Hello, I am 39 and have had all the usual tests on my heart -- ultrasound, Holter, EKG. I have been told my heart is structurally sound and there's no evidence of heart disease.

However, I have pretty intense PVC's - they hang around for weeks (sometimes months) at a time, and I have them quite frequently - oftentimes several times a minute - all day long. Annoying, and still worrisome, but thanks to the reassurance on this site, I am learning to live with them. (Totally bummed out about them, but learning to live with them nevertheless! Afterall, it's not like I really have a choice, do I?!)

My question is: can I still exercise with the PVC's? Even as they are happening? Exercise is one of the things that keeps me sane! Partly, anyway....!

I too have PVCs and besides them being annoying, I was told by cardio. dr. that they are benign, 'normal', and that they should not affect me adversely at all. Exercise is one thing that actually brings mine on at times. That is why I went to dr.- almost everytime I got done with strenious cardio, I'd get them while my beat was slowing down.

Anyhow, I am not your dr., nor will I advise anything that would be harmful, but I think that if indeed they are just PVC's, it's business as usual. Your doc. can give you some medicine to help control them, but I was told that the medicine is not necessary, just something for me to take if it made me uncomfortable feeling them.

Hi there,
Are you sure that they are PVC's--originating from the ventricles? Because if that's the case, magnesium is quite helpful.

If they originate from the atria (upper chambers) then mag is not as helpful, but increasing potassium and drinking lots of water may help.

Do you have any symptoms that concern you when you exercise? Shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness? If so, I wouldn't exercise unless you get a thorough cardiac evaluation and your doc says it's OK.

I found that having low ferritin levels, low potassium, and not drinking a minimum of 8 glasses of water/day will throw me into frequent palps.

Yep, absolutely positive they originate from the ventricles. I never get any shortnes of breath, pain or dizziness during exercise. In fact, during exercise is when I feel my best lately (and right afterward). I guess it's a reprieve from obsessing about the PVC's...!

I am taking 500 mg of magnesium a day but I'm not sure it's the "right kind". Some say it has to be chelated magnesium. I'm not sure what that means, but I will look into it. I had just gone out and bought the generic CVS pharmacy magnesium, not knowing there were different types.