Sigh. PVC’s have me desperate. How to cope?

Posted by mattb4295 @mattb4295, Oct 16, 2022

First off, thank you for reading. I know from reading posts that people have it worse than I do and I offer my utmost respect for those of you who do.

Briefly-

39 yo/m
Reasonably healthy. Non smoker. Stressful job.

So, a few years ago I started to have an occasional (painful) pvc that always got my attention. Once it hit 3-4 a day, I did like everyone else, and sound of the alarm and got the full gamut of testing.

Benign. Low dose Metoprolol.

Ok great.

Fast forward to these last two months, and the amount of PVCs I am having has increased 100 fold. They are all day. I went from a few a month to one a minute.

Panic. Doctor. Here we go again.

Once again, they are telling me that they are unifocal and harmless. These. Don’t. Feel. Harmless.

They absolutely stop me mid sentence every time. Each one is like a jump scare. My stomach drops like a roller coaster and I have a brief adrenaline shot. Like you’re scaring the heck out of me over and over. Just a Deep painful fear each time.

The doctors don’t seem very concerned. They recommended a magnesium supplement, which I am taking religiously.

No caffeine. No smoking. No alcohols.

Nothing.

This has destroyed my quality of live almost overnight. I wake up in anticipation. I go to sleep in fear.

Does it get better? Is this my life now? Even as I type this, I’m having one about every 30 seconds. I don’t want to go anywhere. I don’t want to do anything. I’m just petrified.

Wonder if switching from a beta to a calcium channel would work? Is this my life now?

The sad thing is… I “know” it’s supposed to be fine but why doesn’t it feel fine? Every shot of adrenaline warns me that I won’t be around much longer.

Just terrible.

Any input is appreciated.

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

@mattb4295

Thanks for the replies. I’m thinking my next step has to be a food test. I don’t know what else to do. Every little thumb comes with an adrenaline dump. Even if I’m physically active, it’s strong enough to be noticed.

So distraction/exercise isn’t a viable solution. I can’t believe these came so fast. Within two months I’ve gone from 1-2 a day to 1-2 a min. That’s an astronomical increase and I can’t live like this 😩

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I feel ya! I've been having nonstop frequent PVCs for 7 months now. Told by Cardiology that my burden was too low to treat. I am unable to take a beta blocker because my heart rate runs in the 50s. I asked for a repeat holter so hopefully they can see the increase in frequency and maybe do an ablation. It's affecting my quality of life. The sad part is the doctors are all scratching their heads.

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@lindy9

Do you intake ANYTHING with caffeine in it??? Coffee, colas, chocolate, mountain dew. If so, totally ELIMINATE. I am 75, and keep saying the same on these posts, and don't care if people think I am nuts. I know from experience what it is like t have severe 'incidents' and get rid of them totally for years.

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What do you keep saying on these posts? I must have missed it. Thank you if you can repeat it.

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