Hey Reddit!,
I’ve always had these “weird” feeling heartbeats that would often take my breathe away. I’ve been to doctors and cardiologists and they never happen (of course) when they do tests like EKGs and doctors always say I’m perfectly fine (even did a echocardiogram).
I finally was feeling them and I think I was able to capture it on my Apple Watch.
Is this what a PVC looks like? Again feel they uncomfortable and makes me short of breath when it happens.
I will definitely be showing it to my doctor as well.
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Make an appointment with a doc for checking the premature heart beat. Hope the best for you.
How often do they happen? They happened to me once last year and I was low on potassium. Maybe good to check blood for that.
It’s probably an ectopic beat. Caught mine, too. I have an ILR above my heart to catch arrhythmias and when I had a “missed” beat I took an ECG on the watch, and phoned the cardiac nurse the next day. She confirmed the device had recorded it and that it was an ectopic/extra beat.
Just FYI - a PVC is a type of ectopic beat.
I was so scared when I had stress and pvc… it’s am unsettling feeling
Yes, definitely! Especially so when you have no idea what’s causing it!
I get one to five on most days and that’s normal. Everyday is still harmless, it’s how many a day that’s the issue. You need thousands a day for it yo be an issue.
Indeed. But it’s still not normal for us to be aware of them. There may be an underlying issue somewhere.
It’s possible, but very unlikely. If I’m monitoring my (admittedly very ill patients) I don’t think much of isolated PVCs until I start to get more than 5-10 per minute. Even then, they aren’t much to get excited about until they get strung together, are associated with hemodynamic issues, or start increasing (ie, my patient has 2-3/minute and a couple hours later 10/minute).
I would treat them as a general sign of cardiac irritability, but if you’re having a hard time catching them on your watch they’re not frequent enough to be terribly concerning unless you’re feeling symptoms with them like dizziness/lightheadedness.
I though I was going insane as I get those too. Feels like a sucker punch to my chest that takes all the breath out of me for a second. Was googling it and couldn’t find anyone having same weird heart skips. You ever got a possible diagnosis OP? I’ve seen multiple GPs and I’ve been ignored countless times.
Nah no diagnosis but this is extremely common apparently. I’m going to check in with my doctor and it most likely is just harmless
Yeah most likely they’re nothing to worry about, but they do feel very uncomfortable when they happen. I don’t suspect having any heart disease at 25, but I’d feel safer knowing if I’m predisposed to any or not. Frustratingly thought those PVCs could be warning signs of something serious OR they could be completely harmless. Wishing you all the best OP and finding a diagnosis!
Yes but how does the watch look on your wrist is it too big or small? 💅🏻
That’s a PVC.
For what it’s worth, I did a deep dive into what causes these PVCs. I started to develop them only recently in January 2023. EKGs, a stress test, and an echocardiogram later there was nothing clinically wrong with my heart. It felt awful nonetheless having these things flare up if I was in a hot shower, stressful situation, or doing strenuous exercises.
I started taking daily Potassium supplements (99mg) around August from a reputable company called Thorne. I’ve also used their Heart Health Complex daily too and I’ve noticed I have them way fewer now and they are more controllable than they were before. I may have had a Potassium deficiency ever so slightly increase over the years. I would try that if you have no underlying issues.
Ask a cardiologist, not Reddit.
If a doctor prescribes a Beta Blocker. Before you jump on that. I recommend a couple things unless it’s serious.
- Improve your diet.
- Light exercise and work your way up to cardio
- Get Vitamin K2 ASAP
- Add Magnesium, Potassium, and a low dose of Vitamin D3.
Get yourself lab tested.
Wait 3 months get tested again, monitor your symptoms
I use to get this feeling, it’s likely just a heart palpitation which is very normal. They go away when I take Magnesium Citrate. Take some Magnesium Citrate.
I get these when i am dehydrated. Once I catch up on fluids they go away until next time.
This looks pretty much like my PVCs did when I caught them. Was able to show my doc my Apple Watch EKG and they got me on a 48 hour monitor and caught more. Then some sonograms to check for function and flow and that all came back normal.
Official diagnosis and course of action is “sometimes it be like that.”
Doc said the Apple Watch EKG alone isn’t conclusive as it could be other things, so get that checked. But when everything else comes up nominal, PVC it is. They did not tell me the other options, and I did not ask, and I do not entirely want to know.
Hey how do you do these graphs from your Apple Watch? New to the watch and wondering how can I get some of my data
I was getting these kinda regularly, but wouldn’t pick it up on a holster monitor. I cut out the late night caffeine (mountain dew) and that seemed to cut them down a bit.
I’ve had what almost exactly what you’re describing. First worked up in my late 20s when I was hospitalized after an accident and the attending physician noticed it happened once on rounds. Same thing: it will happen often for a week or few days then nothing for months. I’m now in my early 50s and nothings changed. I get it worked up every ten years or so but it’s (mine) called Ventricular extrasystoles and is generally benign outside of knows heart disease or defect.