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SVT newbie - Venting and Questions

Posted , 7 users are following.

tzali
tzali

Hello e1,

My story is this.

Years ago I complained about pains in the abdomen that started with what I recall as eating some spoiled food in a restaurant. Long fight with the doctors led me to discard it as IBS as they insisted that this is the case. Since then I am with constant pain under the left rib (pancreas area).

At the same time, with the pains from the spoiled food I felt weaker and as if my heart is working extra hard to work. A Holter test showed small segments of SVT and a lot of PACs. Since by the time the results came in I was focused on the digestive problem and the heart no longer bothered me, I simply lived with it.

7 years passed, and maybe 3-4 episodes of SVT that went out by themselves within 10 minutes. 3-4 months ago I started to have a pain at the heart area with pains in the arms. Along with the digestive problems and acid reflux that were left untreated.

Went to the doctors, long story short - they found the arrhythmia again, disregarding my initial complaints about the pain. 2 months of focusing on that (including test for ischemia which showed nothing) and insisting the pain comes from the premature beats (totally inconsistent with what I feel), my cardio shoved Cardiloc 2.5mg a day down my throat. 2 weeks later, I find myself with my first 11 hours long flutter at 160bpm and a forced trip to the hospital.

They gave me choices and I decided to be ablated. that was a month ago and since then:

- The pains haven't stopped.

- I've had another serious episode for about 2 hours which ended up with my heart stopping entirely to "reset" for a few seconds and made me lose consciousness. (another trip to the hospital which bore nothing since my heart went sinus before the medics arrived).

- I am feeling my heart working, even at sinus. If I don't lie down it beats hard in my chest and sometimes I even feel it shaking my entire chest and abdomen.

- I've had 3 small episodes of few seconds of SVT (all happened during sleep and woke me up). Now I am scared of these since the "cardiac arrest" I thought I had when my heart "reset".

- I've had a sensation where different parts of the heart contract in different beats (very unpleasant and scary).

- I am having many many skipped beats followed by a strong one which I rarely had before the ablation.

- I am fatigued, sleeping 11-12 hours a day, have some discomfort in the armpits, have pressure in the front of the head with slight lightheadness.

I am without medications. even though my cardio gave Cardiloc 2.5mg again I decided not to take it since I don't trust her anymore.

I am up for a loop recorder (which will monitor my heart for a month but still disregards the initial complaint of my pain!)

So my questions to you good people:

A. I saw some posts that digestive problems can effect the vagus nerve and thus cause tachycardia of my type (flutter, atrial tachy and PACs).  Is that a thing I should insist on with my doctors to consider?

B. Are my sensations a month after the ablation means I am screwed or will they go away eventually as the heart heals by the experience of most of you? I saw posts of people saying it takes 3 months after ablation to really evaluate its success.

C. Anyone is experienced with the pains I am describing and/or with relations of such pains to heart rate issues?

D. Not a question, this is just to blow off steam. I am healthy (even rarely having the flu), 35 years old, never smoked, no caffeine (My wife won't let me anyway), rarely drink alcohol, tests shows a strong, healthy perfectly normal heart, no cholesterol, no sugar problem, good potassium, good magnesium, I'm thin, tests shows fitness above average, no history in the family of cardiac issues, no blood pressure issues and I've been controlling my stress levels for 15 years now with meditations and self observance

so.... why? why is this even a thing in my life?

Feels kinda unfair...

E. I lost confidence in the doctors ability to treat me right. and THAT is what scares me the most...

Thank you all for being partners in crime

1 like, 12 replies

12 Replies

  • bev14365
    bev14365 tzali

    Posted

    Did you say your heart stopped as in cardiac arrest and it started up again without medical intervention ?
    • tzali
      tzali bev14365

      Posted

      It felt like it.

      The ER doctor said this can happen after a rapid heat rate episode where the heart goes back to normal but after a rest of a few seconds.  As she described it "with some people it can go up to 5-6 seconds causing them to pass out"...

  • gene91169
    gene91169 tzali

    Posted

    You have lots to deal with, Tzali. My immediate recommendation is for you to seek health care practitioners you can confidently work with.  Your medical situation seems more complex than that of most SVT people.  I want want you to feel as if you are getting excellent care.  I  understand your concerns, and wish the very best for you.  
  • linda90194
    linda90194 tzali

    Posted

    I had my ablation a year ago. It DOES take 3 months for the heart to heal. I had chest fullness, being very tired, palpitations and that lasted a couple of months. The doctor directly told me it takes 3 months for the heart to heal. So don’t give up. 2 years ago I was visiting my daughter in another town and I got a very  bad case of food poisoning. Plus I got transient global amnesia brought on by a severe event(vomiting). My stomach was severely distended during that time and months afterwards. My stomach would be distended after eating and brought on SVT. I talked to 3 doctors about the vagus nerve being irritated that brought on the SVT but they all blew me off. I don’t think they know much about the vagus nerve. But I did have SVT episodes before the food poisoning. It just wasn’t diagnosed at that time. I have a loop recorder in. I’ve had it for a year. They have a battery life of 3 years. Will probably keep it that long and then have to have a minor surgery to have it removed. 
    • tzali
      tzali linda90194

      Posted

      Thanks Linda.  This gives me hope.

      Since the ablation I suffer from augmented feelings in my heart.  Each skipped beat brings fear and that is even though I lived with skipped beats for 7 years.

      I started on Tombocor yesterday and I can safely say that something is fishy. The skipped beats are still there but since my heart calmed down and doesn't beat as hard, I don't care much about them.

      But it also seem the drug "blocks" my heart from beating with the force it used to. This causes a feeling of shortness of breath and dizziness.

      I only hope I won't be one of those people who suffer from the heart my entire life. I don't care having the sensations I had before the ablation. They didn't scare me.

      Now they do.

      and before someone suggests it's emotional, I can surely say I only started to freak out from the whole situation some three days ago. Before that and since the ablation I was concerned about fainting and dizziness but most of the time I was able to maintain my cool.

      3 days ago I felt like I broke. How do I know?

      A simple compare of sleep time.  Since my body is fatigued all the time I slept 10-12 hours a day (and could have slept more).  Since 3 days ago I wake up in the middle of the night after 4-5 hours and the stress keeps me up... From experience, this is a sign that I am mentally not OK anymore.

    • linda90194
      linda90194 tzali

      Posted

      Don’t say you aren’t alright mentally anymore! I was anxious after my ablation too, not knowing if I would have another episode. Please give it time!!!
    • tzali
      tzali linda90194

      Posted

      My desperation doesn't come from fear of another episode. It comes from the fact that my life changed with all sort of symptoms and sensations that I've never had before the ablation even though I had many more events of arrhytmia according to the Holter tests. That is the irregularities didn't bother me. It is that now my heart and body are tons more sensitive.

      Why?  It feels like the ablation was a mistake and I should have gone with the electric shock option.

      (my ablation was not for SVT or aFib.  It was for atrial flutter)

      Today I had a bit of feeling lost in my left leg and I am up the walls for its meaning. And sure - "talk to your doctor" is the best advice but it takes time to talk to your doctor and in the meantime you are worried and anxious.

    • linda90194
      linda90194 tzali

      Posted

      During my ablation, my doctor did find a total of 5 arrhythmias.  SVT (which was fixed). I also have atrial flutter, atrial fib, atrial tachycardia and asymptomatic tachycardia. Since my ablation I have had an episode of atrial tachycardia and atrial fib. I would like to get off my very expensive blood thinner but can't as long as I am having Afib. My arrhythmias can't all be fixed, so I must be on medication for the rest of my life. I get very anxious about when I might have an episode. The last time was 3 weeks ago in church. Had to leave abruptly. I have no history of heart problems in my family. Thus is very scary to me, to not know when I might have another issue come up. I am very grateful that my SVT was fixed as the very high heart rate was very debilitating! 

    • tzali
      tzali linda90194

      Posted

      How does an aFib episode feel like?  Isn't it resulting in fast heart rate?

      Besides, isn't cryo-ablation a possible fix for aFib?

  • peggy12259
    peggy12259 tzali

    Posted

    My svt is definitely linked to my stomach. If I have bloating or gerd it will kick it off.   My stomach doctor says yes. It’s aggravating the vagus nerve. My cardiologist says no it’s anxiety. 
  • Elefantaflaca44
    Elefantaflaca44 tzali

    Posted

    I know exactly how you feel about doctors!!! I am post Ablation times 3. Yes 3. I had 2 of them this month and doctor wants to do a 4th because they found a heart defect and took care of it but now since the Ablation my heart is skipping beats and I’m having episodes of 168 over 200 times in 2 1/2 weeks. I was in Fleccanide for almost a year with no results. I have had the loop recorder for well over a year. I have fainting spells because my heart is beating so fast. I even changed doctors for a second opinion but the diagnosis was far worse than before. So I have SVT, Sinus Arrhythmia and skipping beats since last Ablation. The medication they have me on makes me sick but they still want me to continue taking it. So I totally get your frustration with doctors. 
  • jenny02938
    jenny02938 tzali

    Posted

    Tzali - I am really sorry to hear about your experiences with doctors and the diagnosis they gave you.  I myself am just dealing with this - I'm in about 3 weeks now.  I'll be going under tests next week, but I'm also anxious about having another episode.  The 3 that I've had, I've gone to the ER and they don't really do anything since all my tests/blood are normal.

    My cardiologist suspects PSVT - I've never even heard of this.  I consider myself an athlete - every physical I get, my PCP has always boasted of my "athletic" blood work.  So to have this enter my life is pretty devastating.  I rarely get sick myself.

    Pls keep us posted on your journey.  Since I've been reading this group (and it's recent - other support groups haven't had responses in 3-4 years) it has been quite helpful.  I don't think anyone else can understand the fear it's literally put in our hearts.  My husband and daughter think my worry brings on the attacks bc they say I've always been so healthy - so the thought of me having to potentially take a prescription drug the rest of my life blows my mind.  I'm not sure if I'll do the ablation - since I have PSVT - my episodes are not frequent - not yet, anyway.

    Good luck - I'll be looking out for updates from you and here to listen.

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