Of course, don't take a post as perfect or even accurate medical information. However, I happen to know a great deal about this subject and I would suggest you make an appointment with your - or another - cardiologist and go over everything I write here: Paroxysmal atrial tachycardia (PAT) is not life threatening. Often, medications can cause annoying and even health problems of their own when it scares people so badly and they insist on a medication "fix". PAT means your heart is racing over 100 for no reason that can be explained by exercise, extreme anxiety or a drug reaction ( including extremely excessive caffeine). Because the beats originate in the atrium ( UPPER chamber) - that's the good news. That is why PAT is not life threatening . In extreme cases a person could faint and if it doesn't stop for a very long time you might need to go to ER to have the super fast beat terminated. There are some easy do-it-yourself techniques to stop the racing. Talk to your doctor about this. The one I've seen work the best and fastest is employing the "mammalian diving reflex". Huh? Let me explain. When a mammal which lives mostly in water dives deep , its heart rate must slow down to survive under water... In human mammals, we have a bit of this reflex ourselves. When your heart races, tell yourself to be calm. Run a pot of water and dump in some ice. Take a deep breath and then exhale slowing while plunging your face into the cold water.. You can, in fact, simply first trying splashing your face with cold water. Simply sitting calmly and focusing, taking in deep, slow breaths through your nose, holding breath briefly and then slowly exhaling through your nose can very very often break the cycle of PAT within a few minutes . You can put on an oximeter on your finger to test how much your heart rate is going down. You can also massage one side of your neck - carotid artery - which can help break stop PAT but discuss how to do this with your doctor. If you truly have PAT so often that you are miserable , talk to your doctor about seen an electrophysiologist about an ablation - a minimally invasive procedure which can usually cure the condition. Good luck..

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