Anyone get PVC's?

Everybody has occasional PVCs. The only way to tell is by having an EKG or even better wearing a Holter for 24 hours. People with frequent unifocal PVCs usually can't tell the are having them. Frequent multifocal PVCs are a different situation

I was going to say the same thing...everybody has them, not everyone can feel them or know that they are there. In a normal 24 hour Holter monitor, almost all will have large number (hundreds) of them over a 24 hour period.

I have them, and I can feel them.  Sometimes (Like the past week) they are really bad, and get uncomfortable.  It can also be called holiday heart, because some people get them bad around the holidays because of increased alcohol comsumption.  Mine were bad this week, because I was on vacation, and my sleep was screwed up from jet lag, and I may have had a few Guiness in the past 10 days. 

I discovered it a year and a half ago when they got so bad that I went to the ER, where I was told by the doc on duty that he felt it was benign PVC's, but referred me to a cardiologist to be safe.  I did all the same things you did with the ekg's, halter monitor, stress test, heart ultrasound, etc, and the the cardiologist says I'm fine to train all I like.  I just do annual checkups with him every spring, because I also have a leaky valve that he wants to keep an eye on to make sure it doesn't get worse.  I've since found out that both my father and sister get them too.

It hasn't really caused problems training physically, but this week they were bad enough that they didn't go away during training, so it was disconcerting to feel my heart skip and my chest/neck get a little tight during spin class.

Yep... had them for years now. Most of the time they don't happen during training. Felt my first one years ago at Christmas party.... literally thought my heart stopped a few seconds... not fun AT ALL. Went thru the same precautions.. they don't get a second thought now. Sounds obvious, but the more you think about them, the more they'll happen, at least in my case. Sounds like you did all the right things... train hard.

Edited by tri42 2010-04-28 9:06 PM

I have them too and I feel them and it is very disconcerting especially when I get doubles (every other beat) but like you they pretty much go away while I'm training.  I also have athlete's heart which is a thickening of the left ventricle wall.  I am borderline hypertensive so the cardiologist decided to put me on an ACE inhibitor.

I also notice mine... I think it's really tied into my caffiene intake,  when I'm really having a lot of caffiene is when I notice them.   I'll notice them for a few weeks, and then it will be months until I notice them again