super ventricular tachycardia

[sharon]

Has anyone been diagnosed with super ventricular tachycardia? Mine started a few weeks after my avr surgery which was in 4/97. The emts that came to take me to the hospital recorded 180 beats per minute and I had just been sitting in my den. I was given a drug to stop the heart for a few seconds and that made it start up at a normal pace. Hospital gave me some meds and sent me home. (A cardiologist from my dr's group visited me that nite and told me that if ever I got another episode that there are a few things to do that could put the heart back in normal rhythm. He said: cough really, really hard, bear down like you were having a bm, or put your hands and face in ice water. I have used those techniques over the yrs and they do seem to help.) I was back in the next am for the same thing and was sent home the next day as meds seemed to help. I was on the meds for 2 yrs - the cardiologist said that if I didn't have any svt events that I could wean myself off the meds. After 2 yrs it seemed to stop so I weaned myself off of the meds. Occasionally over the years I've experienced rapid heart beats but not as rapid as when it first started and it usually is over in a minute or 2 and most of the time I've got to go to the bathroom right afterwards for a bm. (The cardiologist says that the svt causes the bathroom trip but it seems to me that gas in the intestinal tract can cause the svt instead of the other around.)

So what I'd really like to know is what you've been told about your svt and how you've been handling it.

Thanks for your help.
Sharon
St Judes avr 4/97

 

[gadgetman]

Sharon,

I had the, as I called them, ?rapid heart beats? for several years. I wore the monitors, etc. but was unable to document them. I finally wound up in the ER where they recorded 240 BPM. They gave me something thru IV that slowed me back down. I was told by my Cardio to try the same things they told you. It did seem to work. One day my Cardio suggested ?we? (got a mouse in your pocket Doc????) try Radio Frequency Ablation, where a ?heart electrician? measures the misfires and goes in and ?snips" with RF the offending connection. Mine was very successful. I?ve not experienced them since. Some folks don?t benefit from the procedure and there are some risks involved, other than the usual ones. Some folks wind up having to have a pacemaker installed to regulate the heart beats.

May be worth a question to your Cardio. Hope you can get some relief.

Others will be along shortly.

May God Bless,

Danny

 

[RobThatsMe]

Hi Danny,

I also experience a rapid heart rate, (Atrial Fib & Atrial Flutter). It can happen at any time, but I mostly recall it triggering when I drink liquids. My doctor told me there is a receptor trigger in the upper throat that can cause this, and that others have also reported this same cause.

Several episodes resulted in trips to the ER, and other episodes that I am able to get back under control using various techniques as you described. Although, the cold water in the face is a new one that I have not tried.

Two other techniques I use are; 1) gag myself by putting a finger down my throat. (this sometimes causes that receptor in the throat to resend a signal), or 2), Locate your carotid artery on either side of your neck, and press in on it, massaging it in circular motion for 5 seconds. ( my cardiologist taught me that one).

He has also discussed Ablation with me, but for now, I increased my beta blocker by taking an extra 1/2 at night. 50 mg in the morning, and then another 25mg before bed. So far, that is working. I do at times feel a slight episode trying to catch hold, but it quickly goes away. (Sometimes when I feel it coming on.. a slight cough will fix it).

It is a good thing that I am already on Coumadin, as the main issue with these incidents is clotting and stroke.

I am now tracking an recording every episode I have, both for the doctor and also for possible work related reasons.

Good luck .. and feel free to write me in the future..we can compare notes..

Rob