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Question about ablation

Posted , 7 users are following.

GrahamB
GrahamB

My attacks occur about once per week, but are getting more severe and I am concerned for the future. I don't want medication, but ablation looks difficult to achieve, as it looks like you need to be in SVT in order for the consultants to identify which areas of the heart to zap! is this the case does anyone know? 

How do they identify the region of the heart causing the trouble?

Graham

0 likes, 20 replies

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  • mary90
    mary90 GrahamB

    Posted

    Hi Graham,

    I am in the same situation as you, attacks of SVT at random times, sometimes twice a week and then nothing for several months.  I was referred for an ablation last month  and although they managed to speed my heart up during the procedure it didn't trigger a proper attack and they weren't able to do anything. It was really disappointing because I was relying on the ablation to sort it all out. I was sent home with yet another monitor and an appointment for 2 months time.  for re-assment.  I have a feeling they will suggest beta blockers full time, whereas now I only use them to control an attack when it actually happens,  sad

    • GrahamB
      GrahamB mary90

      Posted

      Thanks Mary, really appreciate it. My appointment with the Cardiologist is on 9th Feb, so early days. Good luck with yours....
  • mary90
    mary90 GrahamB

    Posted

    You're welcome Graham.  Good luck to you too, hopefully you'll have more success than I did.
  • chrisfox
    chrisfox GrahamB

    Posted

    Your going thru what we all do in the beginning. Avoid surgery if you can. Change your lifestyle. Give up all caffeine and alcohol and sugar. Find your triggers. Mine are caffeine, alcohol, sugar, too much fat e.g. Cheese, any kind of stimulants natural or otherwise, ginger, certain meds, etc. Eat whole foods and avoid process foods.

    Get good natural sources of potassium & magnesium. Supplementation doesn't work. Bananas are best. Get organic ones since the regular ones are too high on sugar. I boil banana skins for a nighttime drink.

    Bananas are great to eat proactively to help avoid episodes & eat reactively to calm an episode. I assume you've been taught all the reactionary maneuvers. Coughing works best for me.

    Drop weight if you need to. Eat smaller meals. Make your heart more efficient.

    Exercise frequently. I find HIIT works best. You want stop start exercising. What you are doing here is strengthening your good cardiac muscle.

    The key here is to over compensate for your illness by doing lots more of the good stuff & lots less of the bad.

    It has worked for me. My heart stopped in 2000 due to SVT. It needed a jumpstart. That was my wakeup call. I have avoided catheter ablation now for 16 years. The wakeup call gave me the motivation & discipline to achieve this.

    You have choices.

  • rochelle43965
    rochelle43965 GrahamB

    Posted

    I didn't really want medication either but I was having daily SVT's.  Sometimes more than one. I have been on a low dose beta blocker for a year now. It has made all the difference.  I'm not having them anymore and feel like I've got my life back.
    • mary90
      mary90 rochelle43965

      Posted

      Hi Rochelle,  I've been told by others on long term beta blockers that they feel tired all the time and not as mentally alert as previously.  Has this been your experience?
    • melissa20822
      melissa20822 mary90

      Posted

      Hi Mary, i have been in beta blockers for approx 12yrs. Smaller doses to begin with but now my dose has been doubled since last year due to frequent episodes. I feel terrible on them... tired and short of breath. I cut out all stimulants and watch what i eat and still has gotten worse. I am off the blockers now. It has been three days and feel better although i have had brief episodes... i have ablation scheduled for tues. . Really hoping for a cure as i don't want to take them anymore.
    • mary90
      mary90 melissa20822

      Posted

      Hi Melissa,  that's much as I feared from what others have told me.  It sounds as though they haven't stopped your attacks of SVT either, so it's pointless.  I haven't seen my cardiologist since my failed ablation yet - my appointment is at the end of Feb.  I hope he doesn't suggest beta blockers but I think he might.  I hope all goes well with your procedure and you have a better outcome than I did.
  • jim53704
    jim53704 GrahamB

    Posted

    Hi Graham,

    Interesting responses so far.  My two cents:  I have many of the same concerns and am currently scheduled for the ablation surgery at the end of this month.  However, I am strongly considering opting out.  As I've mentioned in other posts, my episodes of rapid heart rate have been infrequent and I've been able to stop them relatively quickly, almost always.  I decided to proceed with the ablation only after they began occurring with much greater frequency this past summer/fall (like practically every time I went for a jog or other aerobic exercise).  Anyway, after my consult with a heart doc, the episodes have "seemingly, miraculously" stopped - none in the last 6 to 8 weeks.  

    To your question:  I was told by the doc (and others on this forum) that they can induce the SVT symptoms after they have fed the catheters into you - "almost" always.  

    I have a marathon ski race coming up soon.  If I don't have an episode during that event or within the next week, I likely will cancel my ablation surgery.

    In response to Chris Foxes' comments, I would just add:  I thought my "trigger" was caffeine and had greatly reduced consumption of it but the episodes had continued.  Then, when I have an ablation scheduled, I throw caution to the wind and resume caffeine usage as in the past with no episodes resulting.  Possibly, I identified the wrong trigger but I don't think so.  Also, I've always consumed a daily banana so that didn't seem to be a solution for me either.

    Long story short, I have no idea why the episodes or if this is just temporary.  However, if they don't resume soon, I feel like it's an unnecessary procedure to take at this time.  

    Hope my story helps a little.

  • GrahamB
    GrahamB

    Posted

    Thanks all for your help and wisdom. I'm 56 and have always been very active, running marathons, open water swimming, and now I walk a lot. I feel that I also have a pretty good balanced diet, avoiding processed foods and I grow a lot of the food we eat. I drink decaf tea but do drink alcohol at the weekends, however, attacks are usually in the week. I retired from the stresses of work 11 months ago. So in my case, it's been difficult to identify the triggers. I guess I'll need to undergo the tests though. Banana is a good tip......
  • mary90
    mary90 GrahamB

    Posted

    I also tried cutting/adding various things to no avail.  I'm also a fit, otherwise healthly recently retired teacher.  I do zumba, pilates, golf and walk every day with the dog.  The consultant told me it is almost impossible to identify the triggers to most of these cases; to those who have managed to do so congratulations, the rest of us will have to soldier on and hope for the best I fear.
  • rochelle43965
    rochelle43965 GrahamB

    Posted

    Graham, when I first started on the beta blocker I was very tired for the first week or maybe two.  After that my energy came back.  I am almost 54 and I am very active. I babysit my two year old grandson a lot and I also exercise five days a week.  Kickbox, step circuit class, etc.  I feel like I have the same amount of energy that I had before. As far as mental sharpness I haven't notice any change in that area.
    • rochelle43965
      rochelle43965 mary90

      Posted

      Oops, sorry about that.  If I've gained it's not more than a few pounds.  I take a very low dose however.
  • chrisfox
    chrisfox GrahamB

    Posted

    Talking to decent drs., surgeons and friends and thru my own experience & research I have found that steady state exercise is not the best for people with arythmia or tachycardia conditions e.g SVT.  It can tire the heart and trigger episdoes, even being fatal. 

    Stop start exercising is best.  If you strengthen the heart that way then you can then consider the lengthy steady state exercises like marathons. 

    If you exhaust your good cardiac muscle then the misfiring cardiac muscle can have a devastating effect.  The good cardiac muscle will not be able to compensate in its fatigued state.  How many times have you heard people die suddently running marathons.  People who are supposed to be fit.  You need to take a heart strengthening approach to your exercise program if you have this condition and the heart responds best to stop start exercising.  It strengthens that way. 

    • jim53704
      jim53704 chrisfox

      Posted

      My doctor said the SVT is an annoyance and that the episodes are NOT a long term threat to my health.  So, your comments a bit confusing and concerning.

      Can you explain exactly what you mean by "stop/start exercising?"  I have my guesses but like to be certain of what you are suggesting.

      Can you share your research sources regarding the stop/start recommendation as well as the suggestion that SVT has caused physically fit runners, etc., to die unexpectantly during a marathon or whatever?  I'd like to run some of this by my doctors for comment while considering whether to proceed with an ablation.

      Thank you!

    • chrisfox
      chrisfox jim53704

      Posted

      Not sure why your dr. said SVT is not a threat to your health.  Managed well it is not a threat to your life (of course it can be) but it is a health problem you have to manage or it restricts what you can do.  Your health is impaired with SVT.

      In the beginning (after several major episodes) you worry a lot about it.  That makes it worse.  It takes 5-10 years before you are on top of it.  You listen to others, experiment, research, listen to many doctors, and eventually you find out what works for you.  But know that it will worsen with age, as everything else does.  So overcompensate the good stuff now.  Stop all the bad stuff.

      The stop/start exercising I do is HIIT.  There are many ways to do it.  I do squats, push-ups, bicycles.  25 reps of each.  10 breaths rest between each.  4 sets.  So that's 300 reps.  It takes 15 minutes.  When I get to 500 reps of these exercises I might maintain.  That's just one form of HIIT.  You can stationary bikes, sprint/jog, swimming, etc.  There's a science behind it if you're interested i.e. how much time to rest before the heart recovers enough until you do the next explosive set.  On different days I lift light weights, not the heavy stuff.  I do 12 reps, rest, then 12 more.  I only do 3 sets total.  I do compound movements: clean and press, dips and pullups.  These 3 hit the total body.  Every day I walk or ride the bike (or stationary bike) 45 mins.  These is the only steady state exercising I do.  But I think with some good stop/start training under your belt (and other heart strengtheners) you could get more serious about the type of exercise you do.  For me I do a lot of DIY and that keeps me active.  Staying active is REALLY IMPORTANT.  Find something that motivates you to do so.  I spent years sitting behind a desk...

      Sharing my research is tough since I don't retain sources by writing them down.  I'm 50 now.  I was born with SVT.  It's a family issue.  I was admitted to emergency 15 years ago when it was at its worst.  I took a year after work after that to refocus my life. I'm now on top of it but my heart is very sensitive to my triggers.  Don't believe what I say.  Do your own research.  It's a matter of trial & error.  Every body is different but there a lot of similarities across a wide number of SVT sufferers.

      If your SVT is bad enough and you want to go ahead with ablation then do so.  I find drs. prescribe it too quickly.  As they did me.  But then again it may give you a better quality of life.  I would ask your doc if its worth postponing while you make dramatic lifestyle changes for the better.  If you can commit to this its worth a try.

      Over to you...

    • jim53704
      jim53704 chrisfox

      Posted

      Hi Chris,

      Thanks for your additional comments.  Based on your comments and others that I've read on this forum, I believe there are a lot of SVT variations - some more problematic than others.  As I've mentioned, although in my late 50's now, I only exhibited any SVT symptoms in the last 3 to 5 years.  It only became somewhat of a frequent occurrence two year's ago.  I wouldn't say I've had any "major" episodes.  When a racing heart rate has occurred, it has been short-lived and I am able to interrupt it - usually within 30 to 60 seconds.

      I realize the symptoms may return at some time and if they do and if they become a frequent annoyance, etc., I will likely have the ablation but not before.  My docs say that my SVT symptoms are not putting my life at risk or causing longterm damage to my heart.  

      As far as health maintenance goes, I've been a regular exerciser pretty much my whole adult life (cross country skier, jogger, weights two or three times a week, lots of walking, biking, etc.) so I think I'm pretty good in that regard.  If SVT symptoms return and interfere with my ability to partake in these activities, you can be sure that I will schedule an ablation.

      Good health!

    • chrisfox
      chrisfox jim53704

      Posted

      Good stuff Jim.  You are right about the variations.  All the best.
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