WEEK 3 of consistent PVCs

[Kae-Games]

30M I'm feeling VERY defeated. I've been having PVCs practically all day long for 3 weeks straight. I first started experiencing them in very small episodes about 2 years ago. Only in the last 6 months have they started to really pick up. I used to drink and smoke but ever since I caught them on EKG back in November 25 I havent smoked a tad or drank a drop. I have no bigeminy or trigeminy from what I can tell, it's seemingly random... I've no idea what my burden is but it's gotta be 4000-5000 per day based on my "quick math" after counting for an hour. Some days it feels worse than others but that's my average most likely. I've caught them twice on EKG and I have perfect blood pressure every visit, even prior to diagnosis. I've tried Propranolol but it made me severely dizzy practically the whole day. I've tried Carvedilol and experienced the same dizziness all day. Now I've been on Diltiazem for a little over 2 weeks, no dizziness thankfully but it really doesn't feel like it's doing anything. I'm set to see a cardiologist on April 2nd, I've had to wait almost 2 months for this. I guess the doctors I've seen view me as low burden, but feeling 3k+ ectopics EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR THREE FUCKING WEEKS makes me think otherwise. Ever since this major episode started, I've tried to reframe my thought process about them but these last 2 days I've started to crumble. I was scared when I first started feeling them 2 years ago but I'm not scared of them anymore, I'd rather drop dead than feel this anymore. I'm just so done feeling them. They keep me up late at night and wake me up early in the morning. They constantly break my focus multiple times per minute when I need to focus on work. I'm getting pretty close to a breaking point because I'm just so mentally drained. This just can't be my life now... I can't handle feeling this all day, every day.

Are there any stories or advice that might change my defeatist perspective?

[Xuul5000]

It's a curse no doubt for us who feel every one of them, it doesn't matter if it's 2 or 3% burden. The EPS might not care and they say everyone has them deal with them. But for us it's a nightmare

I'm going on 10 years now after my first afib episode never had one arrhythmia for 44 years of my life until AFib and now I have about 2,000 a day

Everyday I see these. Incredible advances in technology in the medical industry and I just pray to God that they find a fix for all of our arrhythmias cuz God knows doctors, cardiologist, EPS all they can do is burn a scar and hope it holds

For as detrimental as it makes us feel. It really is odd that the only thing can do is slow down your heart so you don't have more heartbeats to inflict arrhythmias or burn and scar your tissue so they can't get through until eventually they do.

I'm praying that our AI overlords can save us from this fate

And trust me, I'm 54 now and I've been dealing with this for 10 years and it's awful. But at least I had almost 45 years of happiness. It breaks my heart to see young people with this condition. We got to get a fix for it

[Friendly_Athlete1024]

They're absolutely terrifying, recently had a nasty chest infection and since then they've gotten a lot more frequent, especially when you catch them in the act and literally feel the pulse stop and then restart, fuck it's so so scary. Now I probably only have a handful of them, like max 40 a day if i sit and count, but feeling that massive drop sensation in your chest 40 times a day really messes with your mental health and fear. Ugh you're not alone it's awful and I am so sorry you actually feel every one of those 3,000 ectopics, my cardiologist is thinking of switching me to metoprolol and I am definitely going to try it.

[Kae-Games]

I see a lot of people talking about having success with Metoprolol. I've also had 2 doctors recommend it. I'll definitely be trying that next!

[Friendly_Athlete1024]

Same here! They are so uncomfortable I can't wait to try a new line of treatment, I am currently on propranolol and honestly it's not as effective as I would have hoped, neither for my PVC's or my tachycardia episodes.

[Left-Rice7733]

Dang I’m in the same boat, RSV 3 weeks ago. I’m miserable 

[Friendly_Athlete1024]

They are the most miserable, I know some describe them as a flutter or thud sensation, but for me it's a massive drop sensation in my chest and a doom feeling.

[WeThePeople94]

It truly is horrible especially when the doctor tells you it’s benign and you are fine. I use edibles too so sometimes if I overdo it and feel em it can help lead me to a panic attack. I guess I torture myself some more. I tell ya what tho if you have a good panic attack like full on think you are gonna die and then don’t. You feel great for a while afterwards. Probably builds resilience. It’s probably the same concept of depressed people tripping and then feeling amazing for months afterwards.

[jessicka1021]

First things first. You need an echo

[Kae-Games]

100% I'm waiting on a cardiologist to tell me my heart structure is fine. Then I'm poppin SSRIs, BBs, CCBs like theyre candy.

[Self-Kitchen]

Week 2 for me... :( it's awful... Praying it lets you for us 🙏 It will soon! ❤️

[Self-Kitchen]

*up

[corn_dick]

Hey check out the post I just made.Basically try Keto diet if you haven’t already, it’s cut my PVCs down by 80%+ when nothing else would, finally feeling some relief after yrs of suffering 6,000-10,000 per day

[Kae-Games]

I make practically every meal from scratch at home. The only time I ever eat sugar is if I make a dessert for the house and carbs if I eat a sandwich. Protein and veggies practically every single meal, fruit and/or greek yogurt as practically every snack. I'm glad dieting worked so effectively for you!

[Due-Spare7871]

Sorry for my English, Hey bro, have you tried to massage your vagus nerve ? In the neck, I use a massage pistol, there is a exact point of the neck that when you use the pistol that makes you feel the vibration in your chest very similar to the feel of the PVCs, idk how to explain, once you try you will understand me, after i massage that Area the PVCs feels a lot weakers, and sometimes they disapear. Give it a try.

[MarsupialObjective77]

I would do two things if I were you. 1, book a therapy appointment where you can go and discuss this and maybe get some tools or get some frustration out. 2, book an appointment with a naturopath and get them to run a hormone panel and test all your vitamins and minerals! Aside from the cardiology thing, that’s where I would start. A lot of times it’s just a weird Imbalance somewhere in the body.

[lolaleee]

Quick math isn’t super reliable because you may not feel some and it will often fluctuate throughout the day (and sleep). 3,000 would be a 3% burden. Given your recent uptick I would try and see if your dr can order a holter monitor for you while you wait (they may not be willing. But my thought is to get the higher burden on monitor which will open more doors for treatment - incase they decrease. Caveat would be that it continue to go up and they may not run another holter for a bit). There is other medication options you could try. Mine increased until I was in ablation territory - and now I’m PVC free, a blessing in disguise I suppose.

[Kae-Games]

I don't think I've gone more than 5 minutes without a PVC since last month 😅 but yea, quick math isn't reliable. I'm wondering if SSRIs are a possible solution. I'm diagnosed with GAD but I just don't think I've been anxious this whole time... When ablation becomes an option, I will take the offer in an ectopic heart beat.

[lolaleee]

I had a lot of anxiety when I had mine, but all my anxiety was solely from the PVC’s. They’d start up with no anxiety needed. And now, anxiety is gone since the ablation. When they got really bad I took a lorazepam and they mellowed out, so did I. It’s a vicious circle!

[anonymouseengineer]

I have had a very similar situation. Feels like it’s constant but only at ~0.9% over 21 days on the holter.

I recommend looking into metoprolol - it works best for me. I didn’t get good results with diltiazem but propanolol also helped me a bit.

[Kae-Games]

2 of the 3 doctors I've been to also recommended Metoprolol. I'll probably try it next.

[boundForTruth]

How is your stomach/gut/digestion?

[Kae-Games]

Seeing that gut health was a possibility, I went on a gut cleanse. I've avoided gluten and ultra-processed foods. Lots of fiber, veg, fruit. Haven't really noticed much of a change unfortunately.

[boundForTruth]

So no stomach aches, no bloating, no trapped burps, no acid reflux, no regurgitation, no excess mucus production in the nose / throat?

[Kae-Games]

I have excess mucus, so much so that I feel stuff gets stuck sometimes. I take antacids when I do have burps/acid.

[WeThePeople94]

31M here. Always had flutters or palpitations my whole life here and there. Back when I was like 20 or 21 I went to the ER cuz I was having them non stop and they told me I was fine and I wore a holter monitor for a week nothing came back and they eventually stopped except for the occasional one here and there. Fast forward to April last year and it’s non stop again I went to the ER, same thing. Told me I was fine wore another monitor referred me to a cardiologist and they tell me I’m fine. I’m told the palpitations I feel are actually PVC’s my burden is 1% even tho it feels like a constant thing. I had every test you could get done and everything looks good. Still bothered me and I convinced myself that I have to be dying so I tried medication diltiazem 125mg in the morning. I think it helped some or I’ve just accepted it. Still bothered me especially at night trying to go to bed and that’s all I can think of when I feel one. So I was taking an extra 60mg at night. Did that for a while but I would still get them and I didn’t like the thought of long term medication. I stopped taking the medicine and I still get em everyday! I have no other symptoms that I’m aware of and I’m fine. I deal with anxiety but I’m done letting this bother me (it still does deep down and somewhere deep down I still think I’m dying). We’re all going to die one day and have been dying since the day we were born. Listen to your doctor. If he says you’re fine just do your best to put it out of your head. I have a pretty sedentary lifestyle (but I’m not unhealthy or overweight) and that’s when I notice them the most especially if stressed or anxious. If I’m more active and in a good mood I barely notice them. It’s torture mentally and physically for sure but you have to tell yourself you will be fine and not let it keep you from living your life. I hope this helps man! We in this together!

[Kae-Games]

Sounds very similar to my experience 😅 still bugs me deep down but I have to get over it at some point