SVT diagnosis Awaiting consultation with EP

[Naomi63]

Hi, this is my first post! I'm 52 years old and have finally got a diagnosis of SVT. I believe I have had this condition since I was 12 and after my children were born it became more and more troublesome. I discovered how to stop them before I ever even talked to a doctor about it. I never thought I'd it as something wrong - just something to deal with! It wasn't until I had a major event while driving that I couldn't stop that I rang my GP. Unfortunately I was nowhere near a hospital. Anyway I'm rambling 😊

So seeing an ECG for the first time of my latest event (250 bpm) was amazing and I was treated like a VIP in the emergency department. It was such a contrast to other visits where some an unkind staff member suggested I stop wasting hospital resources. 😕 Believe me, hospital is the last place I want to be!

So I am on 2.5 bisoprolol for the past ten days which seems to suit me well enough and am awaiting a consultation with a view to ablation. My resting heart rate has gone from 62 to 52 so far.

I have had some pain in my heart which I never had before which has worried me a bit. I guess I'm a bit scared about the whole thing and feel that this condition has deteriorated in the past five years and I don't know where it's going to end. Hopefully with an ablation and or medication. I worry about what damage has been done to my heart by these events. Hopefully I will have a better picture when I get a full consultation done.

I'd love to hear from others regarding dealing with the fear and anyone whose had an ablation.

[jennydog]

Hi Naomi and welcome to this supportive and informative site.

I am appalled that you were accused of wasting hospital resources - this from an organisation that ambulance chases drunkards. One of the problems with AF is its stop-start nature. If it's not happening then all the ECGs and monitors in the world won't pick it up.

Your heart rate reduction on 2.5 bisoprolol is similar to mine. I take mine at night as this is when the fibrillation is most likely to start.

There's lots of information about ablation on the this site but if you want to talk to a fellow sufferer then you can message me privately.

Keep checking this site. You will learn so much from everyone and ask any questions that you want to.

Best wishes.

[Finvola]

Hello Naomi and welcome to the forum and the mad world of AF. Forty years is a long time to live with a condition but at least now you have a diagnosis and can move forward with a treatment plan.

That NHS member of staff needs reporting for unprofessional behaviour but unfortunately he/she deals with people when they are at their most vulnerable and unlikely to be assertive. Dreadful.

SVT is very unpleasant - especially at your heart rate - but the good news my cardiologist gave me is that ablation for SVT has very high success rates and is fairly straightforward. I always make sure to stop a run of SVT with a valsalva manoeuvre and I notice you say you can stop them too.

Anxiety and fear are something we all have experienced and I find that 'not knowing' is my worst enemy. Did you mention the pain to your doctor? It might be a good idea, if only to get reassurance as it could be from anxiety, Many people have found that deep breathing helps, yoga, meditation and mindfulness. There is a wealth of information and advice on the main AFA website at atrialfibrillation.org.uk and there are posters on the site who've had ablations for AF and SVT who can advise. You can also search for posts by entering a keyword in the box at the top right of this page.

If you have any questions or worries, do post - there is always someone who can help.

Best wishes

[Rachel191272]

Hi, I too have suffered with svt since childhood and kind of normalised it as it would come and go and it was only when I was 23, at work and suffered from a prolonged episode that I thought I should probably get an ECG simply to document it and rule out WPW! It may be that beta blockers alone control your symptoms and personally I wouldn't leap to ablation unless you are really symptomatic especially as you've had this for most of your life and have become quite used to living with it. I have had two ablations so far and mine have not been successful but I know that the success rate for svt is generally high so I am not a good example. But I know that if beta blockers could have controlled my symptoms to a greater extent then I would have chosen to have avoided ablation altogether. My father suffers with it as did my grandmother and they never had an ablation and had/have far less problems than I am having post ablation. See what your cardiologist says, but ultimately it come down to a quality of life matter and if your day to day life is affected by svt despite medication then ablation may well be the answer for you.

Good luck and take care

Rachel

[Naomi63]

Hi Guys, hope you are all keeping well. I'm just updating my status😊 I did go ahead with the ablation in the end. I had the procedure done on the 12th of October. It all went very well and after the initial couple of weeks feeling delicate, I was very surprised how much stronger I felt than ever before. I am much more able physically. Walking faster etc. With no strain. It's great and something I wasn't expecting. On the down side I do have some lingering pain and occasional discomfort from the site of the ablation especially after physical activity. I have a follow up with the EP next week and will ask about that. I hope it will improve. But I am still very pleased to have moved on from the SVT. It feels like it has worked for me although I know it's still early days.