PAC's

[cynthiaG]

boy, am I getting a lot of pac's today. Hope it's not a prelude to afib..been under some stress the last day or so --maybe that is attributing to it

[Toogoofy317]

Re: PAC's

Indulge my curious mind.

I have been having several episodes of tachacardia around 130-140 in the evening. My AICD will not pick up anything unless it is 220 (seems like a very high number to me). They don't really hurt they are annoying at most. I think it is just being aware of it is what annoys me.

As most of you know I had a pulmonary embolism last month. None of my physicians can tell me as to why this happened or from where it originated from. This is my second DVT in a 14 month time frame.

On my past echos my atria were enlarged. I don't think it was enough to alert any of the physicians but it has been consistant on all echos.

So here is my question. Could I possibly be having episodic bouts of A-fib? I know Dr. Maron was interested in having an event monitor done on me. I guess it is something I'll bring up at my appointment next week.

Any help would be appreciated!

Mary S.

[Reenie]

Re: PAC's

I don't have any answers for either of you but I hope that both of you can get things all under control and feel great for at least a month straight!

Reenie

[cynthiaG]

Re: PAC's

Mary,
approximately a year ago when I started having these episodes, the doctors thought originally it was atrial tachycardia. I too, have an enlarged atria (but I think HCMers do). When I had an episode in February and was brought to the E.R., it was discovered I was having atrial fibrilliation. I believe the difference between the two is that atrial tach is a constant really fast pulse and atrial fib is VERY irregular-- your pulse is all over the place..your heart is constantly doing flip flops..I'm not sure if they would have to actually capture it on a holter to determine exactly what you're having...just my 2 cents....good luck at your appointment

[Toogoofy317]

Re: PAC's

Reenie,

I am feeling the best I have been in a LOOOONG time. This is just a minor irritation. I just don't want it to become a major irritation. If all goes well this week and I make to my Dr. appointment on Tuesday I will have been hospital free for over a month. Doesn't sound like long I know but it is a small goal we set to try and accomplishment.

Baby steps

Mary S.

[mtlieb]

Re: PAC's

If all goes well this week and I make to my Dr. appointment on Tuesday I will have been hospital free for over a month.

Hospital-free for over a month? What are you trying to do here buddy, turn the world as we know it upside down? How in the heck are we going to communicate with each other now, if at least one of us isn't always in the hospital??? Now you stop thinking of yourself, young lady, and get back into a hospital so we can talk on the phone again!

Mary, i am so so glad that you are feeling better. You are the best twin, seperated at birth by twenty years, that a guy could ever ask for. I agree with you on taking 'baby steps'. Let's have a little contest and see which one of us can stay out of the hospital the longest. LoL. And the winner gets... well, the winner just simply wins.

Take care,

Jim

[mtlieb]

Re: PAC's

boy, am I getting a lot of pac's today. Hope it's not a prelude to afib..been under some stress the last day or so --maybe that is attributing to it

Cynthia,

To get back to your original question:

I had to refresh my memory and look up a couple of definitions here. I get both PAC's and PVC's like most of us do i think, and i know that by themselves they are both harmless events. However, i'm always getting the two terms confused with each other:

Premature Atrial Contractions (PAC): A harmless irregular heart rhythm that does not need to be treated. It is often due to stress or excessive use of substances such as caffeine. It occurs when one of the heart's upper chambers contracts prematurely in the heartbeat cycle.

Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVC): A fairly common type of abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia) which occurs when the ventricles fire early (prematurely), before the atria. They may be caused by fatigue, caffeine, alcohol, nicotine or a variety of other factors. Some people may feel skipped beats or galloping palpitations, and other people may not notice PVCs at all. In general, these irregular beats are harmless.

I've noticed both types listed numerous times on my Holter monitor reports, but have never really noticed any difference in how they 'feel', which is probably why i tend to use the terms interchangeably. It sounds like the same triggers may be responsible for both, and in the case of my PVC's, i noticed a significant increase in relation to my beta-blocker usage. Any time i have been asked to stop my atenolol for any length of time, my PVC's have been reduced significantly.

Unless you are experiencing tons of these in rapid-fire succession, a temporary increase in the total number of events is usually nothing to worry about. You are probably correct in that they are related to your stress level, which is a perfectly plausible explanation. I've noticed that around midterm and final exam time, my number of events in general goes up quite a bit, but that may also be due to the amount of caffeine i drink during those periods as well.

Hope this has helped a little bit

Jim