Exercise bringing PVCs on

[hope_girl]

Hello,

I’ve been diagnosed with PVCs and PACs in a structurally normal heart and been told not to worry. I called my cardio recently to ask about an increase in PVCs during exercise. The response was no need for further testing, and reassurance. I don’t get it though bc my cardiologist never did a stress test. Just an echo and a holter monitor. Yet he feels it’s unnecessary. I don’t get them every time I work out and it’s not severe. But it’s like 1 a minute or every few minutes. And it freaks me out. Weirdly sometimes a good run can break the cycle of them. I just am not trusting my doctor and now have developed a fear of exercise. This too could be why I am getting them during. I don’t know. Has anyone dealt with this? How did you get over your fear? I used to love working out. Now I dread it. Also I have health anxiety so please don’t try to scare me in your responses :)

[blast79]

Hello,



I’ve been diagnosed with PVCs and PACs in a structurally normal heart and been told not to worry. I called my cardio recently to ask about an increase in PVCs during exercise. The response was no need for further testing, and reassurance. I don’t get it though bc my cardiologist never did a stress test. Just an echo and a holter monitor. Yet he feels it’s unnecessary. I don’t get them every time I work out and it’s not severe. But it’s like 1 a minute or every few minutes. And it freaks me out. Weirdly sometimes a good run can break the cycle of them. I just am not trusting my doctor and now have developed a fear of exercise. This too could be why I am getting them during. I don’t know. Has anyone dealt with this? How did you get over your fear? I used to love working out. Now I dread it. Also I have health anxiety so please don’t try to scare me in your responses :)Well the way you deal with any fear. Acceptance. You never truly get free of anxiety but when you don't care anymore it leaves you.

Best of luck


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[nomorepanic]

Just ignore them and carry on - exercise is good for you

[DNQNYC]

Your cardio doesn’t feel the need for more testing because PVCs and PACs are benign in a structurally normal heart. Whether you have them during exercise or at rest doesn’t matter if your heart is healthy.

[hope_girl]

Thank you for these responses. I took them to heart and thought about them as I went to the gym today. I felt my palps come on and just ignored them. Eventually, they mostly subsided. I felt like I was going to have a panic attack when I got on the treadmill (I was only fast walking) but I used these responses to help me have courage, so thank you. Now I feel great because I exercised for an hour and my anxiety (long term) decreases. I don't get palps like this all the time, Just during stressful times. And the last 6 weeks have been stressful due to life stuff. 6 weeks ago I was running 3 miles every other day. No worries of heart stuff, even though I've had ectopics for decades. Sometimes I would have during exercise in the past. Sometimes not. But only just a few. I really do think the more you fear them, the more they happen.

[hope_girl]

I'm still struggling with this. My PVCs still seem to be brought on by exercise. I do get them just lying flat and doing whatever. But, just now I did some fast walking for 30 min. I had so many! Maybe 100 total. No clue. Yes, I've developed anxiety over exercising now, so that could definitely contribute to them. No, my cardiologist does not seem concerned. No, it doesn't happen every time but it happens frequently with exercise and lately a lot.



I noticed today that as soon as I started walking I started having the feeling like I needed to burp. I had tons of gassy feelings going up and down my chest and loads of burping (gross). The ectopics were going crazy with this and once I would burp they would stop for a while. This has GOT to be related.



Here's my main problem - the internet. I read that exercise induced PVCs can be bad. My Dr. never put me on a treadmill but I even told him when he diagnosed my PVCs almost 2 yrs ago that I get them when I exercise some. He didn't care. I told him I had heard that was bad. He wrinkled his face at me and shook his head and said "nope".



But because of this beast of health anxiety I look for any possible way to doubt my doctor. To believe that I am unique and my problems are outside of his expertise. It doesn't follow logic or reason. I look at something written by a GP online on some forum as more valuable than my Cardiologist (specialized) who has examined my actual heart. It's not logical, I know. But that's also the beast of health anxiety and one of the most frustrating parts. Your logic doesn't win and you are fully aware. My therapist is on this and is working on strategies such as looking at exercise as not just a physical work out, but a mental work out as well of telling myself "It's uncomfortable, not dangerous" and "I've checked this out as well as I can and I've taken care of myself"... But the paradox of health anxiety is this: No one can ever 100% assure you that you are okay. There is no perfect reassurance bc in the end we are all likely going to get sick and die of something since we aren't being chased by wild animals like cave men or engaged in wars (hopefully). And so the anxious mind searches for the worst case scenario.



:(

[Josht]

Go for a brisk walk. When you feel them come on, talk to them. This worked for me. I stopped wishing them away and instead acknowledged them, and told them to bring it on because they weren’t going to stop me.

I just got home from 80 minutes of hot yoga, had like 3 pvcs...maybe I had more, but now that I acknowledge that life just includes pvc’s and I stopped trying to wish them away, they don’t have power over me any more.

Good luck to you, and know, this is entirely HA. Stop fighting it, roll with it.

I had a lady looking at me weird one time out for a walk because I said, “ bring it on, bitches!!” to absolutely no one. Haha.


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[hope_girl]

Omg your post made me laugh out loud in public. Thanks so much for the encouragement and the laugh ��

[Aaahhfreakout]

Increasing ectopic beats with exercise gets a doctor's concern until they check the heart is otherwise normal. If it is, then the relationship between ectopic beats and exercise is simply that an irritable focus point on the heart gets stimulated and fires early.

The reasons why the irritable focus exists are the same as why any muscle can get irritated with stress, tiredness, too much caffeine, etc, and can result in twitching eyelids or IBS or ectopics and many other things.

Also, you are right about ectopics and indigestion. They have a very strong link through conditions such as GERD stimulating and irritating the vagus nerve. I can burp and instantly set off an ectopic on an ECG. Can do it with yawning too. :)

[Catherine S]

HopeGirl, ive lived with PVCs most of my adult life and i'm now in my 60s so as Josh says, you do have to kind of make friends with them. If you're sensitive to feeling them it's best to try and accept them. They're uncomfortable and sometimes scary but they won't harm you. After so many years I know my heart is a strong heart, and has looked after me really well so I've come to truly accept them.

They are triggered for many different reasons, and with exercise it's probably down to changing breathing patterns...the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your bloodstream, it can be as simple as that. Your docs aren't worried...PVCS are probably the most common benign heart occurences, so try your best not to worry about them either.

Cath S ☺

[hope_girl]

Thank you for the encouragement. Your posts have helped me feel better. I’ve had these ectopics since I was a child. They have just in the last few years worsened. I like the idea of “making friends” with them. And also of acknowledging how well my heart has taken care of me for the past 40+ years. People with actual heart defects would give anything for this “problem”. I’m still exercising and still getting them with it. I am noticing more and more the connection with indigestion too.

[WiredIncorrectly]

When I was 17 (I'm much older than that now) I used to run around the local park, and do 12 mile runs on a Sunday. I had some freaky episodes during those long runs. Episodes that caused me to stop. But, as soon as they passed I would continue to run. I'd get them every now and then during the run but I continued. Another time I cycled 16 miles, to realize I hadn't packed my wallet to get the train back. I had 16 mile journey back home with no food or water on a hot summers day. The anxiety + the exercise induced ectopics were a real life nightmare lol. I got home, and when I did I was so happy that I did that ride.

Still alive today. What I'm saying is I had these very young during exercise, and had them throughout adulthood. Sometimes exercise can cause them. Other times not. Most of the time I ignore them but I still get scary moments.

As Catherine said you have to learn to live with them and ignore them. That's the secret. You'll have episodes that may scare you, but you just keep moving on and forget about them as opposed to pondering on them. It's the pondering that is the problem.

[Akoch89]

I'm still struggling with this. My PVCs still seem to be brought on by exercise. I do get them just lying flat and doing whatever. But, just now I did some fast walking for 30 min. I had so many! Maybe 100 total. No clue. Yes, I've developed anxiety over exercising now, so that could definitely contribute to them. No, my cardiologist does not seem concerned. No, it doesn't happen every time but it happens frequently with exercise and lately a lot.



I noticed today that as soon as I started walking I started having the feeling like I needed to burp. I had tons of gassy feelings going up and down my chest and loads of burping (gross). The ectopics were going crazy with this and once I would burp they would stop for a while. This has GOT to be related.



Here's my main problem - the internet. I read that exercise induced PVCs can be bad. My Dr. never put me on a treadmill but I even told him when he diagnosed my PVCs almost 2 yrs ago that I get them when I exercise some. He didn't care. I told him I had heard that was bad. He wrinkled his face at me and shook his head and said "nope".



But because of this beast of health anxiety I look for any possible way to doubt my doctor. To believe that I am unique and my problems are outside of his expertise. It doesn't follow logic or reason. I look at something written by a GP online on some forum as more valuable than my Cardiologist (specialized) who has examined my actual heart. It's not logical, I know. But that's also the beast of health anxiety and one of the most frustrating parts. Your logic doesn't win and you are fully aware. My therapist is on this and is working on strategies such as looking at exercise as not just a physical work out, but a mental work out as well of telling myself "It's uncomfortable, not dangerous" and "I've checked this out as well as I can and I've taken care of myself"... But the paradox of health anxiety is this: No one can ever 100% assure you that you are okay. There is no perfect reassurance bc in the end we are all likely going to get sick and die of something since we aren't being chased by wild animals like cave men or engaged in wars (hopefully). And so the anxious mind searches for the worst case scenario.



:(

I feel you 1000% on everything you are going through. I had issues with PVCs that made me lose it last year, and started to see a therapist because of the fear of dying from my heart stopping suddently. I went through some steps medically - GP referral for a 24hr holter (which found a low case of PVCS) and was also referred to a cardiologist. The cardiologist looked at my holter and did a ekg and said i am fine. I used the dr’s advice to try and move on, but never trusted it. I was always sure there was something else, and as you mentioned health anxiety just makes you believe there is always another worst case scenario that no one has discovered yet. Through just the course of time, luckily the PVCs stopped, or I was just not attuned to them in the same way? But the past few days I have been feeling them again. And i am fighting the urge to mentally connect them with intense cardio. I workout pretty often, but not at too instense of a pace. I have been doing HIIT training on the treadmill for about a mile and noticed the PVCs hours after. I do not want this to cause a mental link (as it did for me last year). I don’t have much in way of advice right now, but I wanted to reach out because I empathize with your situation. I do feel like i have a high chance of it not being anything serious, but the PVCs are uncomfortable and so alarming, esp at an elevated heart rate. Im sorry you are going through this, but try to remember your mind is in control.

[Akoch89]

Thank you, i love this sentiment

[Akoch89]

Thank you, i love this sentiment

I am new to these forums, oops. That was a reply to the idea of making ectopics your friend. It is wonderful advice.