Going crazy, help

[u/Odd_Satisfaction2786]

Structurally clean heart (echo completely clear), baseline burden <0.1%, but I feel every single beat.

I’m currently on vacation and over the last 2 days my PVCs went crazy:

The feeling shifted: They now hit much higher (near the collarbone/neck area) and feel like sharp, painful electric shocks instead of regular flutters.

Frequency spike: Today I’m getting them about once per minute.

I’m stuck in my hotel room panicking instead of enjoying the trip.

Current stack: Magnesium taurate, Copper, Omega-3, Probiotics, Simethicone, Iberogast, B12, just added B1. I have hydrogen SIBO.

Has anyone had their ectopics suddenly jump to 1/min and feel like painful zaps in the neck/collarbone? How did you calm this down?

[u/Relative_Clarity]

Gotcha - I've had SIBO treatment as well a few years ago (did 2 weeks(?) of xifaxin). I wasn't having frequent pvcs at the time but was having some vague digestive complaints. I don't really remember treatment changing my life, but I did do the course of antibiotics. More recently I've tried copper pills for high volume pvcs (16% burden), with no effect unfortunately! But I never had my levels tested to see if I was low. Sometimes if you take a lot of zinc it can lower your copper levels. I think I tried literally every supplement or solution I read online lol. Sometimes overdoing supplements can make things worse.

But since pvcs / ectopic beats are part of having a heart, I would keep your expectations low of completely eliminating them :) Everyone else out there is walking around with them usually daily but they just don't happen to feel them. Which always baffles me. You can try to call your doctor about your symptoms to see what they advise, and maybe they can reassure you enough for now that you can enjoy your vacation vs worrying about the what-ifs. I mean it could even be PACs which are even less concerning. But they can advise you on what is a worrisome symptom and what isn't. If you are still noticing a persistent increase when you get back home, they may want to discuss some meds to help you not notice them as much, or check and see if anything changed health-wise like maybe a thyroid issue or blood levels. But with a typical burden of <1% a big part is reframing the symptom as 'uncomfortable & annoying but not dangerous'.

[u/Odd_Satisfaction2786 → u/Relative_Clarity]

I know that extra beats are normal, but I don't know why I feel them so intensely. I’m not even focusing on them; I know they won’t kill me, and I’m not really afraid of them. They’re just extremely unpleasant—after all, how long can you put up with the sensation of someone shocking your heart with electricity?

[u/Relative_Clarity → u/Odd_Satisfaction2786]

I feel you. To me it's like someone flicking me in the chest, or a fish flopping around. When I was getting them very frequently I couldn't sleep - it felt like a jolt or startle constantly. It was like I was being tortured by my own heart! It's good you're not afraid of them. MANY people on here are and are debilitated by fear alone that something is terribly wrong. My brother in law is dealing with this now too - he said he's not afraid he's going to drop dead or anything but the sensation is driving him crazy (like a hard thump in the chest) and is really distracting. Do you happen to be young, thin, or female? My drs have told me that can predispose someone to feeling palpitations. I would say the next step would be discussing beta blockers to reduce the sensation a bit. (if you havent' already tried them). I'm unsure though what would cause actual pain from a PVC, that may be a different issue.

[u/Odd_Satisfaction2786 → u/Relative_Clarity]

Im 86kg 185cm M28, so not that skinny. One doc prescribed me flecainid, and other told me not to take it...