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Hey wanted to ask, I have pacs for 30 years, now and than like today just sitting and eating my heart seem to beat like 10 times in row, but it didn't feel like a flutter I could feel each beat, it didn't race just felt a little fast with all those beats.

Is that afib, I cough and it went back to normal, usually if it does that it stops in seconds,  I never felt bad sob or anything , maybe anxiety from it lol but heart beating normal, what ya think
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Avatar universal
oh, and I forgot to mention, like you, when I cough, it seems to bring me out of it. It seems o be a natural reaction, because I was doing that for many years before I even knew about the vagus interaction. and thanks Artaud for the link, I am going to bookmark that one.
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Avatar universal
hello,

I will get a tach run every now and then, very upsetting, mine will go sometimes about 5 to 10, and then a big sort of reset/rebound, for lack of a better way of putting it, then sometimes just a few isolated skips, so I can relate to your anxiety. I don't deal with periods of chronic PVCs very well, and I do so value the forum, and its members for the wonderful input on this thread. I get PVCs and PACs, but mostly PVCs, and occational Tach episodes.

best to you
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612551 tn?1450022175
COMMUNITY LEADER
My experience with AFib (have a permanent case of) is an irregular heart rhythm.  I practice "rate control" only... and live with the permanent AFib.  I have other symptoms of course, but no short runs of ventricle racing and when just sitting, even when eating, I have no sensation from my heart at all.
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212161 tn?1599427282
Awe thank you or that, dang always something, lol well it's another day and only had that one , so guess all was ok,

I have had pacs many years but now bad than they can really scare me, I hate the days where they are every other heart beat , just started doing that last year only done three times but so scary to have them last that long and so so many, so thankful for singles now and than lol

Thank ya again God Bless, and prayers ya are heart paps free
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257552 tn?1404602554
My initial comment stated PVCs, my bad, I meant to say PACs.
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257552 tn?1404602554
Possibly a little of this and a little of that, even the doctors don't know for sure. The etiology could be due to PVCs, but see the last paragraph. The article postulates it's a neural reflex.

Best to all.

The following is from:

Cardiac manifestations and sequelae of gastrointestinal disorders

http://bjcardio.co.uk/2009/07/cardiac-manifestations-and-sequelae-of-gastrointestinal-disorders/

"The mechanism behind tachyarrhythmias triggered by swallowing is less clear, with much debate surrounding its electrophysiological basis. It has been demonstrated in some cases that the tachyarrhythmia can be triggered by paced atrial ectopic beats suggesting that atrial ectopics can trigger atrioventricular (AV) re-entry tachycardias. However, in most cases, because the tachycardia continues even in the presence of AV block, enhanced automaticity is thought to be the mechanism behind the arrhythmia.

Equally difficult to elucidate is the trigger for the afferent loop of the reflex leading to the tachycardia. One proposed mechanism is that of direct mechanical stimulation of the left atrium by the distended oesophagus on swallowing a bolus of food. This is supported by the observation that in these patients, inflation of a balloon in the oesophagus at the level of the left atrium leads to tachyarrhythmias that disappear on deflation. However, this concept is contradicted by evidence suggesting that balloon inflation away from the level of the heart can also trigger abnormal rhythms. In addition, dry swallowing can reproduce the arrhythmia, and it can be abolished by the application of local anaesthetic spray to the pharynx. There have also been cases reported of painful stimuli, hot and cold foodstuffs and oesophageal acid installation provoking arrhythmias.

A more commonly accepted view is that the initiating mechanism is a neural reflex resulting from autonomic stimulation. It has been shown that in some patients, increases in vagal tone can paradoxically cause tachycardias. It is therefore plausible that a parasympathetically-mediated mechanism is involved in all deglutition arrhythmias; causing bradycardias in some, and tachycardias in others. Despite this, it appears that in some patients the parasympathetic nervous system is involved, whereas in others, activation of the sympathetic nervous system is causative. One particular study describes three distinct autonomic reflexes resulting in deglutition tachyarrhythmias; while the arrhythmia was abolished by atropine and potentiated by cholinergic agonists and propranolol in one patient studied, the reverse was found to be true in another. In another patient, administration of both atropine and propranolol was necessary to abolish the arrhythmia produced on swallowing – suggesting roles for both the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems."
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212161 tn?1599427282
Thanks for talking to me makes me feel better, my heart has been tested many times always just pacs ,  I have had nothing elsa since it did that, it could been more than ten beats but it did stop, scary but ok
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1807132 tn?1318743597
Yeah, more likely a speed up in rate in response to the pacs or even a run of pacs.  I can get little runs of ectopics.  If we aren't having any worrisome symptoms with them it really isn't anything to worry about. I assume your heart has been evaluated to be otherwise healthy.  If so try not to fret otherwise inform your doctor.
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257552 tn?1404602554
My guess is no. Not Afib, not with the 10 in a row the way you describe them,  sounds like a brief period of Tachycardia. Coughing causes a Vagal Response, the Vagus Nerve is connected to the heart and acts upon the heart's natural pacemaker, the SA Node, to slow the heart. Tachycardias that overdrive the SA node can often be interrupted by coughing and other Vagal Maneuvers. I'd mention it to your doctor, but if you have gotten it over the years and goes away upon coughing, it sounds pretty straight forward.

I've picked up brief fast rhythms while eating, I don't believe it's that uncommon, in fact, the Vagus Nerve may also be involved in the cause of the brief rapid heart rate.
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