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Living With SVT

Posted , 62 users are following.

toffeecushion
toffeecushion

Does anyone else worry about their SVT or do you just accept it as a harmless nuisance.  I can't stop worrying about getting another attack, how do you accept it and live a normal life again?

4 likes, 139 replies

139 Replies

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  • CieraBlue
    CieraBlue toffeecushion

    Posted

    I would love to know what unconventional things you’ve done to convert? I know all the normal maneuvers like ice water, baring down, blowing in a saringe.. etc, but have you noticed other things can convert y’all also? A few that have worked for me is laying down flat on my back within 10 seconds of my SVT kicking in. This one is a bit more odd but uncontrollably crying helps as well. That’s a bit more awkward with people around but it’s worked for me a few times. I’ve also noticed the same things that put me in SVT can also get me out. Jumping, throwing up, bending down and getting up quickly... anyways... what other odd things have worked for all of you!? I would love some other ideas before resorting to the good old ER for our favorite shot of adenosine. Lastly, I really enjoy this thread. It’s good to know I’m not the only one. 
    • barbara82174
      barbara82174 CieraBlue

      Posted

      Hi CieraBlue,

                          When I have my svt episodes, I get on the floor, or ground if we're outdoors, and my husband immediately picks me up by my legs and turns me almost completely upside down. I bear down while he does this, and sometimes blow out threw my mouth while holding my nose. It works almost every single time. It will usually take about one or two minutes, but my heart almost always converts. Good Luck with this horrible nuisance called svt. I hate it!! I've dealt with it for many years. 

  • paullie
    paullie toffeecushion

    Posted

    I’ve read on this site that someone finds handstands help break their SVT. 
  • peggy12259
    peggy12259 toffeecushion

    Posted

    I worry everyday. I just had one today. Luckily the meds worked in an hour. 
    • penny97720
      penny97720 peggy12259

      Posted

      its not dangerous as long as you got meds to stop it your ok. I take metoprolol 25mg twice daily and if I get an episode that don't stop after an hour I take an extra 25mg which has stopped it everytime. most of my episodes end by themselves only get the odd one that goes past the hour and of course a rare one that I may need the adenosine for

    • peggy12259
      peggy12259 penny97720

      Posted

      Thank you. I know they aren’t dangerous but they are scarey. I have had 3 this year. I take Diltiazem and they stop within the hour. I still worry when the next one will show up. I was put on meteopolol last year when they started but could not take it so was switched to Diltiazem as needed. I don’t want to have an ablation if one pill works you know?  
    • penny97720
      penny97720 peggy12259

      Posted

      I've been told of the risks of the ablation by my cardiologist and the risks he told me were very dangerous, so I won't be going down that road plus it could make it worse. you've made the right decision in regard to the ablation because these pathways grow back later and they may not get them all during the procedure so you'd have to have multiple ablations. pills are better method because they stop all arrythmias and in my case I also I have atrial flutter besides the svt. because as we get older we are at risk of getting others as well and of course we have to be on a blood pressure medication as we get older. in my opinion a long term treatment is better

    • linda90194
      linda90194 peggy12259

      Posted

      No, the episodes won't kill you, but when you've had them while driving and you feel like you are going to pass out any second, it could cause a wreck or kill someone else with the car. That is what scared me. 

    • peggy12259
      peggy12259 linda90194

      Posted

      I’ve never had that symptom. My episodes don’t go over 160 and I typically have nothing but the rapid heart beat
    • peggy12259
      peggy12259 penny97720

      Posted

      Yes I will continue with the as needed dose and move to the everyday extended release if they come more often.  Diltiazem doesn’t bother me. I get a slight headache for about an hour but that’s it. 
  • XxaimxX
    XxaimxX toffeecushion

    Posted

    I’m not sure of the age of those of you that wouldn’t risk a cardiac ablation but I have to say it was the best decision I have ever made. With a success rate of over 90% it was a no brainer for me being just 24 and having a toddler. 

    There are risks with any medical procedure and the longer you take medication the risks of serious effects from that will grow too. 

    I would have another catheter ablation done tomorrow if it meant me being rid of svt, thankfully I haven’t had an episode since the procedure over a year ago. All you will see online is the horror stories that people upload, you don’t see all the success stories as people just get on with their lives and forget about it. So I want to tell you all my procedure was successful and 100% worth a few hours in hospital. 

     

    All the best 

    • linda90194
      linda90194 XxaimxX

      Posted

      I totally agree with everything you have said. Any procedure has risks as medications have risks too. If we didn't take medication or have procedures because of risks, where would we be? 

  • Toorytap
    Toorytap toffeecushion

    Posted

    Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood:

    I have recently, in a most alarming way, found out that I suffer from SVT. This after 50 years of increasingly frequent and increasingly debilitating episodes and countless tests failing to identify the cause of my plight. The immense relief, after all this time, to have identified this condition, I am sure you will appreciate, is profound. It has led me to this forum. This forum has led me to further conclusions regarding SVT!

    I think this condition is very misunderstood by patients, and sadly, by some medical practitioners. I see comments on these pages from "fellow-sufferers" who aver to how they "don't let the ailment rule their lives" and who "just get on with things". Unfortunately, this illness appears to me to have different effects and differing profundity on the many people who have it. We cannot, it seems to me, all be "John Waynes" in respect of how we must deal with it!

    My most recent episode of significance necessitated a visit to my GP and, for the first time, I was in the throes when he examined me. An ambulance took me to hospital where I had my first encounter with Adenosine. I was put on beta blockers which, having persevered with them for two weeks. led me back to hospital with an alarmingly LOW pulse rate. The second cardiologist who spoke to me told me I should not have been prescribed 'Sotolol' and took me off ALL medication, telling me that Cardiac medicine / treatment is "an ART form rather than a Science". I am expected to deal with any future episode (and future episodes are guaranteed!) by employing the recognised manoeuvres which we are told "are sometimes effective"!

    I should state here that my last "big" episode lasted two days plus before I could get to see my GP. These episodes latterly bring me to a standstill and, apart from the dreadful discomfort, leave me so weakened that I can hardly climb a flight of stairs.

    I do think that perhaps we are not entirely appreciating the fact that this complaint has vastly varying effects and consequences on the (surprisingly) many unfortunates who suffer it.

    It would be nice if people, especially fellow sufferers would grasp that "Just get on with your life" is not necessarily helpful to some SVT patients!

    Good luck and success in your quest, everyone.

    Toorytap.

  • pete69516
    pete69516 toffeecushion

    Edited

    I worry and I'm about fed up with people telling me it's just a nuisance. No offense to anyone who feels that way or have found a way to get on with their life. I was pretty lucky over the last 20 years or so with random svt incidents and some arrhythmia here and there. Things got a lot worse over the last 3 or 4 months, and I'm in the best shape of my life! Now it's palpitations or skipped beats probably 50-60 times a day (that I feel) and svt episodes a couple times a week. I'm agitated about it now because the svt episodes have gotten more severe at times. Normal svt episodes I have become accustomed to and it even used to seem to help my heart gain a decent rhythm again. These episodes lately come with a couple seconds of shear panic because it's like everything stops working, and it seems like I will pass out. I even start beating on my chest to try and get my heart started again (feels like my heart has stopped). I have had a couple handfuls of these now and they terrify me. Nobody understands (except you all of course) and my wife doesn't get why it ruins my day/week. It feels about as close to death as I want to feel and it ramps up anxiety over the next week or so. I am awaiting results of a holter I completed about a month ago and it did capture some arrhythmia. I hope to gain some direction or diagnosis once and for all. Kudos to all who are living their best life with these issues but to others who are still struggling with it...I understand. I think the helplessness that comes with it is the most aggravating part. I started exercising regularly about the time things took a turn with me. I thought I was taking control.

  • vineta39
    vineta39 toffeecushion

    Posted

    I got diagnosed with SVT just last week .beeing suffering with this almost year .My attacks are scary and now happens more often. last week I had 2 in same day and second last 3 hours. run to emergency (I work in hospital)with 1 St attacks that day but while I got ECG on it stop but then I with second one I finaly was lucky and they recorded it on ECG and I was seem by cardiology team and now I have to take metacor 50 mg 4 times a day half tablet. its feel wird I can't sleep. I also still scared to get next episode.

    my worst case is that I'm athlete in jiu jitsu and doctor said I can carry on training but I'm.so scared to go back bcs of thouse scary attacks

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