[justme]

I was born with VSD. I have seen cardiologist all my life with yearly check ups. I am very over weight but just recently joined weight watchers and I am not losing, but I have been Dx with PVC's. I wore a holter monitor and my cardiologist says I had a few PAC's and few PVC's. She said my vit. D was low and put me on supplements and told me to lose the weight but that the PVC's may never go away. I only have a few of them a day, I can not image having more than that! but I seem to get several more around a week or so before my period. They get stronger. I have read about this PVC's and I am just not sure I am experiencing the same thing. I don't feel it in my rib cage or in my stomach. It is definitely something strange. It feels like my heart gets flicked or something. Its like it flips over or almost like a quick fall. Instinctively I reach for my pulse, and I can feel this pause then a beat and then because of my anxiety of this, it starts beating a little faster than I like. Is this what you all are feeling? I also feel a slight push of anxiety like a fear kicks in and it like washes over me.????

[COPD2]

I haven't got the slightest idea about your questions. I just got on this roller coaster recently myself but I did want to welcome you to the forum.

All I ever feel is a strong, erratic heartbeat. Once in a great while a sharp, center chest pain may accompany those heartbeats and also a contriction at the base of the throat. According to a 30 day event monitor I'm not even aware of most of my arrhythmic events. I think the actual A fibs tho were the ones I was aware of.

Fortunately, I've not felt fear, just curiosity. But then I may well be the Queen of DeNial and just don't want to know or be aware.

[justme]

I sure wish I could 'not feel' I can remember as far back as Jr high when I first felt a PVC. It freaked me out! But I never had another one, until years later when I was pregnant with my daughter. Then it was almost a weekly trip to the ER and Dr's telling me It was all in my head. It was not until my pregnancy was over and I was still having them that I wore my first monitor, and didn't have a single episode caught. Then on the 3rd monitoring I was able to catch some of them and they were recorded as PVC's and PAC's....I was told not to worry about them, but they keep me from going anywhere or even working in a normal job. I work at home now and I am practically a recluse. I am terrified to be alone for fear of going into A-fib which is something I have never experienced, but I did read that the more PVC's you have the more likely you are to go into A-fib....I hope I never do! It sounds terrifying!!! Everythign I know is what I have read because my cardiologist just tells me I am fine and they are not harmful. I don't see how skipped beats can be harmless....She says I don't have them bad enough for medication! I cant imagine them being worse!!!

[CharlieJB]

justme, I was also born with a VSD in my heart. In most cases they're entirely benign in every way, and most of them close on their own, (mine did, did your's?)
Ironically, I've also had trouble with Vitamin D deficiency. I had a job working outside for the summer, so I got plenty of sunlight, but now that it's winter, it hits the tubes. I find when my D gets low, my PVCs can increase, but I think it's more because I'm worn out, as I've never heard there is a direct correlation.
Anyways, what you're describing is very similar to what I feel, and you're really the first one on this forum to mirror my symptoms. As long as you've had your heart checked, and you've seen a cardiologist, you're just fine. I've never heard of PVCs going into afib, that doesn't even seem possible. I've heard of PACs triggering SVT, but that's rare and not of concern. You might be thinking of Vfib, which really isn't related to PVCs, but more Vtach, and not even then in structurally normal hearts.
Your primary goal might be losing weight, (which you said you're already working on, and that's very respectable. Good for you.)
I wish you well with these weird beats, and just know that you're going to be fine. We all have them, and we're still kicking.
-C

[mairegra]

Charlie
"I've heard of PACs triggering SVT, but that's rare and not of concern."
Don't think this is completely accurate. I had SVT triggered by PACs constantly on a monitor recently. The doctor told me it is very common but not life threatening.

[justme]

Charlie, thank you so much for your post! I am so thankful to hear that their is someone who understands what I am talking about! Did your Dr confirm that it is PVC's you are talking in reference to? My VSD did not close, but it was determined that it was not an issue. I had a heart cath when I was two and several heart ultrasounds and they say that while it is there, it is not creating any issues. I don't even have an enlarged heart anymore. But these PVC's and PAC's are ruining my life. They are not even as bad as I have heard, or read about, but they are annoying to me. I have heard ablation and medication can make them all but go away but my Dr says mine are not that serious. I hope just losing weight puts me in check. I don't drink any caffeine or eat chocolate at all! not even decaf....and I don't smoke or drink. and still every day here they come...particularly when I am stressed or upset.

[CharlieJB]

Originally Posted by mairegra

Charlie
"I've heard of PACs triggering SVT, but that's rare and not of concern."
Don't think this is completely accurate. I had SVT triggered by PACs constantly on a monitor recently. The doctor told me it is very common but not life threatening.

Bad wording on my part. With the frequency that justme is having PVCs/PACs (not too many), it would be rare for her, and of course not life threatening even if it did happen.

Ironically enough justme, my doctor has never really seen a good EKG strip of one of my PVCs, as we've never been able to catch one. (They're few and far between, even holters can't catch them). He's an electrophysiologist though, and based off of what I've explained to him many times, he feels they could be either PACs or PVCs, but since my heart is perfectly normal, it hardly matters either way.

[jkfrench]

PVC's and PAC's can feel different depending on the timing of the early beat. What you are describing is a normal feeling for PACs and PVCs. Sometimes my PVC wil trigger PAT. PAT is a fast hearbeat (mine has been clocked at 220) that starts suddenly and ends suddenly. It is scary but not life threatening if you have been checked out and have a normal heart.
That slight push of anxiety is normal too. I get hot when I feel that "push" as well.
Good luck with weight watchers. We are here to support you.
Jodie

[Susie]

I always get the adrenal heat flush when I have a PAC, it scares me.

I, too, always worry about going into A-fib, my mother had it her last years of life.

These darn irregular beats can feel different for me everytime I have one, and no matter how they feel, I still hate them, now, if I did not feel them, I would not worry.

[COPD2]

This is the first I've read or heard about a "flush" w/a PAC. I don't have the anxiety, etc. but I went thru menopause 18 years ago w/absolutely no symptoms except no more menstruation. (Yay!)

Yet some 10-12 years AFTER the fact I STARTED to occasionally have a "hot flash". When I finally got around to mentioning them to my family doctor he said they were "hot flashes" and due to menopause. I didn't and don't buy that even today.

6-7 years ago we found a, at that time, 4 cm simple ovarian cyst on one ovary and one or two tiny cysts on the other. "They" wanted to operate and remove; "I" did some research and opted to monitor via ultrasound until 8 cms as long as no symptoms. I decided these only occasional "hot flashes" were probably due to whatever caused the post-menopausal ovarian cysts.

HOwever, an in-lab sleep study about 10 years ago or so did discover some SVTs during the night.

A couple of other overnight in-lab sleep studies have discovered a few PACs or other types of occasional arrhythmias. None of which have ever caused any concern or mention by my doctors other than the sleep doctor casually mentioning them in his dictation.

Yet I was never aware of any strong, erratic heartbeats until March of 2010. There were a few occasions of a very mild "flutter" on occasion prior to that that I vaguely remember.

It wasn't until July or so this year that my family doctor and I decided since I experienced the strong, erratic heartbeats about once a month since March to "do" a 30 day event monitor during which I had two episodes of the strong, erratic heartbeats that I was aware. And I was Dx'd w/A fib. Of course, the event monitor also reported several other types of arrhythmia that I was never aware of experiencing.

It just kind of makes me wonder given the various symptoms you gals have reported ..... that I've also experienced w/o being aware of any cardiac arrhythmias ....

I so appreciate you gals sharing your experiences in this forum.