Comments on Running & PVC's

Stumbled upon a discussion on running & PVC's.  Some very interesting stories 7 comments - have a look at:

Let's Run.com - Preventricular Contractions, Beta Blockers& Running

Here are some comments I found interesting!

I'm on toprol because of severe coronary disease. When I take a stress test, I have to stay off toprol for a day, so my heart can reach a maximum heart rate. I also had a big problem with PVCs--sometimes one every ten seconds. I looked at a ton of websites and discovered that for many people they are triggered by caffeine. Now I rarely have caffeine, and I have no PVCs. Unless you're getting two PVCs every ten seconds or so, from everything I've read (and since my heart is not in the best of shape and I run every day I tend to pay attention to these things), it's not a "fatal" problem. I can't remember finding a single report that toprol deals with PVCs, and given its general use--for high blood pressure and coronary disease--I don't see why it would. There's no question, however, that the toprol will have a unsalutary effect on your capacity to run long and fast.

I'm on "toprol" also. I was up to 100 mg and now I'sat 25 mg.


I'm 43, and started getting these things out of the blue about 2 years ago. BAD for while. Felt like I was skipping every other beat. Ended up in the emergency room they scared me so bad. Cut out caffiene, cut down my stress, cut out alcohol, nothing worked.

Took me almost 6 months, but found out my problem was that I was deficient in Magnesium. It never showed up in my blood work, but I was reading everything I could find, and saw this thing on a web page about mineral imbalances in athletes, and magnesium's affect on the heart. I started taking a multimineral and those things were completely gone in a weak.

I can feel them coming on every so ofter now, maybe every 9 months or so (I get a "light" feeling in my chest). I start popping the minerals and they go away.

If you are taking magnesium, take potassium as well - it can have the same effect. Better yet, hit the multi and see what happens. Stay hydrated too! 


This is interesting.  My last blood test I think my Magnesium was fine.

My PVC's aren't pounding, but the heartbeat that follows tends to be quite strong. Maybe that's what you are feeling. One thing is for sure, they don't feel right and you never get used to them!

 
My PVC's feel about the same.  Another way is similar to driving a car with bad gas.  When you step in the peddle, the car hesitates.  That is what I feel like when my heart rate gets to 115 to 120!


Take a look at the discussion - very interesting!