SVT question

[bbxx]

Be patient please.......

Is it possible to faint at the beginning of SVT?  I am really hoping thats all it was, but my heart was going along fine, then a BLIP, which I assumed was a type of pvc or pac, and seconds later down I went. The thing is, I didnt notice anything as I lay there, I didnt think to take my pulse, I was seriously just about OUT.  I clearly remember laying there thinking (what just happened)
As I lay there,  I remember that my chest had a light feeling in it, almost like a faint feeling of irregular rythm, like when you stand in a boat (the waves moving you up and down). Then it went into a hard super fast pounding rythm,
Is there any rythm your heart can do that within seconds you can faint BESIDES v-tach?

[bigkev414]

I also react in the same way to littlegreenman if i have an SVT, and to everybody who has them, yes I feel suddenly faint, almost black out, disoriented, vision disturbed and so on and have bben having these for over 15 years TRIGGERED BY A LARGE DOSE OF SUDAFED.
DON'T TAKE SINUS MEDICATION, DONT TAKE COUGH SYRUP IF YOU HAVE A COLD IF YOU GET SVT'S.
Thats an order!

[merileegal]

Like

I love the quote, "to sit idle is letting it control you." Thanks

[littlegreenman1]

If this were Facebook - I'd put a "like" on that comment.
Congrats on your good run on the ice!
And I love, Love LOVE:  "to sit idle is letting it control you."

I wouldn't say I "goaded" the condition, but I knew it was coming (when running) and would wait to "get it over with."

Now on to the OP... I had an episode - during a run. I had a cold and was hopped up on pseudofed four times a day for a week. (The OLD SCHOOL little red pill - behind the counter kind)  I was moderately exerting anyway, but went into SVT which would not stop. I got up (out of a crouching-vagal position) and got that loss of peripheral vision, black out feeling, "Better sit down before I fall down" feeling.

So, me, yeah, I've almost passed out from it.

[bbxx]

Well, congratulations on your accomplishments!
Yes, I am being monitored for 30 days because SVT has never been captured. I had my first episode of what I believe was svt and I felt totally fine, just that my heart was beating so fast I couldnt count it. It started within one second and stopped just as fast. Then I was in the ladies room, which I found out is common after and svt attack. (something about the chemicals going into your kidneys). So the ER & my GP doc said they were certain it was svt inspite of not seeing it.
The next episode happened 3 years later when my heart was in what felt like bigeminy, only even a lot more strange than that. I felt fine until it slipped into the fast rythm, and within seconds of the fast rythm, down I went.
Now a year later, I was sitting talking on the phone when I only felt what I thought was a pvc and senconds later I was going down. So.... no idea what is what, but ISsomthing may be onto something with my blood pressure being ultra low. Either way, because I have the thousands of pvcs with couplets and also the regurgitation and mvp and heart block, the whole things creeps me out...you know, wondering if the couplets are now RUNS, or  wondering if its another new issue now.... If its svt and all is well, then, oh, who am I kidding,  I sitll dont want that either. lol However, if its svt, I wont be so afraid to exercise as I would if it were dangerous run of pvcs or something. Although I did read that rarely svt can cause a heart attack. Ignorance is bliss.

[tom_h]

Yes, at one time I was a nationally ranked US short track skater.  At the time, my respriatory system was superbly conditioned ..... but I still had SVT :-)  If you know that your particular SVT is not life threatening, challange it .... dare it.  I know it's tough to do something that may "goad" an event, but to sit idle is letting it control you.  So I was always involved in intense physical activities like skating, and velodrome cycling.   I guess it was sort of an affirmation to my condition that it wasn't going to defeat me.

I'm glad that you're being monitored.  Hopefully it'll catch an event that will allow them to properly diagnose.  Is yours a long term monitor?

[bbxx]

Thanks guys for all your comments. It actually makes me feel a LOT better knowing others have fainted or pre-fainted at the beginning of an attack.
Besides the anxiety over the whole episode, I am feeling lousy still based on all the other health issues I am dealing with. It doeesnt help that I have been so completely inactive for the past 2.5 years, and I mean completely. I guess if i were seeing a doctor they would have suggested an recumbant bike, and I would have been in physical therapy, but I dont care for doctors, especially when they are pushing me to go a route I am not convinced I have but dummy me didnt think of it. Anyway, I finally got one so that I can try to get my heart moving, and then this happens and of course I am scared to exercise now, but in reality I should be more scared of how extrememly inactive I have been. Besides, I was just sitting when the presyncope happened, and I imagine the worse shape you are in, the more susseptible (spelling) one is to fainting from a fast hear beat. Thanks everyone. Its all of you that give that bit of encouragement I need. Tom, if I remember correctly, you were a speed skater? If thats correct you heart had to be in top shape.

[is_something_wrong]

Physical, not physician :p

[is_something_wrong]

That depends on your hemodynamic reserves and the heart rate. We are all different, while some people don't even notice they are in SVT or A-fib for a long time, others faint and pass out.

From what I know, it also depends on how rapid the body can respond to the falling blood pressure by constricting the veins to secure proper preload to the heart.

From the norwegian "physicians handbook" (which I really shouldn't read) the physican reactions on SVT is as follows:

Palpitations (>96%)
Dizziness (75%)
SOB (47%)
Chest pain (35%)
Lethargy (23%)
Syncope or near-syncope (20%)
Sweating (17%)
Nausea (13%)

[tom_h]

By contrast to your experience, in my many years of SVT I never felt close to passing out prior to, or during an episode.  I would always feel a startled jolt an instant after the SVT started, but that was about it.  I often considered that there was some sort of heart/brain connection because the feeling I felt would follow so closely to the initiation of the event. This of course is not the case, but I was always curious.  When I mentioned it to cardiologists, it was always dismissed as a physiological response to the event as if someone crept up behind you and shouted "boo!". In my opinion, the reaction time to that was slow by comparison to what I felt when SVT started.

[dmacd74]

I feel the same way about 1 step forward, 20 back. Since the fainting episode, how have you been feeling, besides the anxiety?  Anymore episodes of syncope or near syncope?  Any more fast heatbeat?  I have friends that have passed out prior to SVT (not each occasion though), and I myself have passed out because of low blood pressure (which is not a problem any longer).  This may have been a one time thing, a sort of "protective" measure taken on by your body to keep the blood circulating.  Glad you are being monitored.  Keep us posted, I am thinking about you...

[is_something_wrong]

In your case I would assume your low blood pressure makes you faint easier. With a systolic BP below 90, there really isn't so much that's needed of hemodynamic instability for you to faint. Low blood pressure is not easily treatable, though. My pharmacist told me to drink more coffee (that's really a good idea when you struggle with PACs and SVT, lol). I asked her sarcastic if I should start smoking too.

I would stay in touch with the doctor, but chance this is ventricular is low in my opinion (but my opinion isn't worth much here..). It may also have been a natural response on a blood pressure drop.

Thanks to Merileegal :)

[merileegal]

When I had SVT, I always felt faint right before the attack began. I also felt an emptiness in my throat because there was little blood. When I felt that, I always put my head down, took a deep breath and braced myself. My ep said it wasn't uncommon for people to faint before SVT. His biggest fear for me is that I would faint while driving. Good description by is-something-wrong.

[bbxx]

Well, I am being monitored right now. Maybe the funny heart rythm was purely coincidental, though I am not very confident of that.
I am well aware of the (fainting always needing to be investigatin) which is why I am having all the anxiety over this now.
This really stinks. Majorly. I swear, every time I go forward in any tiny way to help my health, I end up taking 20 steps backward.

[is_something_wrong]

Of course there is :)

Every instant rapid rhythm will start with weak beats because circulation will delay returning blood. When you fall down this process is easier as well.

Rapid atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter may both cause fainting. The same goes for rapid atrioventricular rhythms like AVNRT and AVRT. Atrial tachycardia rarely causes fainting.

With a normal QT interval you can more or less rule out TdP. Without a heart attack, sustained VT is highly unlikely.

But, this is important: Even if the arrhythmia turns out to be supraventricular, faiting due to an arrhythmia is serious and should be investigated by your doctor instantly, regardless of origin. Such arrhythmias may have consequences.