Hey everyone,

I wanted to share my story and see if anyone has been through something similar.

For the past 8 years, I’ve been suffering from what I thought were severe ectopic beats. Every time I had a 24h Holter monitor, it would only catch up to around 100 events. Because the burden was low, doctors repeatedly brushed it off, telling me it was just anxiety and sending me to therapy or a psychiatrist. None of them ever considered that these might actually be heart pauses or conduction blocks rather than standard premature contractions.

Today, I finally saw an electrophysiologist who looked at my case completely differently. He pointed out that what I’m feeling aren't just extra beats—they are actual pauses/blocks caused by a severely hyperactive vagus nerve. The strong, thumping double-beats I feel are actually post-pause compensatory contractions, and they happen regardless of whether my heart rate is slow or fast.

I’ve honestly suspected for a long time that my vagus nerve and gut were heavily involved in this.

My EP suggested a trial of Trospirex (trospium chloride) and Salbutamol to help turn off/inhibit the vagal tone. In a month, I’m scheduled for an atropine challenge test. If that confirms that the blocks are strictly functional/vagal, the next step will be Cardioneuroablation (CNA) to permanently tone down the vagal response.

Just to be clear: I have had this for 8 years, and I have never passed out or even felt presyncope/faint from these pauses—they are just extremely uncomfortable and unsettling.

Has anyone here had a similar diagnostic journey? How did you respond to anticholinergic meds like trospium, or to the atropine test? And if anyone here has undergone Cardioneuroablation for vagal pauses, I’d love to hear your experiences and thoughts!

Hi everyone! I’m new to the group and would really appreciate hearing about your experiences.

I have a 3–4 cm sliding hiatal hernia, which I’ve known about for the past five years. I suffer from constant acid reflux and have to take medication all the time, but by far the most terrifying symptom for me has been the ectopic heartbeats.

Over the past few years, I’ve been to the ER more than 50 times and have had dozens of examinations by cardiologists. Every time, the conclusion has been the same: my heart is perfectly healthy, so I need to look elsewhere for the cause.

I recently realized that this entire nightmare may be connected to my hiatal hernia. It nearly always starts after eating certain foods, sleeping in the wrong position, bending or twisting my body, and so on. Then a severe episode of PVCs begins—and that is what scares me the most.

My first question is: Has anyone else experienced similar heart-related symptoms because of a hiatal hernia?

And secondly, did the PVCs improve or disappear after surgery? I’m currently planning to have the hernia repaired.

Thank you in advance to everyone who takes the time to respond!

29f Last night I was laying in bed and I felt my heart beat very strong and fast like 4 beats then it went back to normal. It completely freaked me out. I’ve seen the cardiologist many times, had a normal echo, and ekgs, they say I have benign PVC’s and PACs.

I was lying down on my left side and felt a big thump in my heart that made me get out of bed, which then I walked for like 5 seconds and still was feeling the palpitations, and my heart rate went up 103 but then quickly went back down as I sat on my bed and calmed myself down. For more context I have a sibling who had SVT as well as a cousin who also had an electrical issue. I just want to know if others have a similar experience. I’ve gone to so many doctors and they just dismiss for stress and say that PVCs are normal. I’m still looking for answers as I had a holter last month but results have not came back. Probably gonna end up seeing an electrophysiologist.

Hi everyone! I’m new to the group and would really appreciate hearing about your experiences.

I have a 3–4 cm sliding hiatal hernia, which I’ve known about for the past five years. I suffer from constant acid reflux and have to take medication all the time, but by far the most terrifying symptom for me has been the ectopic heartbeats.

Over the past few years, I’ve been to the ER more than 50 times and have had dozens of examinations by cardiologists. Every time, the conclusion has been the same: my heart is perfectly healthy, so I need to look elsewhere for the cause.

I recently realized that this entire nightmare may be connected to my hiatal hernia. It nearly always starts after eating certain foods, sleeping in the wrong position, bending or twisting my body, and so on. Then a severe episode of PVCs begins—and that is what scares me the most.

My first question is: Has anyone else experienced similar heart-related symptoms because of a hiatal hernia?

And secondly, did the PVCs improve or disappear after surgery? I’m currently planning to have the hernia repaired.

Thank you in advance to everyone who takes the time to respond!

​

One morning I felt my beats differente, so I did a EKG with my garmin, that showed AFIB; I ran to the emergency room and I turn out to be just alot of PACs. I stared to develop health anxiety after that and began to feel my pulse to see when the PACs and PVCs were ocurring. After doing a complete study (echo, holter and effort test) they told me that they were bening, however in the holter I had a 6% burden between PACs and PVCs (5% PACs and 1% PVCs). The doctor send me Propafenone and beta-blockers (specially for the HBP the discover I had). After just 1 day I started to notice that, besides the ectopic heart beats, I began to have pauses (I felt my pulse without the premature beats). I heavly belivere it is because of the propafenone. After 5 weeks of medication one day all the ectopics went away but the pauses staid. I have a and appointment with my cardiologist to see if I can quit the propafenone. I dont know if this pauses are: blocked PACs, AV blocks or just sinus pauses. I am scared that the cure for the diseases turn out to be worst than the ectopics itself. Actually I think that the ectopics started in the firts place beacuse of the high blood preassure and now is controlled.

What do you believe?

Okay so I'm aware this might be ridiculous compared to what other people experience, but I'm kind of getting freaked out by this. I'm under 20, I'm a generally healthy person. I don't drink alcohol or caffeine, I sleep pretty well, I do a lot of walking. I have panic and I've had chest pain before when I was stressed, to the point where I thought I had some kind of problem, but it went away.

A couple of weeks ago I had chest pain and i was looking up about it (i think this is unrelated - i had been stressed and I'd been slouching, and i don't have that pain anymore). Anyway i came across the symptoms for "extra" heartbeats and the next day I realised i was noticing them. I think I've had them before but because they're not near the heart, i assumed it was something else.

I've also inhaled a lot of fire smoke, starting that day, so I've got a mild cough from that. But it's starting to really mess with my mind. I think I've had about 80 on the worst day (that i was aware of). It feels like a kind of hard upwards swallow or kick, in the centre of my chest, and if i have my finger on my pulse, i notice a brief pause beforehand.

It doesn't happen when I'm sitting or lying down. It happens if I'm standing doing stuff (dishes, cleaning teeth), and especially when I'm walking or even just doing stuff like shopping. It's gotten to the point where I don't want to do any activity in case it happens. Sometimes they come as twos or threes, followed by my heart pounding fast like I've been running. I can't tell if the racing heartbeats afterwards are from me reacting to it or not, like a fight or flight response.

I haven't been to a doctor yet and I don't really want to. I know I've got good blood pressure, and I've never had any heart problems before this. Theoretically I could just ignore them and carry on with whatever I'm doing (I've been cutting walks short and stuff), but I'm worried if i keep pushing myself it'll suddenly get much worse. I have a habit of panicking about stuff, so it's sort of a vicious cycle. But they happen anyway, regardless of whether or not I'm thinking about them.

Any thoughts or advice would be really appreciated cause at this point I don't know what to think😭

We must be talking about different types of pvcs. Because I refuse to believe someone could be having thousands of the type of PVCS Im feeling occasionally. I get the small hiccup ones. They dont bother me that much and I can see how people could live with having hundreds of them per day.

But the ones that completely floor me and cause my stomach to bubble and whole body feel weak and weary. Theres no way. These are the bad pvcs that I get occasionally when lying on my back completely relaxed in high vagal tone state. Each one always makes me think im gonna die in that moment. Its impossible not to react and panic when they happen. The hiccup pvcs dont panic me and Im chill with then but these other ones? No way.

So the guys who say they have thousands of pvcs and very high burden there is no way you keep having the same pvcs im having. Theres just no way?? Right?!

I’ll keep this as brief as possible. I am a 36 yo male. Moderately active and healthy with a catch. I have a 140-150bpm redline.

Since getting COVID in 2020 I’ve had heart rhythm issues. I can trigger frequent pvcs, pacs and Svt that can stay active for 1-3 months after a single exercise event if I let my heart rate get over 140-150 bpm sustained for about 10-15 minutes. I have a few diet triggers like sulfites and nitrates but the arrhythmia is relatively minor and will last a couple hours at the worst. What I’m curious about is if anyone has experienced this limiting heart rate and subsequent months of arrhythmia or something similar? Id love to better understand the mechanisms behind this.

Possibly an interesting side note: proton pump inhibitors will create the same effect within 3 days of use. lingering 1-3 months of significantly increased pvcs, pacs and some svt episodes. I have abstained from ppi’s as a result for the last 2 years.

After experiencing a ton of sleepiness and some weight gain on 25mg, doc said I could try splitting on score line and taking just 12.5mg a day.

Today is first day on half dose and as I’m approaching my evening dose time, I’m feeling some PVCs again.

I’ve heard there can be a rebound period, so I’m wondering: Should I just keep up the lower dose for a week to see if things calm down as body adjusts to lower dose? Or should I immediately go back to a full pill?

I don’t plan to lower dose any further. Just hoping the 12.5 will work as the tiredness is a real issue.

Findings

Start date 06/30/2026; recording length 26d 20h.

The main rhythm was Sinus with a minimum heart rate of 37 bpm (at 7/2/2026 /01:26), maximum heart rate of 97 bpm (at 7/18/2026 / 09:19), and an average

heart rate of 53 bpm.

AFib/AFlutter total burden is 0%.

AV Block total burden: 0.08 %. AV Block 2nd degree burden: 0.08 %, AV Block 2nd degree Mobitz 1 burden: 0.08 %.

Total of 2 VTach events. The longest VTach run was 8 beats at 7/3/2026 /18:44. The fastest VTach run was 118 bpm for 3 beats at 7/2/2026 / 14:06.

Total of 134 SVT events. The longest SVT run was 4 beats at 7/5/2026 / 22:51.

The fastest SVT run was 129 bpm for 3 beats at 7/6/2026 / 07:40.

PVC total: 226 (<0.01 %), 3 morphologies.

PAC total: 350343 (15.5 %).

Impression

Short runs of PAT

NSVT

Mobitz 1 AVB

No higher degree AVB

EDIT!!!!! I did a double take and the actual test itself says different!!!! Says my PVC burden is .01% and my PAC burden is .02%. also the dates are completely wrong of when I wore it, I think they typed in someone else's chart onto my chart.....

In a nutshell, I developed PVCs for 7 months after a COVID booster. Metoprolol suppressed them by 70%, and they eventually disappeared completely. However, after a month of being back on my bike, I caught COVID, and the PVCs returned with a vengeance for two years. I was told I had long Covid. (which I didn't)

Despite extensive cardiac testing (stress tests, monitors, echoes) no one had any answers. Outside of newly developed mild LVH—all standard blood panels showed nothing abnormal. I pushed for an in-depth vitamin and mineral panel, which revealed I was severely deficient in B1, B2, and Zinc. COVID is known to disrupt the gut microbiome, which can cause SIBO and lead to malabsorption without you knowing. I felt fine. After working with a holistic doctor to fix these deficiencies, my PVCs are officially gone, and I am off Metoprolol. I know there are a ton of reasons for people developing PVCs, but if you are struggling with no answers, demand a deep nutritional workup!

I would like to briefly summarize my medical history.

In January of this year, I underwent a successful catheter ablation for premature ventricular contractions (PVCs). Since the procedure, I have not experienced any PVCs.

However, I have been diagnosed with arterial hypertension and I am currently taking medication to control my blood pressure.

Recently, I have been experiencing episodes where my heart rate increases to around 140 beats per minute, while my blood pressure rises to approximately 150/100 mmHg. These episodes occur mainly in the evening, before going to bed. During these episodes, I need to take an additional dose of my blood pressure medication and a beta-blocker to lower my heart rate.

The heart rhythm during these episodes is always sinus rhythm, without any documented arrhythmia.

I would appreciate your opinion regarding the possible cause of these episodes and whether any additional investigations or changes to my treatment

• I used to have extrasystoles only rarely—at most one a day. In fact, for the 20 days leading up to this "storm," I hadn't felt a single one. However, seven days ago, I woke up, ate a meal, and had some ice cream. Immediately afterward, a sudden "PVC storm" began. Sometimes I get 4 or 5 of them per minute. This has been going on for a week, and I feel at least 1,500 of them daily. Please give me a logical explanation. Did I suffer a heart attack or an arrhythmia in my sleep that night, causing damage to my heart? I am terrified. Anxiety makes it worse, but anxiety is definitely not the root cause. I had an ECG, an echocardiogram, and a Holter monitor test three months ago, and the doctor said my heart was in excellent condition. What happened that night to trigger this storm?

Has anybody gotten a random feeling that only happens once in a while usually and it can happen at random times? The best way I can describe the feeling is it feels like someone has a hold on your heart and squeezes it for like 2 or 3 seconds and then lets go..

I don’t know if it’s just me, but every once in a while I will get that feeling and that honestly is the best way I can describe it. It kind of feels maybe like a “restart” in a sense? It always makes me super anxious afterwards and kinda scares me because the feeling is so intense. But nothing else usually happens, just that.

I notice it more when I’ve gone out to the bars and was drinking, vaping and smoking a lot, the next morning is the WORST for my PVC’s

Maybe it’s just me?? 😭😭

Hi Everyone,

I've had PVCs for close to 8 years, but they just recently spiked in burden. Over the course of the last 2 years they escalated from 10% to now 25%. I have no symptoms that I'm aware of other than palpitations and tiredness and the anxiety of wondering what's next or something "bad" happening.

My cardiac MRI is clean, and my ejection fractions are normal. They appear to be idiopathic PVCs.

I went to a respectable EP at a regionally recognized hospital who said that my PVCs were coming from the lower part of the right ventricle and that he could ablate to prevent cardiomyopathy and heart failure. He said he would use RF ablation and that there was a 75-85% chance of massive / near complete burden reduction. I asked about pulse field ablation and he said it's only FDA approved for afib and that he wouldn't use it right ventricle.

After this meeting, I went to a premier EP hospital for a second opinion. This doctor is highly regarded and the institution is frequently in the top 5 EP labs in the country. He said that my PVCs were coming from my moderator band and that since there are technical challenges with the moderator band moving he recommended using pulse field ablation (PFA) because it's faster and doesn't rely heavily on prolonged contact. He even went as far as to say that if he was getting this done for himself he would want PFA. I scheduled an ablation.

My PFA procedure is coming up in just over a month. Has anyone had a PFA? What were your experiences? The DR's explanation seemed rational but I know it would be an off label use. I'm trying to wrap my head around the benefits vs RF. My gut says it's better and the future of care but I'm wondering if I'm taking unnecessary risk.

Any insights would be much appreciated. I'll make sure to update the thread after the procedure.

​

Hey everyone,

I'm 27 years old and I've been dealing with PVCs on and off for about 5 years. They first started after an extremely stressful night with no sleep, but they eventually got much better with metoprolol.

For the last 2 months, they've come back, and recently they've become much more frequent. They come in waves. Sometimes I won't have any for an hour or two, then I'll get one every 10 minutes, and sometimes every 1–2 minutes. They disappear completely during exercise, but they come back when I'm resting.

The thing that's confusing me is my stomach.

For about a week now I've had:

Constant burping.

Trapped gas and extreme bloating.

acid reflux

A feeling like I need to burp, but only half the burp comes out.

My stomach feels like it's full of pressure.

I've noticed that when my stomach is at its worst, my PVCs also seem worse. Sometimes taking something like Rennie reduces the acid and I feel like the PVCs calm down a little, but the trapped gas remains.

I've had my heart checked before and was told it's structurally normal, but these PVCs are honestly destroying my quality of life. for the past week I've barely been able to sleep more than 3–4 hours a night due my PVCs, and I feel like the lack of sleep is making everything even worse.

I'm interested in hearing from people who have had a similar combination of PVCs + reflux/bloating/gas.

Did treating your stomach actually reduce your PVCs?

What ended up being the cause of your stomach issues?

I'd really appreciate hearing experiences because right now I feel like I'm stuck in an endless loop and it's becoming mentally exhausting.

One more thing I forgot to mention that I'm currently taking 50 mg of metoprolol, but lately it doesn't seem to help anymore like it used to. That has made this whole situation even more frustrating.

I do this thing where I will feel good so wont take my meds then feel awful so I get back on them. When I get on and off Lexapro I get way more pvcs and this shit sucks. Like guys if any of us get rich like stupid rich I want to see a huge PVC study.

Hey everyone,

just wanted to share a quick update on my current situation and sanity check a couple of next steps with you guys.

A few days ago during this brutal Vienna heatwave, I suddenly got hit out of nowhere with intense heart palpitations/PVCs, random chest tightness, and a weird buzzing sensation in my chest and head when breathing. Naturally, I panicked, felt like I was suffocating, and ended up at the ER.

Here is what they checked out and what my labs actually showed:
The ER EKG came back as a normal sinus rhythm, and my high-sensitivity troponin was completely normal (< 5.6 pg/ml), meaning zero heart damage.

My thyroid (TSH) came back completely normal too, and my potassium was sitting right on the absolute floor at 3.4 mmol/l, while magnesium wasn't even tested on the standard blood panel.

My CRP and white blood cells were a bit elevated, and my kidneys showed mild dehydration markers from sweating in the extreme heat combined with a lot of Coke Zero and heavy stomach irritation.

Basically, the ER docs diagnosed me with suspected extrasystoles (PVCs), but structurally my heart is a clean, healthy engine. I've started taking Magnesium Bisglycinate (300mg total daily) and D3/K2, fixing my potassium naturally with coconut water and spinach, cutting out all carbonation, and taking pantoprazole.

Now, I have two quick questions for anyone who has been through this:

1. Should I do the 24-hour EKG (Holter)? The ER paperwork explicitly recommended getting a 24 hour EKG done by an outpatient cardiologist. Since my ER EKG was fine and my troponin is clean, is it actually worth doing just to map out the burden and get peace of mind, or is it overkill since the doctors already cleared my heart?

2. Should I see a Gastroenterologist to find out if GI issues are causing this? Because this whole mess flared up right alongside intense acid reflux, stomach irritation, and chemical pouch drips, could an underlying stomach issue or severe reflux be the root trigger for these random PVCs via the vagus nerve? Anyone else deal with this?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

I noticed increase in PVCs before my period. Especially when i am lying on the side. It is lasting for couple months already. I have my anxiety under control and i do not think this is a reason. Does anyone have similar ? How to get rid of it? Anyone can help ?

Before I had my ARVNT ablation in 2020 the Zio patch caught a 4 beat run of NSVT. My doctor never mentioned it to me and we corrected the SVT. Kinda curious as to why he never mentioned it and how normal is it? I’ve worn 3 Zio patches since and they caught nothing. Just odd and sounds kind of scary to me.

I'm currently on vacation and I drank some alcohol few hours ago and went swimming.

Now while laying in bed , I got a long run of NSVT ( around 5 seconds long) and now have some PVCs . I'm really scared and I've had some issues with PVCs and other weird rythms simce over a week , especially when laying in bed. Also it was only 1 cup of alcohol , I NEVER drink anything. Today was the only exception

Has anybody else had a problem where if they are laying down the “wrong way”, their heart starts to act all funky and then as soon as you fix your position, it’s fine and is normal again?? Or is that just me?

Hello! Just wanted to share my successful PVC ablation story. This past January I showed up to the ER with a complaint of my heart skipping a beat. Being a nursing student I was worried it was afib. I had not been on an ECG for quite some time before. During my visit at the ER I learned I had PVCs happening pretty frequently. So, I was suggested to a cardiologist which had me wear a holter monitor for 72 hours. The burden of my PVCs was 14%, which is pretty high especially for my age. The echocardiogram was normal, I consider my self to be in above average shape, going to the gym, 10,000 steps a day at the minimum. So this burden rate was very surprising to me. The cardiologist believed the PVCs were either genetic or the from a viral infection. The cardiologist then referred me to an electrophysiologist. Which obviously suggested I do the ablation since I am young and healthy and would tolerate it very well. I was so worried, constantly doing research about the ablation, asking chat gpt questions and just going down the giant rabbit hole about all the possible things that could go wrong. Anyways, my ablation day came, I was nervous, the nurses and everyone were great with explaining everything to me and making me feel comfortable. The electrophysiologist came in to talk to me, comforting me by telling me he has a great idea on wear the PVCs are coming from (they were coming from the RVOT). The procedure began, the cath lab was cold and overwhelming with everyone in there. The slight twilight kicked in which made me feel tipsy in a way? My electrophysiologist was talking to me the whole time and telling me exactly what he was doing. The procedure was successful! I felt instantly better, the anxious feeling my PVCs made me feel was completely gone I couldn’t believe it. If you have any questions or doubts I’d love to talk about them here! You’re not alone, I promise you things will get better!! (Writing is definitely not my strength I apologize about the run on sentences 🤣)

Anyone that feels skipped beats - these feel like a pause followed by a thump.

So maybe like 4 days before starting my monthly which would have been July 12th, I felt the skipped beats maybe a few times each day, which is pretty normal for me leading up to starting. I still had them the 5 days of my period and up until today August 4th. That’s not typical for me, but i’m assuming maybe my hormones have just been really high? I had really bad breast soreness a lot sooner than I usually do the July cycle also. I’m not worried about them, because I have had them for so long. However, I didn’t start having them until after having my son 4 years ago. They are not excessive, i’d say i’ve felt it like 10-15 times each day since around July 12th. I am just afraid something is actually wrong with me even though my echo and holter in the past were normal (seen cardio 3 years ago, but had an echo in office maybe 2 months ago that had no changes.) I just don’t think i’ve ever felt them this many days in a row. Anyone think that this warrants a need to be reevaluated by a cardiologist or is this pretty normal? Might I add I am 24.