# Anyone else have REALLY frequent PVCs/heart palpitations?



## artemis80 (Sep 8, 2006)

I've had PVCs/extra beats/palpitations/whatever you want to call them for the past 6 or so years. I had them checked out when they first started, and again when they increased during the second trimester of pregnancy. Everything has always checked out as "not a big deal, normal, everyone gets them" yadda yadda. During these years, I'd say I felt runs of them several times a day, on average, but they never really interfered with my life, especially once I learned they aren't dangerous.

About two months ago, I started getting them a LOT more. Sometimes they are every other beat for 12+ hours. I was about to go on vacation about a month ago, and I didn't want to deal with it on vacation, plus air travel tends to make them worse. So I called the cardiologist I'd seen before, and they prescribed a beta blocker (metoprolol) over the phone. I tried it for 4-5 days on my vacation, but it didn't do anything (it was a very low dose, though).

When I got back, I wore a Holter monitor, which came back pretty much the same as the previous ones: extra beats, not a big deal. The 24 hours I wore it were not especially bad, but I thought if I said, "Look, this is happening in stretches of many hours, making it so I can't exercise, can't sleep, and stressing me out" they might take me seriously. I get that the rhythm itself isn't dangerous, but the frequency of it is making life really difficult, especially because I feel like I can't exercise or that over the long term, it will cause damage.

Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions? I took some magnesium last night and this morning, and it seems like it might be helping, so maybe I've found one solution and this post is a day late.









But any other suggestions are welcome. I'm working on stress, have cut out caffeine and alcohol, all the obvious things.

Thanks!


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## CarrieMF (Mar 7, 2004)

I used to. I was put on that same drug for 2 months, then they switched it to Propranolol. Every few months it'd stop working so they'd increase the dose. After 2 or 3 years on it I took myself off of it after researching it to see if it causes weight gain(it does). Any time I cut back my dose before the palps came right back, that time they didn't. It's been 3 years since I took myself off. Every now & then I'd have one, up until the last 2 months they've been back more. I have been really stressed out these 2 months though. They're not back to the point that they were at when I started meds.


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## mombh (May 6, 2003)

this sounds a little similar to something I have which feels like skipped beats and then I get svt (supra ventricular tachicardia - really rapid heartbeat) episodes once in a while, and I easily get palpitaions from caffiene , stress etc;
I take magensium everyday 400mg and it has helped a lot. I also stay away from caffiene and try to keep sugar to a minimum so as not to get low blood sugar, which also seemed to be a trigger.


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## A&A (Apr 5, 2004)

you could have hyperthyroid. (too much)


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## Narn (Nov 7, 2007)

I started having frequent palps ten years ago. Bad spells come and go, but I've found they are worst when I haven't had enough sleep. They were also pretty bad when I was pregnant. I had an echocardiogram and was told they are benign. I am fine, but they do cause some anxiety sometimes.


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## mombh (May 6, 2003)

I agree about them causing anxiety, even if they are benign.......
it's still your heart, yk, and when it's beating is off, too fast, or extra beats etc; we feel off, like something isn't right, and it's scary and difficult to ignore.


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## traycanadian (Jul 26, 2004)

Regular chiropractic adjustments and magnesium supplements help me. I found that it took about 4 or five days of regular mag. supplementation to notice a significant difference but it really does help.


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## artemis80 (Sep 8, 2006)

Thanks, everyone.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *CarrieMF* 
Any time I cut back my dose before the palps came right back, that time they didn't. It's been 3 years since I took myself off. They're not back to the point that they were at when I started meds.

It's encouraging that you were eventually able to wean yourself off. I'm reluctant to take medication unless I really have to. I can see the same pattern developing where they just keep having to increase the dose.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mombh* 
this sounds a little similar to something I have which feels like skipped beats and then I get svt (supra ventricular tachicardia - really rapid heartbeat) episodes once in a while, and I easily get palpitaions from caffiene , stress etc;
I take magensium everyday 400mg and it has helped a lot. I also stay away from caffiene and try to keep sugar to a minimum so as not to get low blood sugar, which also seemed to be a trigger.

I have had SVT episodes (I think -- they've never been "caught on tape") since puberty. When I was a teenager, I had them 1-2 times a year, but the most recent episodes were 5 years apart. I thought I had grown out of it, but a few months ago, I had another one. Those are definitely scary! I wish I could record one so I could have cardiac ablation, but maybe that's not necessary if they're going to be only every 5 years.

What kind of magnesium do you take? Like I said, I've been taking it the past couple of days, and I think it's helping. Low blood sugar seems to be a trigger for me, too. Of course, so does everything: low blood sugar, high blood sugar, fatigue, hormones, etc. etc.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *A&A* 
you could have hyperthyroid. (too much)

I had my thyroid checked a couple of weeks ago, and it was normal.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mombh* 
I agree about them causing anxiety, even if they are benign.......
it's still your heart, yk, and when it's beating is off, too fast, or extra beats etc; we feel off, like something isn't right, and it's scary and difficult to ignore.

Yeah, that's true! I would be fine with just feeling the random extra beat here and there, but having them every 2-3 beats for hours is stressful.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *traycanadian* 
Regular chiropractic adjustments and magnesium supplements help me. I found that it took about 4 or five days of regular mag. supplementation to notice a significant difference but it really does help.

I think it does. What kind do you take?


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## CanadianGal (Aug 22, 2008)

My friend sent me a link to this forum when she saw this link as I started having this problem a few weeks ago.

I am not happy to see that so many others are enduring this problem but I am reassured that I am not crazy, as I was starting to wonder, since getting answers about why this is occuring seem to be hard to come by.


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## AndVeeGeeMakes3 (Mar 16, 2007)

I had this, as well as mitral valve prolapse, for years. I finally had radiofrequency ablation and things are MUCH improved. You're right that it's totally terrifying and anxiety-causing, not to mention exercise hampering and whatnot.

I'm sorry you're going through this. If you want any details about the ablation procedure, feel free to pm me.


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## california_mom (Sep 30, 2007)

Yea, I'm one of you guys. I had Wolfe-Parkinson-White syndrome (SVTs) and had the catheter ablation TWICE. One of the pathways they zapped the first time repaired itself and I had to go back in again. (They actually didn't catch any of the episodes on the Halter monitor; they just listened to my stories and figured it was SVTs. That was in 1996.)

Now I have PVCs, and I cut out caffeine and sugar. It helped. I haven't had any episodes since I've given birth. Weird. But I was getting them all the time when I was pregnant (and working - read: stress).

I refuse to take drugs of any sort; the doc kinda offered me beta blockers. But no way. I'm just gonna live with it... and stay away from work of any kind.







:


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## traycanadian (Jul 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *artemis80* 

I think it does. What kind do you take?

I take Natural Calm. I actually don't take that much. I started out with about a quarter tsp twice a day and only worked my way up to a half tsp twice a day. It really seemed to help at that dose so I didn't feel the need to take more. BTW, I still drink caffeinated coffee in moderation on a regular basis but I don't consume sugar.

I also have Bradycardia (abnormally low resting heartrate) so I was a little nervous about trying anything that would actually lower my heartrate. The magnesium doesn't, it just seems to regulate the PVCs.


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## AngelBee (Sep 8, 2004)

I have had this too and was put on a Holter beginning of summer. It caught nothing.


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## artemis80 (Sep 8, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *traycanadian* 

I also have Bradycardia (abnormally low resting heartrate) so I was a little nervous about trying anything that would actually lower my heartrate. The magnesium doesn't, it just seems to regulate the PVCs.

That's what I've found in the last couple of days, too, since I've been taking magnesium. I normally have a fairly high resting heart rate. That hasn't changed, but the PVC's have nearly gone away.







: (Talk to me again in a few days, right?)


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## artemis80 (Sep 8, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kalkiwendy* 
I had this, as well as mitral valve prolapse, for years. I finally had radiofrequency ablation and things are MUCH improved. You're right that it's totally terrifying and anxiety-causing, not to mention exercise hampering and whatnot.

I'm sorry you're going through this. If you want any details about the ablation procedure, feel free to pm me.

So you had ablation for PVCs? I didn't even know that was an option. My doctor has only mentioned it for the SVT (and that he wants to see recorded first).


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## kppy (Feb 23, 2005)

My daughter developed what is called ventricular bigiminy or an extra beat every other beat. She's had all the tests (echo, holter, stress/treadmill) which revealed no disease or abnormality other than the extra beats. The doc released her with no physical restrictions and she is a runner/athlete.

She isn't bothered by her xtra beats tho you'd think she'd notice because of the amount of them. No medication was prescribed, not that we'd allow it as I have seen the damage done to my father's lungs using amniadarone. Her type of arrthymia isn't the type that can be ablated.

long story short, I have been giving my daughter Hawthorne Berry Syrup for several months and recently had a doc listen to her heart. The xtra beat occurs every 7 or 8 beats instead of every other. We'll get a complete check up this winter with all the same tests she had earlier and see where she's at.

If you google Hawthorne Berry syrup you can read up on it. I have also heard good things about magnesium and vit e.

Good luck to you!


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## skybluepink02 (Nov 9, 2005)

Please take it seriously. My hubby had mitral valve prolapse his whole life. His PVCs and palpitations got worse, he had a holter, they told him they weren't the dangerous kind. However, he had chest pain (at 27) and finally got someone to give him an echo. It turns out that his "mild" mitral valve prolapse had progresed to very severe and he had to have heart surgery in 4 weeks. No on took him seriously because he had "mild" MVP and his palps and PVCs were showing up as benign.

Now not all cases are like his. But if you just "feel" like something is wrong, please listen to your body. DH had several doctors pooh-pooh him as well as an ER doc send him home with heartburn medication because of his age and benign PVCs.If they had listened to him before, we could have had his surgery before his heart got enlarged.


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## ainh (Jul 27, 2006)

pregnancy, pms, during my period and extreme stress are my triggers. something about progesterone does it to a lot of women and you might find that they are worse during certain times in your menstral cycle. magnesium helped when it was "just stress" (i.e. not hormonal). good luck. i know that it can be very unsettling and scary.


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## megan sacha (Oct 24, 2005)

I'm wondering how old you are. I had lots of heart palpitations (though it sounds like not as many as you) when I was in my 20's. I was told that it's common in your 20's (don't know why) and usually harmless. Sure enough, now that I'm in my 30's I've have VERY few of them.


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## artemis80 (Sep 8, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *CanadianGal* 
My friend sent me a link to this forum when she saw this link as I started having this problem a few weeks ago.

Welcome! And sorry you're having this issue. It's a pain in the







, isn't it?

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kppy* 
My daughter developed what is called ventricular bigiminy or an extra beat every other beat. She's had all the tests (echo, holter, stress/treadmill) which revealed no disease or abnormality other than the extra beats. The doc released her with no physical restrictions and she is a runner/athlete.

Well, that's reassuring to hear. I feel like I can't exercise with all this going on!

Quote:


Originally Posted by *skybluepink02* 
Please take it seriously. My hubby had mitral valve prolapse his whole life. His PVCs and palpitations got worse, he had a holter, they told him they weren't the dangerous kind. However, he had chest pain (at 27) and finally got someone to give him an echo. It turns out that his "mild" mitral valve prolapse had progresed to very severe and he had to have heart surgery in 4 weeks.

Thanks, and sorry about what happened to you guys. I've had a couple of echos, and they were both normal (no MVP).

Quote:


Originally Posted by *megan sacha* 
I'm wondering how old you are. I had lots of heart palpitations (though it sounds like not as many as you) when I was in my 20's. I was told that it's common in your 20's (don't know why) and usually harmless. Sure enough, now that I'm in my 30's I've have VERY few of them.

I'm 28. The PVCs started when I was 22. So let's go with this theory!


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## yentroc (Jul 22, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ainh* 
pregnancy, pms, during my period and extreme stress are my triggers. something about progesterone does it to a lot of women and you might find that they are worse during certain times in your menstral cycle. magnesium helped when it was "just stress" (i.e. not hormonal). good luck. i know that it can be very unsettling and scary.

This is me too. Sometimes I think they are related to low blood sugar as well. Magnesium helps (natural calm) but it really depends on where I am in my cycle.

BTW, I also had "normal" echo, stress test, and event monitor.







:


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## LisainCalifornia (May 29, 2002)

I got them too in pregnacy and post-birth. Contrary to popular belief, they are not necessarily from stress. The reason they are very common in pregnancy and post childbirth is from changing levels of hormones in the body can cause irregular heartbeats. Women who are in meno (or going through the change) also get heart palpitations very often. This is caused by hormones as well. An irregular thyroid level can also cause it--as the thyroid hormone is a very important part of the running of the body.

I have MVP and first noticed symptoms after I discovered I was pregnant. I was referred to a specialist at UCSF by my doctor, but the palps were just mostly bothersome at that point.

Later I went on beta blockers as well, but did not like how they made me feel, and decided to just live with it, which I have been doing now for 15 years. I notice that they get much worse when I eat a heavy meal or something with tons of sugar in it (like a big piece of cake with lots of frosting), so I am careful about that now.

I think this is mostly a benign condition that doesn't necessarily have to be managed with meds. My mom has had it all her life, too.


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## Kimmiepie (Dec 21, 2006)

I'm going to read the other posts in a minute...but this is SOOOO me right now.

I developed them 3 years ago when I was pregnant with ds2...everything checked out normal. I only had the odd one at the time so once I realized they weren't a problem I could pretty well ignore them because I'd only get one once out of a blue moon.

Well, about a year ago they started coming in "runs"....sometimes every other beat for many hours. And I would get some every day. I stopped exercising because I was scared, vacation was a nightmare because heat/air travel/stress makes them worse...they were really ruining my day to day life. I think my dh was tired of hearing about it too. So I FINALLY have insurance again and just went in for another EKG and Holter Monitor. I had a TON of them during both procedures so hopefully they'll be able to give an accurate assessment. I won't find out anything until wednesday though.

I took magnesium for a while, but at the time I only had a few and it was kind of expensive so I stopped. I told dh that I'm going to have to spend the money for some more because I want to really stick to it and take it every day to see if it makes a difference. I also find that sugar, MSG, caffeine, lack of sleep, red dye all make it worse. I try to drink enough water and that does help to calm down runs sometimes.

I'm sorry you're dealing with these. They feel awful and can really ruin your life, making you depressed and miserable. I am anxious to hear my results (and yours!). Sometimes I go to www.nomorepanic.co.uk because they have a forum specifically for these and I like to read other people's stories that they are okay (even though the cause of mine is not panic, theirs all isn't either). There is also another site of a cardiologist who answers questions, and reading his answers was VERY reassuring. http://www.allexperts.com/expert.cgi...64&expID=47111

I am SO glad to see I am not the only one here. I sometimes get so discouraged that I am 27 with heart "problems" that affect my daily life. I mean, come on! I recently found out that my grandmother has had them for over 25 years and never had a problem or been on medication for them. That was reassuring that I'm not going to keel over.


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## artemis80 (Sep 8, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Kimmiepie* 
I'm going to read the other posts in a minute...but this is SOOOO me right now.

I developed them 3 years ago when I was pregnant with ds2...everything checked out normal. I only had the odd one at the time so once I realized they weren't a problem I could pretty well ignore them because I'd only get one once out of a blue moon.

Well, about a year ago they started coming in "runs"....sometimes every other beat for many hours. And I would get some every day. I stopped exercising because I was scared, vacation was a nightmare because heat/air travel/stress makes them worse...they were really ruining my day to day life. I think my dh was tired of hearing about it too. So I FINALLY have insurance again and just went in for another EKG and Holter Monitor. I had a TON of them during both procedures so hopefully they'll be able to give an accurate assessment. I won't find out anything until wednesday though.

I took magnesium for a while, but at the time I only had a few and it was kind of expensive so I stopped. I told dh that I'm going to have to spend the money for some more because I want to really stick to it and take it every day to see if it makes a difference. I also find that sugar, MSG, caffeine, lack of sleep, red dye all make it worse. I try to drink enough water and that does help to calm down runs sometimes.

I'm sorry you're dealing with these. They feel awful and can really ruin your life, making you depressed and miserable. I am anxious to hear my results (and yours!). Sometimes I go to www.nomorepanic.co.uk because they have a forum specifically for these and I like to read other people's stories that they are okay (even though the cause of mine is not panic, theirs all isn't either). There is also another site of a cardiologist who answers questions, and reading his answers was VERY reassuring. http://www.allexperts.com/expert.cgi...64&expID=47111

I am SO glad to see I am not the only one here. I sometimes get so discouraged that I am 27 with heart "problems" that affect my daily life. I mean, come on! I recently found out that my grandmother has had them for over 25 years and never had a problem or been on medication for them. That was reassuring that I'm not going to keel over.


















Thank you for the link to that cardiologist! He is so reassuring! I like how he says "PVCs are part of normal health rhythm, no matter the frequency." He also said people tend to have them for about two decades, then they fade. (I like that he is an older doctor; they tend to be less hysterical about risk, plus he's been around long enough to follow patients for 20 years!)

Definitely try some magnesium. I've been on it since Wednesday, and by Friday went from more PVCs than I'd ever had in my life to fewer than I've had in months. I started at 250 mg every 12 hours, but the last couple of days I've just taken it in the morning. From other peoples' experiences, it sounds like it might not work all the time (also that it might not be the solution for everyone), but I've really enjoyed having my life back the past few days!

There do seem to be all kinds of triggers for me. DS stopped nursing a couple weeks before they got bad, so hormones are probably a factor. Then there's stress. I have been under a lot of stress with starting a new full-time job (so the stress of the work and the angst about being away from ds). Then there's low blood sugar, fatigue, not exercising, etc. Blah.

I think some people just notice these or stress about them more than others. I remember my mom saying something once about how sometimes when she lies down, she "feels" her heart more, so maybe that's what she's describing. I also remember my grandma complaining about "oh, my palpitations" once in a while.


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## Kimmiepie (Dec 21, 2006)

I'm glad you found the link helpful! It was really reassuring to me as well.

Well, I got my results back. The day I wore the 24 hour monitor I had 2,113 PVC's in one day. I had about 10 different runs where I would have hundreds at a time. Like: Beat, PVC, PVC, beat, beat, PVC, PVC, PVC etc.

Super annoying, scary, and uncomfortable. But he told me it was all normal and said there is nothing to do about it. He was very nice and said he wasn't worried at all. I just found out the other day that my grandmother has had PVC's for over 25 years. I should have asked her from the start because I seem to get all the same health ailments she does.

Anyway, I just wanted to update and let you know that you're not the only one who gets a ton of them.


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## MommyToElla (Jun 2, 2005)

I know this may sound stupid but I believe what helped me most was WATER.. lots of it. I had PVC"s often during college and in my mid-20's. I had the halter monitor, the EKG's, etc. They said nothing was really wrong. They offered me the beta blockers, but after reading the label it just freaked me out. I noticed that stress, caffeine, lack of water, smoking cigarettes, etc. all seemed to bring them on even more. It got to a point where I went to the ER one day b/c they were becoming very frequent. The first thing they told me was that I was dehydrated. Before my pregnancy with my dd, I drank hardly any water and consumed most drinks with lots of caffeine. Cut out a majority of caffeine and upped the water to at least 5 - 6 glasses a day (and quit smoking) and noticed a drastic difference in the amount of PVC's. It's been 4 years since then and I only get them a couple times a year. I did notice that with my current pregnancy I was getting them a lot more often during my 1st trimester b/c I wasn't drinking water (made me sick).. this leads me to believe it really does have a correlation with your (at least my) water consumption.


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## Kimmiepie (Dec 21, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MommyToElla* 
I know this may sound stupid but I believe what helped me most was WATER.. lots of it. I had PVC"s often during college and in my mid-20's. I had the halter monitor, the EKG's, etc. They said nothing was really wrong. They offered me the beta blockers, but after reading the label it just freaked me out. I noticed that stress, caffeine, lack of water, smoking cigarettes, etc. all seemed to bring them on even more. It got to a point where I went to the ER one day b/c they were becoming very frequent. The first thing they told me was that I was dehydrated. Before my pregnancy with my dd, I drank hardly any water and consumed most drinks with lots of caffeine. Cut out a majority of caffeine and upped the water to at least 5 - 6 glasses a day (and quit smoking) and noticed a drastic difference in the amount of PVC's. It's been 4 years since then and I only get them a couple times a year. I did notice that with my current pregnancy I was getting them a lot more often during my 1st trimester b/c I wasn't drinking water (made me sick).. this leads me to believe it really does have a correlation with your (at least my) water consumption.

I definately notice this too. But here's the weird thing. I *know* I don't drink enough water, but I won't do it. It's weird. I really need to force myself to drink enough because I"m pretty sure I'm chronically dehydrated.


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## artemis80 (Sep 8, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Kimmiepie* 
I'm glad you found the link helpful! It was really reassuring to me as well.

Well, I got my results back. The day I wore the 24 hour monitor I had 2,113 PVC's in one day. I had about 10 different runs where I would have hundreds at a time. Like: Beat, PVC, PVC, beat, beat, PVC, PVC, PVC etc.

Super annoying, scary, and uncomfortable. But he told me it was all normal and said there is nothing to do about it. He was very nice and said he wasn't worried at all. I just found out the other day that my grandmother has had PVC's for over 25 years. I should have asked her from the start because I seem to get all the same health ailments she does.

Anyway, I just wanted to update and let you know that you're not the only one who gets a ton of them.









Thanks for checking back in. My Holter was about the same. I had 3,000 some PVCs (although that was a light day for those couple of months). But (crossing fingers) I'm still doing really well since I started taking the magnesium. I've probably only been feeling 5-20 a day for the last couple of weeks. I don't know if it's the magnesium, or some other internal switch got flipped, but since things got drastically better the day after I started taking it, I'm going to keep taking it!


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