SVT and pvc..........had enough!!!

[sb786]

Hi everyone! i'm sick and tired of being scared of my pvcs and svt. i have decided to do whatever it takes to try and come to terms with everything. i have just recently been diagnosed and before i can i need to understand what SVT really is. i want to know what other pvc and svt suffers are doing to cope. other than this forum there is no-one i know who has svt. i just want to hear other peoples experiences.
do all you svt suffers also have pvcs?
what triggers your svt?
what meds work for you?
does anyone wake up from sleep with svt?
does anyone get weird strong beats like your heart is slowing down just before an svt?????
does anyone get svt whilst eating?
can anyone explain how svt is triggered by a pvc?
how do you know that you are definitely having an svt attack and not something serious? (i always panick when i have an svt because i'm convinced its vt even though my docs and cardios say i don't have vt)
i know its a long boring post and you guys have probably gone through this loads of times but i really would like to hear of your experiences.

[Roemance]

I have been to the hospital 18 times in 9 months to get adenosine to stop my SVT. I don’t really know what triggers it it’s random however my blood test kept saying I was anemic, so I’ve been taking b12 shots weekly. I also have PVC’s and it’s horrible. I know how you feel. I take Xanax to calm me at night because it freaks me out. I’ve fainted twice duribg SVT. I need an ablation but I have no health insurance. Have an appointment with one of the docs at Northwell in Manhattan this month. I cannot continue to live like this. It’s living in co start fear

[Mazemar]

Hi if I eat M.S.G it sets my heart off into S.V.T, not nice. Marion

[Daisy5285]

Hello,
My name is Daisy and I am eleven years old. I was diagnosed with SVT at ten. I was just sitting down and then my heart started thumping and it wouldn't stop so I went down to the Sick Children's Hospital and they diagnosed me with SVT. They said that I could go on medication, have the ablation or just keep doing the manoeuvres so I was going to try the medication but then I was too scared to try it so we went for an appointment down in Glasgow with one of the specialists and she said that I should wait until I was thirteen if things improved because the heart would have grown a mm by then so we decided to wait and just do the manoeuvres. Then one day I was at holiday club and then I had an SVT attack and normally after I have done the manoeuvre it works but it wouldn't stop so one of the member of staff phoned my Mummy and also phoned the hospital and an ambulance came but my heart had gone back to normal but the ambulance men said that it is better if I went to the hospital just to see if I was ok and thank goodness they did. I went to the hospital and then I bent over and I went into another SVT and it lasted for 20 minutes! It was awful. I was shaking. My heart rate was 240! Then they put two doses of drugs in my arm and they were on the third when it started to slow down. It slowed down eventually and when it had stopped they gave me some Beater Blockers in liquid and I was fine but we have decided that we are going to have the ablation but it is just so scary because I love gymnastics but what seams to trigger it is bending forward and I was doing a lot of head stands and handstands and everything but now I have had to stop them just to be on the safe side. The manoeuvre that used to help me was lying down on something, hanging my head off the thing that I was lying on, my legs in the air and blowing into the tip of my thumb. I am going to have the ablation in three or four months or sooner hopefully and I am going to be under a general anaesthesia.
Does anyone else have SVT?
Have they had the ablation?
Did it work?
Do you think that SVT is scary?
Thank you for reading this.
Daisy

[NRLBD]

You are an amazing young lady to have coped with all of this at such a young age, Daisy. Glad you shared your story! Yes SVT is scary! Hope the ablation is a huge success for you. I am particularly interested in the use of general anesthesia for the ablation as I will be having this done too and need to use general anesthesia too. Please let us know how your surgery goes!
A quick question for you, will an electrophysiologist perform your ablation or will there be a different type of dr since general anesthesia is used?  Good luck!

[NRLBD]

You are an amazing young lady to have coped with all of this at such a young age, Daisy. Glad you shared your story! Yes SVT is scary! Hope the ablation is a huge success for you. I am particularly interested in the use of general anesthesia for the ablation as I will be having this done too and need to use general anesthesia too. Please let us know how your surgery goes!
A quick question for you, will an electrophysiologist perform your ablation or will there be a different type of dr since general anesthesia is used?  Good luck!

[stressedinpa]

I get very upset every time it happens. I am still confused as I was told I had afib when I wore the monitor and I am on metropol and pradaxa for that but I also had a vt 5 loop and that one is what confuses me. When it happens I get anxiety and then I don't know if I feel dizzy and light headed because I am anxious or because my heart is beating weird. My cardiologist does nto think I need an ablation at this time. I am only 47 years old and this has been going on for two and a half years. It ry to figure out causes. It does seem to ahppen if I don;t drink enough water. I also have sleep apnea and wear a cpap. Stress must play a factor but the more it happens the more stressed I feel.

[heartstruck]

i just cry at times......becuase its such a awful feeling. I know am posting to late but curious about anyone else's experences

[sb786]

hi mmfd,
its great that you have found a drug that helps you with the svt. i was initially put on the verapamil but i felt way too tired and spaced out on it and i actually got severe constipation so i had to stop taking it :( have you had any breakthrough attacks whilst being on it? how long do your attacks last?
if you don't mind me asking how many pvcs do you get in a day? I have probably had svt for about 10 years undiagnosed and it never ever bothered me! since having it diagnosed as svt i'm now all of a sudden very scared. i probably wouldn't be that scared if it wasn't for the PVCs, i cannot figure out if i have always had them or have they just started now? i realised the pvcs since being diagnosed with svt.

[kitcurious]

My son is in his teens and he doesn't feel them, not a one, and I would never ask him to try.
He is not suffering. He's feeling fine.

If he started noticing them tomorrow then obviously he has been having them all along, right?

He also has a sclerotic mitral valve and mild cardiomyopathy.

Everyone gets these. The ONLY difference is that some people feel them and some don't, some feel them sometimes and not others. Having them is very commonplace.

Being afraid of something happening isn't going to keep it from happening so it's not going to do any good.

My guess is that you've become super sensitive to your body because you are frightnened.

I feel some on occasion and probably don't at other times.


If you won't try the beta you may want to see an expert in anxiety and see what they can do to help. Trying to find out everything you can about PVCs isn't going to do it. These are  not really the problem, your response to them is what is giving you the most trouble.

They themselves will wax and wane.

[sb786]

its just so hard to believe that i may have always had pvcs but just didnt feel them but do now. you're probably right, i think i may have become more aware of them when i was diagnosed with svt. that really freaked me out and made me paranoid really about my heart. thanks for the advice :)

[Roemance]

Just FYI they are finding they are not as harmless as they used to think ,  it weakens your heart muscle over time which can cause heart failure. Find a really good cardiologist and take all your medical records

[sb786]

saw this posted on another heart forum, it explains pvcs/pacs really well!!

http://www.mauvila.com/ECG/ecg_premature.htm

[sb786]

i'm so sorry to hear you son is a pvc sufferer too. I f you don't mind me asking how old is he? does your son feel them or were they just caught on a monitor? i start panicking everytime i feel a pvc because i think its going to start an svt attack!! i do want to try beta blockers but like i said in my other previous post i am scared because my resting heart rate is low:50-55bpm and my bp is low 100/60 on a good day!!

my doc says that i have most probably always had the pvcs but have just realised them now. how true can this be? he says he has 2 every min and never feels them unless he concentrates really hard. i can have 50ish a day and i feel every single one regardless of what am i doing at the time(even my cardiologist is amazed at how i manage to identify every pvc!!) can it really be possible that i've always had this many but have just become more sensitive to them??
Is there anyone who believes that they have always suffered from pvcs but have just started to become more sensitive or affected by them now?

[kitcurious]

My son has over a thousand a day he isn't taking treatment because they don't bother him.

Medications are not needed for benign conditions, but are sometimes given in hopes of lessening the force of the beat and thus calming the person complaining about them.

Since your heart is healthy they may be worth a try and well-tolerated in your case. From what we are hearing (logically) it's sick people who are most in danger from taking antiarryhthmics for PVCs.

My heart has also gone into overdrive when settling down to sleep. I haven't mentioned it to my doctor. Anytime you mention something to a doctor you get another test. Yech.

I understand PVCs tend to act up at lower heart rates.

[CollegeGirl143]

Usually physicians do the standard tests on every patient complaining of palpitations, and in the absense of something more serious causing the palps, there really isnt a "normal".. doctors see patients in the thousands a day range and dont treat them unless they are extremely lowering the quality of life...

[sb786]

like you i also have the palpitations at night. was the rapid heart rate you experienced at night svt? how long did it last for? i've given up looking for possible triggers. the only i know for certain is that eating too much gives me pvcs and when i am having alot of pvcs i will have at least 1 svt attack.


i have been told by my docs that EVERYONE has pvcs and pacs and it is a NORMAL cardiac event but how many pvcs in a day are considered NORMAL? how many pvcs would you expecta a healthy NORMAl person to have?

[sb786]

ooops! you're right, thanx

[kitcurious]

She said she hasn't taken any meds.

[sb786]

thank you! it really helps to hear other peoples experiences. its weird i also can sense when its about to happen. are you on meds for your svt? how long are you attacks?

don't you think its weird that i have never had any PACs on any of the 24 hr ecgs just pvcs.

[emilycaitlin]

Yeah I agree. I think the only thing that scares me about the ablation is I worry I might be worse off afterwards than to start with, like with the pac's and such. I'm having good results with this toprol xl, but it is still giving me some insomnia and hasn't eliminated the svt completely, but it has very much improved since I started it. If I were you, I would just listen to your cardio, if he/she says you're ok as far as a structurally ok heart, then just avoid the triggers and you should be totally fine. If your cardio suggests it, then you might try the bb, I remember being really scared the first time I took it but I promise it was all ok, it actually has made me feel much better and improved my svt alot. Please try and not be anxious about your pvc's, I know it's much easier said than done lol, but I truly get the pac's every single day and they have never hurt me in the slightest. Best wishes to you, em.

[anacyde]

Hi!  I can relate to your frustration.

do all you svt suffers also have pvcs?

-I have very rare PVCs, but very frequent PACs.  Usually the PACs trigger the SVT for me.


what triggers your svt?

-Typically exercise, which triggers multiple PACs, which can occasionally trigger the SVT.  During pregnancy I could get a run of SVT just sitting doing nothing at all.  It seems related to hormones, so I exercise less strenuously around ovulation.


what meds work for you?

-I've never taken meds, but reducing anxiety through regular exercise and avoiding stimulants (caffeine and even sugar) helps substantially.


does anyone wake up from sleep with svt?

-I have, but I was also having a noctournal panic attack.


does anyone get weird strong beats like your heart is slowing down just before an svt?????

-Yes, I feel a sinking feeling.  I can sense it before it happens, and I can even sense days where I am more prone.  No clue what that is or why it happens.


does anyone get svt whilst eating?

-No, but I do get an increase in PACs from eating.  There are a few here who do.


can anyone explain how svt is triggered by a pvc?

-I don't know.  I do know that PACs can trigger SVT at high frequencies for me.


how do you know that you are definitely having an svt attack and not something serious? (i always panick when i have an svt because i'm convinced its vt even though my docs and cardios say i don't have vt)

-My cardiologist and his associate explained to me that it is quite rare to have both atrial and ventricular arrhythmias unless you have a major structural or electrical problem with your heart.  Ventricular arrhythmias (not run of the mill PVCs) are usually associated with more serious disease, thus it's not likely that you'd suddenly start having VT when you were having SVT.  Not impossible, just really unlikely.  And you'd very likely feel the difference, with other symptoms if nothing else.  Trust the docs.


i know its a long boring post and you guys have probably gone through this loads of times but i really would like to hear of your experiences.

-Not long or boring, I know where you're coming from.  Hope that helps.

[mmfd]

I went SVT free for 5 whole years just by taking a small dose of Verapamil, a calcium channel blocker.  They are a drug often indicated for SVT, as well as for other stuff.  My resting heart rate did not lower, and the only side effect I had was mild constipation which is very common for CCB's.  If you only have SVT for 15 min. or so, a good EP might not be inclined to ablate anyway.  If you haven't passed out from it by now, it is unlikely you will!  Try focusing on the good things in your life instead of what will never happen!  Otherwise it's such a vicious circle:  a couple of PVC's leads to anxiety which leads to more PVC's which leads to more anxiety which leads to SVT which leads to more Pvc's and so on and so on.  You can decide that you are sick and tired of being so anxious and worried unneccessarily.  You can decide to be in charge of your life instead of anxiety.  Think about it.......

[sb786]

thanks em, my cardiologist always tells me to not bother with the ablation unless my attacks become too uncomfortable and too frequent. i know some people find ablation cures the svt totally but some find it doesn't and causes more palpitations! but it would be brilliant if one ablation could get rid of the svt altogether.we should start a new thread and ask how many people find meds control their svt and how many have had success with ablation!! take care :)

[emilycaitlin]

Hi sb,
Yeah, I remember when I was first diagnosed the dr said if your hr goes above 200, then go to the er, so I took that to mean as long as it stayed below 200 I didn't need to go, even though it was lasting so long at 180. Looking back, I feel dumb for letting it go on like that and not going though. I told him last time I was up there they were lasting for all those hours and he said I should have gone and gotten some kind of injection to convert. It's uncomfortable but I've not ever panicked when it was happening, the worst part is when my rates go up that high I get a pounding and extreme tightness in my neck, the dr said it was cause of the large vessels being close to the skin's surface there or something like that. The thing that would always get me was I could lie down for a couple hrs and it still wouldn't get better. I used to keep old toprol at the house and just take 1 or 2 of them when it wouldn't convert on it's own.
I don't remember my dr saying I had pvc's, he said what I had were pac's, he called them apb's but I think that's just a different term for pac's. Anyway, I do sometimes get a very short, like 5 sec run of them before an svt but mostly it just happens on it's own. But really, nothing bad has ever happened to me because of the svt, the dr just wants me to have the ablation I think because mine are pretty frequent and long lasting. I'm just still undecided though, not sure about my insurance paying and all that so we'll see. Hope things start to get better for you, take care, em.

[sb786]

sorry forgot to ask do you suffer from pvcs? do you know how the pvcs trigger svt??

[Roemance]

I have both and I feel my pvc’s Sometimes trigger it. Also, get blood work because any electrolyte imbalance or anemia and especially dehydration will set them off so frequently.   I’ve had this since 2006 and only four episodes until this last year ... 18 in 9 months and they said it’s weakening my heart muscle and I must have ablation

[sb786]

Hi em,
wow! i am lost for words!! i cannot believe your svt lasted for 8-10 hrs with a heart rate of about 180bpm and you never went to hospital for treatment!! my God you are brave!! when mine last for more than 10 mins i panic and cry and scream..... do you not panic? how can you remain at home for so long with your heart going so fast?? i wish i was like you!! my cardio did tell me that i can stay at home for hours before going to the hospital nut i never believed him!!

[emilycaitlin]

Hi sb,
Sorry the svt is getting to you so bad, I wish I could say something to make you feel better, I've had it for 3yrs though and it doesn't limit me at all, I still drive and go out and hardly think of it unless it's happening of course. It's been on my mind lately cause I've been trying to get adjusted to this bb and been thinking about having the ablation.
Before I started the bb, mine were pretty long, like 8-10hrs with a hr of 180+. The holter recorded a 4hr long one with hr sustaining above 180. That was 3yrs ago, they said to have the ablation back then but I was scared of it and didn't want to. The episodes got alot better for awhile and then started increasing again in frequency/severity so I went back to the dr, he put me back on toprol and recommended ablation again. Since I've been on the toprol I've only had maybe 4, lasting about 4hrs each and hr not much above 150, which I'm not sure was svt, it may have just been some weird run of sinus tach. But at any rate, like the others said it's not life threatening, but yeah I know it sure is scary when it happens. Take care, em.