1. < Heart Rhythm Conditions

Was this an Afib attack or PVCs? Anxiety triggered?

Posted by braziljjay @braziljjay, Jun 3, 2020

Question, I had 3 small 20 second episodes of where my heart started tobeat with a pause, hard beat then several extra beats in between the next beat or a pause and then the beat and then a few more extra beats. Is this a PVC or Ectopic?

I was feeling anxious, stressed, have alot on the go and also drank a very heavily caffeinated beverage from Starbucks. I breathed myself out of it .

I also noticed these attacks would occur when I would clear my chest/throat hard.

Like is that because it stimulates the vagus nerve which is already irritated because of my anxiety or stress? I'm taking much better care of myself now. Resting when I need to, sleeping better, practicing mindfulness, using essential oils, decompressing. I was just working a full time job before, growing 2 businesses , working out, always out meeting people, always go go go with min rest. Now I'm more balanced. However wonder what the episode today was. Like was this a PVC, Ecotpic attack due to stress, anxiety or Afib?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Heart Rhythm Conditions Support Group.

robbie1956 | @robbie1956 | Sep 15, 2020

@danab thanks so much....mine are skips, and a pause, then in another 25 or 30 beats another skip, pause etc.. I appreciate everything you wrote....I would like to elaborate more on some of the tests that I’ve had Over the decades and some of the symptoms you spoke of when I get back home...it’s really nice to have people write back ....may you also have a blessed day.

REPLY
robbie1956 | @robbie1956 | Sep 20, 2020
In reply to @danab "@robbie1956 Hi I can relate to your issue. I too experienced PVC but mostly as a..." + (show)
@danab

@robbie1956 Hi I can relate to your issue. I too experienced PVC but mostly as a byproduct of the Ventricular Tachycardia. But like you were told and i was too they are not really dangerous and my EP said i didn't have enough in a row to be concerned about treatment. Now i usually only had them occur maybe in runs of a few minutes but for me they were concerning that if i got a vt episode is when i needed help ( usually by my pacemaker) within a minute or so.
But in your case it sounds more like afib which can happen for long periods of time. I had a friend with that condition and he would sometimes go for hours and if it didn't stop on its own he would go to the Hospital and get converted. But it was never life threatening. I know tho how concerning it can be. For me i am truly convinced that stress can bring them on. It like a catch 22 of sorts. The PVCs get you nervous and that's what keeps them going. I will say that i know for me my more dangerous problem was if i went into a VT episode i could always tell the difference by checking my pulse. Pvcs will feel like skipped beats in your pulse but when something worse was happening my pulse would like disappear which during a VT arrhythmia is when the heart starts to quiver and blood stops flowing. The good news is as i was told is the PVCs which most people have on occasion is not a symptom of something worse. I think its because due to having a heart condition we notice every little thing that feels different. So try to relax when you feel them and not concentrate on them. Easy to say right! I look forward nto hearing what you find out in a couple of weeks. The one symptom that i always knew propted a 911 call was a feeling of not being able to breath. So i hope that helps. Let me know if i can be of any other information.
Have a Blessed Day
Dana

Jump to this post

@danab hi Dana, and thanks for the wonderful advise...to try to relax when I feel these skips, flips and something like my stomach moving upwards is advice I’ve been given time and time again by my Cardiologists through the years....but it’s comforting to hear it from another person with personal experience....I have read that overstimulation of the vagus nerve can be caused by bloating, indigestion, belching, and symptoms associated with acid reflux and hiatus hernia thus causing these palpitations.....maybe this is what I could be feeling when my stomach feels like it is coming up....but I go to my Cardiologist on the 30th.....I’m almost reluctant to mention some of these ideas about stomach indigestion/vagus nerve palpitation connection to him, because I did so once before and while he was polite and patient, he did not seem to really associate the two......thanks again.

REPLY
robbie1956 | @robbie1956 | Oct 1, 2020
In reply to @danab "@robbie1956 Hi I can relate to your issue. I too experienced PVC but mostly as a..." + (show)
@danab

@robbie1956 Hi I can relate to your issue. I too experienced PVC but mostly as a byproduct of the Ventricular Tachycardia. But like you were told and i was too they are not really dangerous and my EP said i didn't have enough in a row to be concerned about treatment. Now i usually only had them occur maybe in runs of a few minutes but for me they were concerning that if i got a vt episode is when i needed help ( usually by my pacemaker) within a minute or so.
But in your case it sounds more like afib which can happen for long periods of time. I had a friend with that condition and he would sometimes go for hours and if it didn't stop on its own he would go to the Hospital and get converted. But it was never life threatening. I know tho how concerning it can be. For me i am truly convinced that stress can bring them on. It like a catch 22 of sorts. The PVCs get you nervous and that's what keeps them going. I will say that i know for me my more dangerous problem was if i went into a VT episode i could always tell the difference by checking my pulse. Pvcs will feel like skipped beats in your pulse but when something worse was happening my pulse would like disappear which during a VT arrhythmia is when the heart starts to quiver and blood stops flowing. The good news is as i was told is the PVCs which most people have on occasion is not a symptom of something worse. I think its because due to having a heart condition we notice every little thing that feels different. So try to relax when you feel them and not concentrate on them. Easy to say right! I look forward nto hearing what you find out in a couple of weeks. The one symptom that i always knew propted a 911 call was a feeling of not being able to breath. So i hope that helps. Let me know if i can be of any other information.
Have a Blessed Day
Dana

Jump to this post

Hi, and just returning to update my post....I went to the Cardiologist yesterday and he read my EKG and the Med update from another Cardiologist at Walter Reed Bethesda who I saw on July 2nd and explained to me that the PVCs and PACs that I’m feeling are benign....interesting to note that, both Cardiologists (while not dismissing entirely) the High Sensitivity Troponin test done in the ER which was slightly elevated on the first lab, then went down an hour later on the second lab, did not hold much credence in that test..in a slightly elevated number..something about a flatline, or baseline..? But my ECG showed normal sinus rhythm with incomplete right bundle branch block....he told me (in lay terms) that I was doing ok, stay on my meds, try not to get stressed over the cadence that the Ectopics engender...I asked again about the Vagus Nerve, REFLUX, belching, bloating Ectopic connection, and he actually did say that they have made a connection with acid indigestion and the Ectopics, because of the proximity of the esophagus and the chamber of the heart...can sometimes cause these Ectopics when irritated....anyway, I’m grateful for your input originally and thought I would get back here and report my visit to this discussion group. So between your supportive reply and combined with the July 2nd visit, I feel somewhat comforted even when I still get these uncomfortable things.....

REPLY
2 replies
lucky1038 | @lucky1038 | Oct 7, 2020
In reply to @robbie1956 "Hi, and just returning to update my post....I went to the Cardiologist yesterday and he read..." + (show)
@robbie1956

Hi, and just returning to update my post....I went to the Cardiologist yesterday and he read my EKG and the Med update from another Cardiologist at Walter Reed Bethesda who I saw on July 2nd and explained to me that the PVCs and PACs that I’m feeling are benign....interesting to note that, both Cardiologists (while not dismissing entirely) the High Sensitivity Troponin test done in the ER which was slightly elevated on the first lab, then went down an hour later on the second lab, did not hold much credence in that test..in a slightly elevated number..something about a flatline, or baseline..? But my ECG showed normal sinus rhythm with incomplete right bundle branch block....he told me (in lay terms) that I was doing ok, stay on my meds, try not to get stressed over the cadence that the Ectopics engender...I asked again about the Vagus Nerve, REFLUX, belching, bloating Ectopic connection, and he actually did say that they have made a connection with acid indigestion and the Ectopics, because of the proximity of the esophagus and the chamber of the heart...can sometimes cause these Ectopics when irritated....anyway, I’m grateful for your input originally and thought I would get back here and report my visit to this discussion group. So between your supportive reply and combined with the July 2nd visit, I feel somewhat comforted even when I still get these uncomfortable things.....

Jump to this post

Very interesting and helpful. Thanks for sharing.

REPLY
1 reply
robbie1956 | @robbie1956 | Oct 31, 2020
In reply to @lucky1038 "Very interesting and helpful. Thanks for sharing." + (show)
@lucky1038

Very interesting and helpful. Thanks for sharing.

Jump to this post

@lucky1038

You’re welcome...so glad when I can share my Experiences and some of the Cardiologist summaries, I’ve seen enough of them, but thank heaven for them....and this connect group.

REPLY
pvctom2021 | @pvctom2021 | May 3, 2021

Wish I could open this discussion with more information, but I see yet another Cardiologist tomorrow at 4pm....these skips have been coming and going for years, but this time is for some reason scarier.....I can’t sit or lean back in a chair or lay down without getting them.....I wish I COULD MAKE THEM DISAPPEAR....HELP

REPLY
1 reply
Amanda Burnett | @amandaa | May 3, 2021
In reply to @pvctom2021 "Wish I could open this discussion with more information, but I see yet another Cardiologist tomorrow..." + (show)
@pvctom2021

Wish I could open this discussion with more information, but I see yet another Cardiologist tomorrow at 4pm....these skips have been coming and going for years, but this time is for some reason scarier.....I can’t sit or lean back in a chair or lay down without getting them.....I wish I COULD MAKE THEM DISAPPEAR....HELP

Jump to this post

Hi @pvctom2021, You will see that I moved your comment to a discussion where members are talking ectopic beats/PVCs or Afib.
Can you tell us a little more about your situation? How long has this been going on?

REPLY
1 reply
pvctom2021 | @pvctom2021 | May 3, 2021
In reply to @amandaa "Hi @pvctom2021, You will see that I moved your comment to a discussion where members are..." + (show)
@amandaa

Hi @pvctom2021, You will see that I moved your comment to a discussion where members are talking ectopic beats/PVCs or Afib.
Can you tell us a little more about your situation? How long has this been going on?

Jump to this post

Thanks for replying....I’ve had this history of Ectopics since I was 29...I am now 74 and have in the past had a Negative EP study, endless negative stress tests, Normal Echo Cardiograms....but in 2003 I had a Cath done that revealed 100% occluded RCA with well formed collaterals....since then, bought of PVCs come and go, and now I am scheduled for a 5 day monitor, then another Nuclear stress test, then another Ultrasound of the heart....my first Nuclear stress test in 2014 was negative.....so, what’s the answer....I also have a Hiatus Hernia, GERD....but I love this place....

REPLY
Msfunsun | @msfunsun | Aug 19, 2022
In reply to @robbie1956 "Hi, and just returning to update my post....I went to the Cardiologist yesterday and he read..." + (show)
@robbie1956

Hi, and just returning to update my post....I went to the Cardiologist yesterday and he read my EKG and the Med update from another Cardiologist at Walter Reed Bethesda who I saw on July 2nd and explained to me that the PVCs and PACs that I’m feeling are benign....interesting to note that, both Cardiologists (while not dismissing entirely) the High Sensitivity Troponin test done in the ER which was slightly elevated on the first lab, then went down an hour later on the second lab, did not hold much credence in that test..in a slightly elevated number..something about a flatline, or baseline..? But my ECG showed normal sinus rhythm with incomplete right bundle branch block....he told me (in lay terms) that I was doing ok, stay on my meds, try not to get stressed over the cadence that the Ectopics engender...I asked again about the Vagus Nerve, REFLUX, belching, bloating Ectopic connection, and he actually did say that they have made a connection with acid indigestion and the Ectopics, because of the proximity of the esophagus and the chamber of the heart...can sometimes cause these Ectopics when irritated....anyway, I’m grateful for your input originally and thought I would get back here and report my visit to this discussion group. So between your supportive reply and combined with the July 2nd visit, I feel somewhat comforted even when I still get these uncomfortable things.....

Jump to this post

Hi,
I've been getting an increased number of pvcs for the past 6 weeks. I finally went to a Dr who sent me to ER for evaluation. Heart enzyme tests fine and I was released. I followed up with a cardiologist. I wore a 14 day cardiac monitor but had enough data in two days so it was sent off for a report. The dr office called me and said I was having a large number of palpitations close together. No shit Sherlock! I wrote down the time that I was having one as instructed and they averaged one every 15 minutes. I've been referred to a heart rhythm specialist. I feel that they have calmed down some from two weeks ago. I completely stopped drinking any alcohol two weeks ago because it can cause palpitations. I started taking an acid reflux inhibitor from Terra Health that my friend with acid reflux/heartburn told me about 3 days ago. Too early to say. I asked my Cardiologist if I could hold off 2 weeks on heart rhythm specialist to see if my pvcs continue to decrease. I was told I may have Gerd even though I don't experience heartburn or acidic regurgitation. You posted 2 years ago so I was wondering what you found out.

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