Hey all,
I've been having PACs and PVCs for about 5 years now, 21yo M who doesn't drink, smoke or do drugs (but I do have anxiety :p )
Anyway I wanted to talk to some people first hand about how theirs feels as I don't know anybody in real life who experiences these, so experiences would help ease my fear.
Mine kind of feel like a thump and then I get a massive anxiety rush and my heart beats faster, sometimes it will be mild and it feels more like someone presses on my heart for a second. But the big ones are like someone punches my heart and I have to recover, I'm a little worried it is Afib and not just benign PAC's/PVC's. I've had an ECG about 2 weeks ago and nothing showed, no hyper or hypothyroidism on my bloods, I have a 24 hour monitor tomorrow and I am considering having caffeine because the last time I had a monitor they barely even showed up.
Thanks in advance.
Hi I've been having this for about 7 years I am 28 years old and all I can say is you are not alone . They are horrible and to be honest have ruined my life , the feelings I get are like a thud then a pause sometimes 2 thuds then a pause then some times many thuds then I can also feel like a double beat . I've had tests and monitoring and they pulled up nothing and I'm told to not worry , its a hard thing to live with and sometimes I feel like they have missed something and I have some hidden condition that will hurt me . I can have a brake from them for months and then one day bang they are back .
I have had these for 40 years since i was 28, i just learned to live with them without the side effects of drugs, as i,ve got older they are harder to tolerate. I also have suffered with anxiety, i try to keep busy to take my mind off these horrible feelings but it does affect your life, i avoid stressfull excitable situations. I have never smoked taken drugs and alcohol, pretty much led a healthy lifestyle but still i am wired up like this, some of us unfortunately are. One thing for sure you will not die of this, i have worked until retirement and put my energy into my family. Definitely give up coffee that starts me off.
I agree . Also I think it's just hard to accept that something that feels so dangerous is actually medically insignificant .
Hi Jesse,
Im a 23yo male and know completely what your going through!
I was diagnosed with afib in December last year.. was in fast AF for about 40 minutes before my heart finally converted back to normal rhythm. I was prescribed the beta blocker bisoprolol which has stopped me from going into afib but during parts of the day i get lots of pvc's/pac's and the only way i can describe it is almost like a frog jumping around in your chest. Normally pauses then a thud after, its not a pain but it is the most scary/horrific sensation and every single one is as bad as the last one! Please reply back to me as I think it would help us both to talk about it 
, dont worry, your not the only one!
Dan
Im so paranoid when i get mine. I think im going to die.
Hi everyone. I'm new on here & feel comforted by your comments. I suffer from PVCs which feel like a jumping in my throat and breathless feeling. Despite being given a clean bill of health by the cardiologist it is hard not to both dread them & be frightened when they happen. I am a worrier with a history of anxiety but no problems with weight. I first suffered about 5 years ago & had been much better until I went on a diet to clean up my sluggish gallbladder. This meant eating a lot of acid food so I wonder if there is a connection with arrhythmia & changes in diet. I don't have any caffeine and am a regular dog walker. Having said that, I'm terrified to walk too energetically in case it triggers an attack. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
Any advice welcome. Best wishes
Hello Jesse,
The trouble I have found is that when I have the 7 day monitoring or an ECG its SODS LAW ie just sinus rhythm. Extremely annoying when you know its been constant VE's week after week. Yes, its like banging and crashing inside yr chest with a feeling that your breath is being sucked out of you. Also......like you I suffer from episodes of anxiety (the cardiologist says any emotional response makes the ectopics worse) The Drs wont prescibe anti arhythmic drugs as they have serious side effects but I'm feeling desperate like you.
Me too Linda! I had a 24hr monitor last week which showed nothing but the odd blip here & there. I swear the minute I took it off I felt as though I was about to drop dead. I would do anything to get rid of this vile condition. I have noticed now that hot food & cold air are triggers for me. I don't mind that so much but when it comes from nowhere it frightens the life out of me. The doctor wants to give me mild anti anxiety medication but I'm worried about pills. I
Hi all I commented in this a few weeks ago but I have recently had a new symptom that scared the living daylight out of me , I woke up the other morning at around 6:30 to what felt like pvcs one after the other for about 2 minutes it was so forceful and fast you would not believe it , I went to the doctors and they have suggested I might have SVT and I am waiting for a implant loop recorder to try and catch it , this episode has put me back to square 1 with fear and I'm sat here basically waiting to die it's horrible.
The many times i have felt that is uncountable, i am 69 and have had svt, ectopic heartbeats, strong heartbeats that shake my body, sometimes it feels as if my heart is shivering, i haven,t died yet but thought my time had come many times. My last episode of svt was 197 beats a minute and for the first time it was caught because it would not go down, they don,t seem to take you seriously until something like this happens. over 40 years i have suffered this, now on bisoporol but early days becuse i started it on 4th february.
Hi in a warming way it's good to know that I'm not alone even though I don't wish this on anyone, in the subject of them not taking you seriously is the story of my life , i fully understand and accept that I do have anxiety and have suffered from it for a long time . the problem it when you tell them that then anything wrong with you is anxiety related, so all they ever tell me is try and control the anxiety when it happens . It makes me panic yes what do they expect it to do ? I have told them any times that it isn't the fear of having a problem it's the fear of the problem hurting me , they tried to offer me bisoprolol the other day but I declined as I am already on propranolol, I just hope they catch it soon bad or not so I can get on with my life I'm only 28 and it's starting to affect my family aswell because I'm always sat there scared for the next episode.
You are really not alone Rob. It's a vicious circle and like Ann I'm over 60 & still here despite suffering for many years. It's hard for those who don't know what we go through to understand the sheer fear of waiting for the next episode. It's like sitting on a time bomb! I have just signed up for some counselling to see if I can reduce my chronic anxiety. I presume we've all had tests & know about caffeine, smoking, alcohol etc? I should be as
healthy as a horse but remember, you are young and if you can really get to the bottom of this you have many good years ahead. My father had PVT & a ridiculously uneven resting heartbeat. He was refused life insurance at 40. He lived to 74 & it wasn't his heart that killed him! I feel for everyone on here & am so glad it's not just me!! Have a good Sunday if you can 😀
Can I just ask has anyone ever had the same as what I had the other morning waking up with it flopping all over the place ( sorry for the terrible description but it's the only way I can describe it )
I can be completely relaxed and it will start, often when i,m asleep in bed, how can that be anxiety. I must admit i do suffer with anxiety in some situations, if we could control this we would, its something we have no control over whatsoever, i wouldn,t wish this on anybody. I have held down good responsible jobs but boy did i suffer when i had meetings with area manager or something serious. i,m retired now but the suffering continues which makes me anti social, even time with the family i can,t wait to get away, i hope its not obvious because i love my family. i was 28 when i was first found to have ectopic beats and feeling my heart beating.
Me too Ann. It wakes me up often. Sometimes it's completely random, other times I can associate it with things like picking up the phone or getting up in the middle of the night for the dog.
I think the biggest problem for me is because it feels the way it does ( deadly) it's hard to accept that nothing will happen I must admit though I do feel slightly more at ease because of the other morning, only because it has never happened for so long and I had a little time to evaluate how I felt if you understand what I mean
Hi everyone, I'm so sorry I have not responded to anything, I didn't have email notifications turned on and I got no notification of this, my own silly move.
Thank you for everything though, it has helped me quite a lot knowing that I am not alone. Does anyone else get the feeling that doctors don't fully understand what you're describing though? Sometimes I experience this and it is extremely frustrating telling them that it isn't just a thudding, it's like something hits your chest.
Hi Jesse
Most of the time I get the feeling that nobody has a clue how it feels!
I'm grateful to you for starting the discussion because I feel like a freak & a drop dead waiting to happen. I think doing our own research is good and also to insist that they check as comprehensively as possible that we aren't suffering from some
undiagnosed cause for these problems. I'm going to see a counsellor tomorrow & am worried that talking will start my symptoms.
Something I notice £ haven't seen mentioned is that my palpitations often start when I lie on my right side in bed. I need to be slightly propped up. Anyone else?
Hi all I had a really bad episode yesterday I had a run of about 6-7 fast beats in a row then I was getting double beats and thuds and everything else every few minutes for the rest of the night