Who gets PVC's?

Triathlon Forum
1

Over the winter I decided to get a full physical done before I began training for my first full IM, just as a precaution. I told them I was particularly concerned if there is any underlying heart condition because of the level of physical activity I do.

So the primary care physician checked everything out and did an EKG. She detected premature ventricular contractions (PVC), and she told me that usually people who have very low resting heart rates (mine is 38bpm) are prone to them. She said I should see a cardiologist just in case and gave me a referral.

The cardiologist gave me a Holter monitor, stress test and echo test and said I was fine. He said I do have a high number of PVC’s, but they actually go away completely once I begin exercising which means they are most likely benign. I never would have found out I had them had I not gone to the doctor. I don’t even feel the palipitations when they happen.

I told him the amount of training I do (and have been doing for the past 2.5 years) and he said he thought it was fine for me to continue, just to get it checked out once a year as a precaution. There is zero heart or cardiovascular disease on both sides of my family, which is reassuring.

I am curious, does anyone else out there get PVC’s? When did you discover it and did it ever turn into something that affected your training?

2

I had the same problem sort of. When I was in my senior year of college and training for my first full IM, I started having noticeable palpitations and skipped beats. I finay got freaked out enough to go to the doctor. Got the full cardiac workup, EKG, echo, hotler, the works. Rather than pvc’s, I am prone to pac’s. I had 889 of them in my 24 hour holter, and 1 lonely PVC. But likewise, they are only when I am at rest and never during exercise, therefore “benign” as well.

I get “flair ups” every now and then when I get stressed out either mentally, emotionally, or physically. After every long course race I’ve done since then, the physical fatigue seems to cause them. And when work gets super stressful they pop up as well. And when I don’t get enough sleep, or am in the middle of a big training block, or really ANYTHING stressful above the normal amount for me.

So far, it has been a mere annoyance. God willing, it will stay that way. For a while after diagnosis, the docs put me on beta blockers (metoprolol) and that shit SUCKED!!! I was too exhausted to do anything, let alone train and race. Hell, I could barely stay awake in class. Since they didn’t even stop all the symptoms, I decided to stop taking them, and got my life back.

Do a search about this and similar topics. Back when I was going through my first symptoms, there was quite a bit of discussion about this. There are a lot of folks here with similar stories who can offer advice and tips for dealing with it.

Honestly, I think it’s a question of aging. The older we get, the more “strange shit” our bodies pull. But that’s part of life IMO. Good luck with your issues and your race, and feel free to PM me with any questions, comments, concerns, etc…

3

I had 1,200 PVC’s during a 24 hr period and the doctor shrugged it off! Seriously, they said it was no big deal. I had a few months where they were bad, but they seemed to have gone away now…or at least I only notice one or two a day!

4

I first started getting PVCs about 15 years ago. At the time it really freaked me out. My primary care doc couldn’t figure it out so rather than refer me to a Cardiac specialist he suggested it was all in my head an that I should consider taking Atavan or Xanax for anxiety. He even suggested I see a psychiatrist. I dumped that doc for a new primary. This doc actually believed me, and referred me to a Cardiac doc. EKG was normal and nothing showed up on the 24 hour holter monitor the first time I wore it. Echocardiogram and treadmill test were also all normal.

A month or two later I was in the ER for an asthma problem (I had uncontrolled asthma at the time). When you get an asthma treatment they generally hook you up to a cardiac monitor because the meds have a tendency to elevate your heart rate. Before they even administered the meds, I had the weird beat I had been experiencing and asked the ER doc what it was (he could see it on the monitor). He said, “Oh, that’s just a typical PVC. Most people get them, but only some people actually feel them.”

The cardiac doc had suspected PVCs were the case all along. I wore a holter again and this time it actually caught several PVCs. 15 years later I still get them routinely. Too much caffeine and stress seems to make them more common. I’ve had periodic echocardiograms, EKGs, and treadmill tests in that time frame and the doc is of the opinion that the PVCs are benign and nothing to worry about.

5

That’s kinda funny that you’re first doc didn’t believe you. Mine didn’t either. He said it was all in my head. I could literally feel the skipped beats (or palpitations or whatever you call them) and you could feel them if you took my pulse radially. Guy basically made me feel like an idiot, then said he’d do an EKG to “make me feel better”. Test gets done, and I had to wait almost a half an hour to see him again. The length of time it took tipped me off that there was probably something on the EKG. Doc comes back in and says he’s glad he thought of running that test, because something is clearly going on, and sent me to a cardiologist.

Had he not been a long time family friend, I probably would have had some choice words for him. But whatever, I ended up getting the care I needed, even if my pcp didn’t believe me at first.

Needless to say, while he is still a family friend, he is no longer my doctor.

6

So THAT is what I feel from time to time! I had asked but never got any more than a shrug off from folks…good to know.

7

I have both PVCs and PACs. Like you, my PVCs calm during exercise…which is good. My PACs are much more common, though. Like another poster said. And I have triggers. Once I learned I was okay, and what they were, now I just ignore them for the most part.

8

pretty much everyone gets pvc’s once in a while, they are largely benign and if the cardiologist told you not to worry about them then I wouldn’t sweat it.

9

Woah, 1200 PVC’s in 24 hrs seems like a big deal to me. Granted, I’m no cardiologist, but still. Had they been PAC’s, I’d be more willing to accept the “no big deal” conclusion, but PVC’s mean that your cardiac output is lowered. And even though at a heart rate of 60 bpm, that’s only around 1% of your daily beats that are affected.

Is it a big deal? I really don’t know. But I work in a hospital, and if one of our kids was connected to central telemety, the people who work in the monitoring center would be freaking the hell out!

10

The best thing that you can do for your health in general is realize that medical knowledge is not a deep dark secret that is locked away from the public. If you have a problem investigate it yourself by learning about the subject. Medicine is too big for a physician to know about every last bit of evidence, even the best.

So read…

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T18-46C6GH5-B&_user=10&_coverDate=08%2F07%2F2002&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=8e19e9e22b35b43304338b120ed91a91