New SVT experience
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hi
It is great to find this site and to know that there are others out there having the same problems and emotions as I am
I had a odd episode when I was shopping in town and thought I was having a panic attack, I made it back to the car and when I got home I led on the bed with my heart pounding away for at least an hour. I got up and had a drink of water went to the loo etc and eventually it stopped.
About 6 weeks later I had another attack at home which was frightening and I ended up in hospital and needed the drug to slow my heart down.
The trouble is having the confidence to go out and about again on my own in case I have another attack. It seems to be always in the back of my mind whenever I feel hot or unconfortable I keep thinking here we go again!
0 likes, 4 replies
Guest
Posted
Hope you soon start feeling better, I am on verapamil tablets 240ml once a day which have helped me.
Good luck with it all.
Larraine
Posted
I've had SVT for about 20 years now. My 'major' episodes are few and far between; maybe every other year. But I get the 'twinges' regularly enough to remind me I have the condition! I had a 'major' one yesterday and, yes, even though I have had a good number now, they still frighten me. While the fear is a bit irrational (the episodes always treated successfully with little side effect) the experience is truely and exceptionally unpleasant. One always believes that your heart can never survive the extreme rate of beats it undergoes. My fastest ever was 260 bpm and yesterday it was 220bpm. But the truth is, the body wants to survive and will do its' utmost to do so! And the doctors surely want the same success!
Please do not let this condition be compounded upon by panic. Easy to say, I know. But SVT is indiscriminate in timing. Being hot, bothered or anxious is unlikely to trigger an episode. It just happens. And just as quick as is its onset it can just as quickly go. Medication and 'techniques' ('bearing down', carotid massage to the neck, chewing on ice etc) may prevent hospital intervention in many instances. However, if hospital is needed, treatment is swift and effective. Keeping as calm as possible is a great help. I know how difficult this is, but I have yet to hear of a fatality due directly to SVT. This site shows that most of the people who visit here share one main concern. Fear. And we are living proof that sharing that fear is a bit liberating..... until it happens again!! Then it's back to the drawing board!
As I said, my episodes are 'infrequent' so ablation is propbably a long way off in the offering. A bit of an easy way out not having to make that decsion for me but, if it was routinely offered, I think I would accept it. I am glad there are options to consider for many.
As I said, Happy New Year!
Romy
Posted
While I was in hospital having the SVT I was on oxygen and also had a magneseum drip as my levels were low according to the blood tests is this normal?
Anyway since then I have now seen a cardioligist at the Hospital and he said I had benign SVT and I am waiting for an appointment for an ultrasound on my heart
I already have high blood pressure and have taken Atenolol and bendrofluzide for the last seven years. I have now been taken off bendro and been given ramapril instead. Last night I took the first ramapril which was a bit scary as the doc said I might faint, but I was OK
I have not really felt well since the SVT though, but I am hoping the change in medication will sort me out.
Larraine
Posted
I guess the best advice I can give is to research; look up everything to do with the condition and weigh it all up carefully. This site is a very good start. Remember though, that each experience is unique to that person and, like the little leaflets in every medicine box, there is always a worst scenario! Don't *make* yourself fit those categories!
All the people here posting have lived through the horrors and upsets that make up SVT. By sharing these experiences we can give a wake up call to the porters, doctors, nurses and cardiologists that *need* our observations to make our lives easier and their understanding of the condition better.
I think we all hate to think we are dependant on one drug or another. Verapamil makes us drowsy. Flecconaide is one of the most potent killers if taken as an overdose. SVT and a combination of other prescribed drugs can make you depressed. So fleccanaide should be approached with caution. Metoprolol is an antidepressant as well as a beta blocker. Frankly, a bout of SVT is almost uplifting!
Seriously, more needs to be researched about this. The easy fix with a shot of adenozine (I swear I will never let that near me again) or the potentially dangerous shot of verapimil is no longer acceptable. I don't want a remedy. I want a cure.