Are PVC's normal?? and are palpitations and pvcs the same thing?

[chucksusanb]

I'm confused.  Some places I read that PVC's are normal, othertimes they say they are not.  My PVC's apparently (thus far from being on the 30 day event monitor) are of a sinus rhytm, which the nurse said is totally normal.

So...are PVC and palpitations the same??  I am very very confused.

Thank you

[itdood]

Don't thank me, bypeep had the good answer!  Thanks bypeep!

[chucksusanb]

itdood!

Thank you so much.  I am very thankful for this forum as people have been so helpful to me.  I appreciate everyone who has answered my questions  :-)

You have given me some great advice.  Thank you.  I already had a stress/echo and they show NO pvc's or any other irregularities.  However, my heart rate did rise faster then it should have at my age and I was only able to walk/run for 6 minutes in length.  But he said that was good enough because my heart rate got to where it needed to be.

2 more weeks and then I will have some answers.  Thank you so much.

Susan

[itdood]

bypeep answered that perfectly.

[bypeep]

PVC's - as far as I know - aren't sinus in origin.  The PVC beat originates in the ventricle - hence it's term, premature *ventricular* contraction.  What she probably means is that the vast majority of your rhythm is sinus.  Meaning that most of your beats occur in normal sequence beginning in your sinus node.  

Holter reports will show what percentage of time we are in sinus rhythm.  She was probably reading that part.  But, they will also show how many PVC's were caught during that monitoring period.  And apparently they caught some PVC's as well.

A palpitation is being aware of your heart beating.  You can get palpitations but they're not always caused by PVC's, they can also be PAC's and other irregularities in your rhythm.

It is normal for people have PVC's.  Most of us do, just most don't feel them.  But, it's up for your doctor to decide if your PVC's require further investigation.  

Keep a list of your questions and a diary of your symptoms over the next 30 days and bring them with you during your follow-up appointment.  This will help ease your mind and get to the bottom of what you've got going on.  If you haven't already had one, they will probably also schedule an echocardiogram to check your heart's structure.  This is a good way of determining whether your PVC's are harmless or not.

Good luck and welcome to the forum! Oh, and let us know how things turn out in the end.