I was recently told that I have pvc's.I passed out the other night.Is fainting a common side effect of pvc's?

Answer 1

No! Jeffrey, you are jumping to inaccurate conclusions! As the first answer stated, PVC stands for premature ventricular contractions. Everyone is born with a natural 'pacemaker' called the sinoatrial node. Normally, the sinoatrial node triggers each heartbeat through an electrical impulse that starts at the top of the heart, and moves down to the ventricles. This allows the heart to beat in an organized way thereby forcing your blood to move forward.

Every so often, you may have an beat that starts NOT with the sinoatrial node but at some part of the ventricles (the main pumping chambers towards the tip of the heart). When this happens, people sometimes feel a sensation that is often described as the heart 'skipping a beat'. This is VERY common, and virtually everybody has some PVCs on occasion. Isolated PVCs (a single premature beat here and there) almost NEVER cause a person to faint.

The MOST common cause of fainting (what doctors call 'syncope') is something called neurally-mediated syncope, neurocardiogenic syncope, or a vasovagal faint. These are all fancy names for the same thing. It usually occurs while a person is standing and is preceded by nausea, sweats, blurred vision and light-headedness. This is not a life-threatening condition, and most people will experience it at some point.

Abnormal heart rhythms CAN cause people to faint and CAN be life-threatening. Arrhythmic causes of fainting often occur suddenly and without warning. The best way to find out what caused you to faint is to see your doctor and let him get a complete history, do a physical exam and check your EKG. Be careful - there is a lot of BAD information on the internet. Especially on Yahoo! Answers.

Answer 2

I have pvc's and i get light-headed sometimes and feel as if I'm going to faint but never actually have. If I were you I would go and have a full work-up done, just to make sure that there's not an underlying problem such as a leaky valve or something that may be reducing your blood flow. Better to be safe than sorry.

Answer 3

Yes.

A couple years ago, my mother was helping carry i sheet of plywood when she got light headed and almost passed out. After discussing the issue with her, she admitted to having similar spells (light headed/passing out/chest/heart discomfort) so I convinced her to see a heart doctor.

She wore one of those heart monitor for 24 hours and the results shown she was experiencing almost 5,000 pvc's per day.

She was put on medication and that has stopped the light headed/passing out symptoms.

Thus, I would say it is a common untreated side effect of pvc's.

Answer 4

Premature Ventricular Contractions. I think that they would have to be accompanied by some other physical condition in order to make you faint, but I'm not a doctor and you should ask *your* doctor.