Tachycardia

[Honora2]

I have recently had a holter monitor study and have runs of tachycardia several times a day.  I do have a mitral valve prolapse which was diagnosed when I was a teen.  I have not had an echocardiogram or any other studies since, other than the holter study.  In general this doesn't bother me too much.  However this past week I've noticed that if I wake up at night and turn from my side to a prone position, I have tachycardia lasting less than a minute.  Also I occasionally feel a strong beat, kind of a "thump" sensation that is startling (this happens at other times, not during the night typically).  

My questions:

1.  Am I at higher risk for cardiac arrest?  My mother had a cardiac arrest at age 62.

2.  What causes the "thump," and is this concerning?  Are there specific studies I should ask my physician about?

3.  What causes the tachycardia when turning to a prone position during the night, and should I be concerned that this has developed suddenly?

Thank you!

[tom_h]

I'm 60 y/o, and live in the US.  My GP put me on 80mg of asprin daily about 5 years ago as a general precaution, and I continue to take it today along with my daily vitamin, micro-nutrient capsule, and Metoprolol.  I wouldn't start an aspirin regime without first consulting with him.

[is_something_wrong]

100% of us have sinus tachycardia through the day. Nothing to worry about at all.

Why should you take an aspirin? In my country no one does it except if they are at risk for a heart attack, if that happens, aspirin lowers the damage on the heart and buys time for sucessful revascularization.

Sinus tachycardia is not something that should be treated unless it's severely bothersome, if it is, your doctor can prescribe beta blockers.

Ask your doctor if aspirin is necessary. I doubt it.

[CFS56]

Sinus tachycardia is your heart's normal response to some stimulus...if I remember correctly it is not the result of any electrical "misfiring" in your heart.  It is your heart speeding up from exercise, stress, fear, etc.  Have you been stressed or anxious lately?
I would talk to your cardiologist before taking aspirin every day.

[Honora2]

Thanks everyone for the responses!  I appreciate  the help and advice.  My doctor told me after he reviewed the Holter study that I had sinus tachycardia.

One more question:  Should I consider taking an aspirin daily?

[Mom2four85]

I would make an appt for a cardiologist & EP and have that echo and full workup to see if they can find what arrhythmia's you're having...also find out what caused your mother's SCA and make sure you tell the dr the cause if you haven't.  

I don't know about your increased risk of SCA; I can't find anything on the American Heart Association as to increased risk with genetics in play. However,  I did find this on the SCAA - sudden cardiac arrest association's website - who's at risk? History of early heart disease, heart attack or cardiac death in the family.   Make sure you ask your dr about your risk

A family history of SCA is one of the first things doctors have asked me and it's been quite difficult to find out the cause of my problems since I had no family history of SCA or heart problems; my dad had an enlarged heart but they think that was due to chemo treatments.

good luck and hope you find some answers

  

[tom_h]

1) My cardiologist has always been interesting in the health history of my parents.  In my case neither had any cardiac issues.

2) The thump could be a PVC, and common, usually benign anomolous beat.  As was in my case, these can be the trigger mechanism for SVT.

3)  I've had many instances where my SVT was initiated by a sudden positional movement; usually twisting of the torso.  It was famous for firing up as I got out of my car. I would often get a brief arrhythmia if I rolled over in bed in a twisting movement.

Remember that your heart is not "glued" into place.  It is free to float around in a confined space.  It could be that a certain position causes just the right situation to start an event.  In my early twenties, doctors examining me thought my esphagus was positioned abnormally close to my heart, and that swallowing food caused the passing lump to press ever so slightly against my heart causing it to fire up.  I remember having to swallow an disgusting, extra thick lumps of cherry flavored barium paste while they xrayed me from all sorts of angles to see if that was the cause of my SVT.  It turned out that it wasn't.  Finding the cause of a paroxsysmal event can be time consuming and tedious.  But if it's bothering you, keep on it.  Keep a written log of your event, what could have possibly precipitated them, their duration, and heart rate.  This can be of immense help to a physician who is trying to treat you without actually seeing any evidence.  This was my largest hurdle to treatment; having a perfect healthy, indeed robust heart structure, but with a completely concealed electrical problem.  How does a physician treat something he cannot see?  In my case, my logbook helped immensely in getting him to understand what was happening to me.  Best of luck to you!

[Jerry_NJ]

You didn't mention "supraventricular" VT, but the symptoms sound like that may be the case.  SVT is also usually not dangerous, and I understand most common in young adults.  

To the questions:
1) yes, with a heart family history you should consult regularly (don't know how often) with a doctor, best given symptoms with a cardiologist.
2) you may find something doing a search on "thump" on this forum, I have seen it mentioned many times.
3)  I don't recall details here either but do recall others posting similar results, it may be common.

Has you doctor discussed any medication or perhaps the "vagal maneuver", to reduce/stop VT?

Good luck

[is_something_wrong]

Hello.

I'll try to answer your questions as good as I can.

Q1: Am I at higher risk for cardiac arrest?  My mother had a cardiac arrest at age 62.
A: Depends on the tachycardia, which you don't specify, and if your heart is structurally normal. Maybe you should get an echo done anyway? If you have supraventricular tachycardias, the answer is essentially no.

Q2:  What causes the "thump," and is this concerning?  Are there specific studies I should ask my physician about?
A: Probably premature beats, followed by a pause and the next heart beat is strong. Did you capture any on the Holter. They are usually nothing to worry about.

Q3:  What causes the tachycardia when turning to a prone position during the night, and should I be concerned that this has developed suddenly?
A: In some people, a slow heart rate can provoke arrhythmias. Other people think waking up is scary and get a rapid heart rhythm. Again, other people get tachycardia when lying on the left side.

The essential part of this is what tachycardia you suffer from.