r/PVCs

So how does your thumpiness feel exactly? My PVC feels like a toddler inside my chest punching me hard with their small fist. Sometimes I would feel a soft punch too but the majority of times, I feel a hard punch from inside my left chest. It is so hard that I can also feel it on my lower throat too. I told my cardiologist about it he was not concerned at all!! That's crazy don't you all think? It is soooo hard to not get worried about it!!

Three months ago I had a loop recorder put in because I was concerned that my PVC Burden was increasing (it has, but previous holter monitor showed low burden)... the loop recorder was pitched to me as being a way for them to see my PVCs when im actually having episodes to better assess my Burden, and ultimately move forward with a plan based on that percentage.

Here I am, today, calling them back because they had some answers for the questions I had asked yesterday (one of which was, okay... what is my Burden now?)... and the response was "We cant calculate PVC burden from the info off a loop recorder... we simply recommend conservative avoidance of suspected triggers"

Okay... cool... avoid suspected triggers... been doing that.... but what about the part where you told me we'd be able to get my actual burden with a loop recorder and now magically we cant?!?!

hi, i’m new to this sub. i’m 27f, i’ve had isolated pvcs at a very low burden for about 4-5 years (maybe longer but only became aware of them around 21y).

however, in the last year they have gotten much worse. two years ago i had a mini stroke caused by a spontaneous artery dissection in my neck. this led to genetic testing, where i found out i have (unrelated to the dissection) a VUS on my RYR2 gene. i’ve ultimately had extensive cardiac work up and they think i don’t have CPVT but i still worry a lot about my pvcs.

about a year ago, i started getting ventricular bigeminy and couplets. i’ve also had several episodes of SVT that were started by pvcs and bigeminy. i went from having 1-2 pvcs every week or so to having almost 100 every day. this started after i got sick with some sort of virus (not covid) in october of last year.

i’ve been on a beta blocker since 2024. first metoprolol and i am now on propranolol 60mg ER which has helped to eliminate my SVT episodes and greatly reduce my PVCs but im still getting them.

i can always feel my pvcs. they feel like my heart is doing flips, it always makes me cough involuntarily and i can feel it jump into my throat.

i’m worried i had vtach the other day and i didn’t capture the episode so i know there’s no way to say but im just so anxious about it.

also, id say about 90% of my pvcs are triggered by positional changes (bending over, squatting, turning over, sitting down etc) or like laughing, eating, things like that.

i was at work the other day (im a barista). i’m standing at the register talking to a customer when all of a sudden i feel a pvc. i expected it to go away but then i felt a very hollow feeling in chest almost like sinking feeling. i felt a few more pvcs back to back, maybe bigeminy but i’m worried it was vtach. i felt extremely faint and i looked pale. i excused myself to the bathroom and by the time i got there the episode was over. my ekg on my watch by that time was normal rhythm and HR of 57.

has anyone experienced this before? i’m just scared. i messaged my cardiologist and he just said to hydrate and avoid caffeine. i only ever have like half a matcha at work but i will cut that out for now.

i’m just scared that im on the verge of SCA or something and idk how to cope.

About 2.5 weeks ago I had to go to the ER because I had a really bad episode of PVCs which wouldn't go away no matter what I did. I've only ever noticed maybe one or two PVCs per day before this, and now I am experiencing them in the hundreds every day since. I am not kidding you when I say that every single healthcare professional I've seen (except one, who unfortunately is only a PA and not my cardiologist) has told me "these are just PVCs, it's not SVT or AFib" or "oh, PVCs are normal." I guess it doesn't seem that bad (to them) because I'm not at the threshold of 1-2k a day, but I feel like I'm going insane. A sudden ~400% increase in daily PVCs is very much NOT normal for me. What do I have to do or say to get someone to take me seriously? My symptoms are increasing in frequency and severity by the day. I have followup appointments, a holter monitor, and a stress-echo scheduled but I had to go back to the ER the other day because I actually thought I was going to die. I got really lightheaded and was having trouble breathing too. Thousands of dollars later (that I didn't have to begin with) I still have no answers, all they told me was... you guessed it: PvCs ArE nOrMaL!!

Edit: for some extra context I've been treated for heart problems in the past: WPW, I used to have SVT and AFib until I had two catheter ablations and it has been controlled with a beta blocker for 6 years.

Hi all. I'm getting an ablation tomorrow for pvcs in my RV. These PVCs are something I've known about for many many years but I've put off handling them. Over the last couple of years my burden has crept up to 25%. They're almost always firing and when I go to my heart doctor I can be in bigeminy or trigemony easily.

I'm going to a premier EP hospital, getting focal pulse field ablation. I'm nervous, but I know it's the right choice and my mind is playing tricks on me, trying to get me to second guess. It's tough when you don't know anyone who has gone or will go through the same thing.

Been putting it off because my EF is good, but I know it's time to address before it gets too much or damages my heart, going to handle it while I'm young and insurance is locked in.

Kind words or success stories will be nice to hear. Thanks everyone.

Good day everyone

I have suffered with PVC's since late 2024 - I don't however experience thousands per day. I'll probably feel 30-50 daily. I have done a few holter monitor tests, ect but nothing concerning appeared.

I would notice that I'd mainly get PVC's after eating LUNCH or SUPPER. Not breakfast. I created so much anxiety to the point where I'd be scared to eat. Anywho, I've taken magnesium which had helped a bit - started drinking coconut water, too. I'm a huge GERD sufferer for the past 6 years as well which is no help. Here's what I did to stop getting PVC's which seems to be working so far.

Pacing how quick I eat (I eat fast) and how MUCH I eat.

I'm a relatively smaller dude - but I eat a lot and fast.

I've noticed that If I don't eat to the point of being full, I wont get pvc's. Ever.

I genuinely wonder if it has to do with the pressure of the stomach in conjunction to the vagus nerve triggering it.

Anywho,

Eating to the point of being slightly full instead of full full made a huge difference for me.

I stopped Acebutolol slowly over 2 weeks after being on it for many years. My last dose was Thursday night. Since about Saturday I’ve been feeling a bit more on edge. I do have anxiety so that isn’t uncommon for me but tonight something just kind of set my body off. My readings had been running 98/56 with pulse in the high 50’s hence my doctor weaning me off. Well, today is day 5 since stopping and I’ve just been feeling extra jittery and the in my heart just started pounding when I began cooking dinner. I went to check my bp and pulse and it was 128/89 pulse was 95. It did go down fairly quickly within 30 mins back to 127/81 pulse 72, but is my issue that im now withdrawing from the beta blocker even thought I weaned off slowly over 2.5 weeks?

Should I ride it out and just relax since things seem to have calmed? I still feel anxious but my bp and pulse are lower now. I guess I just didn’t expect to have this happen.

Sorry for this being so long.

Echo came back perfectly normal. Can somebody tell me why the hell im constantly in ventricular bigeminy with couplets and triplets if my heart is normal???

Hi everyone, does anyone take flecainide for PACs or PVCs? I also have SVT. The electrophysiologist wants me to take it, but I'm very scared.

I know it's scary. I( (39 F) went to the ER 3 times because I felt like my heart was slowing and stopping and then it would beat super hard. It's the scariest feeling ever, they ran all the tests, heart monitor, ultra sound, CT scans, you name it. They confirmed I had PVCs. So I'll post here what helped me.

I got blood tests and not only am I anemic but I also had them test for potassium and vitamin D specifically, which we're both extremely low.

So I took

-iron every other day with half of a vitamin C emergenC tablet

-Vitamin D for like 6 weeks 1000mg a day

-magesium at night

And I also started taking prozac 20 mg to reduce my stress and depression which I'm sure didn't help. Once in a while I might feel a slight PVC but it's no longer daily or even weekly. So hang in there.

I will also say that I have a suspicion that COVID really messed with our health in ways they haven't been able to explain and this being one of the side effects is my suspicion.

Hi, I have PVCs and ventricular bigeminy. I’m taking 1.25 mg of bisoprolol, but a couple of times I’ve still had episodes of bigeminy during high heart rate (around 120–140 bpm).
What scares me is that the bigeminy always seems to be triggered by tachycardia, especially when I’m anxious (which seems to be the main trigger). I’m worried that it could potentially turn into ventricular tachycardia.
Has anyone else experienced something similar? Is it common for ventricular bigeminy to occur during periods of anxiety and increased heart rate?

My cardiologist suggested that my PVCs are caused by anxiety about my heart, the AFib, the ablation, you name it... but I've noticed im not having high hr with the PVCs anymore, which to me shows im not letting them freak me out nearly as much as I used to. Which would mean, they aren't just caused by anxiety. I have found that electrolyte packets help, but are in now way an end all be all.

Had a loop recorder put in my chest to find my burdern %, because all holtor monitor (longest two weeks) showed EXTREMELY low burdern. Unfortunately with the holter monitor, I would have a horrible spell of them for a week, id call, get the monitor, and then the spell would end. So we went with the loop recorder and monthly calls from cardiologist with the results.

Its been two months, we've had two calls, and both times they're like "yup youre having PVCs, no recurrence of AFib" and that's it. No mention on the initial reason we had it put in, which was what my burden is and whats causing it.... so needless to say I will be driving the next conversation, not them.

Sorry, went a little off track from the title, just needed to vent i guess 😅

As someone who experiences 4–5 extra beats per minute, I just read something about "R-on-T" and am now sitting here crying in despair. Apparently, R-on-T is considered insignificant in people without Long QT syndrome, yet it can trigger VF and VT when the heart rate rises and the QT interval shortens. To be honest, a Holter monitor test three months ago did catch one instance, but I didn't pay it any mind because I was rarely experiencing PVCs back then. But now... I’m certain I’m having countless R-on-T events. Please help!

Hey everyone, I know that we all struggle with PVCs of course they are such a terrible thing to have an experience. Just wanted to ask all the people who have been having this for a longer term and still experiencing them but learnt to not have them affect their quality of life whatsoever (if that’s a thing).

what would be the best objective advice you have everyone in this group of course I understand. Everyone has their own questions for their unique individual situation, but I’m talking just overall what can you say and if you can talk on having them on the exercise having them just randomly sporadically throughout the day and being very symptomatic to them (also a weird one here but if anyone can trigger PVCs with deep breaths would be interested to hear from you, I can literally almost trigger mine on command with deeper breaths especially whilst walking or moving around)

If you can, please talk on how long that you’ve had them for and also just kind of touching on him how you experience with them has changed overtime and your own personal growth story with them if you do things which you never would’ve been able to do previously in your earlier days upon having them how you got to that stage where you’re at what you did to overcome all the fees and thoughts and stuff you had what things managed to help you specifically if you’ve ever had any scares from them and what you’ve learned to accept and how you manage to come to that point where you’re at now. Things like that

Just feel like having this post if you people don’t mind leaving your personalized advice down below could be very very helpful so a lot of people who are suffering to have this be like a reference point I guess with very useful information kind of all batched up in here to find relief and see that it is possible to live and get over them

Thank you in advance if you do manage to find time to help us all out thank you very much

• I’ve been posting here a lot lately, but I’d like to ask one last question. If you look at my previous posts, you’ll see I’ve been dealing with a severe flare-up that started 18 days ago. Some days I’m better, and other days I feel terrible, but the symptoms never stop. For the past few days, I haven’t felt anything while lying down—thankfully, I’m able to sleep—but the moment I stand up, the PVCs start up terribly. My pulse can also become irregular when I’m upright; they happen frequently when I’m standing still or moving around. Is this a circulation issue, or is something putting pressure on my heart when I stand? Have any of you experienced this? Is there anyone who can explain it?

Hey everyone…
I’m reaching out after having a flare up again the last few days after intense anxiety. I’ve had PVCs for probably around 10 years now. Give or take. I’ve had really bad flares and “seasons” one might call it.

As of recent, I haven’t had any bad flares for over a year. I used to get them very badly like every 3rd or 4th beat and it would be like that for HOURS. Usually when trying to fall asleep. I thankfully haven’t had that in over a year.

Anxiety meds, electrolytes, and watching caffeine seems to help. However, whenever I have PACs and PVCs I always worry and wonder, “am I going to die? Am I going to just drop dead some day? Do I have heart failure or something that will lead to it that my doctors missed?”

I have had numerous holtor monitors, 3 echocardiograms, and all appear normal. Naturally whenever I have a monitor on I NEVER have episodes. Usually they say my burden is like 1%. However when it’s in a flare it’s much worse obviously.

Just curious if anyone else has these feelings… how do you manage them? Whenever I google symptoms it basically says I’m dying. Mostly that my PVCs sometimes worsen after exercise, like an hour or hours later.

I hate living like this, I hate feeling afraid, I hate it all. I’m 11 months postpartum and my husband works nights. I’m afraid to go to sleep because I’m scared something will happen to me…

I’m pretty sure my cardiologist thinks I’m insane.

Help.

I’ve been struggling really bad with ventricular bigeminy. It’s been a horrible thing I’ve been dealing with for a week now. I’ve been to the ER where they did blood work and everything came back normal.
Besides the ekg that shows bigeminy. I’m currently wearing a holter monitor and trying to thug it out and wait for the results. Can somebody please answer me this question? I’m having bigeminy but sometimes during the bigeminy runs I’ll get couplets then a regular pause then couplets again and it can sometimes do that for 10 runs then go back to bigeminy. It’s off and on all day but I’d say more than not. And it’s came out of nowhere being this consistent. I don’t wanna die and I want to be able to take care of my 14 month old daughter and I haven’t been able to because this has completely crushed my mental health I’m in a state of panic every day. I just need to know if couplets are signaling that I’m gonna go into vtach. Especially couplets that are happening very very frequent. Does anybody have any insight or info on bigeminy with couplets and what the prognosis is? Because I’m losing my sanity and don’t know how much longer I can do this. I don’t want to die and I feel like a ticking timebomb. Im 24m with a structurally normal echo as of 18 months ago.

Okay. For the past 15 days, a severe PVC attack has been going on and it has turned me into a silent and hopeless man. Let me tell you what I experienced before this attack. Before, I had PVCs only very rarely — at most 2 a day. In March I joined the army for compulsory military service. The first few days there was no problem at all. Then one night we woke up because of an earthquake and when I got up I felt palpitations (not PVCs). I didn’t pay much attention, but the palpitations continued for several days and that scared me. So I went to the army infirmary and requested a cardiology appointment. We went and the doctor ordered all the tests and said there was nothing wrong, only that my heart rate was high, and prescribed Dideral. The medication brought my heart rate back to normal and I really felt good. Then my duty station changed and I was sent to a place at 2700 meters altitude that was very cold. As soon as I arrived I got a very severe febrile illness. I couldn’t recover for 15 days and this made the commander hate me and treat me badly. I went through very stressful times. Even 2 months ago he tried to give me a military service extension punishment and that put me under incredible stress. After that incident I bent down and had an SVT-like attack. To confirm it I bent down again and it happened again. Since I came here, Dideral only worked for 2–3 hours and after that the palpitations returned. 50 days ago we went to cardiology again; after all the tests they said my heart was in perfect condition and even had me stop the medication. Indeed, after stopping the drug I felt good for 10 days. But then that bastard of a commander and I argued again and the stress started once more. Anyway, 15 days ago I woke up from sleep and ate. There was no problem and I wasn’t stressed. Then I ate an ice cream and while standing, sudden consecutive PVCs started. They’re still continuing — sometimes I don’t feel any for an hour and sometimes 3–4 per minute!! And right before the attack started my heart was beating strongly and regularly. But immediately after the attack began, it feels like my heart has been damaged somehow — during the normal beats it feels weak and feeble. Especially in the mornings when I wake up, the first half hour is terrible: weak, fast, irregular pulse and PVCs… That’s what scares me the most! I have no idea what happened or what changed in just a few seconds. Was it the ice cream I ate that day that triggered it, or has the extreme stress lasting for 5 months destroyed my nervous system and taken my heart out of control? I have no idea. I don’t think my electrolytes are low because I eat well and I never sweat, and I don’t consume any caffeine either. I’ve been bothering you a lot lately but I really need some comforting words. I don’t think I’ll ever get better. I think this has become chronic, or that I’m going to collapse to the ground all of a sudden… There’s no fear anymore, only hopelessness and extreme sadness. I would rather lose a leg than live with this… I really don’t know…

So I've had like heart flutters or palpitations before during high anxiety periods or panic attacks, one or two here and there. However, starting like 2 weeks ago I've started having them almost constantly. It's to the point where it doesn't even make me anxious, it's just So Annoying. I might go 30 minutes or so without noticing them but then it'll be hours of just constant skipped beats and hard chest thumps. They make it so I can't focus on anything. It's like someone giving me a little shake from inside my chest every minute or two saying "Hey It's your heart doing weird stuff again". And it's impossible to stay focused on anything else. I just don't understand why now after 35 years of life this just randomly started happening. Is this just going to be my new normal now? Or do they typically come in waves over weeks to months and then go back to normal. I went to the dr, they just assumed it was anxiety causing them, said nothing to worry about but gave me a 48 hour holter monitor. Waiting on the results of that still, but I assume they are just PVCs as many if you have described. Benign, but annoying. So what do I do now? Are these permanent, and how do we cope with them? It's been 2 weeks already and yeah they don't make me panic now but I still notice them constantly. Just looking for some advice on how to handle this. Thanks.

My pvc started like 4 days ago on and off but today it has been happening ALL DAY wtf i know this has to be because of my intense energy drink vape and cigarettes diet….fuck that it’s not worth it. One of the nurses says my heart is screaming for help because I’ve been drinking so many monsters and vaping so much, I was offered a blood thinner but I denied it I’m kind of starting to freak out man can someone suffering with this just talk to me in the comments? I’m 25. I’ve never been admitted to a hospital b4 and I’m just in here hangin by myself kinda feeling like I fucked up bad. Normal heart rate but loads of pvcs picked up between beats on my ecg’s.