What is considered an unsafe number of PVC's/PAC's?

[lavendergirl2016]

I have had PVC's, PAC's for about a year and a half now. They came on suddenly. I am under alot of stress as a stay at home mom of two very high spirited small children. I believe high stress along with 5 years of not sleeping due to kids waking up at all hours has brought it on. I have had a stress test, EKG, Holter and a week long monitor test done as well as an ultrasound. My heart is healthy and structure is good, I do have a mild valve prolapse and mild regurgitation. The last test I had showed I had around 3,500 PVC's in a 24 hour period. Is this alot? It seems like it to me. I feel them almost all the time, it's every day and worse when something is going on like my kids fighting etc. The doc suggested I go on Beta blockers but I have pretty low blood pressure already so I might try a low dose because it's bothersome. My question is can that many PVC's be weakening my heart? Is it dangerous not to try to stop them? I should mention I am not overweight, am active, low cholesterol and blood pressure.

[lavendergirl2016]

So my 3,500 a day isn't terrible but it must be wearing on my heart...has anyone had good outcome from more regular exercise?

[researcher09]

Your first post suggest you are in decent shape so I suggest working on the stress.  Regular exercise helps to relieve stress and so does yoga and meditation.  So perhaps working yourself up to a high level yoga routine will help.  I think you have a pretty good chance of beating this if you address the stress and anxiety.

[Ger57]

AfaIk 3,500 is not that extreme. Individuals with a normal healthy heart can live normal lives with as many as 50,000 PVCs/day.

If it is really caused by stress, medication is only "symptom fighting".
I think you should try to get the stress under control.
Prolonged periods of stress can have very negative effects in your overall health (including heart health).

Mild prolapse and mild regurgitation are not a big problem.

[researcher09]

Although I agree 3500 pvc/day is not extreme, 50000 pvc/day is 100% certainty that the heart is on a heart failure path.  Whether someone wants to do something about it depends on life expectancy vs the medication/procedure risks.  The long term study published last year by UCSF show that below 700 pvc/day, there is no long term correlation with heart failure.  At 20000 pvc/day, there is nearly 100% correlation at 15 years.

[IUboy65]

I have 19,000 PVCs per day (about 19% of my total beats). But I don't feel them at all. Over the last four years I have gone from 9,700/day to 19,000/day. Never have felt any of them. I wore a holter for 24 hours, and everything was asymptomatic. But because I was close to the 20% magic number, my cardiologist put me on a calcium channel blocker, which made everything worse -- increased blood pressure and more PVCs, as well as made my protime goes haywire. So I quit after 40 days. It took about another 30 days to clear my system, so I am now back to "normal." Since I am 72 years old, with diabetes and an artificial aortic valve (w/anti-coagulants), I refuse ablation or pacemaker, regardless of how many PVCs I have per day. I'd be careful of beta blockers, too.

[lavendergirl2016]

Thanks for your answer. I am 40 and my doc suggested I could try beta blockers but I have pretty low blood pressure already and chronic fatigue syndrome so I've heard BB's make you very tired which I don't need. I have a 4 and 5 year old that keeps me very busy and very stressed and if I'm so exhausted I won't be able to keep up.