking about.

At age 30 I had my first 24hr holter monitor and it recorded an average of 450pvcs/hr. At age 42 I had a 48hr holter monitor and it recorded an average of 1250pvcs/hr. I had my first echo then, and it was fine.  

I think the pvcs have increased since then, but thankfully I don't feel that many. I am waiting for the results of an echo done this week. I'll let you know how it goes.

Long story short, I've had high frequency pvcs for years and years and so far so good--no cardiomyopathy (I'm hoping great news on my last echo). I believe the chances of developing a pvc induced cardiomyopathy are very small, but it is how I found this site afterall, because I was concerned about that too.

[Bostonian08]

thanks so much for your comments and assurances. It's very encouraging! Another quick queston - has anyone ever had their PVC's just go away?

[upbeat633]

Have you ever had ablation? What do you do for your pvcs?