Need your help.

Hi Charlie,

I was wondering if you were still looking for info on svt? I would be more than happy to help if you are. I have just had my second ablation last week and happy to share experiences etc.

Gayle

Hi

I have just had notice that my ablation for SVT will take place on the 5th of March. I will be pleased to tell you how I go on when it is over. It has taken me 2 years to find the courage but this web site has helped allay my fears. I am still worried but feel I must give it a go as a life without SVT will be brilliant.

Best wishes

Hi I had my trip to the hospital for what I thought was an ablation on Thursday (5 March 2009) When I saw the consultant he said that he was in fact doing an EPS (Electrical Physiological Study) and plus or minus an ablation. I was a little shocked as I thought I was in the hospital for the ablation. I went into the proceedure room at 2.35p.m. and came out at 3.25p.m. I was not asleep for any of it althought the nurse on the ward had said I would be put to sleep. I lay there thinking I will be drifting off soon but it never happened. Considering this I was not too bad. The worst part was the work on the groin to insert the wires but the wires in the heart I did not feel. Back in my room I had to lay flat for an hour but I was given tea.I then sat up for an hour and a half and then was discharged. The consultant said that he had found one site to ablate which he would do later in a couple of months. All in all the EPS is not worth any worry over. Has anyone else had an EPS when they thought they were to have an ablation? Best wishes

I have suffered with a racing pulse of up to 244 beats a minute since I was a young girl, at 28 years old I was finally diagnosed with SVT. As a baby the hospital thought I had a hole in my heart and as I got older I was told I was just having panic attacks. Anything could trigger the SVT including emotional stress, exercise, going to sleep or going shopping. There was no pattern. I would suffer a handful of attacks a year. Finally I had ablation therapy at the Harley Street Clinic in London last July, aged 28. The procedure used drugs to make my heart race whilst I was awake, catheters were inserted on both legs, and they burnt an area on my heart close to the AV node. Fortunately I did not need a pacemaker fitted. In order to stop my heart racing they needed to shock it several times during the procedure. I did not feel any pain during the procedure, I could feel slight movements in my chest and a tingling down my left arm. I stayed overnight in the hospital for observation and I went home the next day for a weeks rest. A follow up consultation in August confirmed everything was ok and that there is only an extremely small chance of the SVT growing back. I never took medication to treat the SVT as I was told that nowadays consultants prefer to get rid of the SVT in someone of my age by ablation therapy. I can still feel a thumping heartbeat sometimes after big meals, and sometimes I feel like my heart wants to race, but it can't. My consultant has said this is normal. I also had chest pain for a few weeks after the procedure, but this was rare and I was also told this was normal. I would highly recommend the procedure to anyone considering it, if you feel it is right for you. When I suffered with SVT I could not stop my racing pulse once it had started, it had a mind of its own, but now I feel a relief that I can get on with everyday life without the worry that I will have an attack.