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

@littlebitshappy3 I used to take lisinopril years ago but ER doctor changed it one visit. He said that was not good for me and he changed me to the metoprol.

@littlebitshappy3 I recently had PVCs coming every 3rd beat. They lasted a couple of days like that. My EP had suggested Magnesium and put me on a low dose beta blocker. I wondered if the beta blocker was causing the PVCs? So stopped taking it? It was an awful two days with them coming that often. Heart has settled down now. Going back to doctor in a few weeks and will see what he says.

Hello everyone, I'll get straight to my situation and try to make it as short as possible but I don't know if that will be possible. I started having PVCs 41 years ago I'm now 70 years old. I have them everyday, at least a few 15 to 20. During these 41 years I've noticed that when I get very tired or very very stressed out, sometimes they start with a vengeance out of nowhere, I'm talking maybe 30 per minute and this may last for an hour. I've worn a monitor at least a half dozen times and I have this checked out once every couple of years just to see if they have came up with something that can take care of these things. May of this year I had a complete cardiac work up, everything, all my tests and blood work came back very very good. Fast forward to October 13th, they started with a vengeance, I checked my own pulse and it was showing 18 per minute so back on another monitor. My GP said I was having something over 25,000 per day and insisted they weren't harmful. I'm taking a beta blocker now which leaves me almost lifeless senses I have a low heart rate and low blood pressure anyway. I called my cardiologist and she suggested I take an additional half pill of the beta blocker that my GP had put me on and to monitor my blood pressure. Well my blood pressure started running in the low to mid 90s over the mid-40s so naturally high cut back on the half. My GP is working on a referral with Cleveland clinic at my request to have an ablation done, but I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what I might could do until I get that appointment at Cleveland clinic. These are wearing me out I don't feel like doing anything, my blood pressure is a little low my heart rate is in the 50s and I'm still having many PVCs. And now for the time being I'm taking two 1 mg Xanax per day to help me stay calm I guess, but I don't want to go down that road any longer than necessary. I'm also hyperventilating which I guess that's from the tension that this has brought on. I feel pretty much trapped in my own home which I live alone since my wife of 49 years died a year and a half ago. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for allowing me to vent.

@davidew
First know that you are not alone with dealing with PVCs. I too have had them since 2001. They are very common and a lot can be done to help you with them.

First you mentioned seeing a PCP (primary care) and not a electrophysiologist (EP). Do you have access to a EP in your area? If you do I highly recommend seeing one to get their opinion on your treatments for PVCs.

Cleveland Clinic is outstanding and great place to go for cardiac conditions. Asked to see a EP. Cleveland Clinic can work with your local EP or cardiologist but you need a cardiologist or EP locally (per my history with this and what recommended to me).

I can tell you (my own experience) that taking heart medications can cause your pulse and blood pressure to drop. This is not abnormal and happened to me.

In my case I was being treated locally when my cardiologist suggested a ICD device because I had heart failure and low EF. I decided to go to Mayo Jacksonville for second opinion and first saw a EP. He agreed needed ICD but also wanted to do a pacemaker. Why? Because with my medications my pulse rate was very low, I was having PVCS due to LBBB and believed my heart could benefit from a pacemaker to keep my pulse rate higher and improve electrical signal to heart.

My EP also had me see heart failure specialist while I was there who changed my medications. I have been seeing both specialist now for 20 years. I had a ICD/Pacemaker put in in 2006.

Please if possible see a EP and give full information on your low pulse rate and BP. My pulse rate got down into 30s with medications. That low pulse rates add to possible more PVCs.

Now your PVCs. I have then and take medications for them. They are quite common in todays world. One thing that adds to them is stress and anxiety. You can see the way you are feeling is most likely going to cause more PVCs. There are medications for helping with this anxiety.

But you can also do things lifestyle like I did. Do you have and exercise (check with your doctors if okay) and enjoy that exercise which will help you both mentally and physically. Not into exercise? How about hobbies. Anything that brings joy to you is going to help you mentally and physically. They will also help reduce your stress and anxiety which can go a long way to reducing PVCs. How are you sleeping? How is your weight?

Talk to your doctors and if at all possible see a EP. Talk to your doctors about magnesium (my EP recommended I take it for PVCs). It has been shown to help with PVCs. But with any supplements check with your doctors as they are the medical professionals and have your complete medical and mental health information.

I know long post. But right now if I checked my pulse most likely would have a PVC every 10 beats. But my pulse rate will be 70 bpm because that is what my pacemaker is set at. That also helps keep my BP up which can get quite low.

If my weight goes down my BP (caused by medications) can be 90/60. Causes some dizziness when I stand. But have learned to deal with it. My HF doctor says if stays low like that he changes the time of day I take each of my medications.

Please try to see a EP locally. They are experts in electrical functions of your heart. When trying to get Cleveland Clinic referral ask to see a EP.

A technique I learned from yoga and a pulmonary breathing expert at Mayo was deep breathing. Try not to hyperventilate like you say you do. Breath as deeply in (from your stomach outward and sideways) through your nose and slowly breathe out with purse lips from your mouth. It will help you relax. Close your eyes think of something relaxing and do those deep breathing. I do them all the time when I get stressed.

For me my exercise and hobbies really help reduce my anxiety and stress over PVCs. I feel my PVCs act up and I will instantly tense up. But then will do my deep breathing to help. I will then try to get to my or do my exercise classes and hobbies.

Medication can also help you greatly along with lifestyle changes.

@383peeler When I started with PVCs and PACs magnesium helped, some, and low dose beta blocker (atenolol) helped, more. Doctors were no help at all but I have to say they were right because I'm still here 10++ years later.
Eventually I stumbled on just normalizing my diet to cover a couple of nutrients I seemed low on and my symptoms were reduced dramatically. Or else it was coincidence. Been coming back a little just recently.
I appreciate hearing your story (and others), to know how common this may really be.
Of course various sorts of stress or activity can aggravate - once I started with these assorted arrhythmias I pretty much cut out anything involving high levels of exertion, I've even declined a stress-echo (and that was twenty years ago now!). However I do still stay frequently active at lower exertion levels and even find that often helps, at modest levels a different clock seems to take over heartbeat rhythms.
In past times the arrhythmias were such that I cut these short, but I haven't had that occur in 5-6 years now.

One more thing I'd like to try (do) is lose twenty pounds, see if that helps, I assume it would!

@davidew my first suggestion would be to reduce that beta blocker dose. I was prescribed beta blocker mainly to treat the arrhythmia and also to help on high blood pressure, but even my first 25mg was way too high a dose IMHO, and I worked with the doctor who said I could cut it in half. It is likely enough (again IMHO) that whatever it's going to do about arrhythmia, it may well do on a very small dose. And I suppose different people react differently to standard doses.

Once you're on a high dose it may be difficult to cut down, check with your doctor and plan to do it over some period of time, gradually.

The tendency of many/most doctors may be to overdose on this stuff, I was lucky to get a doctor who started with a low dose - and even that was too much for me!

I guess I'll repeat one other thing, I know with these problems it's hard to think about exercise, but are you doing any? Just a walk for a mile or so is enough time for other circuits in your system to adjust your heart rhythms, and I've often found it immediately helpful at the moment and perhaps for the rest of the day. But when things are at their worst this may not be advisable or even possible! Have to balance all these factors.

Hope that helps.

@carbcounter
Thank you for your reply. I'll begin with exercise, I've been wanting to do some walking or punch on my heavy bag but I'm not sure at this point if that would be wise, I intend to ask my doctor about that Monday morning. I'm going to give him an unexpected visit Monday as my PVCs are absolutely no better and he never gave me any additional instructions on what to do while waiting for a referral to Cleveland clinic. Intend to ask him about trying me on another medication until I can get this remedied for good through an ablation. I had cut back on the beta blocker that I've been prescribed to a quarter of a pill which would be 5 mg but this morning the PVCs were so troubling that I took a whole one and I've been absolutely wiped out all day comment to the point of even going to the emergency room in hopes of there being a cardiologist on call when I got there but as of yet I'm not done that. Very very weak and it's really affecting my nerves now which I pride myself on not worrying about much at all. Again, thank you for your reply. I guess at this point I'm just trying to figure out if this amount of PVCs is going to damage my heart before I can get the ablation done, these began 4 weeks yesterday and haven't let up.

@carbcounter
I just reread my remarks back to you and I apologize for all the missed it spelling and misuse of words as I am speaking this text to my phone and obviously it can't hear very well.

@davidew said,
>'ll begin with exercise, I've been wanting to do some walking or punch
>on my heavy bag but I'm not sure at this point if that would be wise

I should add, there may also be positional issues, I've found that just lying down too many hours a day, even too many hours in a row, can aggravate things. Just standing vertically to watch tv can help, with a little stretching, marching in place, anything. Sometimes I get out a cane that I don't need, just for "extra grounding", to make standing vertically an exercise or occasion.