Nervous about Ablation

[EMT23]

Hi... I have been dealing with tachycardia for a long time. This past November while at work I started having bad palpitations. I work in the medical field and checked my pulse rate with the oximeter. It was in the 150's. I thought I was having one of my tachycardia attacks that would go away but it never. I went home and called my husband who took me to the ER. The ER doc ran some tests, gave me 2 bags of IV fluids and sent me home on beta blockers. The next day the palpitations continued anytime I tried to do anything and had to keep laying down for  relief. Finally the following day my pulse rate continued in the 150's so my husband took me back to ER. The heart monitor kept going off in the red everytime I moved. I was transferred my ambulance to a cardiac hospital and was admitted for 6 days due to tachycardia and palpitations. Never really had a definate diagnosis except possibly POTS. After discharge episodes of elevated heart rate continued so I was referred to EP who put me on a king of hearts. I had episodes of HR multiple times in the 170-180's. They just kept increasing my beta blocker. My last attack the HR got into the 190's and they told me I was having SVT's.  Now they want to do an ablation due to the SVT and frequency of my tachycardia episodes. Not really sure I have ever got a "definate" diagnosis of POTS or SVT. Anyone with similar problems? Should I have the ablation? Thanks!

[cindy707]

Wow i'm impressed with the balancing act you are doing....now did you say you were going to clean my house on top of it too????  Are you kidding me EMT23???  Gee i wonder why your heart is going into overdrive......I am so happy that you're going to see the heart doc tomorrow because ablations are very successful in most cases for SVT and you sound like a great candidate for one.  SVT's are usually electrical based and thats why the ablation is so great because they'll either use cryo (now more common to avoid scar tissue) or heat to zap those little puppies out of there or it could be like mine was where my heart decided without my permission to throw down another whole new electrical pathway that had to basically be welded shut and blocked so that the pattern would go in the direction that it was intended to.  Your heart doc may just decide to simply put you on beta blockers which in low doses are actually really good for us in helping the heart to relax and not work as hard (why wouldn't we take something like that?) and my own heart doc w. no heart problems takes an antenolol each morning and believes that someday in the near future it will be a maintenance med for all healthy humans.  I loved his analogy EMT23....he said to remember that a hummingbirds heart beat super fast and crazy and lives a very short lifespan and that an elephant has a very slow heartrate and lives a very long life....i thought for sure he would end that statement with "grasshoppa" LOL !!!  I obviously agree and take BB and could probably do without the antenolol but altho a hummingbird is so cute i'd rather in this case be Daisy the elephant.....let us know what happens with you and you can also send me a message on the message board on my site.......let me know and then you can call me grasshoppa after your appt. tomorrow.......

[EMT23]

Love reading your posts...you sound like a very fun person! :o)
I'm seeing my regular Cardiologist tomorrow for a follow up and am going to see what his thoughts are about the ablation. I read some people say their SVT's got better with time...ok so maybe I'm dreaming thinking that will ever happen with me.  The last two days at work my HR jumped to the 150-160's just for something fun to do I guess...but at least it never went into an SVT mode...I was still able to function...just felt like the heart wanted to run a marathon for awhile. When I get the SVT I can't function and it's very scary. Some people say stress can bring on the SVT's...do you know if thats true? I've probably been over doing things a little with working full-time , going to school to recertify my EMS license and being a Mom to 4 very busy kids. My Cardio wouldn't be very happy with me if he knew my crazy life style. :o(

[cindy707]

Actually believe it or not the upper 100's to the 300's feels about the same...total freaking panic...and yeah i used to sleep a good 10 hours after,,,,my poor little heart was saying okay it was my turn now its yours....yeah we are stubborn...when i was in the ambulance and they couldn't get a line in me at 300+ i made them pull over on the side of the road and basically made them pull out and do a mainline so you can imagine where my head was at !!!!   LMAO!!! sometimes i see that paramedic out in public and he just starts laughing at me.....the meds really are never the cure just your safety net as i like to think of them.....the cure or possible cure is the ablation....unless you have a crash cart a the clinic and everyone there is ACLS trained i think your heart doc gave you great advise...like all of us that went thru it ....the episodes have a mind of their own and nothing in particular can set them off.....you don't want to have an episode while you're w. a pt.....your husband sounds like a wise man to me.....really keep us informed and i know and hope Debbier will since she's going to have hers done in 3 days....You Go Girl Debbier!!!!

[EMT23]

Thanks everyone for all of the posts about the ablation. I really appreciate hearing other opinions! Debbier...please keep me informed! Cindy...your HR does sound like what mine is doing... with each SVT attack the HR goes up higher each time. I have not gotten to the 300's and can't even imagine that...you must have felt absolutely awful. These episodes take about everything out of me and I feel very weak and tired when they are over. That is funny what you said about healthcare workers being stubborn and the worst patients. My husband tells me that all the time....and yes it is very true! When I was in the hospital they gave me all sorts of different medications to try to stop the palpitations. They would stop but start up again, the meds helped but were definately no cure. After I finally got discharged my Cardiologist kept me off work for 6 weeks...I literally begged him to let me go back but he wouldn't. I was so frustrated because nobody knew forsure what was going on with me and just said stay off work. I work in a medical clinic with a doctor...I think if something happened they would know what to do but he still said no. I told my EP I would get back to him with my decision...maybe I should just go ahead and do it like you said! I'll let you know. :o)

[debbier]

I am having an ablation for possible svt on Wednesday I can keep you posted.

[cindy707]

Hey read your post.....same story all the way around except for the hospital stay which i personally chose to just say no.....your pulse rate as you know was definately high but mine ended up getting progressive because i was stubborn and didn't do anything about it other than beta blockers for almost a little too long.  I wanted to do all kinds of research, find the best doc, get testimonials from other pts., check his schooling....glad i did it but almost killed myself letting it go so long.  I started out in the 180's preogressed to the mid 200's and ended up in the low 300's days before the ablation.  Smart girl huh?  I too am in the medical field...i swear we make the worse patients because it comes down to knowing too much information.  As you know the reason that they lined you w. the I.V. is because dehydration really sets these episodes off and when they hydrate our bodies to the extreme every organ within our body is plump, happy and thirsted thus making it easier for all of our organs to do its job for us.  You need to seriously consider having the ablation done.  I had it done 3 years ago for the exact same thing you are experiencing plus a little more and it was a total success.  It was a simple procedure, you can go home later that day, and within the healing time period of up to 6 months you may be as good as new as if the episodes never occured and are a distant memory.  Talk to other people....find out the best doc in your area....you didn't say why didn't they convert you chemically or mechanically?  Six days is a long time in a hospital without them converting you......good luck....like Nike says "Just Do It"take back your life...alot of people need you out there.........

[LBBBguy]

First, sorry to hear that. HR in the 190's... Not fun at all! I've had an ablation (for WPW), and the procedure itself really is no big deal, so that part I wouldn't sweat so much. I would just read a lot of the ablation threads here, including the "post-ablation experience" threads just to get an idea of what to expect. It sounds like beta blockers aren't doing the trick so the ablation probably is the way to go.

[EMT23]

Thanks for your post... I think your probably right that the ablation is the way to go for me. My Dad has dealt with similar problems when he was my age (42) which eventually went into atrial flutter and now he has atrial fib and a pacemaker. My EP said if my tachycarida continues it will be very likely I will follow in his footsteps with the same problems. He stated having an ablation could minimize the chances of getting atrial fib but it could still happen.

[Jerry_NJ]

Look at the post by "pat747" (hope I remember right, the post about SVT ablation).  It sounds like he has some recent experienc that my help you.  
You may want to send him a private message to see what else he can say.

There have been may posts on the Community about ablation, so you may find some of the history on this Community helpful.

From what you describe it sounds to me like an ablation is the way to go, and needed.  If the ablation goes well it can fix you problem such that you'll not require ongoing medications/prescriptions.

Good luck,