PVCs & Nutrition, Anyone have any advice?

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  • hekla90
    hekla90 Posts: 595 Member
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    mewilliams11 wrote: »
    hekla90 wrote: »
    Outside of dietary advice in relation to foods that can influence electrolytes, I've certainly never seen any of the cardiologists recommend low carbs for PVCs. Unless they are symptomatic or very frequent we don't worry too much about it though they might prescribe an anti arrhythmic drug. My only guess with the magnesium is that low magnesium can influence your heart rhythm as well as if it is low your potassium tends to remain low as well which can also cause rhythm disturbances. If your values of those are substantial I really don't know why they would recommend that or low carb. You might ask him for what reason they suggest that. One of the most common causes of PVCs in otherwise healthy people though is caffeine, so you might consider limiting that. I can't find anything that doesn't sound pseudosciency or only anecdotal regarding carbs and PVCs but you might check google scholar. Only semi reasonable thing that they say is possibly related to blood sugar level but unless you are diabetic or hypoglycemic, idk.

    Thanks for your input! My cardiologist said that he wanted me to limit my carbs because limiting sugar would help decrease the palps. I've seen other cardiologists in the past & none have recommended decreasing sugar intake. However, when I started reading about it I came across a lot of articles that suggested decreasing or eliminating sugar could help. I've also seen posts on a few forums where people say that eating sugary foods triggers their palpitations. All my labs are normal, electrolytes good, I'm not anemic, no thyroid issues, & I'm not diabetic. My PVCS are pretty much asymptomatic but when I have long runs of them I feel a little tired.

    Exactly, I find lots of articles and anecdotes, nothing from physicians or any evidence based research...
  • skittlsv2
    skittlsv2 Posts: 85 Member
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    I had heart ablation surgery for SVC. My heart jump starts and before surgery it raced to 286 bpm. No fun at all. I have PVC's (drop beats) too. It's scary when you're just watching a movie and you get that drop. I cough to correct the rthym. I haven't had another 286 run since my surgery. This is my first time dieting and I haven't had any additional issues. I have pernicious anemia and Vitamin D deficiency as well. I would suggest you contact your cardiologist again because through all I've gone through my doctor never mentioned low carbs. It would be irresponsible for anyone on here to tell you anything other than see your doctor again. Ask questions until you are satisfied and completely understand what the doctors objective is. I know it's frustrating and stress and anxiety and lack of sleep compounds the problem. I hope you get this resolved very soon. Good luck and take care.
  • Becca211H
    Becca211H Posts: 24 Member
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    This is just anecdotal, but my husband has PVC's and he takes the herb Hawthorn. It is a relatively harmless herb, and he can completely tell a difference when he isn't taking it. He rarely has them when he is taking it.
  • ChrissyChickie
    ChrissyChickie Posts: 182 Member
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    Hi. I know this thread is old, but just wondering if your diet helped? Were you able to get regulated enough were you were able to come off medicine? I was on a beta blocker and I did not respond well to that. I'm currently on a calcium channel blocker and doing much better.
  • Jenpiddles
    Jenpiddles Posts: 44 Member
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    I have suffered with PVC's for almost 20 years now. It's challenging to find the triggers. Over the years, I have learned to manage them without meds.

    1. Magnesium helps quite a bit, but is far from a simple cure.
    2. Stress is a major factor with mine. I have a significant increase in PVC's when I am stressed.
    3. Dehydration always makes them worse.
    4. Caffeine. Cut it out completely.
    5. Overeating is one I have noticed lately. When I eat a large meal, I have more PVC's. Try eating smaller portions and see if it makes a difference.
    6. Regular cardio initially made them worse, but keeping up on the cardio is the one thing I can say has helped most. Stick with it.

    It's a lot of trial and error, and everyone is different. I think if you monitor your triggers closely, you can avoid beta blockers. It is HARD to figure them out, and sometimes harder to give things up. Some triggers are unavoidable and you might have a tough couple of weeks here and there when they feel non-stop. Be aware, and know that the meds are there if you need them.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,389 Member
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    RodaRose wrote: »
    mewilliams11 wrote: »
    psulemon wrote: »
    Sorry that I do not have PVC, but if you struggle with carbs, you can always lower them slowly. Maybe start with 40% carbs and then drop down 5% every few weeks. One thing to keep in mind, when you drop carbs, you need to increase fast. So switching to full fat dairy, eating plenty of nuts, and lowering startches will be beneficial.

    Also, what kind of magnesium do you take?

    Thanks for the advice! I'm going to try my best to get as close as I can to that 20% carb intake mark, but if I can't then decreasing gradually by 5% will be my next step!

    I am currently taking The Spring Valley Magnesium supplements. I have wondered if my body is absorbing it correctly in this form. I know there's other types of mag but I'm unfamiliar with them & which is best.
    Magnesium can have a laxative effect because it is a stool softener.
    One can get magnesium through the skin via gels, lotions, or by soaking feet in Epsom salt.
    Certainly talk to a dietician. :)

    Actually, I looked into this once, and the scientific evidence is not strong on this. Yes, some magnesium is absorbed through the skin, but the amounts seem to be minuscule. The perceived effect is caused at the top of the skin, similar to when you jump into very salty water.

    As far as I can see there's only one study, and it was done by a company selling some magnesium product. There were several problems with this study: they mixed different ways of administering the magnesium while this study was only supposed to be about a spray-on (they added foot baths) and they used a not common method of testing for rise in magnesium. People were not prevented from taking magnesium supplements. With all these problems in the study, there was a rise in magnesium levels (I think in hair, not in serum), but the amount of magnesium spray people used was crazy to start with. I'd like to refer to this paper but am currently on mobile, and I don't have access to scientific mags anymore.
  • ChrissyChickie
    ChrissyChickie Posts: 182 Member
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    Jenpiddles wrote: »
    I have suffered with PVC's for almost 20 years now. It's challenging to find the triggers. Over the years, I have learned to manage them without meds.

    1. Magnesium helps quite a bit, but is far from a simple cure.
    2. Stress is a major factor with mine. I have a significant increase in PVC's when I am stressed.
    3. Dehydration always makes them worse.
    4. Caffeine. Cut it out completely.
    5. Overeating is one I have noticed lately. When I eat a large meal, I have more PVC's. Try eating smaller portions and see if it makes a difference.
    6. Regular cardio initially made them worse, but keeping up on the cardio is the one thing I can say has helped most. Stick with it.

    It's a lot of trial and error, and everyone is different. I think if you monitor your triggers closely, you can avoid beta blockers. It is HARD to figure them out, and sometimes harder to give things up. Some triggers are unavoidable and you might have a tough couple of weeks here and there when they feel non-stop. Be aware, and know that the meds are there if you need them.

    Thanks. I will definitely work on the 6 you mentioned. I am currently on medication for the pvcs and thought I was getting better; however, over the past couple of weeks I had several bad episodes. I immediately called my cardiologist and he is going to put me on a monitor again. However, I'm not sure whether what I experience some times are actually panic attacks. They seem to be somewhat related though.

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