Premature atrial contractions: Anyone have any helpful info on this?

I'm somewhat surprised as well, since I was due to have followup after my ablation. In fact, she seemed somewhat offended when I point blank asked to be referred to a cardiologist. I've had this conversation with her about three times, always with the same result. In the final conversation I said, "is there someone I can speak to who can finish my cardiac followup and sort out what's going on here?" and she said, "That would be me." In the Canadian system you cannot simply make an appointment with a specialist. Even if I went to the ER or a walk-in clinic, they would refer me back to her, so I seem to be stuck. I did get her to prescribe a Holtor monitor for a couple of days; the results of that test were seen by a cardiologist, but, of course, while I had the monitor on, nothing happened. So this is why I'm posting here. My only hope is that I can convince her to prescribe the monitor again, that what I'm experiencing will be recorded, and the cardiologist will see it.

@jddart

I am sorry to hear of your doctor's reluctance to refer you to a cardiologist. That is most unfortunate. Is there any appeal process within the Canadian health system?

Honestly, my wife and I love our doctor, and taking into consideration the fact that my condition is more annoying than life-threatening, it wouldn't be worth it to make that much of an issue and risk alienating her. In a very small province like PEI we were very fortunate to even get a doctor; hundreds of people out of a total population of 150,000 are without doctors. So I've turned instead to this community group for any insight I might be able to get.

I have both pacs and pvcs. Pacs are almost always benign and nothing to worry about.pvcs are usually benign but are a little more worrisome because they come from the lower chambers of your heart. I don’t worry at all about my pacs except they feel scary. I do worry about my pvcs even though they don’t seem to feel as nasty.

Yes, I'm one of those people, a "highly sensitive person," who can feel every heartbeat, especially the wrong beats. Having come out of years of episodes of A-Fib, these strings of PACs and PVCs that last for hours feel too much like A-Fib. I also get SVT mixed in as well, so the whole combination feels like I'm having an episode of A-Fib, even though I know I'm not. It's at the very least annoying, but at worst uncomfortable and unsettling, because it brings back the memory and associated emotions I experienced with A-Fib episodes. My question here is, what can be done about it? I have trouble believing that there's nothing that can change the pattern. Do I need to get more sleep, do I need to stop eating some specific thing, do I need to change my routine, since the patterns seems to be linked to the time of day and the activity I'm doing? Has anyone successfully reduced the frequency of heart rhythm anomalies by changing their lifestyle? That's my question.

I cut out all caffeine but don’t know how much it worked. Some people swear by magnesium supplements. I know you say you don’t have anxiety but these things create anxiety. For example last years I had strings of pacs that would start with 1 and then I would get one every couple of seconds for 2 hours straight. I had been worry about my pvcs which scare me more so I got a 30 day monitor. During the 30 days I had about 4 days with these long string of pacs. When I got my results back and seen it was pacs not pvcs in long episodes I quit worrying as much and I have not had a long episode since. When you start feeling them you get worried and your body releases adrenaline which fuels the fire. If it happens at the same time everyday maybe subconsciously you start to get a little anxious which starts them up. Just a suggestion and I hope you feel better

"Life is good...Is there anything I can do?"

Not trying to be a smart ass jd, but it sounds like you could afford it: a trip to a Mayo clinic in USA for diagnosis and potential solution.

I am 66 yrs old and have had PAC’s for the last 19 years. Have also had various serious heart issues, including ablation, but the PAC’s have always been considered totally benign and non related to my heart issues since they started years before my cardiac problems occurred. But yes, you can get PAC’s after ablations for non related issues. Here’s what’s helped me since I am also one of those that feeels every beat and used to get so freaked out in the beginning that my local ER got to know me even though I am a retired RN! Try not bending down from waist too much, avoid feeling overheated, avoid stress as much as you can, take Magesium 250 mgs/day - my cardiologist actually was the one who recommended this and it really made a huge difference, but check with your MD first, make sure that you’re maintaining your Potassium at a normal level by having a daily banana or coconut water, keep well hydrated but make sure you don’t overdo it since plain water can deplete your Sodium, Potassium and Magnesium, these are all vital for optimal,heart function. Stress, bending over from waist, and overheating are my triggers. Meditation, yoga, also help, I can’t emphasize need to keep stress managed, but Magnesium made an almost instant difference, been taking it along with a daily banana for over 10 years now. At times, if undergoing a lot of stress I can have every other beat be a PAC for a couple of hours, but this is now very rare, on a typical day maybe I will feel 5-10, which is fantastic. Most people have a few per day but they are not aware of them. Some people that just can’t take it have been put on a beta blocker by cardiologist, or Flecainide, but this is for extreme cases because both medicines can have serious side effects. Good luck.

Ok, were talking here about PAC's or are we confusing with PVC's. I was told that PVC's are benign, so long as your heart is healthy. I was told PAC's on the other hand are not. Someone please help me on this. PAC's are what lead to Afib. If I get PAC's they always lead to an onset of Afib. Not so with PVC's which have seemed to gone away, since I was taken off of Metropolol.

3 weeks after open heart surgery to replace aortic valve here. developed A-fib 3 days after surgery. I am now in a-fib about 75% of the time. My samsung phone has heart beat monitor (that red light looking into fingertip). My A-fib is typically 5-10 FAST 1/2 size beats (160bpm) then 2-4 missed beats (a-fib just shaking around) then repeat. Heart rate measurement from 45 to 140bpm depending on waveform. Just had follow up visit with cardiologist office - got PA not Dr, but she made it clear as mud they believe A-fib is NOT dangerous & has absolutely ZERO life shortening affect. If you can believe her... Meanwhile I walk around on verge of falling over from lightheadedness and constantly worry about cutting myself due to Elequis blood thinner medicine. But, hey, none of this matters they tell me!