What Causes A Feeling Of G-force Pressure In Chest Of An Afib Patient?

Posted on Tue, 4 Oct 2016

Question: hello

i am a prior afib patient who had hiatal hernia and sleep apnea. put on nadalol 20mg x2 a day. was cardioverted 3 years ago to nsr. i actually only take 10 at night due to low pulse. my pulse stays usually 58-65 all the time. for 1.5 years no issues. i then last week started getting pvcs 1-2 A MINUTE AT PEAK. I went to firestation and 12 lead confirmed wide/bizarre but pulse was 67. its been a week and they have reduced to 1 every 5 minutes. i hardly feel them now but my chest feels funny like g force pressure. last year had full nuclear stress test no issue. i scheduled an appt at XXXXXXX clinic with my cardiologist. they said pvcs come and go and they have reduced but question the g force pressure on chest. i validated during no pvcs i had this and also when i did. all pvcs are 1 occurance and never in a row. the closest i observed was about 6 beats apart. magnesium has helped. any suggestions what feeling is in chest? Anxiety maybe? i think way too much about it and im tired.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Meriton Siqeca (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Ventricular extrasystoles; nothing to be worried about

Detailed Answer:
Hi and welcome to HCM. Thank you for your question. I understand your concern.

Well, these are obviously ventricular extrasystoles (or premature ventricular beats). They signify that a single electrical impulse has been generated or "fired" from another area of the ventricular muscle cells, rather than from the original pacemaker of the heart - the sinus node. After this beat has happened, the sinus node "takes over" right after it, and produces a normal, but more forceful, succeeding beat, which may produce the feeling of shortness of breath and/or "heart jumping out of one's throat or chest". This is called a palpitation.

Now, the PVCs may happen to anyone, no matter the age, and are considered completely normal and not to be worried about. They are especially present after performing vigorous physical activity, being under a lot of psychological stress, after consuming caffeine-containing beverages, during acid reflux because of the proximity of the oesophagus with the heart, etc. In small, such rare numbers, that are found in your case, they are considered completely harmless.

However, if this is very worrisome to you, you may be put on a 24-hour Holter rhythm monitoring device, to actually see how often they happen in one day.

I hope my answer is helpful. I am happy to help, if you have follow-up questions.

Best regards,
Dr. Meriton

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Meriton Siqeca (1 hour later)

Hello Doctor,
This by far has been one of the best responses I have ever had on this site. You explained everything direct. I will take your advise, I have been under stress lately for a settlement case and it is always there and assume this is it. I will have that resolved within a month. One last thing, If I get another episode every minute is there anything I can do like take a cold shower, lay on my right side I was told, etc. Anyway, GREAT reply. Have a great day! XXXXX

Answered by Dr. Dr. Meriton Siqeca (12 hours later)

Brief Answer:
No further action

Detailed Answer:
Hi again and welcome back.

I am glad you found my answer helpful. May be the lying down on the right side is helpful, because it reduces the pressure on the heart, physically. Otherwise, I do not thing you have to worry about this phenomenon.

You too have a great day. If you do not have further questions, kindly close the discussion and rate the answer.

Kind regards,
Dr. Meriton

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj