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

Posted by lolly906 @lolly906, Aug 17, 2018

I was now just recently told I have Premature Atrial Contractions, or P.A.C, after being on a holter monitor for 48 hrs. I was told this after my higher then normal calcium score, and was told p.a.c. is benign., but im still worried. I was put on monitor after I felt my heart pounding hard in my left neck area. Im wondering if anyone has any helpful info on this? Im really worried acutally, even cancelled my colonoscopy due to the laxative saying it could cause irregular heartbeat. it seems I can feel my heart skip beats at times or speed up! very scary to me. Im wondering if anyone else has this? I am 58 yrs old and am on lovastatin for high cholesterol thanks

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@hilly2016

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”.

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I've taken your suggestions, especially staying well-hydrated and starting a daily regimen of 250 mg of magnesium, and I'm amazed to say that yesterday was my first PAC-free day in months. Of course, it could be a placebo effect, but time will tell. Thanks so much for the suggestions (we already eat bananas every day).

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@jddart

I've taken your suggestions, especially staying well-hydrated and starting a daily regimen of 250 mg of magnesium, and I'm amazed to say that yesterday was my first PAC-free day in months. Of course, it could be a placebo effect, but time will tell. Thanks so much for the suggestions (we already eat bananas every day).

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wow! How many days did you take thee magnesium before this PAC free day?

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@yorlik

wow! How many days did you take thee magnesium before this PAC free day?

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Just started, only 1 day. Might be a fluke, but as I said in an earlier post, I get several hours of back to back PACs everyday between lunch and supper. Yesterday was the first day in months that didn't happen.

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@molly906 At 60 I had my first afib event, the cardiologist put me on diltiazem stayed out of afib for 3 years. Then started having atrial flutter was put on Eliquis and higher doses of diltiazem for 3 weeks then was electrically cardioverted and put on fecainide along with a lower dose of diltiazem and same dose of Eliquis. After 4 cardioversions in 3 months I had a PVI ablation, after the procedure I was symptom free for 12 days then had a pac took a couple of pips of diltiazem and they were gone. I will tell you my staus after my blanking period. PACs and afib are nothing compared to atrial flutter for me Hope that helps.

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@jddart

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.

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This is also my question. I had a TIA 4/18/18 followed with lone A-Fib. I would randomly go in and out of A-Fib episodes up to 20 times a day. I had ablation on 7/20 this year and am now experiencing SCPCs started minimally and wore a Holter monitor for 48 hrs and had 16 SVPC. It is becoming more frequent as time goes on. Also, the docs think my pericardium effusion has returned. My Mayo docs don’t seem very concerned but it gives me anxiety. Always feels like pressure in my chest and harder to breathe. This all started about 3 weeks ago.

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@julbee

This is also my question. I had a TIA 4/18/18 followed with lone A-Fib. I would randomly go in and out of A-Fib episodes up to 20 times a day. I had ablation on 7/20 this year and am now experiencing SCPCs started minimally and wore a Holter monitor for 48 hrs and had 16 SVPC. It is becoming more frequent as time goes on. Also, the docs think my pericardium effusion has returned. My Mayo docs don’t seem very concerned but it gives me anxiety. Always feels like pressure in my chest and harder to breathe. This all started about 3 weeks ago.

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Hi Julie, do you mean PVC’s? I am not familiar with SCPC or SVPV. I have had SVT(Supra Ventricular Tachycardia) and PVC’s, as well as A-Fib and PAC’s but never heard of what you are referring to. Having said that, I have also had Pericardial effusion 2-3 x’s, depending on how much fluid is around the heart then it might not be anything to be concerned about, the body may absorb it, or it might remain there without causing you further problems. Yes, one does feel short of breath and pressure on chest especially when lying down, you probably have minimal fluid and that’s why they are not concerned. I would report any increased SOB (shortness of breath), increased pressure or pain and any other adverse symptom to md promptly if you don’t get any improvement.

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@hilly2016

Hi Julie, do you mean PVC’s? I am not familiar with SCPC or SVPV. I have had SVT(Supra Ventricular Tachycardia) and PVC’s, as well as A-Fib and PAC’s but never heard of what you are referring to. Having said that, I have also had Pericardial effusion 2-3 x’s, depending on how much fluid is around the heart then it might not be anything to be concerned about, the body may absorb it, or it might remain there without causing you further problems. Yes, one does feel short of breath and pressure on chest especially when lying down, you probably have minimal fluid and that’s why they are not concerned. I would report any increased SOB (shortness of breath), increased pressure or pain and any other adverse symptom to md promptly if you don’t get any improvement.

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This is what I have found on Spvc: Frequent supraventricular premature complexes (SPVCs) are associated with higher morbidity and mortality. Recent studies suggest that frequent SPVCs is associated with new onset atrial fibrillation (AF). However, a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature has not been done. We assessed the association between frequent SPVCs and new onset AF by a systematic review and a meta-analysis.

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I to have them just put on metropol, I’m an anxious type person and needless to say when you are sensitive to these it’s a vicious cycle, has anybody tried anti depressants to calm them down versus a beta blocker? We recently downsized and I’m 69 and had tons of stress( after we were in 6 weeks), my husband had to have hip replacement, so lots of stress. Thanks for any input😊

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@scardycat

I to have them just put on metropol, I’m an anxious type person and needless to say when you are sensitive to these it’s a vicious cycle, has anybody tried anti depressants to calm them down versus a beta blocker? We recently downsized and I’m 69 and had tons of stress( after we were in 6 weeks), my husband had to have hip replacement, so lots of stress. Thanks for any input😊

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@scardycat Our worst enemy is stress it causes loads of physical problems if we didn't stress about things we would be in good health try to destress somehow Go swimming ,walk away in nature and enjoy it forget about things for awhile

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Good, as well as simple suggestions, for dealing with stress, @lioness. When the weather is bad and I can't get out (which is often in my locale), a good book or a word search puzzle will completely relax me. I often fall asleep with a word search puzzle in my hand😊

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