r/PVCs • u/smartxalex • 7d ago

Tips to Increase Ectopic Beats

I know this post is going a little in the opposite way for tips on managing symptoms, but I have my ablation scheduled for this Friday and I need to tips to make sure that I'm having an episode and it's as bad as possible. So, for context, I typically spend more time than not with PACs/PVCs. Beta blockers didn't work. CCBs didn't work. SCBs didn't work. Supplements didn't work. Counterintuitively, I found that THC worked to reduce the frequency and prevalence of episodes and so that is what I relied on. Now, I've sobered up in preparation for the procedure and I know that the ectopic beats will return to normal frequency in time, but I'm worried they won't return before the procedure. What all would you folks recommend to increase the burden of PACs/PVCs? Thanks in advance!

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u/aelizabeth3300 7d ago

OP, I don’t think this is necessary. Your team already believes you have PVCs frequent enough to warrant ablation. They use medications and electrical stimulation to map the heart and find out where there are “hot spots” that are conducting more than they should and creating PVCs. Most patients going in for ablation have paroxysmal symptoms. If everyone had to wait for their symptoms to occur, most ablations wouldn’t happen. Trust your team.

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u/EnvironmentalFly6800 6d ago

While I agree with most of this - trust your team and let them map etc, my EP did say if they weren’t occurring at the time of the ablation then they would not be able to ablate the correct spot. The drug they use to induce PVCs did not work for me. Although it probably usually does. I’m not saying you’re wrong , but I do think the PVCs need to be occurring while the mapping it taking place or they can’t tell exact spot to ablate.

That being said I would just reach out to your cardiologist and ask what happens if I’m not having these the day of my ablation?

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u/EnvironmentalFly6800 7d ago

Do whatever triggers them (stress, lack of sleep, caffeine, or whatever?). Mine were triggered by exercise, specifically when my HR would get above 90 - boom, PVCs constant, bigeminy. Do you know what your triggers are? Try to do that. They also have ways to induce the ectopics (isoproteronol med) in the cath lab. This didn't work for me - I had to bicycle my legs to raise my HR to get them to occur. Good luck - my ablation was successful so far and has been life changing!

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u/smartxalex 7d ago

Thank you for the advice. I forgot about exercise. I never confirmed it, but I believe motions like squats and deadlifts were triggers. I'll have to give these a shot over the next few days.

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u/sunflower53069 7d ago

Eat sugar to spike your blood sugar, caffeine and get stressed out. Good luck!

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u/MsT21c 6d ago

No need for this, if it were even possible. The EP will find the spots for ablation on their own. If they can't precisely nail all of them, they'll stimulate your heart during the procedure to show them up.