PVCs and heart palpitations: your best options to stop suffering
A few months ago I started to suffer from severe PVCs (premature ventricular contractions, commonly known as heart palpitations), as well as some symptoms of angina: I soon became almost unable to lead a normal life; after a few quick steps, my heart felt like it would ‘skip beats’ strongly or beat furiously fast and irregularly and sometimes disabling chest tightness. I was very confused and scared at first, but then after suffering ‘in silence’, I decided to see different cardiologists and cardiac surgeons and of course underwent various tests. One of the 3 cardiologists (probably the best) prescribed beta blockers and after that more tests.
On my way home from the most awkward ordeal of my life, I decided I was going to give ‘natural supplements’ a try. I was amazed at how quickly my condition improved. I will keep you informed not only about what I did and am doing, but also how my progress is, with updates.
What are PVCs? PVCs are, simply put, irregular heartbeats that make you feel like your heart is ‘skipping a beat’ or beating too many times (feeling the ‘extra systole’ in your heartbeat, for example); this is not a pleasant feeling at all and can make you pass out or feel very anxious or even scared. If, in addition, you also have some tightness in your chest (as in my case), you may feel that you are about to have a heart attack or pass out. I was in the middle of a store and suddenly needed to stop and sit anywhere hoping the ‘heart palpitations’ would calm down and sometimes the tightness in my chest as well. It was horrible. I also became very irritable and anxious as a result of my physical condition.
I’ll go into the details of the condition if you like, but essentially anyone who suffers from PVCs (sometimes referred to as heart palpitations, rightly or wrongly) will know what I’m talking about.
The cause of PVCs it is different from person to person. It could be trauma, stress, a metabolic problem, some nutrient deficiency, occasionally even a hormone-based cause. It could also be due to some ‘blockage’ within or hardening of the arteries, even the peripheral ones (not the ones inside or outside the heart, simply put). For this reason, the best approach is to undergo enough testing to rule out potential blockages of even one artery, or just to make sure they haven’t become too hard (again, in a nutshell). Your cholesterol and blood pressure should also be closely monitored, to make sure there are no further problems with your cardiovascular system. In any case, if you speak with a cardiologist, they will know what is necessary to rule out a physical reason that could be potentially dangerous. Tests generally range from a simple echocardiogram to echo stress tests (ways of ‘seeing’ the heart and its functions while it is in a ‘stressful’ situation, i.e. beating much faster than normal), to an angiogram actual (a more invasive procedure so you may have to stay in the hospital for a day). A radiation-based test is sometimes indicated, although I have chosen to avoid such (relatively) high radiation tests (very recent studies have warned against performing these tests indifferently, recommending them only if absolutely necessary); again, everything depends on the severity of your condition and, above all, on whether a much deeper study of your cardiovascular system and the functioning of your heart is necessary; the choice is yours and, of course, listen to what your 2 or 3 cardiologists recommend in your case. If you do what I did, you won’t stop at the first cardiologist and seek more than one opinion until you feel like you know everything there is to know about your condition and all the options you have to treat it.
Assuming your tests show nothing serious on a physical level as mentioned above, you will be offered a small number of options, typically:
1 – Do nothing as your PVCs are ‘benign’, potentially only consuming (letting it dissolve in your mouth, for example) a daily ‘baby’ aspirin (75mg to 100mg per day) to improve flow sanguine
2 – The use of beta blockers or similar drugs; beta-blockers slow the heartbeat (often with the consequence of lowering PVCs). They are quite useful and commonly considered to be safe. I found them helpful, but I didn’t want to deal with the small weight gain or having to check my heartbeat frequently, to keep it from being too slow. Nitroglycerin-type drugs ‘widen’ the arteries and veins, thus improving blood flow, and if you don’t want pills, you can opt for a skin patch; very helpful against angina but in my case my PVCs got so much worse and I literally thought I was on the verge of death. Of course, we are all slightly different in the details of our heart condition, so monitoring how your body reacts to each or any medication is key. I quickly decided to research alternative natural supplements and today I feel this is the best path for me. I explain this in my article (link below).
3 – In very severe cases, ablation of the heart is considered. This is a surgical procedure that ‘burns’ the section of the heart where the extra systole (or ‘faulty’ heartbeat) occurs. While waiting for my many tests at various hospitals, I talked to some patients who had already undergone cardiac ablation once, and were scheduled for a second surgery! I wasn’t impressed (but of course you can’t rule it out unless your cardiologist thinks it’s okay to do it – in my case, 2 out of 3 thought cardiac ablation wasn’t in my immediate future and they should try other options first).