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Premature Contractions (PAC PVC) and endurance training
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Anyone else has this "extra" heart beats PVC and PAC?
For me they arrive more often in periods of very hard training, especially high intensity.
I have done 24h ECG, ultra sound and stress test a couple of years ago and everything came back fine.

This year I had more of them and I did 12 h ECG. Everything was fine but I will do another ultra sound soon.

The arrhythmia is mostly when I rest (in the sofa or bed), almost never when I exercise or stand up.
I'm 34 years old and I train about 15h/w.

Anyone gotten rid of this? It's stressful and disturbing.
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Re: Premature Contractions (PAC PVC) and endurance training [johan123] [ In reply to ]
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I suffer from PVC's and have done for a number of years. Sometimes I get them every third beat and this can go on for twenty minutes or so. I've had all of the scans and a 24 hour monitor which picked up lots of them. The end result? Not a problem. My training goes on and i've never had an issue with the pvc's. The biggest problem with someone discovering they are having them is worry. But nowadays I just ignore them.
Last edited by: GeorgeA11965: Jun 14, 17 3:56
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Re: Premature Contractions (PAC PVC) and endurance training [GeorgeA11965] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for sharing.
Do you feel that they are coming more often or not in specific situations? Or you don't care?
I heard that ablation could be a solution in extream cases
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Re: Premature Contractions (PAC PVC) and endurance training [johan123] [ In reply to ]
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To be honest, I now completely ignore them.
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Re: Premature Contractions (PAC PVC) and endurance training [GeorgeA11965] [ In reply to ]
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I meant to add that the consultant cardiologist I was seeing told me that pvc's and pac's in general are nothing to worry abut unless you are getting them like every beat or every other beat.
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Re: Premature Contractions (PAC PVC) and endurance training [johan123] [ In reply to ]
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In healthy individuals they are not a marker that anything worrisome is going to happen. You likely notice them most at rest because nothing else is distracting your attention from them. Fairly common in endurance athletes. Side effects and dangers of drug treatment far outweigh any risk associated with them. An ablation is a heart catheterization and has small risk of stroke.

They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

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Re: Premature Contractions (PAC PVC) and endurance training [len] [ In reply to ]
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len wrote:
In healthy individuals they are not a marker that anything worrisome is going to happen. You likely notice them most at rest because nothing else is distracting your attention from them. Fairly common in endurance athletes. Side effects and dangers of drug treatment far outweigh any risk associated with them. An ablation is a heart catheterization and has small risk of stroke.

This. I throw PACs and occasional PVCs at rest. It was caught years ago in a 12 lead EKG for a physical that they were having trouble setting up. I had been laying on the table for about half an hour and was very relaxed. My heart rate was about 40 bpm when they finally ran the test and there they were.

I had a full cardiac workup including a stress test on a treadmill. I was told it nothing to worry about but it should be watched for changes. That was about 10 years ago.

"...the street finds its own uses for things"
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Re: Premature Contractions (PAC PVC) and endurance training [johan123] [ In reply to ]
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yes it is normal to have some PVC's every day, but only about 150 to 250 of them. If you are having them every 4,5 or 6 bats that is in the 1000's or more per day, not normal.

I had a bout the other night where about every 4th beat was being skipped and it went on for hours. I tired to go to sleep but no go. I finally got up and took one salt stick pill and within 10 minutes it stopped and was back to normal. I have found over the years that a lot of these irregular heart beats are mineral related. For me it is magnesium and sodium usually. I don't know why I waited so long to take that salt pill, I guess it had been so long since I had this I just forgot.

Dan also had the same issue that lasted for days recently after he did the Belgium waffle ride. No secret that was way too much for him and he stressed all his systems. I'm sure if he had taken some mineral supplements it would have abated sooner, but we will never know as he just rode it out for days until his body sorted out on its own. I prefer to get it over with asap, I don't like the feeling and heart stuff can be scary..
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Re: Premature Contractions (PAC PVC) and endurance training [johan123] [ In reply to ]
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I get these types of arrhythmias periodically and they were starting to last hours and had me worried that it was atrial fibrillation. Had a bunch of tests done - heart ultrasound, stress test, 24 hour holter monitor - and thankfully all negative.

I've read cutting back on alcohol and caffeine helps.

The most oddball trick that I tried was to dunk my face in a sink full of ice water. The theory is that the shock of the cold water 'resets' the heart into a normal rhythm.

It actually worked a few times but not all the time.
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Re: Premature Contractions (PAC PVC) and endurance training [johan123] [ In reply to ]
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Great question! Quickly, I am an exercise physiologist at a Chicago hospital and have ran multiple stress tests, EKGs, and work in cardiac rehab. PVCs and PACs are very common in individuals ranging from those with cardiac history to elite athletes. Although I do not have them, running 1000s of tests and speaking with 100s patients you mainly feel them while you are rest and this is because you are more aware of your body and heart while at rest. With some individuals they go away during exercise while others they keep having them. If they are bothering you your MD may put you on a Beta Blocker which can help with arrhythmias, but as an athlete I doubt you want that (blunts your HR response). Having a negative stress test is great news because that means you have no ST depression, no serious arrhythmias (SVT, A Fib, etc) during peak exercise, and the function of your heart is good. All in all their is no clear cut way to getting rid of them, but I wanted to at least give you some peace of mind that as long as you do not go into a serious arrhythmia you are OK to exercise. Hope this helps.
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Re: Premature Contractions (PAC PVC) and endurance training [johan123] [ In reply to ]
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I suffered from these for years. Sometimes they were bad and could keep me up at night.... sometimes they went away for extended periods of time.

You may want to monitor your daily activities and get a feel for what triggers them. For me, I initially noticed that dehydration, lack of sleep and alcohol was the worst. Having a few drinks in the evening could keep me up half the night with PVCs.

A couple years ago I completely changed my diet for other reasons. I cut out added sugar, 99% of processed foods, most grains and all dairy. Basically I went on a modified Whole30/Paleo diet. After eating this way for a while, they (almost) completely went away. Drinking beer doesn't even seem to bring them back anymore. I'm not suggesting you go this route and change your diet. Eating this way is incredibly challenging for an endurance athlete. My point is that there could be some sort of food or environmental trigger that causes them for you. Pay attention and try to figure out what your triggers are so you can avoid them. Cutting out some foods might be a good start.

I'd go some days where I swear I'd get 500-1000 of them. Now I don't really notice them at all. Not sure if it was the diet change or not. Could have been some food additive or maybe I was eating too much sugar. Who knows.

I feel for you. They are incredibly un-nerving and annoying.

Bob
Last edited by: Bob S: Jun 14, 17 12:00
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