Are ectopics normal with SVT?

Posted , 6 users are following.

Hello! I'm a 16 year old female and I have had SVT for a little over 6 years. I had an ablation 8 months ago but it came back. So the issue I'm having is I think ectopic heart beats? Or palpitations. My heart will skip beats or one beat will be really hard and feels like its flip flopping in my chest. I'm not sure what you would call that. I've had every test except for a stress test because my cardiologist didn't see a reason to have one. They've monitored my heart and the only issue I have is SVT but is it normal to have skipped heart beats? It happens when I exercise, take a deep breath, bend over, lift heavy things or they happen a lot after I have SVT episodes. Is this normal? My cardiologist never said there was a problem with it. Does anyone else have this problem?

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7 Replies

  • Posted

    I had ectopics for 43 years and developed Svt about 12 years ago which gradually got worse as I got older, I,m 71 now.
  • Posted

    It's perfectly normal to have skipped beats, with or without SVT. Almost everyone has them, though not everyone feels them. In general the latest research has found that they are nothing to worry about unless they are very frequent (20,000+ a day, or roughly one every 4 seconds or so) at which point they may contribute to heart failure (though the confounding factors are still heavily debated as not everyone with frequent PVCs develops heart failure). 

    I've had PVCs since I was around 12 years old (I am 40 now). Sometimes they are quite frequent, a monitor once recorded 24,000 in a day. Most of the time they are less frequent. You just kinda learn to live with it. 

    They're not necessarily related to SVT, though if your topics are atrial then they could be. When I start getting PACs I know it's time to stop and relax because otherwise the SVT will be along soon. And after SVT it may be the same clump of cells still being twitchy causing PACs. Really depends on where they are coming from, though in my experience both SVT and ectopics are aggravated by similar things (anxiety, lack of sleep, stress, etc) so a lot of the triggers may be the same.

  • Posted

    I was diagnosed with SVT, more specifically AVNRT a few years ago after the svt lasting 4 hours. I had my ablation in 2015 and even now get flutters. I have had numerous 24hr ECG's and the ectopic beats I had (or thought I had) were not ectopic beats, but a fast beat that makes it feel like a skipped heart beat. I have been informed by various consultants that these flutters are normal and does not mean my SVT has returned. And on knowing this I just get on with things. Hopefully you can to.

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