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Palps

I would think that you have seen a LOT of holter monitors.  I have read that if you were to holter 1000 random people that virtually every single one of them would have either a few or several hundred PAC's and PVC's daily.  Would you say that is an accurate statement?  I really can't see this being true?  How many skips and extra beats would you say you see on these monitors?  I get between 2 and 10 a day that I feel and I really don't like them although I have been to a cardiologist and they say nothing is wrong with my heart and just live with it.

Also can you tell me if a person just thinking about PVC's and PAC's can trigger them?  I can do okay for a couple of hours and then just think about one and they start happening.  Do you think I am just an over sensitized person to these things?  Mine heart either does a flutter sensation and a pause and a thump or does just a big thump (like I am being kicked from inside my heart or something).  It will sometimes do this several times in a minute like it is confused before it gets back on track.  It really stresses me out.  I also feel these skips very hard in the left hand side of my neck and I sort of get these surge sentations down to my fingers when it does the hard beat.  Do you think this sounds like anything serious Doctor?  I don't want to go back to my Doctor and start complaining about this again as I think she thinks I should not be concerned about these irregular beat.  Thanks for your help.
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Avatar universal
I am interested in reading the article. Can you post more information about the journal so I can look it up!!!

Thanks.
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Avatar universal
Studies like this have been conducted and published in the medical literature. There was on published just last year, in the journal "Cardiology". They put holter monitors on 625 healthy people (as determined by echocardiogram etc.) for 24 hours.
I have a copy of the paper here and can tell you that during the 24 hours of the study 81.4% of people had PACs and 63.7% had PVCs. This particular study does not give the number of PVCs, just the percentage who had them. Remember this is only the people who had them on the day of the study. Had the holters been worn for longer the values would have been closer to 100%.

This stuff is not just hearsay like so much stuff you read on the net. It is a carefully conducted large scale study published in great detail in a reputable peer-reviewed scientific journal.

There are also articles describing some similar (though smaller) studies, which give the numbers of PVCs per day in a sample of the general population. I can remember the values from one of them and they were as follows.
21% had more than 24 PVCs per day,
6% had more than 50 PVCs per day
5% had more than 300 PVCs per day,
4% had more than 500PVCs per day
3% had more than 1000 PVCs per day.

There were just over a hundred people in this study which is not that many (a greater number would be more accurate) but it gives you a general idea.

A different study, also with approximately 100 subjects, found that 5% had more than 50 PVCs per day.

Hope this helps.
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Avatar universal
I have palpatations all the time.  PVC's, PAC's and runs of tachycardia and SVT.  The feeling of my heart skipping I can deal with but when I get a "flip-flop" it feels like I have been punched from the inside out too and it takes my breath away.  I have learned to just live with it, even though it can stop me in my tracks sometimes.  I first made sure that my cardiologist felt confident that I was having harmless palpatations before I started to feel ok with it.   I am very cardiac sensitive and quite often I can feel every heartbeat like it was pounding out of my chest - but my heart rate is normal sinus.  I have found out that stress definitely seems to bring out the palpatations and possibly thinking more about it can also.  I have experienced run of VT twice, and trust me, I would rather have my PVC's then to experience that.
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Avatar universal
Yeah the doc told me about paxil but she said it may lead to weight gain which I was horrified of.  I am going to try this Prozac and see where it takes me.

If I could go for months without feeling anything I would be on cloud 9.  I feel flips and skips every cotton pickin' single day and I wait for the next one to hit again and again.  I swear to god I can make it do it myself (hence the prozac I guess).  I hope this takes my fear away and it stops skippin' around.
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Avatar universal
I can go for weeks or months and feel nothing, then I can have days where I feel my heart beat (don't know if it is normal beat or not) 500+ times a day. Best thing to do is try to ignore them and stay off of medical sites. I am on paxil and found it helps a lot, along with being on a beta blocker which yesterday the doc increased the dose as I went to him convinced I was going to drop dead at any moment.
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Avatar universal
Luke I thought I was the only one that got them when reading about them.  I love this forum but I don't know if my anxiety feeds off other stories I read.  I actually went to my doctor today who again told me "you have a completely normal heart".  I told her I can't take the obsession I have with it and how scared of I am every little thing if does.  She said that if she wore a holter that she would get the exact same things I as I do but wouldn't really feel them because she isn't tuned into it like I am.  She actaully prescribed Prozac for me which I am going to start tomorrow and see if it helps.  I think or actually know that my skips more pronounced when I feel one and then start my regular stressing about when I will get the next one and I get them one after another.  It just scares the daylights outta me that I can actually make it do that!!!

I love the analogy about the car thing.  My car sputters all the time and I will try to think about that rather than thinking I am going to drop dead at every single skip.

So just out of curiousity how many skips and flips and flutters do you feel a day??  I know there are people that say they get hundreds and I don't know how they handle that.  I can't even take the small amount I have!!!
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230125 tn?1193365857
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Most people have PVCs and PACs but not necessarily every  day.

Some people are more sensitive than others and it sounds like you are sensitive. If you have a normal echo, ekg, and holter other than PVCs, they do not pose a significant risk.  If you have had these studies and they are normal and your history and physical is otherwise normal, I don't think you need to worry.  That being said, I can't review the studies so I can't really assess your risk through an online forum.  Don't be afraid to ask you doctor questions -- that is what they are there for.  Just make sure you listen if they they tell you that you are ok.

I hope this helps.  
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Avatar universal
I always thought I had bad palpitations ( I know I get skips and bad ones a couple times a year) but on my holter it only showed a run of PSVT for  beats, even thought I felt weird sensations in my chest and neck. I have also seen PVCs and sinus pauses on my telemtry recoridng in the ER (of which no doctor or nurse was alarmed)

I do get the same sensations as you, the kick in the chest, pauses, and rush through my body. Just last night (I actually thought I was going to die) I was looking at EKG tracings on youtube, and I got a REALLY BAD palpitation that took my breath away. I can also tell you I have only had 2 instances where I was not thinking about them, when I felt them, and dozens when I was thinking about them.

For an analogy think of your heart as your car engine (both have pumps and valves and need electricty to run) When driving your car every once in a while your engine will sputter or suddenly jump or drop in rpms, yet the engine never dies and goes back into a regualr rhythm.
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