What to Avoid if you have Heart Arrhythmia (PVC)
What to Avoid if you have Heart Arrhythmia. On this page I write about what – from my experience and research – is best to avoid if you suffer from PVCs or ‘palpitations’; at the bottom I talk about I did successfully to eliminate this condition.
What to Avoid if you have Heart Arrhythmia; while you may be trying various supplements to beat PVCs or are going for tests like an echo cardiogram or a stress echo test or, in severe cases, even an angiogram (to determine whether you are suffering from underlying problems in your cardiovascular system), in my experience avoiding certain ‘palpitation’ triggers is useful. These are:
1 – stimulants – I found caffeine (and coffee in particular) to make my PVCs much worse; generally speaking caffeine and any ingredient containing caffeine, such as black, white and green tea, chocolate, cocoa, acai and so on, are to be avoided, at least if you have not found your perfect supplement to eliminate this problem (always talk to your cardiologist, of course); all stimulants, as a matter of fact, should be avoided when you suffer from PVCs, as they may act like fuel on a fire (again, at least before you find the perfect remedy for you). On the other hand, relaxants are always a good idea (relaxing activities but also relaxing teas and natural supplements). For more stimulants to avoid, read further down. More on What to Avoid if you have Heart Arrhythmia:
2 – smoking – avoid smoking and avoid being subject to secondary smoke as much as you can. Smoke may not have a direct affect on your PVCs, but it’s a cardiovascular ‘enemy’; so why put more strain on your heart?
3 – alcohol – I found that alcohol (even a healthy glass of good quality red wine, unfortunately) is a significant trigger of PVCs in my case or, if I already ‘have’ PVCs as I sip an alcoholic drink, it seems to make them much worse very soon afterwards. Again, since I started using the supplements that work for me, I did not drink any alcohol at all. 
4 – exercise: your cardiologist/s will tell you if your heart and cardiovascular system are healthy enough to undertake any form of exercise. Many people suffering from PVCs or palpitations are more or less healthy, or suffer from mild angina or a very minor form of heart ‘failure’; again, only tests like an ECG and a stress echo-cardiogram (or an angiogram) will confirm it or otherwise. The tests I undertook showed that my heart is essentially healthy; I can therefore follow a moderate daily exercise program without concern. In fact, one cardio-surgeon told me that moderate exercise helps against this form of arrhythmia. Always check with your cardiologist of course.
When I was still ‘struggling a bit’, I found that taking a significant dose of D-Ribose before undertaking any form of exercise was very useful. However, my point is this: if you suffer from PVCs you may not want to trigger them or make them worse with strenuous or exercise that lasts too long (they would usually show up in the ‘recovery period’, but some people may notice them whilst exercising). There are some theories that vigorous exercise may ‘repair’ the heart beat, but I would not ‘risk it’ (unless you are absolutely certain that, in your case, moderate exercise improves your PVCs), especially in light of what has transpired in recent studies:
– recent studies seem to point out that vigorous exercise over long periods of time may actually be detrimental to the heart, even to a totally healthy heart (with a totally regular heart beat); so, I keep myself to 30 minutes a day of mild to moderate exercise or several sets (several times a day) of light exercise (such as walking for example, or light cycling, or swimming slowly and lightly, or even walking in a pool). I always add light toning exercises for the abdomen, the arms, the shoulders and the back. Having a fat abdomen seems to be bad for your heart. Lets list What to Avoid if you have Heart Arrhythmia:
5 – heavy meals – it seem to be less of a problem for me now (since I started with ‘heart’ supplements), but heavy meals are generally a strain on any heart (have you perhaps noticed that your heart seems to beat faster after a heavy meal?), so why put a strain on a heart already struggling with PVCs? There are enough cases of people suffering from a heart attack after a heavy meal… It’s best to eat small meals more often. Always eat healthy, of course.
6 – sudden ‘movements’ after prolonged periods of ‘rest’ (sitting down or lying down). This is a big one even now that I have no PVCs whatsoever during the day or night. I noticed that, if I sit or lie down for prolonged periods of time and then I suddenly stand up and walk quickly, even if only for a short distance, I trigger PVCs. A person with a totally healthy heart in a totally healthy cardiovascular system may not even notice that his/her heart needs to beat faster to compensate for the sudden ‘gear change’ (so to speak): but someone with PVCs may not be so lucky (I certainly was not!), so ‘changing gear’ slowly is best. Now that I take my supplements I don’t have to be so careful, but I still try to shift from rest to activity slowly (if I can remember!)
More on What to Avoid if you have Heart Arrhythmia:
7 – lack of sleep. It’s commonly argued that lack of sleep or irregular sleep may trigger PVCs. I believe lack of sleep was a key factor in my case: before I started suffering from ‘heavy’ PVCs, I had spent several months sleeping very little, from 3 to 5 hours a night! I now wish I had not! I would strongly recommend to anybody (even if you are totally healthy) to sleep the recommended 7 hours per night. If not, eventually your heart will ‘give out’ and then you wish you had found the extra hours! Occasionally, given my work, I do skip some good sleeping time but I try to minimize this: it’s jut not worth it.
8 – stress – it’s sometimes inevitable but – as you probably already know, stress does cause or at least trigger PVCs. So, the key is to learn to either avoid stressful situations altogether or to remember, every time you feel stressed in any way (including anger, despair etc), that your life is more important than anything else. If you ever undertook a pharmacological stress test for your heart (as I did), you will know what I’m talking about: the test was to painful and dreadful in my case, that it made re-think my priorities: these days I care a lot less about many things, including money. Nothing, absolutely nothing is more important than your life! For this I found Reiki to be extremely helpful.
9 – ‘risky’ cardiovascular conditions such as high (bad) cholesterol and high blood pressure or diabetes (I don’t suffer from any of those conditions but I still adopt a prevention-based approach). Obesity is also something to avoid or revert, since it places a strain on your heart and may create other conditions relevant to the cardiovascular system. I have written a page on how to eat healthy which I hope you can find useful (click on the underlined words to access it).
What to Avoid if you have Heart Arrhythmia; the following may be obvious but crucial:
10 – ‘illegal’ drugs and ‘legal drugs’ – this may sound obvious but, just in case it’s not, the use of all ‘stimulating’ illegal drugs is to be avoided like the plague. They are more powerful than hundreds of cups of coffee and very bad for your heart, let alone if you suffer form a heart condition! The same goes for stimulating legal pharmaceuticals (there are many, so always check every ingredient listed on any label, or research it online if you must).
Are PVCs dangerous? – there are a lot of conflicting opinions; these days they are considered relatively benign if you don’t suffer from other heart issues or from cardiovascular diseases; it is probably the case, after reading the current research on this matter. However, some cardiologists (I have spoken to a few face to face) seem to think that, in the long run, very frequent PVCs may ‘wear out’ your heart. I don’t know if this is true, as I said, but, to be on the safe side, I have chosen to reduce my PVCs and ideally to eliminate them completely. By doing so, at the very least I have improved my quality of life: those who suffer from very frequent and easily noticeable PVCs certainly know what I’m talking about!
If you found this page on What to Avoid if you have Heart Arrhythmia useful, you will find the following pages even more useful: my personal story with PVCs with examples and tips – Natural Supplements for the Heart and for PVCs – What really worked for me against PVCs