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

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Heart & Blood Health Support Group.

Amanda Burnett | @amandaa | Oct 24, 2021

In reply to @oldkarl "I wish someone from Mayo would call me to talk with me about my experience with..." + (show)

@oldkarl if you need to speak with someone about an experience you had, I would suggest calling the Office of Patient Experience.

Mayo Clinic Office of Patient Experience
Phone: 844-544-0036 (toll free)
Email: opx@mayo.edu

mtnmarge | @mtnmarge | Feb 3, 2022

Was diagnosed with atrial fib in October. Two hospital stays since then because of abnormal rhythm, fluctuationg BP and a pulse rate that has quite highs and lows. Recently changed cardiologists. My main concern is that I don't enough to even ask any questions. My main worry is that my health ahs been compromised and although death is probably not imminent it will probably occur earlier than if I did not have AF. Am I unduly concerned? I am quite active, 81 years old and do long distance traveling by myself. Is that wise or should I be 'shielding' myself from probable/possible problems? Thanks. I am a worry wart and have never had any health issues (other than severe arthritis). I thank anyone who can respond to this with an opinion/idea/thought.

Msfunsun | @msfunsun | Aug 19, 2022

In reply to @kenny48 "I was told PVC's are totally benign. Some people have them almost constantly, and that they..." + (show)

That's reassuring since I'm having pvcs often. Echogram and calcium test were done. Cardiac monitor picked up my high number of palpitations like one every 15 minutes or sometimes a couple in a row. I've been referred to a heart rhythm specialist.

lisa12 | @lisa12 | Jan 11, 2023

In reply to @kanaazpereira "This is such a great discussion! Hi @kenny48, I thought I'd jump in and mention that..." + (show)

@kanaazpereira

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

Jump to this post

Hi. This is helpful information- I see that it was posted in 2018 so I hope that you see my comment
I have been recently diagnosed with PVC. I have no doctor as he passed away and we are in a health care crisis in Nova Scotia so no doctor yet. I went to a walk in clinic to get the referral for the ECG. I have been concerned about getting a Covid bivalent booster because of the possible affect on the heart, Should I be worried? I have my booster scheduled for next week.

John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Jan 11, 2023

In reply to @lisa12 "Hi. This is helpful information- I see that it was posted in 2018 so I hope..." + (show)

Hi Lisa @lisa12, I've had occassional PVCs. I have hypertension and take blood pressure medications. Here's a video you might find helpful:

-- How and when to treat PVCs - Mayo Clinic
https://medprofvideos.mayoclinic.org/videos/how-and-when-to-treat-pvcs

Do you have any symptoms from the PVCs? Can you tell when they occur?

lisa12 | @lisa12 | Jan 11, 2023

Hi John! My symptoms started over the summer, it was a very hot day and I did some yard work.
I feel that my heart is skipping a beat and I am aware of the heartbeat. When I lay on my left side it is worse.
Then after a month it went away but came back. I don't have any other symptoms though. I drink one cup of coffee a day but am thinking that maybe I should stop. I do love my one cup though, I do half decaf and half regular to reduce the caffeine. I do not drink or smoke, am 66 years of age. I had a blood test to rule out thyroid as I am on synthroid and thought my dose may have been too high but that was ruled out. They said my levels were OK for nutrients but I did notice that when I take a magnesium it helps a little. My B12 could be better I was told so I take that too. My symptoms are all day but I notice them the most when I lay down to go to sleep.

John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Jan 11, 2023

In reply to @lisa12 "Hi John! My symptoms started over the summer, it was a very hot day and I..." + (show)

Here's some information on the bivalent booster but I'm not sure it answers your question.

-- Questions answered about the COVID-19 bivalent booster vaccines:
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/questions-answered-about-the-covid-19-bivalent-booster-vaccines/

hunby2blas | @hunby2blas | Jan 26, 2023

In reply to @kanaazpereira "Welcome to Connect, @jddart. You may notice that I moved your discussion to this conversation taking..." + (show)

thetimes it happens can be related to the times you take your meds as i tried to change my times they came and went did have an effect on when they happend

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