Are you suffering from PVC's or an ectopic heartbeat?

Have you ever felt like your heart skipped a beat? Or perhaps that your heart actually beat an extra beat? Whether it was an isolated incident or has become a regular occurrence, PVC's (premature ventricular contractions -- also know as ventricular premature beat (VPB), ectopic heartbeat, or extrasystole) can be extremely unsettling and downright scary for those who suffer from them.

The good news is that PVC's are almost always harmless. Nevertheless they tend to feel dangerous to those who have them and it can be hard to cope with the cycle of fear, which leads to stress and anxiety, which often then leads to more PVC's.

So while this group may not be a cure for PVC's, I hope that it will be a useful tool for educating each other and learning to cope with this sometimes extremely uncomfortable heart arrythmia.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

You Have To Feel It In Order To REALLY Understand!

A lot of PVC sufferers find it difficult to be taken seriously by their doctors (or even family members) because once they're told that their arrythmia is benign, they can assume that we can simply forget about it.

It's not that easy, is it?

When you feel the jolt of a PVC, or the heart-stopping sensation, or a couplet... you know what I mean! Some days they may be mild, but some days can be VERY intense as we have them all day, every day, hundreds, even thousands of them, for sometimes long stretches at a time.

To just "forget" about them is like trying to sneeze with your eyes open, or not touching your eye when a mosquito flies into it. It's a natural reflex. Even though you know logically in your mind that you're in no danger, you physically FEEL like you're going to die and so you have the natural "reflex" reaction: fear, panic, worry, stress, etc.

But in a way, the doctors and loved one who tell us to not worry are right. OK, so we can't just "forget" about them. But we do need to live, function, and enjoy our lives. And that's what groups like this are for. Even though we can't "cure" each other we help each other learn to live with the natural reflex of fear.
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