Just Checking In

Greetings, all fellow PVC sufferers. I know I've been a stranger to this blog lately, but I've been very busy and just haven't been able to keep up with all the comments. I'm glad to see that other sufferers have been finding us, because I get new commenters almost daily to the blog, and hopefully you are all finding some reassurance and good advice from others who understand what you're going through.

I apologize if I can't respond to each comment and question, but I know a lot of people check in regularly and most of us wonder about the same things. So it's useful to read through ALL of the comments under all the different posts. Some really great info there!

I've been going through a pretty good period PVC-wise. I still have them each and every day, probably getting several each hour, but they've been fairly mild for a couple of months and I haven't had any really bad bouts of them. Of course, I know that one is perhaps just lurking around the corner, but I try to focus on today being a good day and remember that even when that bad bout comes, it will pass.

Hope you are all well and managing. Even if I can't always respond, I welcome each and every one of your comments!

The Breathe Easy Program

Just wanted to make all of you PVC sufferers aware of a program that has worked for some people who suffer from ectopics. Make sure to check out "The Breathe Easy Program." I have nothing to lose, since nothing else has worked for my PVC's, and Stewart (the creator of the program) has been great at e-mailing me and answering my questions. I know it's going to take time and some effort, so it may be a while before I can post my results here.

In the mean time, feel free to post any questions you have here and hopefully Stewart can answer them for you.

Positional PVC's?

I like to read laying in bed before going to sleep each night and I've noticed in recent months that there seems to be a connection between laying on my back for extended periods of time and the PVC's. I can have an average day of perhaps a couple of hundred mild PVC's (which is a "quiet" day for me) and then after an hour or two of reading, I might have a horrible, sleepless night of heart-stopping sensations and jolts. And yet other nights are no problem. So it's not a set pattern, but I tend to think there is a connection.

I also sometimes get couplets and multiples and the worst ones have usually been at night when I've been awakened from a certain position (I tend to sleep on my side or stomach). Sometimes I will get up to around 40 irregular beats in a row. As soon as I sit up or turn around, my heart will go back into its normal rhythm, but NOT until then. Since it's usually the middle of the night and I'm really tired and groggy, they're very mild. I feel them, but they're not as scary as they usually are, and so I've dared to push it and see just how many multiples I get in that position without sitting up. It seems to never get back to normal on its own, and after about 40 or so, I've had enough and change positions to get my normal rhythm back.

On occasion, when bending over forwards to pick something up, I've had some really scary couplets that were so intense that I felt close to fainting.

This tells me that there must be some connection between position and PVC's. I'm just not sure why, but I tend to think that it may have something to do with the vagus nerve (although from what I understand, the vagus nerve affects heart rate more than rhythm), or perhaps some other nerve.