having a lot of PVCs/PACs

Hi I'm having a lot of PVCs/PACs
They started happening much more frequently in the past weeks.
I had three ablations I'm the past the last one 8 1/2 years ago with Natale at CC.
I did not have any AFIB episodes but am concerned that something might be wrong with the ablation due to frequency of PVCs/PACs.
Please help.

Hi Methan99,

Welcome to the forum but sorry you are being bothered by runs of ectopy at this time some 8.5 years after what from your brief discriptions sounds like it has been a successful ablation by Dr Natale, apparently after two prior ablations by someone else that proved less than durable.

Going on the minimal info you have given so far, it's not possible to know what might be triggering these recent new runs of ectopy. We can talk on Thursday or Friday if you PM me your number after I have finished and sent out the new issue of The AFIB Report that I'm wrapping up these next two days.

But in the meantime, and in any event, do you not have a local established EP or cardiologist who you can see or call to get an ECG to verify for sure what is going on and to confirm it is just garden variety ectopy such as PACs/PVCs?? Keep in mind that even though such runs of ectopy can appear out of the blue for a variety of reasons very few of which typically would have anything directly to do with an ablation 8.5 years ago.

And keep in mind too that as much of a rear nuisance and uncomfortable hassle and annoyance as these can be, almost invariably they are usually completely benign. So at least than knowledge might help ratchet down the stress meter a bit for now. Also, in the vast majority of cases of such suddenly aggressive and active runs of ectopy for a few hours, days us, weeks or even a couple months time typically they too just resolve and disappear for the most part and are inherently self-limiting even when doing nothing at all.

Anyway, if you haven't seen your local EP in a while, now is a good time for a check up and catch up with him or her.

We can discuss this further on say Friday if you send me your contact info and location and time zone .. I simply do not have the time the next few days as I wrap up my prime focus on getting the almost finished issue of the newsletter out to everyone. And much to my relief I can tell you!

Don't worry and try to sleep too and take some good walks too. Are you familiar with the document located in the horizontal yellow links above, the one titled 'AFIB Resources' called 'Metabolic Cardiology -The Strategy'? If not, please read that throughly and start applying the magnesium depletion first followed be potassium and taurine as described as that might also help calm down the heart a bit over time.

Best wishes,
Shannon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/03/2015 08:05AM by Shannon.

Hello Methane99 - Welcome. As Shannon mentions, very often, the PAC/PVC activity can be reversed by paying attention to your intake of the critical electrolytes for heart function.... specifically, magnesium and potassium and avoiding excess calcium and sodium intake which competes with the magnesium and potassium. Adequate hydration with pure drinking water... avoiding municipal water with chemicals added... is important too.

In addition to The Strategy, read about the importance of Alkalinity... at this link: [www.afibbers.org]

You can make the homemade version of alkaline water easily following the instructions at this link - [www.afibbers.org] - Read down to this section: Making magnesium-bicarbonate drinking water called WW using magnesium hydroxide in Milk of Magnesia and carbon dioxide in carbonated water

Very easy, economical and a great way to take in a highly beneficial form of magnesium because of the bicarbonate ion, itself.

Jackie

Not sure if its related but i started takin Prozac for anxiety few months back and the frequency and duration of PVCs/PACs greatly increased.
Can this be caused by SSRI,

Thanks for your advice about supplements. I


Mike

Do PACs and PVCs run together usually? I think they are completely different (upper vs lower chambers) and unrelated. Although I would be a lot more concerned with PVCs in relation to PACs as it relates to potential acute medical issues. We always seem to group them together in discussions implying that they run together. Is this true?

"Is this true?"

I would say no, not generally. They can occur near each other in time, but that is not usual. I'm guessing the reason they are referred to together is that without a monitor, it is hard to distinguish between them. My older version chest straps for my Polar S810 monitor could tell them apart as the strap didn't "see" the PVC's so they appear as a beat that takes twice as long. They seem to have corrected this on the new monitors so they don't have a different signature now.

George

Thanks George and I would surmise (and glad) that most of the posts here regarding ectopics relate to PACs . That's important because the recently released UCSF 15 year holter study has really changed the perception on PVCs. Current rule-of-thumb is not to do any intervention until PVCa hit 20% burden or around 20,000 PVCs per day. UCSF data shows that is way too late for developing heart failure.

Drugs deplete magnesium - essential heart electrical stabilizer and Prozac contains fluoride which is another bad chemical to be consuming. Lots of info on the Internet about people being "Floxed" from taking fluoride-containing drugs including popular SSRI's and antibiotics.

On the Prozac intake... here's a clip from Carolyn Dean, MD, ND... writing on the importance of magnesium... and what depletes it... including Prozac.... FYI

The following commonly used drugs can create magnesium deficiencies.(15)
• Common diuretics (for high blood pressure)
• Bronchodilators, such as theophylline (for asthma)
• Birth control pills
• Insulin
• Digitalis (for some heart conditions)
• Tetracycline
• Corticosteroids (for asthma)
• Cocaine
• Nicotine
• Drugs containing fluoride

There are 15 classes of drugs and thus hundreds of prescription drugs using fluoride as an active ingredient. Prozac contains fluoride, which means that Prozac depletes magnesium every day that you take it. And if you’ve read The Magnesium Miracle you know that magnesium deficiency causes anxiety and depression.

How crazy is that –taking a drug that for a problem that is made worse by taking that drug! And the horror is that hundreds and hundreds of drugs have fluoride as part of their chemistry. Cipro is a drug that can cause tendon damage and magnesium can help heal that damage. I’ve written about this in the past. However, the basis of the damage in the first place is probably because Cipro is a fluoridated drug and causes magnesium depletion that puts your tendons at risk. [drcarolyndean.com]

Jackie