Heart Defect and Heart Arrhythmia

Hi @alleeadams10 I can't completely answer all parts of your question but will address Ventricular Tachycardia as I had that for 10 years. I developed it due to a virus that caused fluid around my heart to build up and as a result my heart got enlarged. That's when due to the weakness of my heart and my Ejection Factor was very low so they recommended a pacemaker with difibulator. I was at risk of deadly arrythmias of the lower heart which you only have minutes to correct, or it can be deadly. I pray yours are not that bad.

At first the pacemaker was only put in as a precaution and life went on. I was put on some medications to help my heart get stronger and for many years I didn't have any. Then one night I had my first arrythmia. I was not ready for that. My heart I guess had basically went into a flutter where no blood was flowing. So I at first realize my vision got very blurry where I could not see and the next thing I knew the pacemaker difibulator shocked me back into rhythm.

Well that was not what I expected and as I found out later my pacemaker was set to shock when my pulse rate went into a arrythmia of about 200 BPM. My ep doctor after that Esperance adjusted me to first try to pace me out of it before going to shock. I don't want to scare you but I also was not fully understanding of what could happen. I was driving at the time and luckily I could get to the side of the road before the second shock came.

After that I got my first ablation, and my life now had to deal with these types of times when my heart would go into a bad rhythm. But the good part is I was still able to work and do all the things I enjoyed. Once my heart got stronger I was able to return to my work as a communication tech. climbing towers and visiting mountain top repeater stations. I thought of it this way I had my own heart team in my chest keeping an eye on things. I've had friends who had heart attacks known as the widow maker and never had a chance to be revived so I tried to look at it positively. I had a few more episodes where my heart needed to be treated, sometime the pacing worked but sometimes it had to be shocked. At least those times i had warning as I got used to the paseing phase and at least pulled over if i was driving and or sat down or laid down if at home.

So you may ask as I said former. I was not cured of those and after 10 years with the pacemaker my heart got even worse. They tried a few more ablations but they were unsuccessful. So My EP Cardiologist a very good one here in Arizona referred me to Mayo Clinic to be evaluated for a transplant. I think he knew it was inevitable but at first it was only as a precaution. well now under Mayo's care and I might add the best hospital I have ever been in. I highly recommend them. So to finish my story as I like to let people know if one plan doesn't work out there are others. I never left the Hospital as my heart got really bad and I received a heart transplant in 2018, Now almost 8 years later and I did have to retire a bit early at 58 but I still enjoy hiking, Golf and most activates I want to. Please let me know what questions you may have. And also realize I know of people with pacemakers who never got as bad as me so I'm probably the extreme case. But hopefully my story will help you ask the doctors questions to put your mind at ease.

Hello. You've a great first-hand experiential reply from the gentleman above. It might help us to help you further if we knew a bit more about how much you've understood from your specialist who said to consider an ablation and a pacemaker. You're awfully young for such a drastic step, but maybe there is an alternative in the right hands. I'm not for a second intending to diminish the advice of your first consultant who must know much more about you than we do. But it would help greatly to know that you also understand, and accept, that your options are few.

Between ages 14 and 21, I had serious heart rhythm episodes. Never went to the doctor, so not diagnosed fancy name for it. But at age 21, I read in newspaper where people writing a doctor, and someone had same symptoms as mine. The doctor responded that some people are extremely sensitive to caffeine and it was the cause.

I decreased my coffee from 4 cups to one half cup, and still had problems, but when I EL,IMINATED it, I had NO problems. Now I am 77 years old and rarely have a 2 second problem. Of course, caffeine is also in colas, Mountain Dew and chocolate. So, if you consume caffeine, and a diet high in sugar and wheat, I suggest you eliminate and share if it alleviates your heart issues.

Or, you can jump from med to med, and treatment to treatment. If you Google the causes of heart beat issues and how to alleviate, caffeine is on the list. The coffee in the US, is different from where I now live which produces pure coffee. I am able to drink a bit of that with no problems.

As Allee’s mom, I would like to add to her story. She had 3 heart surgeries when she was 5lbs and about 2 months old. TPGA, a VSD, and had to have 50% enlargement of her aortic arch. Allee has just in the past two years started having symptoms. Throughout high school, she was highly active and played sports competitively without any major symptoms. After mapping out Allee’s heart, the EP doctor is not confident the ablation will work. A failed attempt at medicinal treatment with Sotalol has led the team to the conclusion of pacemaker/defibrillator. She has sustained Vtec while exercising and very irregular all of the time. He welcomes a second opinion and we are thankful for all the doctors AND others consideration. Thank you.

@2dna4allee If you have the means and motivation behind what I propose, may I suggest you consult with Dr. Andrea Natale at the Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute in Austin. He is one of the world's leading electrophysiologists, trained by the great guru of all things EP, Dr. Pierre Jais in Bordeaux, France. If you'd like someone closer, and it fits, Dr. Pasquale Santangeli at Cleveland Clinic. You want the very best experience and skill that money can purchase, and these two are at the top of their game.

@lindy9
Hi there
I totally agree with you. I have stopped all.caffeine and chocolate and sweets, I have no sugar.
As.soon as I treat myself to say....a piece of cheesecake or something sweet....within an hour or.so, my.heart starts skipping beats, adding beats and doing somersaults.....
So our diets definitely do contribute to our heart rhythm in some cases and thankfully we have found our causes...
Keep on ticking away nicely....Kathy