21 with SVT

Hi there, sorry to hear you too are having to live with this awful condition!! I found drinking plenty of water and trying my best to reduce stress helped me a lot but it did not stop the episodes. Back in April I had the Catheter Ablation procedure and I believe it has been successful, I'm now off beta blockers and only get the odd palpitation, no more svt. 

Maybe look into the ablation or try beta blockers, they do make you very tired though and you put some weight on sometimes. You're so young if you want to live your life to the full I'd reccomened the ablation, I'm 24 and so glad I did it. It's not a bad experience either. All the best, Amy. 

Ashton, I'm so very sorry that you are having episodes, they are very scary and very tiring. My cardiologist told me to stay off caffeine and less stress better, but everyone has stress.

I don't think there is always a way to prevent SVT?

I had it for 5 years before it was correctly diagnosed. It started out just once in a while and then became increasingly more often.

The cardiologist also told me that some patients - it increases and others it doesn't. 

You don't have a bad heart, it's just the electrical in your heart is "messed" up. I've been told it's not life threatening and I don't have a bad heart and I'm not at risk for death or heart attack. 

When I was having so many attacks, I was driving for a few of them and had to call an ambulance on my self once and I stopped driving for a while.

I didn't want to pass out and kill someone or myself while driving.

The episodes come out of nowhere and seem to not be triggered by anything and they suddenly leave when it's finished.

I had an ablation in October and it was successful. Minimal risk. I would recommend you speak with your doctor about having an ablation, if medication does not work for you.

     Ashton, I'm pleased to see you've already been sent some good and, hopefully, helpful advice.  Based on my 50 years of SVT (started long before ablation was available), I'd add a recommendation that you seek the best medical help you can find.         Though SVT can be a terrifying disorder, it usually isn't life-threatening and can be very effectively treated.  Good candidates for ablation have an excellent chance of an actual cure.  Experiencing that could give you one of the most satisfying times of your life.  Many of us truly do understand what you're feeling.

     Just is case you're advised to try a beta blocker, my experience with them is positive.  No important side effects, better heart rhythm, and a healthy drop in blood pressure.

     I wish the very best for you.  Please let us know how you're doing. 

Ashton, I can see you're giving your situation lots of thought and effort. I'm glad you adjusted well to the beta blocker.  Potassium can be a very important part of heart rhythm problems, so maybe there's some possible help for you there.  Here's a bit of heresy, again.  The latest research I've seen is minimizing the significance of typical amounts of caffeine to many cardiac patients.  I probably particularly like that, because coffee and tea are beverages I don't want to be without.  Plus, coffee consumption may be helpful in avoiding Parkinson's and some dementias.  Maybe you can do some reading on some of this.

My man, I remember too well the stress of college, plus job(s), plus supporting a stay-at-home mom and our brand new baby.  We all got through to less stressful times, and I'm confident you will, too.  You may well eventually feel very good about accomplishing this.

Keep us informed, and take the best of care of yourself. 

Hi Ashton

I HAD svt. Started when I was 27 and had it until I was 40 when I had an ablation. I am 42 now. You will drive yourself crazy thinking about how to prevent an episode coming on and how to stop it once it does come. Always is in the back of your mind when is the next one coming. In my 20's and mid 30's I had them maybe one to three times a year. In my late 30's svt episodes would come more often once a month and then progressed to almost every week. My episodes were long lasting sometimes 8 to 12 hours. One day I was driving and an episode occurred I was stuck in traffic inside of a tunnel and felt I was about to pass out. Called 911 and rushed to the hospital. It was caught on an ekg and doctor was like oh you have svt. I never new for 20 years what I had. I had no insurance and never saw doctors. But make no mistake I always new when I went into svt. The bump in the heart then just beating so fast. Sorry this is long. But anyway finally got insurance. At first I tried medication to control it and it did not work. My cardiologist recommend ablation. I did not think twice about it. I had it done in Sept of 2015 and have not had an episode since.