svt treatment options?

[aaron1979]

I have SVT and I had an ep study with intentions of an ablation that failed twice.
My doctor tried every medicine that he knew of and it hasn't helped either. So now he is going to send me to the Cleveland clinic. I was wondering if anybody knew what kind of treatment they could offer to me? My dr doesn't want to give me a pacemaker unless I absolutely have to have one. So he wants to see if the CC can help me. I have heard that for AF they do the maze procedure or the mini maze. Do they do this for svt as well? Has anybody went their for this? Thanks for any info, Aaron.  

[Mandy4183]

Hey,  I can sympathize with you so much.  I am 27 years old and I have had SVT since I was about 10 years old.  When I was a child, doctors thought that I was having panic attacks and it wasn't until I was pregnant with my first child that they said it was SVT.  So anyways, I too had the ablation procedure, and it did absolutely no good.  I still have pretty bad episodes that lasts from 15 min. all the way up to 5 hours, depending on if I can get it under control.  When I had the ablation done and it failed the doctors said that the problem was on the outside of my heart and not the inside, which is why the ablation didn't work.  He suggested that I go to Duke University and have them check me out but I've been too scared of the possibility of open heart surgery, so I have never gone, I've just coped with it like I've done pretty much my whole life.  I hope the study went well for you, and God bless.

[aaron1979]

Honestly, I don't know what it is for sure but I have counted near 200bpm before. And I forgot to ask about it. I am also 27yrs old. I used to think that I had them  since 2 years ago but I don't know for sure. I do know that ever since I donated a kidney to my niece and got sepsis from a lesser infection it has bothered me. And that was around aug 06'. Yeah I have heard that older people get it or have it less. My dr said that since last month they have gotten significantly worse. Oh yeah by the way I am supposed to have the ep study without any sedative or anesthesia. My dr thinks the medicine masked the heart beats. So I am tring to prepare for that. Have you ever heard of this? Thanks Aaron.

[aaron1979]

My doctor said he would do a block then put the pacemaker in. So I guess he would fix my problem like that. But I don't want that and neither does he.

As far as medicine nothing has helped and my dr said he's done with trying any more. My episodes last for hours sometimes. As a matter of fact the other day I honestly think I had one all day or at least it felt like it.

[sb786]

I'm so sorry to hear you have so much trouble with SVT. What is your heart rate during an episode? If you don't mind me asking how old are you? How long have you had svt? I'm 27 yrs old and have been having svt episodes since i was 13 yrs old (but was only diagnosed 6 months ago) but i believe they are not as frequent now. When i was diagnosed i was treated by a doc at A&E who also had svt and he told me it was common for the svt to "improve" as we get older.

[aaron1979]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention my episodes happen everyday.

[anacyde]

SVT can be a challenge sometimes.  I'd feel highly confident in the Cleveland Clinic.

[sb786]

I also have svt and i'm due to have an ablation next month. My EP has never mentioned a pace maker to me. how would that cure the svt?
I am concerned that the ep wil not be able to start the svt during the ep study as my svts are very infrequent. How frequent and long are your svt episodes? Do beta blockers not help you?