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Trouble Diagnosing SVT?

Posted , 8 users are following.

mssteed
mssteed

I have not been diagnosed with SVT as of yet, but from everything I have researched I am pretty sure that is what I have. Not to mention, it can be genetic and my mother had the same symptoms and was diagnosed with SVT a few years ago.

My question is, did anyone have a hard time getting it diagnosed? I have been to 4 doctors now. I have had multiple EKG's, an echocardiogram, and a holter monitor that all showed normal results. I am currently wearing an event monitor and have been for a few days now. I recorded a number of events but none have shown SVT or any other problems beside the high heart rate. Anyone else have these problems? Did anyone try to induce an episode while wearing the monitor?

Thanks for any replies!

1 like, 56 replies

56 Replies

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  • geoff10274
    geoff10274 mssteed

    Posted

    Hello Paladinx,  well I do know what it feels like if you know you have a problem in the heart area, but you haven't been diagnosed.  I just hope it all works out well for you and try to put your trust in the specialists.
    • Paladinx
      Paladinx geoff10274

      Posted

      Well.. I can't say I know anything for sure.  Sometimes when it happens I am convinced its something with my heart, but if anyone looked at the facts they would think its in my head.  I have anxiety disorder that I can't deny.. I been through all kinds of crazy symptoms that were terrible that I fixated on.. but the heart racing has been the worst for me.  I just want people to know from my experience that sometimes if you do suffer from anxiety or panic attacks, you still might be very confused what is going on and things might not seem so clear cut and obvious. I really don't know for sure what it is.  I never was fully confident it was anxiety or a heart problem.  I don't know what else to do other than be a lab rat and take a billion tests..  I felt that I needed to catch it on a monitor that it would be the FINAL test that would put my mind at ease.. I took the test it got recorded, I got good news and I am still in doubt.  I have to becareful I don't end up like some other people who get a billion tests till they get misdiagnosed with something they don't even have. 
  • mssteed
    mssteed

    Posted

    UPDATE May 12th, 2015: I send back my 30 day event monitor this Thursday. I captured many episode over this period of time and none showed an irregular heartbeat that would point to SVT. It did show the high heart rate though. The doctor thinks it is Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia. He has called in Metoprolol for me to begin taking daily. He mentioned that it would be very unlikely to not catch the SVT on a monitor.

    After researching IST, I do think it could be this. I do seem to have a high resting heartrate all of the time or most of the time and anytime I have activity it shoots up. Hopefully we can find the right dosage and then I can get back to normal! Thanks for all the replies and support. I go back for a follow up in a month, so I will update then as well.

    In the meantime, I hope everyone is well.

    • Paladinx
      Paladinx mssteed

      Posted

      Do you suffer from anxiety and or... do you think about your heart a lot or worry about it..  I can tell you this..  My heart rate can start going fast just by a little activity or even what my brain is thinking.  My heart can start going face based on digestion if I have gas pressure in a certain place it can react on the vagus nerve.  Is he absolutely sure it is IST..  Are you physically active?  My cardiologist also so fast heart rates on my monitor and said my heart is always fast.. but he said i was normal..  Just wearing the monitor made my heart rate go higher than normal...  
    • mssteed
      mssteed Paladinx

      Posted

      I do not have anxiety. I do think about my heart evey once and a while, but it does not seem to trigger my symptoms in any way. Unfortunately, I have not been able to be very zctive because of the high heart rate. Excercise intolerance is a symptom of IST, though. I have no doubt in my mind that this is not caused by anxiety.
    • molly92822
      molly92822 mssteed

      Posted

      What is IST? I have a low tolerance to exercise also but my heart doesn't race when I exercise feels almost like it doesn't beat fast enough strangely!
    • Paladinx
      Paladinx mssteed

      Posted

      ok just was checking. You know your body better than I know mine lol.  At least you have an answer for your troubles now and can work on fixing it and feeling better again.. I know the vagus nerve has a lot to do with heart rate. Being out of shape alone greately effects your heart rate.. if you are stagnant, the simpliest of tasks will make your heart rate sky rocket.. Some people who might have IST symptoms might not actually be suffering from IST.. I am not saying that is the case for you or not.. Just putting it out there for others.  I hope the treatment works well for you and this sh*t disappears.. Its tough having to worry or deal with this kind of stuff.. Best wishes to you
    • mssteed
      mssteed Paladinx

      Posted

      Thanks so much and good luck to you, as well!
    • mssteed
      mssteed molly92822

      Posted

      IST is Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia. It's when your restinf heartrate is around 100 bpm or higher.
    • Paladinx
      Paladinx mssteed

      Posted

      Thank you.  I dunno what the hell is wrong with me really.. I can be fine all day.. and than every 10-15 days Ill be trying to sleep and I start feeling hot and some kind of nervous tension or the thought that its coming on, and I immediately try to cool myself down. and sometimes nothing happens other times my heart starts getting faster and faster till its racing..  It usually doesn't last long.. maybe a min or less or a couple mins.. and than i feel calmer and than it stops..  Even if it happens for less than a minute it still bothers me psychologically.. the next day ill wake up in a bad mood and feel down the whole day. 
  • rochelle43965
    rochelle43965 mssteed

    Posted

    I was diagnosed with PSVT.  I was prescribed metoprolol and it does make my episodes happen less often.
  • rochelle43965
    rochelle43965 mssteed

    Posted

    Do you have energy?  I know when I first started on it I was very tired for the first week or two.  I have most of my energy back now. How big a dose are you taking?
    • mssteed
      mssteed rochelle43965

      Posted

      I am only taking 1 1/2 25 mg pills a day. I did feel like I was more sleepy at first when starting the medication. Now it is much better.
  • mssteed
    mssteed

    Posted

    UPDATE #2: July 17, 2015

    I went to see the doctor for a follow up on my recent diagnosis of IST (Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia), he explained that it seems like I fall into this very narrow catergory of having this disorder. He called in a 90 day supply of my medicine and that was that.

    I can say after taking the medicine for a month now, I feel so much better. I can get back to normal life again. Hopefully this info helps someone out there. Thanks for everyone's support and advice. Good luck to you all!

    • mssteed
      mssteed

      Posted

      I meant JUNE 17th! Oops!
    • nkubon
      nkubon mssteed

      Posted

      Hey there! Thank you so much for posting this! I too am having the exact same issues you seemed to describe and I JUST posted on here asking if anyone had experienced this and then I saw this thread. I too have issues when I exercises. My heart rate will go from about 100bpm walking around straight to 160bpm within a few seconds and upwards to 198 or so. I wear a heart rate monitor at the gym to track my HR. Was there anything in particular you brought up to your doctor about this or did he bring anything up? I've had an EP study done where the doctor saw my elevated HR but no SVTs, they've also caught my high HR on the Holter monitor but nothing 100% verified as SVT's and my mother too has SVTs. I'm looking for some sort of answer. Sigh.

      This medicine they put you on do you feel normal at resting? Would love any insight!!

    • mssteed
      mssteed nkubon

      Posted

      I actually went to three doctors before I found the one that diagnosed me with Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia. I typed out all of my symptoms and a timeline of when they began. I also included what tests I had done and what doctors I had seen on the same paper. I did that so that I wouldn't forget any small detail that could help them diagnose me.

      My current doctor listened to my symptoms and thought that I could definitely have SVT. Not only because of my symptoms, but my mother has it and it is genetic. I wore an event monitor for 30 days and captured plenty of instances of my heart rate going up, but it never showed an abnormal heart rhythm. So after the 30 days, my doc diagnosed me with Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia. Which is basically a high resting heart rate usually above 100. My resting heart rate, without the medicine, itsn't above 100, but it's in the mid to high 80's. Of course, anytime I move positions or do any physical thing, it goes higher.

      Here is a good article about IST  http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/arrhythmias/a/IST.htm

      My advice would be to ask your doctor about wearing an event monitor and ask whether he/she thinks you could have IST. You might get some pushback from your doctor if he/she doesn't recognize or know about IST. In the above article is says, "...while IST is fully recognized as a genuine medical condition by every university medical center, many practicing physicians either haven't heard of it or write it off as a psychological problem (namely, "anxiety" )". So don't give up if your doctor brushes it off. Actually, I believe I have read elsewhere that IST is a form of SVT.

      The medicine is wonderful! I have a completely normal resting heart rate and haven't had any episodes of suddenly high heart rate since I began taking it. I just started excersizing again and I feel completely normal. I feel so much better than I have in a while.

      I hope that you get this figured out and you can get back to normal. Don't give up looking for the right answer. I hope this helps! Good luck.

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