Managing and Living With PACs and PVCs

Posted by rr1967 @rr1967, Aug 14, 2023

Hello all. I have posted in this forum before and I thank you for your advice. I appreciate more support please.

I am about to turn 56 and I have dealt with PACs and PVCs for the past 20 years. The come and go and now they seem to be getting worse. My cardio, regular doc, and electrophysiologist all say that I am fine and that I have too much stress and anxiety (which I do..I suffer from GAD and depression.) They all say that PACs are benign and that most PVCs are benign.

I had an exercise stress echo in 2019 (all normal). Several EKGs this year...all normal. Another Zio Patch Heart Monitor that I wore for a week. Normal sinus rhythm with PACs. My PAC/PVC burden hovers between 1.5 to 1.8 percent. I have had a recent chest xray and plenty of blood work. All normal. I am borderline type 2 diabetic and my cholesterol and triglycerides are all normal. I do take blood pressure meds and it is well controlled. I try to be active almost every day and I do practice CBT for my anxiety. My resting heart rate is about 55 and my cardio says that is normal.

What else can I do to reduce the PACs and PVCs or manage them? Some days they are fast and furious and some days they simply come and ago. But they are ruining my daily life and causing more depression and fear. They are awful in the morning, reduce a bit in the afternoon, and reduce a bit more in the evening.
My cardio again states that they are fine and to not worry.

I have tried a beta blocker (made my heart rate too low and I was too tired) and a pill called Diltiazem. Really had no effect and made me too tired. I don't qualify for any procedure and the one pill they are still offering me is Flecianide but that one has WAY too many side effects and I have had at least two cardiologists warn me from taking it.
What are you experiences, advice, etc?
Thank you!

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cappcoach | @cappcoach | Feb 9 8:52am

In reply to @713j "Do you also take coq10? How much what brand? I started taking the turaine 3 days..." + (show)

I switched from CoQ10 to Ubiquinol, Qunol brand, 100mg.

carol1024 | @carol1024 | Feb 11 2:20am

In reply to @cappcoach "I don’t know. He also doesn’t believe that postural ectopics are a thing. He thinks people..." + (show)

My cardiologist recommended magnesium years ago. I have PVC's and PAC's that my cardiologist said were normal. He said he has them, everyone has them, it's just I can feel every one of mine. I take 25mg metoprolol 2× daily as well as a multivitamin, triple magnesium complex, fish oil, Co q10, B complex. It's been months since I had the PVC's enough to really notice.

jc76 | @jc76 | Feb 11 6:16am

In reply to @carol1024 "My cardiologist recommended magnesium years ago. I have PVC's and PAC's that my cardiologist said were..." + (show)

Good for you. Still trying to find a way to get my lower. I have a ICD/Pacemaker so they can see each time run (every 3 months) how many I have. I am being paced at 92% and EP says the other 8% are inteferred with by PVCs.

I ignore all my PVCs except for the multiple ones that come after each other. That feels like a flutter versus a slight PVC. That scares me as get similiar feeling prior to episodes on ICD.

EP says though on lowest dose of Mexiline and no need to raise unless the 92% pacing gets worse.

713j | @713j | Feb 11 9:00am

In reply to @carol1024 "My cardiologist recommended magnesium years ago. I have PVC's and PAC's that my cardiologist said were..." + (show)

What form and brand of coq10 do u take? Do you take the b12 every day? How many mgs of each do you take?

carol1024 | @carol1024 | Feb 11 3:22pm

In reply to @jc76 "Good for you. Still trying to find a way to get my lower. I have a..." + (show)

I do get the flutters too but when I di I just cough hard or bear down like you're having a baby and it kinda resets things in there somehow. It works. I had a heart cath and was awake the whole time and told him when he reached my heart because I said oh I feel that, it feels like a flutter. There was no blockage. He said I had a strong healthy heartbeat.

carol1024 | @carol1024 | Feb 11 3:28pm

In reply to @713j "What form and brand of coq10 do u take? Do you take the b12 every day?..." + (show)

The coq10 I got from amazon..Doctors Best brand. High absorption with BioPerine. 100mg soft gels for about $23 or $24 for 120 of them.

The B-complex is whatever I can get at the time if it's on sale. Right now it's superB complex from CVS. I have 2 more of those then 2 of just B complex. Not just B12...it's all the B vitamins

713j | @713j | Feb 13 2:19pm

In reply to @carol1024 "The coq10 I got from amazon..Doctors Best brand. High absorption with BioPerine. 100mg soft gels for..." + (show)

Thank you

713j | @713j | Feb 18 8:17am

Has anyone tried the Chinese herb wenxin keli for PVCs and tachycardia?

harveywj | @harveywj | Feb 19 9:36am

There are a number of papers on PubMed. Best way to find them is just put Wenxin Keli in you search engine. This is an interesting paper "An Overview of Systematic Reviews on the Effectiveness of Wenxin Keli in the Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation".
I have tried including links but this software rejects links.

harveywj | @harveywj | Feb 19 9:43am

In reply to @carol1024 "The coq10 I got from amazon..Doctors Best brand. High absorption with BioPerine. 100mg soft gels for..." + (show)

Higher absorption using BioPerine does not improve blood values of Ubiquinol
The product you are using is Ubiquinone +BioPerine(black pepper). Ubiquinone has to undergo transformation into the active form Ubiquinol for it to be useful. As we age we loose the ability to transform ubiquinone into ubiquinol. So increasing ubiquinone doesn't help. Also you should note that Bioperine can affect levels of other supplements and drugs.

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