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How do you live with SVT
Looking to see how others handle living with SVT. I was diagnosed with SVT a few months ago after wearing a heart monitor for a month. This was after dealing with the symptoms for about 4 months. I kept getting healthcare personnel telling me it was probably anxiety even when I told them it wasn't. I wish it had been anxiety vs this. Started metoprolol but it crashed my heart rate instead to 40. Now I only take it as needed for prolonged increased rate. I saw an EP and I'm considering ablation and wanted to know if anyone has had it done and if it worked. I'm at my wits end. My life is revolving around this. Afraid to drive, afraid to be alone. The episodes come out of nowhere where and mostly when I'm at rest and asleep and of course work. My life has changed and not for the better. I was outgoing. Any answers for me. Sorry about the long story. Thanks in advance.
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@johnbishop thank you so much for the links!! I will check them out and maybe I can find some hope there. I woke up with anxiety about every 15 to 30 min last night. I can't take anything for it because after an episode my HR and BP dip a bit and it was a bit low so I was nervous it would make it too low
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3 ReactionsMsColeman. Hi. I have SVT. I’m feeling same as you. Because I have blacked out I now quit driving. I have ablation scheduled June 18. First one cancelled as I developed shingles from stress. I’m afraid to be alone or go out to eat or go to any event. I just had the heart event today. It scares me. I take atenanol to bring heart rate down and it drops blood pressure that goes crazy also. What do you do when the craziness happens. I have very little info about this so came on this site to educate myself.
@jessirae hi, it is frightening when heart begins to race. I needed to no longer eat chocolate or caffeine or any thing with sugar and carbs, and I make sure I have electrolyte water to keep me hydrated. Also reading lots of books from library to get educated about this. This website is good to learn from. May you anxiety lesson as each day passes, yes.
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1 Reaction@vjs003 I completely cut out caffiene and I cute back on sugar so much it's wild, I have been drinking liquid IV for electrolytes and I have always been a big water drinker I drink 8 servings a day. nothing is helping. The doctors around me aren't event trying to figure out what is causing it. I am mentally cracking. I have lost 10 lbs in the past 3 weeks.... I am in fight or flight 24/7. The doctors have done absolutely nothing for me. My electrophysiologist is definitely not in a rush to see me which seems insane. They just want me to keep suffering with no answers and not even an attempt at finding the cause until they have the monitor results which can take another 2 weeks from when I turned it in (i turned it in on the 4th)
@johnbishop I live as north in NY as north gets. I am in the middle of no where, not close to anything let alone any credible hospital. I don't know what to do. I'm not even sure how to go about getting ahold of anyone.
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1 ReactionLiquid IV has a lot of salt. Maybe look for something with less salt - just mineral water water that has electrolytes. I sincerely hope you can get some answers soon.
@jessirae, I'm not sure how close any of their locations are or if it's an option for you but Upstate University Hospital has several locations - https://www.upstate.edu/healthcare/hospitals/index.php
I had SVT from age 19-57. At age 57 it would last for hours with symptoms. No longer less than a few seconds. I did have it for hours at 8 months pregnant in 1984. I was given verapamil to slow my heat rate down, now they give adenosine or if your symptomatic they will shock you( cardiovert you). At 57 I was getting dizzy, faint so last time while at work going on the 4 th hour of SVT at 240 working hard in a busy recovery room as an RN, I drove myself to the ER. Not smart. The main Anesthesiologist offered to drive me but I refused. They had the crash cart out but I sad NO to cardioversion only if the adenosine didn’t work. Well the adenosine worked , as I was looking at the heart monitor watching my fast heart beat as they pushed it I flat lined and I turned to the Dr who was at my right as the med was being given IV and I told her I was going to die. I felt the “impending doom” feeling but just a few seconds before my heart kicked back into a normal sinus rhythm. They DID NOT tell me anything about this, I was pissed! I would recommend any Dr that is giving this adenosine tell the patient you may experience and out of body experience for just a moment. Well the Medicine worked. I was discharged on a beta blocker( medication that slows your heart rate)which I could not tolerate because my BP runs max at 90/60. My BP at work after day three on this med dropped to 70/30, so I called the cardiologist and he told me to drink salted water which I tried but couldn’t tolerate it. Of course I never took another beta blocker after that. I was in his office next day and we arranged for an ablation the following Monday. I had an excellent electrophysiologist/ cardiologist doc who does ablations. He doesn’t have a great bedside manner, he was a little fresh, but hey I wanted the best. In the past 9 years I have had a few little runs of tachycardia but nothing more than occasional. I do take magnesium every night. I only drink two cups of coffee per day, early am bout 5:30. It’s the only caffeine I do then it’s caffeine free. Also I get regular sleep, eat healthy and am active. I’m retired now and no going out on call and sleepless nights anymore which helps. All said if possible, I’d get an ablation in a heartbeat. Yes it has it risks. Do your research. Everyone is different with different medical histories. I didn’t have any other medical conditions that would prevent me from having the ablation.
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2 Reactions@bb03 I too had emergency room visits for SVT in the 200's. The first time, they prepped for adenosine but had the crash cart "just in case." They told me exactly what would happen with the adenosine, flatline and all. I asked the key question: what's it going to feel like? One of the nurses immediately said loudly, "sense of impending doom!" Indeed, but knowing what to expect made all the difference. The sense of impending doom for a few seconds and then into sinus rhythm was such a huge relief from the SVT that I welcomed it thereafter because I knew I would feel so much better really quickly.
I agree, the medical personnel should ALWAYS forewarn of that feeling.
@bb03 Great description of the adenosine administration. I had it done only once, but the kind nurse explained that it was going to feel awful....for about ten whole seconds....and to just bear with them for that long. Exactly what happened. They said it was coming, and then I felt like my whole body was sinking into the floor and the room closed in on me. I knew what to expect....sort of...and believed them, and sure enough it was over in seconds. Meanwhile, the internist pointed to the monitor over my shoulder and said to everyone looking on, 'See? It's flutter, not AF.' The adenosine, in my case. was meant to stretch out the graphic depiction on the monitor and show more discretely the rhythm. They saw the jagged sawtooth waveform between the QRS complexes which indicate a rapidly fluttering left atrium.
So, call it 'doom', 'dread', foreboding, falling through the floor, the walls closing in on you, everything going dark...it lasts literally 7-12 seconds, depending on how quickly your system can clear it, and it will often, not always, serve its intended purpose.
Incidentally, electrophysiologists routinely use both adenosine and isoproterenol to 'challenge' the patient's heart before they wheel an ablated heart patient out of the cath lab. After all the tissues that need to be ablated have had that done to them, it still makes sense to check, to verify, that they have done a complete ablation before letting the patient begin to recover and to regain consciousness. If one, or both, of those two drugs makes the heart lurch back into arrhythmia, the team knows they have more work to do.