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
Been a long time sufferer of PVCs. Had one ablation for PVC on RV and fixed it. The LV got worse and worse. I was asked to take magnesium proactively not reactively. I was already taking a mixture of magnesium, calcicum and zinc. Read not to take calcium with magnesium (note, not from my doctors but my research).

I started taking a mixture of different type magnesium forms. It comes in many forms but most important is how well it is absorbed. I kept trying different ones (including heart calm) and the combinations worked. I wish I knew if it a specific one or just all but has worked and drastic reduction in PVCs so don't want to mess with it. You will read a lot on MCC on which form is best but it really depends on what works for you.

I am also a new medication called Mexiletine which was prescribed to reduce tachacardia, and did, along with PVCs.

I read you are having a lot of anxiety and stress. Both of those will cause (again my EP at Mayo not my opinion) PVCs. Important to relax and reduce stress. Mys suggestion find a hobby or physical exercise you like doing and take your mind off anxiety over PVCs. Stress and anxiety do not go well with PVCs sufferers. How is your weight?

I had succes in reducing mine with the above. I was having PVCs every 3-4 beats. I can go now 30 beats now with out them. My suggestion work with your EP and if you don't have a EP then suggest you find a experienced one. Also if your PCP and EP feel you would benefit try seeing a Psychiatric Specialist on medications and have them work with your EP. I say this because the Psychiatric Specialist will need to work with your EP and PCP to make sure any medications prescribed do not cause any side affects detrimental to any medical condition.

I have been taking a medication called Esciltiopram (spell?) prescribed by Psychiatric Medication Specialist at Mayo Clinic and it did help. But I am a firm believer in reducting stress and axniety through not only medications but life style changes including doing things that you like to do and enjoy them!

Also talk to your EP about Taurine. It is mentioned here a lot and I take it also.
Good Luck!!

REPLY

I posted a week or so ago about my sudden onset PVCs that came out of nowhere and mentioned that several posters here had given me things to think about. What I did not mention was that I have suffered with severe digestive issues for 55 years because I did not think it was germane to this discussion. My cardiologist says these PVCs are not often enough to be concerned, although he reads the Kardiamobile scans and accepts that they are happening. It’s still of concern to me because I am going through it, so I started looking at medicine interactions and side effects to see if I could correlate anything, I had recently changed to Ozempic from Victoza which had actually raised my glucose levels. Starting with the lowest level of Ozempic, I gradually went up monthly until I got to 2mg doses. From the day I started the 2mg weekly dose, I had annoying but not severe digestive issues and, yes, the PVCs started on day 1 of the 2mg dose. Both the PVCs and the digestive issues continued through weeks 2, 3, and 4 at the 2mg level. My primary suggested holding the Ozempic for two weeks to see if anything resolved. Day 6 of the fourth week of Ozempic at 2mg resulted in fewer PVCs and almost no digestive issues. Day 7 of the fourth week of Ozempic resulted in no problems. Now, off the Ozempic, PVCs and digestive issues have completely resolved, No problems.

PVCs can be a side effect of Ozempic at the higher dose according to the manufacturer. Digestive issues can be a side effect of most of the injectable diabetes medicines. With my primary doctor’s agreement, I am staying off Ozempic for a couple of weeks. If the PVCs do not return, then we have pretty good evidence that I am one of the people who get cardiac issues from Ozempic.

It’s hard to believe this whole thing has potentially been so simple to resolve.

REPLY
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