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

Pacs are considered more benign then pvcs. Pvcs come from your ventricles and have at least the capability to Initiate v tac or vfib in a compromised heart.

I was told PVC's are totally benign. Some people have them almost constantly, and that they lead to nothing more. Pac's on the other hand I was told, can cause blood clots to form and be expelled from the atria. That's what I have been hearing now for ten years. From both my old cardiologist in Florida, and my new one here in North Carolina. As a matter of fact he totally disregarded my PVC's. If you have PAC's they put you on blood thinners. For PVC's nothing.

Would like to hear from a professonal here!

So where does A-fib fit in the mix? Is it from no big deal to worse: PVC, PAC, then A-fib as worsted of all?

My cardiologist has diagnosed me with atrial fibrillation (fast and irregular heart beat) and I am taking a blood thinner (xarelto) for that to prevent blood clots.. I was taken off metoprolol, a beta blocker which slows a fast heart rate, because it lowers my blood pressure too much, making me faint and out of breath, but comes and goes. I also have PVCs but cardiologist did not prescribe anything for that. My cardiologist has never mentioned anything called PAC.

Afib can cause blood clots to form not pacs. Almost everyone gets pacs from time to time and they are benign. Almost everyone gets pvcs from time to time and they are usually benign unless there is a structural problem with the heart, heart disease, heart failure, or a genetic disease. Then they become a little more significant as they can lead to vtac or vfib.

A-Fib is a more serious form of arrhythmia in which the atria go out of sync with the ventricles, and begin shuddering or vibrating. The ventricles exhibit a fast irregular heartbeat at the wrist as the attempt to get back in sync. Some people have episodic A-Fib, while others are in A-Fib all the time. A-Fib can lead to stroke or heart attack because the blood is not moving efficiently and can clot. For this reason, people with A-Fib take medication to slow their heartbeat and thin their blood. My A-Fib was episodic, lasting about 20 hours per episode. PACs and PVCs are generally benign anomalies but can trigger A-Fib episodes in someone with the condition. My condition was corrected with a catheter ablation. Now I just have leftover PACs and PVCs, which are annoying, but nothing as annoying or serious as A-Fib

This is such a great discussion!
Hi @kenny48,

I thought I'd jump in and mention that Mayo Clinic Connect is a patient-to-patient community – the most important ingredient of Connect is its members, like you. It is not designed to be a community for medical experts to give advice, but is a place to learn from all your shared experiences, insights, suggestions, and tips. If you'd like to learn more about Connect, the "About Connect: Who, What & Why" Page, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/page/about-connect/ has some great information.

On the other hand, you can view Mayo Clinic experts talking about various health conditions, treatments, published studies, etc. by visiting the Connect Pages at https://connect.mayoclinic.org/pages/

I also thought I'd post some information about different heart rhythm disorders. An abnormal or irregular heart rhythm is called an arrhythmia, which occurs when the electrical impulses that coordinate your heartbeats don't work properly.

PACs or premature atrial contractions:
– Also known as atrial premature complexes or APCs
– early extra beats that originate in upper chambers of the heart (atria)
– Usually do not require treatment, and many go away on their own

PVCs or premature ventricular contractions:
– Extra heartbeats that begin in the heart's lower chambers (ventricles)
– Occur in people with or without heart disease
– PVCs with a normal heart may not need treatment
– If you have heart disease, your doctor might suggest lifestyle changes and/or medications like beta blockers

Afib or atrial fibrillation:
– The heart's upper chambers beat out of coordination with the lower chambers
– Symptoms may include heart palpitations, shortness of breath, weakness
– Afib also increases your risk of stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications like blood clots forming in the heart, which may circulate to other organs and lead to blocked blood flow (ischemia)

You can find all this information, and much more here, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-arrhythmia/symptoms-causes/syc-20350668

Posted by hilly2016 @hilly2016, 1 day ago
In reply to @jddart "Yes, I'm one of those people, a "highly sensitive person," who can..." + (show)

....Stress, bending over from waist, and overheating are my triggers. Meditation, yoga, also help,....
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WOW. Triggers! Never considered that! Just thought it was RANDOM... yet... just before my aorta valve replacement surgery I went to emergency room due to supper dizzy, almost falling over - from doing my morning outside animal feeding chores - including BENDING OVER AND CLEANING AND REFILLING WATER BOWLS.... Just after this I had to sit down as totally out of breath... then 30 minutes later off to emergency room...

Now after surgery, doing that same bending over causes my a-fib to kick in hard! I had no idea! I just thought I got it worse by working outside in the heat/humidity in the morning... But now I can relate! WOW!

So this morning I tried to limit my bending over at the waist and I think I am less dizzy than 'normal.'

SO TRIGGERS CAN BRING ON HEAVY or HEAVIER A-FIB. What a concept! I am a believer now. Thanks!

Glad to be of help, of course what works for us might not work for someone else, but when I was still working as a nurse I always told my patients to “listen to their bodies”.