SVT post ablation.. Palps.. Worried :(

Thank your for your answer.. You think it's normal to have it fluttering for a couple hours on end? When I posted this it was going pretty crazy but now it seems to be under control .. I know it will happen again but really hope it slows down soon.

I am two months post ablation and I still get flutters, hot flushes and all sorts of weird sensations, they hooked up a 30 day event monitor and my cardiologist said he reviewed every single recording and there was no sort of SVT going on so I think your heart is just working itself out, it needs time to heal the tissues in your heart. If they happen again try holding some ice cubes and bearing down, that's what they told me to do and it's worked out well. I have really bad anxiety so I tend to freak out everytime my heart does anything weird but try to relax the best you can.

Just don't know what to do every time I get the palpitations .. Seems they go away for 10 seconds and then come right back makes me feel like I'm gonna pass out or something. So you think they're basically harmless? I was close to calling an ambulence or something this morning but I'm 5 states away from where I got my surgery lol! I just hope that they aren't going to hurt me and it is indeed my heart recovering. Thank you again.

That is precisely the type of palpitations I was having, I had tunnel vision and just felt like closing my eyes and dying, it went on for quite awhile and I actually did end up calling an ambulance. Sometimes just going to the hospital and getting a fluid IV can make a world of a difference. My palpitations actually don't stop unless I call 911, for some reason the palpitations stop once they get here so they consider me one of their regulars. Lol. Honestly I say always go with your gut instinct. It never hurts to go in and get peace of mind. I'm not a doctor, I just speak from my own experience, if it really bothers you, I say go in for the heck of it. Usually the worst case scenario is when the palpitations don't stop on their own.

Yeah you're right. After awhile they do go away so I usually just keep rinsing my face off with cold water and drinking water .. Patiently waiting but man it is scary. I feel like it's a bit of anxiety and I should probably get anxiety meds to cope with the palpitations. Thank you!

How long did they take you to go away? I mean I'm sure it's different for everybody but when can I stop worrying

Hi James, sorry you're having a bit of a rough time.

Just as SVT triggers and symptoms differ from person to person, it seems that people react differently to the physical trauma of the ablation procedure. Perhaps this is partly due to differing amounts of intervention (or 'burning' during the procedure and therefore differing degrees of healing required adterwards, but that's just a guess.

I had a successful ablation over four years ago. For the first couple of months afterwards I got a lot of heart beat/rhythm jitters and flutters like SVT was about to start, but it never did. The specialists told me this was normal and it would go away of its own accord, which it did (or at least I stopped noticing it).

We SVT folk become very sensitive to heart beat/rhythm changes, so sometimes we probably worry about what are really quite minor blips that non-SVT folk would probably ignore.

Anxiety might also make jitters and flutters worse (or seem worse) than they would otherwise be. And such a long journey probably isn't helping

It is probably just your heart healing from the procedure, but if I were you I would go to a hospital quite soon to have it checked out. I doubt you will get rid of the anxiety otherwise.

Wishing you the best

 

Well the last palpitation I had that kept coming and going was about a week and a half ago, they had just started me on Celexa so I think it was because of that but the ER Doctor said it wouldn't have interacted with my body that fast so they told me it was because of an underlying condition which they think is POTS syndrome. I had short runs of palpitations prior to this but nothing over 150 bpm. I think in your case that your heart is very aggravated, it just got burned a few times and it needs to readjust and heal. I think that having these episodes is creating some anxiety for you. I still to this day have flutters and weird feelings in my chest but they assured me that it wasn't SVT or any type of arrhythmia. My case is a little different because I also have POTS syndrome so I might experience these things for a long time. Everybody heals differently and I definitely think that what your going through is just the heart trying heal itself but I would suggest calling your cardiologist office tomorrow and asking them if it's normal to go in and out of palpitations like you are. I also think it wouldn't hurt to go to the ER just to get an IV of fluids. They will hook you up to a heart monitor and you'll leave feeling much better.

Thank you so much! I'll definitely try this .. Does she get random hot flashes or anything like that? I feel like I always get randomly hot but then it goes away.. Wonder if that's a side effect.

Keep in mind that every single person heals different and reacts to things differently. If you feel its a true RED FLAG feeling seek out a medical professional. But yes the similarities are uncanny so I'll give you the break down of her last 2 months. Yes she got hot flashes. Right after her ablation she said something wasn't right. She felt like it was an SVT attack but her heart rate was 130. It was always 170 - 230 before ablation. She felt like it was irregular now. Long beat and several short beats back to long beat. She got dizzy and light headed with episodes. They were random occurring like in the shower, eating , sitting and studying. They started out not lasting long but steadily grew in duration. She's out of state for college so I sent her a fitbit hr so she could monitor her heart rate. The irregular beats showed up as dashes. It couldn't read the heart rate when it was irregular but it was a clear visual that the heart wasn't racing like it once was. We called the cardiologist one month after ablation because she fell down the stairs. They mailed a 30 day monitor to her. She wore it for almost 2 weeks but was allergic to the adhesive on the pads and now had blisters and raw circles of flesh. But it was enough to capture several 170bpm and the irregular rhythm. That's what the appt is for next Monday. I read that these episodes are not life threatening . After I told my daughter that the duration of her episodes shortened. So keep in mind this amazing statistic. SVT ablations are done approx 150,000 per year in the US. It has a 95% Success rate. Your heart is completely healthy it just created a funky fresh rhythm that needed some tuning.

Thank you so much.. feels good to know that I'm not the only one that feels like death sometimes after this procedure..

Now, did she have moments during the day where she was perfectly fine and then an hour or so where she just felt weak like she was going to faint? I feel my palpitations start strong sometimes and then I just get so weak and mildly dizzy to a point where i just want to sit in front of a fan with ice cold water.. I really hope these palpitations are normal, it's day 4 and I'm praying that it doesnt take much longer to get better.. I'm in Florida right now and even going outside and walking for like 15 minutes I get very hot and want to go into where it's air conditioned. I pray this is normal, it's beginning to freak me out. Thank you again.

How much longer in your opinion do you think I'll continue having these palpitations? I'm even waking up at 6:15AM randomly because of them.. Could they randomly just go away?

Oh ya she had total wipe out after an episode in the beginning. She actually found that if she could nap it reset her body. Now did your dr. Tell you 10 days of rest and not lifting any more than a milk jug? I imagine the humidity where you are would add to the uncomfortable sensations. We are out west so no humidity here. She does wake up at night with some fresh funky beats ( her words) and she has had the flutters and palpitations non stop for almost two months now but she has found that she's becoming used to them. Her dr. Just put her back on Metoprol. She hates the way she feels but it has helped the episodes.

Everyone is different so have faith your palpitations will stop. it takes three months to heal and I will just bet that you will have them but they will diminish. We have both calmed down a lot in two months. You will too. Hang in there and never get down. This too will pass.

Thank you very much, and yeah the humidy definitely doesn't help the way I'd like nice weather from where you are would.. but I'm trying as hard as I can to have a good time. Some times I dont have any palpitations at all and I feel perfectly normal.. other times I feel completely awful and I can't really do much. Glad things got better for you guys.. Maybe I'll be able to sleep tomorrow morning without waking up at 6 with palpitations.. lol.. that's just a pray though. Day 5 tomorrow! Hoping its better!

This is some great advice Kristina, I'd be interested to know how your daughters appointment goes since so many of us experience the same symptoms after ablation. I don't follow up with my cardiologist til the 28th of October, it will be 3 months post ablation by then for me but I know he plans to review my stress test and echo with me.

I replied to James and wasn't sure if you would see it too! Thank you so much for in put!