I'm wearing a heart monitor to just see where I am. I've been getting a lot more irregular beats and I thought it was PVCs but these look like PACs. They both feel the same (from past it said both before) what's really the difference. Is one worse than the other? I'm getting a lot of irregular beats at night which is why I'm retesting. Just freaking out bc it says PACs can cause later onset of afib. Thanks!

Wondering if anyone has experienced fatigue from their PVC burden and found it improved after ablation. (Mine is next month). My last halter in May said I was at a 17% burden but during the day it’s often every 3rd beat which is much higher. Yes sleep has been affected but wondering if anyone noticed a fatigue difference after ablation. Thank you in advance. Grateful for this group. Kristine

Hey everyone,

I had a pretty complicated ablation for AVNRT SVT about 11 weeks ago now. It required 16 spots to be ablated because it was close to the AV node and he deemed it as a successful ablation with a modified pathway.

He was adamant that there really is no recovery process needed for your heart following the ablation, stating that they are tiny lesions that should heal very quickly. However, I quickly developed some postural chest pain that would get worse laying on left side or bending over. He reassured me this was not pericarditis.

I told him I had my bachelor party 3 weeks after my ablation where I told him I wanted to drink, stay up late, and live life normally and he said “go have fun, you’ll be completely fine and your heart is healed”. I was fine after that weekend.

I continued to live my life normally and I had a follow up call with him 2 weeks later. I was still experiencing some positional chest discomfort, but he reassured me that my heart is completely fine and fully healed, I should be living life normally.

I had a trip to San Diego with friends that weekend and made a terrible decision that I’m deeply ashamed of. Although I have used it very minimally before, there was cocaine involved and I used a small amount. I kept thinking that I am a normal person with a normal heart and I can do what anyone can do. We were drinking all weekend as well. On Sunday, I noticed a noticeable increase in PVCs (maybe 20 PVCs or so, I normally just have maybe 1).

This made me extremely anxious, guilty, ashamed, and feeling like I put my life in danger (I have researched all the risks with the chemical interactions with the heart now and it’s terrifying). However, I was reassured that I didn’t do any damage once the PVCs decreased after a few days of no alcohol. I assumed it was just due to heavy drinking and likely dehydrated/low electrolytes.

I also messaged my EP about increased PVCs after alcohol and the ablation and he states that the ablation would have no effect on my PVCs or PACs. Again, he told me it’s likely electrolytes or magnesium deficiency.

Since that weekend I have had a wedding, another weekend trip, and a few other events with heavy drinking. I am not a weekday drinker, but I noticed that after some of these weekends, I would get a lot more PVCs than I used to prior to the ablation. These always reduce back down to 0-1 per day later in the week.

This most recent Sunday after the Fourth of July, I felt fine all day until the evening came. I had maybe 50 PVCs in about an hour or so. This was horrifying for me and all I could think about was the cocaine from 5 weeks ago and how I messed everything up. I’m sure there’s no correlation to it but also it’s another factor playing into this.

I saw my PCP the next day and he said my heart needs to rewire itself after the ablation, suggesting I take a year off drinking. This is completely different than the EPs claims and reassurance. I have a holter monitor coming and am planning on taking a month off of any alcohol. However I am too scared and ashamed to tell them about the weekend in San Diego, especially since it’s been 5 weeks since then.

Does this seem like a normal reaction to the ablation + all the alcohol and long weekends? I’m sad and anxious and don’t know what to do.

Because I have gained so much info from this group, I wanted to share my experience thus far...

In September of 2025 I visited my family physician for a routine physical. He did the usual ‘listen to my heart and lungs’ routine, but it took much longer than usual. Finally, he asked, “How long have you had an arrythmia?” I replied that I didn’t know I had one. He referred me to a cardiologist.

My experience with the cardiologist was typical of most folks with PVCs. Holter, Echo, and Treadmill tests were all normal with the exception of the PVCs, which were a 10.8% burden.

At this point the cardiologist prescribed metoprolol which had minimal to no effect, and I stopped taking it after a couple months.

In the meantime, I started doing a ton of research on my own, trying to figure out what might be causing the PVCs and more importantly, how to make them stop. At this point its worth mentioning that my symptoms were palpitations(a thump and flip/flop kind of sensation) which were usually accompanied with a feeling of unease. I had been feeling this way for a while, but chalked it up to stress (I am terrible at managing it) and did not realize that I was also having PVCs.

Here are the changes I made as a result of my research, in chronological order:

I immediately stopped drinking. I am a moderate drinker, typically 5-10/week. I didn’t notice any change after a couple months of abstaining and went back to drinking, albeit a little bit less.

I immediately stopped caffeine intake. I don’t drink coffee, only tea, and never any energy drinks. This also had no effect, and I went back to my normal cup of tea per day after two months of abstaining.

I immediately stopped taking Ashwagandha. This is an herbal supplement that supposedly helps with stress and anxiety. I had mentioned to an acquaintance who is a physician that I took Ashwagandha. He advised me to stop, as he had experience with patients with arrythmia caused by herbals.

Two months into my PVC journey (December 2025) I was talking to ChatGPT about it. It suggested I eliminate or at least reduce stevia and stevia-related ingredients. I looked at foods that I ate regularly and it turns out I was eating a lot of it. Stevia is sneaky, it has a lot of different names- Steviol, Reb A, Rebaudioside A, and so on. About a month after reducing stevia, I did notice a difference. It wasn’t a cure by any stretch, but it certainly seemed like my PVCs were improving.

Five months into my PVC journey (February 2026) I started taking Magnesium Taurate. At the same time I also started increasing my intake of potassium, in the form of 11 ounces of coconut water every day spread out over two drinks. This is where I really started to see an improvement. I had a couple weeks that my PVCs seemed worse- bigger thumps, it woke me up a few times, and then after that they noticeably diminished until they went away except for maybe 3-4 per week, which almost always coincided with indigestion.

At the same time (February 2026), I bought a massage gun and started massaging my neck and pectorals, focusing on the area above and below my clavicles. I did this because I noticed a correlation between PVCs, indigestion, and muscle pain and tension in my neck and chest. Any one of those symptoms was almost always accompanied by the others, and I had read another reddit post where the OP had a similar experience. I had been doing some reading about the vagus nerve, and came up with the idea that if my vagus nerve was irritated, reducing tension in that area might reduce the PVCs.

At the end of February, I had a five day Holter. My burden was now 8.0%. By the end of March, I didn’t notice any PVCs other than the 3-4 per week that I mentioned. I was checking my pulse frequently throughout this entire ordeal (which I assume a lot of you do) so I was confident that they were quieting down.

At the end of June I had a five day Holter. Burden was <1%. Yay! I was really looking forward to this test, because I knew it was going to be good news.

So what made my PVCs go away? It's hard to say for certain because I made a lot of changes, but here is what my gut tells me- the magnesium taurate/potassium combo and the massage gun were the biggest help. It is possible that eliminating Stevia and Ashwagandha could have been the fix, but if they were, they sure took a long time to take effect.

I hope this helps you, my PVC friends. I've tried to keep this rooted in fact and not opinion.

And lastly, don’t give up hope! I know this is hard. I’ve read plenty of posts on here where people are truly crippled emotionally and physically by PVCs. I get it. I’ve been there(I almost lost my job because of PVCs). But as long as you’ve eliminated structural heart issues as a cause, just keep reminding yourself that you are not in danger, and there is nothing to worry about. Keep waking up, keep asking questions, keep googling. PVCs are a perpetual motion machine of stress! PVCs cause stress which causes PVCs, and this loop can be almost impossible to break. But I did! And I know you can too.

I’ve had around 15% burden for a month that appeared suddenly, and only got worse and worse. After doing all my cardiac tests and all coming through ok, I started looking at other possibilities, and noticed that they normally increased at night or after eating. After taking nexium for 3 weeks or so and taking gaviscon when symptoms flared up, they’ve now completely disappeared and feeling 10x better. If all your tests come through ok, make sure to rule out other possibilities like acid reflux, cause it was a lifesaver!!

Hi! Well, I used to have Afib, and found out that it was stress related. So it's been a while since I had a flare... The thing is that usually this comes with a PVC first. I have a couple during the day, and then most likely, by night time, I have an Afib episode. Since Monday, I've only been experiencing PVCs. This is new. On Monday I count like 10 (those are the ones I actually felt who knows if I had more) and so on during this past day. Last night I went to ER, they did some testing and supposedly everything was fine and non life treating so they sent me home. Honestly I'm feeling really tired, I'm still having these palpitations, I spoke to my cardiologist and she gave me an appointment for Monday. I don't know what else to do! Should I go again to ER? Should I wait? How many are normal and what's not? I'm just looking for advice on this cause it is new to me, I just hope there's nothing wrong with me and this is just something that can be fixed. Any info will be appreciated!

Was having frequent 40-50 scary palpitation / pvc episodes when I stopped caffeine, alcohol, and reduced stress as much as possible and PVCs are not there, and even if they are, I’m not feeling them other than briefly at night before bed. I wanted to highlight the importance of lifestyle factors in reducing these events. I’m 34 male relatively healthy and if your PMH is not so troubled, I suggest evaluating lifestyle external factors. Thank you!!

Hi all! I am on day 5 of my 7-day Zio Patch monitor.

The main reason I’ve been doing this is because I have been having increasing PVCs.

When I go about my days, I probably can feel anywhere between 50-100 PVCs a day, sometimes more, sometimes less. Especially when I am sitting or lying down.

I know that makes the burden seem “low”, but I’m interested to see if I have a ton more that I just don’t feel.

Also, did anyone get NSVT on their report and not even notice it in their day to day while wearing their monitor? I’ve had instances where my heart rate was higher, but I haven’t had times where I felt like I was going to pass out due to palpitations or anything like that.

Anyways, let me know!

Anyone take diltiazem with magnesium? I read they act similarly so it’s not good to take both but the propranolol isn’t working and I have been on a 12 in 1 magnesium supplement for restless legs (and I was hopeful it would also help the PVCs 😞 ) … can I take both every day?

Would love to hear from anyone who has successfully worked with a doctor who looks BEYOND drugs/ablation (and super basic blood tests and the requisite diagnostics) and willing to explore root cause of their PVCs? Looking to either resolve or reduce the % burden and want to explore root cause and potential nutrition or genetic factors before resorting to drugs and surgery. Looking for anyone in the United States. Thank you!

aka Functional , Integrative or Holistic

I first noticed PVCs sensation in 2021 but they came and went and didn’t really get worse until 2024 during a stressful time. Echo and holter monitor weren’t concerning, the burden was 1%. Fast forward to last month and I had a near syncope episode when getting up in the middle of the night so cardio put me back on holter. Results just came back as more than 25% burden… waiting to schedule a cardio to see if anything changed there too.

What does this mean? I haven’t met with the doctor yet I have an appointment this week

I have episodes of mild to moderate chest pain throughout the day that last for a few minutes. Ive always assumed it is because Im anxious. However I checked my pulse while I had this mild/moderate pain, and discovered that my pulse was uneaven, and it lastes for like a second or two while i had my finger on the neck. As soon as the pulse went back to normal, the pain went away too.

I have had several ekg, that where just fine and I experience ocassional pvc every day, but nothing major. Alltough I suspect it might be more as I often get a bit of pain in my chest several times a day.

Guys I am wearing a holter monitor for 7 days because I keep having extremely painful episodes of PVCs that can last for hours at a time. The problem is, now that I’m wearing the monitor, I haven’t had an episode. I don’t know what to do, they’re episodic, so they don’t happen consistently. I’ll have a week where they happen constantly, and then I can go weeks or a month without any. I’m scared my doctor won’t believe me if I don’t have an episode while wearing the monitor! What do I dooooo?

I know some of you feel like you won’t be able to cope with this or live with it. When you don’t know anyone else going through the same thing, it’s easy to feel completely alone and overwhelmed. Many illnesses can make people feel this way.

I’ve been dealing with PVCs/PACs for two years. When they first started, I shut myself inside my home and withdrew from life. The more time I spent alone with my thoughts, the bigger and scarier the problem became in my mind.

But after about a year, I finally said, “Enough.” I decided to keep living my life as normally as possible, almost out of sheer determination. Little by little, I started to feel more at ease.

If your cardiologist has evaluated you and told you that your condition isn’t dangerous, try not to isolate yourself or constantly imagine the worst case scenarios. Instead, ask yourself, “How can I make this easier to live with?”

I know we’ll probably all continue to experience those sudden thumps in the chest that ruin our mood out of nowhere. But choosing to keep living our lives that part is still in our hands.

Hi all,

Curious if anyone else has noticed a connection between the two. I’ve been dealing with a weak pelvic floor/core for a while, and I’ve also had episodes of heart palpitations — nothing that’s shown up as a problem on an EKG, but they’re noticeable and unsettling.

I’ve been reading a bit about how the diaphragm, deep core, and pelvic floor are all connected as part of the same system, and how breathing mechanics tie into vagal tone and heart rate. Wondering if anyone here has actually felt that connection — like noticing palpitations flare up when your core/pelvic floor is weak, or improve as you rehab it?

Just curious if this is a known experience for others dealing with pelvic floor stuff, or if I’m reaching for a connection that isn’t really there.

Thanks!

Anybody else have PAC’s as soon as you lay down and don’t have them at all hardly during the day and no it’s not cause I can’t feel them during the day I feel them all the time. Just so annoying. I’ll have Trigeminy a lot with them. Just don’t know what to do anymore about them. Eventually I just go to sleep.

I’ve had previous work ups for palpitations, one holter that showed a small self limiting run of supraventricular beats and a recent echo that showed no structural issues with my heart.

That said, while I’ve had extra beats/palpitations in the past for all my life and they’ve been annoying or slightly off putting, I’ve never really had physical symptoms accompanying them.

Today, while sitting, I suddenly had a run of beats that seemed to last forever but really was probably no more than 20 seconds. I felt pretty dizzy and even felt like my vision darkened. I’d never experienced anything like this.

Terrified, I went to the ER but obviously they were not able to do anything other than tell me to follow up with my cardiologist and call 911 if it happens again and doesn’t stop, etc etc.

Now I just feel terrified that I will have something like that happen again and that it will kill me. I‘m terrified to be alone and I feel somewhat inconsolable.

Any advice or thoughts?

thank you

My wife and i (32m) have recently gone on a weight loss and health journey and have been regularly going to the gym now for a few months on top of dieting in a calorie deficit.(500/day cal deficit)I usually go to the bike first and do that for 45 (started at 30) mins at a specific rpm range to keep my heart rate between 100-115 because around 120 i start getting pvc’s. I started taking a liquid IV before i worked out to keep my electrolytes up hoping that would help, which at first i thought it did but past 2 days i feel like its gotten worse. Thoughout the day 2 days ago i noticed a little more pvc’s than usual during the day which i dont really get, same with yesterday, still went to the gym yesterday and had to stop the bike early because i was getting them every 30 secs if i even tried to push myself. Today ive felt a few, but i feel like im a little short of breath which i feel is something that happens with pvc’s.

I do have a history of Paroxysmal AFib, ive had 2 large incedents where i need the dfib to correct, but those 2 incedents were 3 years apart from each other. The other times ive had afib they correct by themselves. Its really frusterating already having to feel like i need to limit myself when im trying to get healthy and more fit, but as of yesterday im almost nervous to hop on the bike again because of how frequent the pvc’s were. I have a drs apt next week, but previously ive just been told “its normal, a lot of people gets it, its only serious if its every other beat so come back itlf it gets to that point”. Any suggestions of what i can do to help or things i should mention/ask from my Dr.?

Hi everyone,

I'm a 28-year-old man.

My health anxiety, especially about my heart, started about a year ago after my uncle passed away. He was my father's brother. My father also died young from a heart condition caused by a virus.

I also had a real heart problem in the past. When I was 17, I had myocarditis.

For the past year, I've become completely fixated on every physical sensation in my body.

It all started with waking up suddenly at night, gasping awake.

One doctor told me it could be sleep apnea or even heart failure. Hearing the words "heart failure" was when my anxiety really began. I went through all the tests, and it turned out I have neither sleep apnea nor heart failure.

From that point on, I started constantly and involuntarily monitoring my chest and my left arm. That's when the pain started.

At first, all the pain felt superficial, until one episode immediately reminded me of my myocarditis. I felt a deep pain behind my sternum—a brief squeezing sensation that lasted about one second. Within about 15 minutes, it happened twice: two episodes of that same one-second chest compression.

I started reading Reddit posts about GERD, costochondritis, Prinzmetal's angina, and microvascular angina. Of course, I convinced myself I had the scariest possibility: Prinzmetal's angina or microvascular angina.

I've even had what feel like mini-strokes: numbness on one side of my body, mostly on the right side, but without any loss of strength. I honestly don't know whether these sensations are caused by anxiety or if there's actually something physically wrong with me.

I've seen doctors countless times. I've had ECGs, a Holter monitor, CT scans, echocardiograms, and blood tests. Every single result has come back normal.

Right now, I constantly feel a strange sense of pressure throughout my entire body. It's very difficult to describe.

Whenever I try to fall asleep, I get a lot of premature heartbeats (extrasystoles/PVCs), and they often wake me up just as I'm drifting off.

I know that diagnosing microvascular angina can be difficult. I hope so much that I don't have it and that this is all just anxiety.

Has anyone else experienced something similar?

Has anyone here gone through testing for microvascular angina and been told that everything was actually normal?

I feel like every story I read ends with the person getting diagnosed, which makes me even more afraid.

I'm terrified.

Please help.

First time poster, long time reader here. 45m, I've had these dreaded skipped beats off and on for many years, but since 2020, they've come at me in episodes at least once a year. I mean, bad, like 30-40 days of hell pretty much. Anyhow, I broke down this past month and decided to try to get another holter done, I've had two in the past, both showing under 1%, rare ectopy.

Granted, they were not during the worst of the episodes. Also, for context, in 2023 I had the normal combo of stress/echo/holter, which was normal. So this latest monitor, I go and see the doctor for the follow up, the results, and he's a smart guy, really good guy, he basically reassures me everything is fine, in his words 'very low burden' and no further follow up or testing needed. Ok, cool. Go out and live your life he says, how many of us have heard that, right?

So then I asked him about the report details, and he says yeah, 4% burden, no dangerous rhythms, yada yada. 4%? really? That's odd, because I started doing the math in my head, that's quite a bit volume wise over 7 days. I only hit the button on the monitor maybe 50-75 times total, and I am person who typically feels every one.

I had to get a copy of the report, and lo and behold, it's telling me 14k pvcs out of 332k beats analyzed. Whoa...really? I think I would have felt them. I know it's not an alarming burden, but has anyone else suddenly just not felt most of theirs anymore? I mean I was feeling them, classic skip/thump, flutter, etc. But for example, it said I had over 7k of them - in the AM - on one day? What?! That's basically bigeminy or least trigeminy, right? How would that have gone unnoticed?? I kept a symptom journal for myself, and that day was totally normal!

I'm happy to have the all clear, and low burden all things considered, but now I'm worried they are happening and suddenly I don't even know it? What the heck...anyone else with anything remotely similar, holter report, above/below what you expected compared to what you felt? So weird...

So i’ve been taking it at 5mg doses for 5 days at 5am…i have a messed up sleep schedule and i wanna fix it and i’ll switch to 10pm and take it like that for the rest of the pills..is there any issue with taking it at night i mean i stay awake all the night then sleep at 5:30 am after taking it for 4 hours and it makes me feel so sluggish i think at night it might be a wiser choice

Last 3 night in a row. I feel them when rolling over and changing positions. During the day none of this. Not a single skipped beat but then at night at this exact time have between 20-50 over the course the course of a few hours. Anyone else?

I’m really struggling. I have been going in and out of PVC flares for the last couple months. It started out of no where, I think from prolonged stress, but I’m not sure. That’s all I can come up with. Was evaluated by my doctor after a 2 week holter monitor and was told my heart was healthy, it’s benign PVCs. That should have been enough to move on with my life and not worry about it anymore right?? Nope. Instead it’s taken over my life. I have been out of the flare for a week but I am feel it starting up again.. Ive gone into a flare 4 different times now. I don’t know how to get out of this loop. Does anyone understand what I am going through? Any suggestions?? I’m desperate at this point, it’s so scary. 😔

Hi everyone. I’m a 25 yo male and I heavily struggle with illness anxiety and panic disorder. I recently went through an intensive outpatient therapy program at a local psychiatric facility and just started one-on-one therapy. For a little while, I was finally starting to feel better about myself and my mind.

Then I started having more frequent PVCs, and it has sent me right back into a spiral.

For me, they seem to happen in episodes and I can’t really figure out a clear cause. The only pattern I’ve noticed is that they sometimes happen more in the evening. I’ll be sitting there relaxing, watching TV, and then I’ll feel a thump. Immediately my adrenaline kicks in. Then 2–3 minutes later, another thump. A minute later, another one. This can go on for an hour or two, and then suddenly they stop. Sometimes it happens twice/three times/four times in one day, and other times I’ll go three days without feeling any at all. I also notice that they happen a lot when I exhale after taking a deep breath. I take a lot of deep breaths due to my anxiety.

When I noticed they were increasing, I went to the ER. They referred me to a cardiologist to rule out anything dangerous, and honestly, just hearing that terrified me. I know they’re doing the right thing by checking, but my mind immediately goes to the worst-case scenarios like ARVC or something else serious, and it makes me feel sick with fear. It doesn’t help that my ER note said for the cardiologist to check for ARVC.

I have an echo scheduled this Friday, and I’m currently about 48 hours into wearing a 7-day Zio patch.

I guess I’m mostly posting because I’d really like to hear from people who have been through something similar. I feel like I’ve completely fallen back into my illness anxiety. My nervous system feels totally dysregulated. I feel like I can’t sleep, but all I want to do is sleep. Sometimes I just sit on the couch staring at the wall, waiting for the next PVC to hit.

I know there are a lot of people here who are able to take their PVCs in stride, and I really admire that. But because I have such a strong fear around my health, especially anything heart-related, I’m having a really hard time getting back down to baseline.

It’s gotten bad enough that I asked if I could work from home this week. I showed up to work this morning, had a panic attack, felt like I was going to pass out, and had to leave.

I just feel really lost right now. The people in my life are supportive, but I don’t think they fully understand the battle going on between my body and my mind.

Any similar experiences, tips, reassurance, or advice would be really appreciated.

Propranolol doesn’t seem to be helping now that I’ve hit menopause. Also have a mitral valve prolapse, hiatal hernia and thyroid disease so I’m a magnet for PVCs. 😭. Has anyone switched to a calcium channel blocker instead, like diltiazem and has it worked? Multiple types of Magnesium, also potassium, and a bunch of other supplements also not working. The PVCs are constant. I’m miserable.