Been bicycling again for three years, age now 77. I bought a Kardia-6 a few weeks ago, been using it to get an idea of what my heart's doing on a daily basis. Yesterday I enjoyed a 32 mile ride, some of the route on roads new to me, that took 2 hours 20 minutes to complete. Longest (ever) ride was a few weeks back, 38 miles. I think I'm probably in the best physical shape I've ever been in at this point.
After I'd been home from yesterday's ride for maybe ten minutes I grabbed my Kardia, took an ECG. First time I've seen a PVC noted in the five weeks I've been tracking ECG's twice a day. That label caught my attention so I immediately ran another ECG that came back normal.
I've read that PVC's can be precipitated during recovery so I'm taking note of the first time appearance and the timing. Kardia's also telling me pretty often that Bradycardia's evident from the under 50 HR numbers I can claim upon waking then testing each morning. Low HR seems to follow closely on my biking activities but as the only tell I've received is from the Kardia device I'm simply taking it as a result of the improved cardiac function my biking's brought to my body.
For years I had occasional PVCs on my checkups and they were ruled benign. Three years ago I noticed the frequency had increased and it felt like someone was poking me in the chest. My HR monitor started showing weird spikes even when I was resting and I thought it was defective. Asked my cardiologist if it could be real and he said maybe. Did the Holter monitor and it was recommended I get an ablation. I asked Dr what I could do to reduce the PVCs in lieu of the ablation. He said alcohol and caffeine. I cut back from 4 cups to one cup coffee and reduced wine from two drinks a night to one a week. In a year the PVCs dropped to 2% and in two years to less than 1%, which is in the normal range. You really can help yourself.
I’ve had PVC’s for a long time, first noted around 2012. They show up at rest and while exercising, and have been present on formal medical stress tests with my heart rate at maximum. I had paroxysmal AFIB following a STEMI in 2023, but haven’t to my knowledge had an AFIB incident since an ablation in 2024. I haven’t experienced a connection between my PVC’s and AFIB.
I find it interesting that you can feel PVC’s, as even when I observe them on a live ECG, I don’t feel them. My heart rate is typically low 40’s, perhaps dropping to mid 30’s overnight. I also find it interesting that my PVC’s don’t seem to concern my cardiologists. They seem to see them as benign. I’ve seen three cardiologists in the past three years and they seem to view these PVC’s as rather routine and not a major concern.
I appreciate the detailed science you provided. It helps to understand root causes. Though I haven’t known the correlation, I’ve experienced that electrolyte balance is essential to life function. I’ve evolved into an electrolyte routine that seems to sustain balance.
Been bicycling again for three years, age now 77. I bought a Kardia-6 a few weeks ago, been using it to get an idea of what my heart's doing on a daily basis. Yesterday I enjoyed a 32 mile ride, some of the route on roads new to me, that took 2 hours 20 minutes to complete. Longest (ever) ride was a few weeks back, 38 miles. I think I'm probably in the best physical shape I've ever been in at this point.
After I'd been home from yesterday's ride for maybe ten minutes I grabbed my Kardia, took an ECG. First time I've seen a PVC noted in the five weeks I've been tracking ECG's twice a day. That label caught my attention so I immediately ran another ECG that came back normal.
I've read that PVC's can be precipitated during recovery so I'm taking note of the first time appearance and the timing. Kardia's also telling me pretty often that Bradycardia's evident from the under 50 HR numbers I can claim upon waking then testing each morning. Low HR seems to follow closely on my biking activities but as the only tell I've received is from the Kardia device I'm simply taking it as a result of the improved cardiac function my biking's brought to my body.
For years I had occasional PVCs on my checkups and they were ruled benign. Three years ago I noticed the frequency had increased and it felt like someone was poking me in the chest. My HR monitor started showing weird spikes even when I was resting and I thought it was defective. Asked my cardiologist if it could be real and he said maybe. Did the Holter monitor and it was recommended I get an ablation. I asked Dr what I could do to reduce the PVCs in lieu of the ablation. He said alcohol and caffeine. I cut back from 4 cups to one cup coffee and reduced wine from two drinks a night to one a week. In a year the PVCs dropped to 2% and in two years to less than 1%, which is in the normal range. You really can help yourself.
Great article, Lennard.
I’ve had PVC’s for a long time, first noted around 2012. They show up at rest and while exercising, and have been present on formal medical stress tests with my heart rate at maximum. I had paroxysmal AFIB following a STEMI in 2023, but haven’t to my knowledge had an AFIB incident since an ablation in 2024. I haven’t experienced a connection between my PVC’s and AFIB.
I find it interesting that you can feel PVC’s, as even when I observe them on a live ECG, I don’t feel them. My heart rate is typically low 40’s, perhaps dropping to mid 30’s overnight. I also find it interesting that my PVC’s don’t seem to concern my cardiologists. They seem to see them as benign. I’ve seen three cardiologists in the past three years and they seem to view these PVC’s as rather routine and not a major concern.
I appreciate the detailed science you provided. It helps to understand root causes. Though I haven’t known the correlation, I’ve experienced that electrolyte balance is essential to life function. I’ve evolved into an electrolyte routine that seems to sustain balance.