SVT sufferers can use your advice ..

Hi, I'm Jen

I first experienced a racing heart about 9 years ago and have had it about 5 times since but until 2 weeks ago it was never caught on ECG or even heard by a medic (crazy seeing as I work in healthcare!)

Anyway, two weeks ago it hit me shortly after getting up in the morning. I guzzled a very cold drink of fruit drink (morning after my first alcohol consumption in a month and probably I drank too much).  I drove myself to my GP, the nurse gave me an ECG  and my GP phoned for an ambulance after recording my heart rate at 160.  It had been going like that for 2 hours. Long story short, my heart rate went back to normal whilst in en route to hospital but I was still admitted into A&E and had wonderful care (yay for the NHS!) I and now going for a 7 day heart monitor next week, an echocardiogram next month and a follow up cardiologist appointment after that.

i'm 61 by the way and apart from hypertension am otherwise healthy.  I do sometimes wonder if my hypertension is anxiety based as I have lived with chronic anxiety almost my whole life - even on meds my BP is high when taken by a doctor or nurse but on a 24 hour tape is normal! I swear, we are our own worst enemies!

SVT is a horrible experience and every day I worry about it happening again. Just wanted to touch base with others who know what it's like.

Jen

Hi, I feel I have similar symptoms as you. Mine started a few months ago while pregnant with a quick thump in the chest with a quick shortness of breath. This would happen maybe once a month for a while. As of last Tuesday I was sitting in the chair and got this feeling something wasn't right. I got nauseous and pretty light headed and my heart started sputtering out of control. I called 911 and at the ER nothing registered on the EKG and blood work was fine so they sent me home and said follow up w my Gp. So I get referred for a holter monitor for 48 hrs which I will turn in later today. Of course no crazy episodes what been recorded. Also before getting the monitor put on I had two more attackd that start with an uneasy feeling neausea then light headedness and fast or erratic heartbeat. I have an ECHO scheduled for the 26th. I will let you know all my results. I know what you mean when you feel it just isn't anxiety. I also get a strong cool/burning sensation down my left arm and into the chest several times a day since this happened. I had a ct scan of the chest to check for clots and that was clear. Sorry this message is all Over the place. I'm 28 and never had any health problems b4 this.

I have been having these episodes for over two years now!  The Heart Dr. Put a monitor on my for 30 days. He ask me if I had panic a ttacks. I told him yes. He ask me how long they had been going on. I told him about two years. He said " Well if it hasn't killed you by nowI don' think it's going to right?"  I thought that was wierd. Anyway still having them. I wake up with my heart beating very fast. If I just lay in bed for about one half  hour it stops. But If I get up too fast it beats real fast. And I get Nauseated. Our son has a bad heart problem. Right ventricular Tachcardia. He has to take Sotolal for it. It made him mad that the Dr. ( His Dr too) told me that. He said my heart coulld just stop from that! He said he should have given me some kind of medicine for it to slow down the heart beat. I was on Xanax for panic attacks. But my Dr. Left the office for over a year now.. For passing out too many pain pills. The new psychiatrist I had to go to said he was not giving out Xanax. And put me on ClonzaPAM. I dislike Xanax very much. It is a nasty drug. But the Dr. only gives me 3 ClonzaPAM a day and told me to take one pill at 8:00 am. One at 1:00 pm and one at 10:pm! This tells me he did know anything about panic attacks! You have to take the medicine when you have a panic attack. I take 2 of the clonzaPAM before I go to bed. But still wake up most mornings with the very fast heart beat. It is scary. But hey if your heart stops you are just not going to be around much longer!  My prayer is that if It stops I can go to Heaven. The Dr's in the United States are not wanting to treat Anxiety disorders any more at all. The VA will not even treat Post traumatic stress disorder for soldiers coming back from the war. It is so pitiful. I guess they don't care if all of us people suffering drom anxiety attacks all day. And soldiers die from this terrible anxiety!  Hope everything works out for you Paladinx!  Let me know how you are doing. I am an older lady, but I haves suffered from anxiety for over 20 years now.I got hurt at work and they did 5 surgerys on my right shoulder. I never had a panick attack befoore that. Now I have them and anxiety all of the time.It is miserable to live with! Good luck to you. I hope you get some help for it! 

I have had SVT episodes since I was 17 yrs old. Some episodes were short and spontaneously stopped and some were longer and I had to use breathing techniques to stop them. One thing that is very clear though is a burst of heat spreading rapidly throughout my body right before my heart rate suddenly jumps. My cardiologist had no clue what I meant but it's such a striking sensation that it can't be mistaken. I was told for years that I had anxiety until I had an attack that would not end. That led me to the emergency room and my heart rate was 248 by the time I got there. I've since found out that SVT is commonly diagnosed as anxiety. I personally knew I didn't have anxiety and have never had a panic attack but the doctors kept trying to push anxiety drugs. SVT can feel like a panic attack because of the high heart rate and the feeling of breathlessness. I imagine that in an anxious person it could even precipitate an anxiety attack. Don't let people tell you what you do and don't have. Learn to notice what your body is doing and write down what immediately precedes an attack. If you were doing something relaxing like watching tv or sleeping and it suddenly happens it might be SVT. Get a portable blood pressure / heart monitor and use it when you have an episode. For true SVT things like fatigue, caffeine, low magnesium, taking psuedophedrine etc. can trigger an attack.

Hi ive been going through the same thing i havnt had an svt attack for 12 years and the last 2 nghts i have woken up feeling hot and then i start having an attack i started taking louvin anti deppessants 5 days ago so not sure if this is doing it its so scarey I also have anxity ussues some days i just want to stay home hope your feeling better

Your story is almost identical to mine. About 6 months ago I would wake up with hot flash, racing heart. And scared to death. It was always when I was almost asleep. I couldn't understand what was happening. I would rarely have an anxiety attack but this was different. This fear or nervousness would come over me. I could feel it coming on. This continued for months. Then one day at work my heart started racing close to 200bpm. My heart was jumping out of my throat it felt like. I sat down to breathe and calm it down but it wouldn't come down. I went to ER and they said it was an anxiety attack. But I kept telling them this was different. Something was going on with my heart and it would trigger an anxiety attack. Finally after several visits to ER when my heart would get stuck at a high bpm, they caught an irregularity which was SVT. This has come out of nowhere and is devastating as it has controlled my life. If I exercise or bend down sometimes it will trigger Svt. Lack of sleep will either leave me with fast heart or shortness of breath I am not working and just trying to figure this out. I am going to see a a dr. Who specializes in the electrical part of the heart. I may have an ablation. I'm not sure. Just doing my homework first. I feel for you. It's scary and confusing I was perfectly healthy. This has turned my world upside down. But knowing it's not life threatening has helped to lower anxiety. When Svt kicks in I lie on my stomach and breath and for me the helps most of the time. I hope you figure it out. I feel for you. I also believe I'm in perimenopause so I think mine has to do with hormones, emotional and physical stress, anxiety that combination can trigger svt for sure. Hope I've helped somehow