Ectopic Beats in runs

[serina]

On my bad days I have runs of PVCs for an hour or two a couple times a day. I will get them every couple of beats and then they go away again after an hour or longer. Def happens during digestion. I had my holter last Friday and meet with cardiologist Thursday. I just keep telling myself that even though the frequency has increased most people find out they are normal. But this evening they are pretty bad and I keep thinking what if it is something with my heart. To make matters worse I just found out my father has an aggressive cancer. So if these came around bc of long term stress they surely wont go away now. I am also scared of meds so I am not sure the Beta Blocker will be good for me. Does anyone have advice on how to ignore these and go on with your life?

[Carys]

Hiyer Serina, Really sorry to hear about your Dad, and of course this is going to increase your stress levels hugely. I am a long term ectopic beat person (over 30 years) and sometimes they come really badly in times of higher stress, run after run after run. You have already made the link to your digestion, which was the same as I did many years ago, so you will probably know that the vagus nerve runs near the stomach and can get a little stressed when you have a slightly upset stomach. I also found that bad posture, scrunching forwards, anything tied tightly round my waist and tensing my stomach muscles can cause a few runs at bad times. I've never taken medication for my issue, as after being told they were benign, and making a direct connnection between stressful times and them becoming bad was enough for me to put them out of my mind to a great extent. I can't tell you 'how' to ignore them, but I can tell you that they won't cause your heart to stop, and people like myself who have had them a lifetime are testament to that, so I hope at least knowing that helps you. Acceptance that they are benign and just 'there' will make them gradually dwindle as you become less upset by them, therefore less adrenaline when they happen and less tense stomach holding and bad digestion.

[serina]

Thank you so much! I visited the Cardiologist he did an ECG which was normal. My monitor results will be in, in another week. Luckily when he listened to my heart I had a couple. He stated what you did. This are benign and will not hurt me. He did write me a script to beta blocker and ordered an echo (which he said was more so for peace of mind). So I have decided to hold off and see if they subside on their own. He told me my ECG was textbook perfect and my heart sounded good. If that coupled with the echo looks good maybe they will go down again. I would rather not take the meds bc my resting HR is in the high 50s at times so I am nervous these will make it too low. I think once I have all the proof that the heart is okay perhaps they will reduce enough that I can block them out. And exercise.

[Carys]

Same as I found out many years ago (though only had an ecg at the GP) and to be honest that was enough for me to know. I used betablockers for 2 days, and loathed it, it felt like my heart was reacting 'unnaturally' and slowly and they didn't make me feel any better at all - infact worse and more worried. Acceptance is the way to go, the more you just do that.......it will come that one day you will realise they haven't happened