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Sigh. PVC’s have me desperate. How to cope?

Posted by mattb4295 @mattb4295, Oct 16, 2022

First off, thank you for reading. I know from reading posts that people have it worse than I do and I offer my utmost respect for those of you who do.

Briefly-

39 yo/m
Reasonably healthy. Non smoker. Stressful job.

So, a few years ago I started to have an occasional (painful) pvc that always got my attention. Once it hit 3-4 a day, I did like everyone else, and sound of the alarm and got the full gamut of testing.

Benign. Low dose Metoprolol.

Ok great.

Fast forward to these last two months, and the amount of PVCs I am having has increased 100 fold. They are all day. I went from a few a month to one a minute.

Panic. Doctor. Here we go again.

Once again, they are telling me that they are unifocal and harmless. These. Don’t. Feel. Harmless.

They absolutely stop me mid sentence every time. Each one is like a jump scare. My stomach drops like a roller coaster and I have a brief adrenaline shot. Like you’re scaring the heck out of me over and over. Just a Deep painful fear each time.

The doctors don’t seem very concerned. They recommended a magnesium supplement, which I am taking religiously.

No caffeine. No smoking. No alcohols.

Nothing.

This has destroyed my quality of live almost overnight. I wake up in anticipation. I go to sleep in fear.

Does it get better? Is this my life now? Even as I type this, I’m having one about every 30 seconds. I don’t want to go anywhere. I don’t want to do anything. I’m just petrified.

Wonder if switching from a beta to a calcium channel would work? Is this my life now?

The sad thing is… I “know” it’s supposed to be fine but why doesn’t it feel fine? Every shot of adrenaline warns me that I won’t be around much longer.

Just terrible.

Any input is appreciated.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Heart Rhythm Conditions Support Group.

Profile picture for slw7252
slw7252 | @slw7252 | Aug 18 1:30pm
In reply to @jc76 "@slw7252 Had the same question for my EP when he recommended taking it. There are so..." + (show)
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@slw7252
Had the same question for my EP when he recommended taking it. There are so many forms of it out there.

I was told for me 400 mg of Magnesium Citrate. I did asked why citrate form. I was told that citrate form was the most easily absorbed into body. I was told by my EP citrate that high amounts of the citrate form can have laxative affect and if that affected me adversely try the Glycimate which was also easily absorbed.

I did not have any issues then or now with digestive and have been taking about 2 years now.

My wife also takes it per her gastronologist to help with her digestion and constipation but takes 600 mg and to take all at night time.

I need to put a caveat here on my EP asking me to try Magnesium Citrate to help with PVCs. I would check with your doctors before adding any supplements as they can contradict other medications or side affects to conditions.

On my wife's side it was her gastronlologist recommending this. She has digestive gastroperis caused by diabetes (she is a 1.5) and her digestive system very slow and a lot of constipation.

Hope this helped!

Jump to this post

Thanks. I was put on Glycinate. People in the forums mention being put on magnesium but never say which form and there a quite a few. Appreciate your reply.

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jc76 | @jc76 | Aug 18 4:46pm
In reply to @slw7252 "Thanks. I was put on Glycinate. People in the forums mention being put on magnesium but..." + (show)
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Thanks. I was put on Glycinate. People in the forums mention being put on magnesium but never say which form and there a quite a few. Appreciate your reply.

Jump to this post

@slw7252
Your welcome.
I was as a magnesium taker before my EP recommended for my PVCs.

I wanted to make sure I was taking the type form to benefit my PVCs. EP, as I posted, said Citrate and eplained his reponse that is is very easily absorbed. I was told if any issues with to try Glycinate as alternative as it too was easily absorb.

I don't even think I could list all the different forms of it and the pros cons of each one as it is overwhelming how many forms are out there.
Good luck!

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jackiet | @jackiet | Aug 19 9:02am

I recently read through all the posts responding to mattb4295’s original query from almost 3 years ago. Matt on his original post asked if switching from a beta blocker to a calcium channel blocker might help with his PVCs.

In all the posts generated by Matt’s original post, no one appears to have tackled this question. Matt himself seems to have dropped out of his discussion, but I would like to ask him why he posed this particular question.

In lieu of Matt’s return to this forum, which raised issues that were helpful to me personally, I’m wondering if anyone knows why these BP meds might relate to the PVC problem, or have a clue as to their relevance in this context.

There are so many genres of BP meds on the market and so many choices within each genre. And so many side effects and interactions for each.

I’m still working on the right ones for me.

Does anyone out there have a clue as to why Matt was thinking about changing from a beta blocker to a cc blocker?

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antonekb | @antonekb | Sep 5 10:36pm

Hello everyone from Russia. I’m glad I came across this thread. I really sympathize with everyone who is not understood by doctors. Here in Russia, they treat this problem the same way. I was prescribed all kinds of antiarrhythmics and every possible beta-blocker, but they either didn’t help or made things worse.
I was 29 when, after stress and possibly COVID, my PVCs started. Three months later I had an episode of AF/flutter, after which I underwent radiofrequency ablation. The PVCs never went away — I had anywhere from 17 to 6000 per day.
I tried every possible supplement — antioxidants, potassium, magnesium, CoQ10 — but none of them helped, except maybe for some peace of mind. Now I’m 33 and my PVCs still bother me, but I feel like I’ve managed to find ways to control them (except during seasonal colds, when everything comes back).
My PVCs went as far as bigeminy (every second beat was a PVC) and could bother me for many hours, making it hard to think about life. What helped in my case was controlling heartburn + taking digestive enzymes after heavy meals + not eating 4–5 hours before sleep. This allowed me to increase the number of calm days when I can at least live a little more like before.
Because of AF episodes a couple of times a year (they couldn’t find any reason for them other than PVCs), I took Cordarone (in the US it’s called Amiodarone). It was incredibly effective but damaged my thyroid, so I had to stop it.
Just wanted to share my experience. Sorry for my English.

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carabn1 | @carabn1 | Sep 23 7:31am

PVCs make me CRAZY! I can go days/weeks without one and then bam, they hit. Has anyone with back issues noticed more. Almost 60 yrs old, put on 50 lbs, and posture has gotten off. Upper back between shoulders hurts as well as lower back. Have read that back issues due to vegus nerve can cause PVCs. We started eating healthier, I am down 14 lbs so getting there in the weight category. Cardiologist wants me to keep losing weight, and exercise. I am afraid to do that because of PVCs. Anyone else have issues with their back/posture and these obnoxious heart beats?

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carabn1 | @carabn1 | Sep 26 7:08am
In reply to @anercksn "Hi Samantha: I am sorry you are going through this, as I know it is not..." + (show)
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Hi Samantha:
I am sorry you are going through this, as I know it is not fun at all. You do not mention whether or not you've been thoroughly checked out by a Cardiologist or Electrophysiologist, but I will assume you have and that's good.
I have not noticed any particular foods to cause PVCs, but I am not surprised by your observation that foods high in tyramine can trigger them for you. Tyramine, I think is an amino acid, and it can also trigger migraine headaches, so it obviously has a neuro "toxic" effect for some people. It's great you've identified this!
What I do notice is more of a "mechanical" and a "timing" issue in terms of triggering irregular beats. For example, if I over-eat and have abdominal bloating, I can notice more irregular beats, including PVCs. Some foods cause me to bloat at this menopausal stage of life, so I avoid dairy, greasy foods and foods high in sugar. And, speaking of sugar, I can also identify periods of more irregular heartbeats after ingesting larger than usual amounts of carbohydrates, especially on an empty stomach! Think bread before dinner or a bad-for-you treat in the middle of the afternoon. Not only will the resultant rise in blood sugar cause PVCs for me, but then I will be bloated later as well, and the PVCs can continue for several hours. So this is all manageable, for the most part. I just make sure to eat some kind of protein with any carb that I might eat (save the dinner roll or cornbread to eat with dinner, not before dinner), eat less of it (like, treat myself to half or a smaller portion) and never eat a cookie or scone or something carb and high in sugar on an empty stomach.
Now, when this happens, my trick is to go for a walk. In the summer, when it's hot, if I have to, I'll go run an errands to a large department store or Costco or grocery store and move, move, move to make my digestion speed up. And that leads me to the last point and that is, if you are medially cleared to do so, the best thing you can do is to get some exercise every, single day or at least 5 days a week that causes your heart rate to increase. It does not have to be an all out, high intensity workout, but steady and regular. I find that when I back off from this for weeks at a time, my PVCs can creep up again. Hope this is helpful to you and I would love to know how the extra potassium works out for you! Good luck.

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@anercksn
Thank you for this. I have the same issues when it comes to the bloated feeling (especially with bread and an overly full belly). Been working on losing weight, especially tummy region - I get PVCs when I bend over at times. Cardiologist said to get heart rate up and that will help to lower BP as well. I also have neck pain and wonder if vegus nerve is being irritated as well. Glad to see I am not crazy and others have digestive related PVCs.

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mardhy1981 | @mardhy1981 | 6 days ago
In reply to @mattb4295 "Thanks for the replies. I’m thinking my next step has to be a food test. I..." + (show)
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Thanks for the replies. I’m thinking my next step has to be a food test. I don’t know what else to do. Every little thumb comes with an adrenaline dump. Even if I’m physically active, it’s strong enough to be noticed.

So distraction/exercise isn’t a viable solution. I can’t believe these came so fast. Within two months I’ve gone from 1-2 a day to 1-2 a min. That’s an astronomical increase and I can’t live like this 😩

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@mattb4295 did you ever get a resolve on your situation?

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