Recently diagnosed with PSVT

[Yasemin29]

Hi everyone, just have a few questions about SVT... I’m a 26 year old female, from my 20s I always noticed my heart rate would go up abruptly and some times last for an hour. I went to the doctors about it a few times but they told me palpitations are normal and to get over it basically saying I’m healthy and have nothing to worry about... 2 months ago I was doing a gym work out, at the time I was doing pull ups which then caused full on palpitations, i thought I’d just ignore it as I usually get them... But this time it was worse, I was admitted to hospital because my heart rate was around 200bpm for 3 hours making me feel extremely faint...

Doctors performed vagal manuvers but did not work so they gave me the drug adenosine.

After that episode for 2 months now I have chest pains everyday. Like a pinching inside the ribs or something... Not sure if I strained myself from exercise or if it could be SVT related... I have also had to go back to hospital every week now due to my heart getting into SVT more frequently.

For the past 2 months I have had 2 panic attacks which aren’t pleasant at all... And Every night I wake up from a bad dream with my heart racing. Some times I think it maybe the psvt especially today when it took 10 minutes to go back to normal heart rate.

There are also times throughout the day/night where I’d feel like my heart is crazy, like all of a sudden I need to cough because my heart has flopped/shaken. It’s strange I’ve just gotten this symptom now where I didn’t have it before 2 months ago...

I am very upset and scared that this will lead to heart failure, or other things... Humm... My blood pressure is on the lower side so doctors haven’t given me medication. I’m hoping to get an ablation done depending on what the cardiologist says because I feel so exhausted by this condition. It’s very dabilitating.

Doctors have said my daily chest pains could be costochondritise. I’m just worried it could be artery related. I really don’t know. I’m just looking for a bit of guidance, because it is scary and I’m not a professional so I have no idea.

Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

[BobD Volunteer]

Hi Yasemin. It is important not to over think these things! Heart failure is not an option right now and you are apparently a healthy individual with no other co morbidities. I would suggest that you talk to your cardiologists about having an echocardiogram to check the general condition of your heart. not because I think there is anything wrong with it but more to re-assure you that there isn't.

I too once had serious chest pain due to straining the inter-costal muscles in my chest so understand how worrying it can be. Go easy on the exercise for a while .

[Yasemin29 in reply to BobD]

Thank you for your response Bob, really appreciate the time you’ve taken.

I’m seeing a cardiologist who specialises in electrocardiology this Friday, so hope he can point me in the right direction in relation to psvt.

When you had strained your muscles in your chest did it feel like a heavy pain too, and often cause pinching sensations in different parts of the rib? And how long did it last?

Thanks Regards Yas.

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Yasemin29]

I did the damage one evening trying to tighten a special bolt on a race car and felt nothing at the time. 4am I woke with an elephant sitting on my chest and eventually went to hospital for three days where nothing untoward was found despite various tests. Long time ago so can't recall how long it lasted but when I had some cracked ribs last year it took about three months and even then another couple if I forgot and over did things.

[Mejulie69]

Hi Yasemin, anxiety / panic are bedfellows with heart conditions like ours. One feeds the other, and vice versa. Let the doctors fix your heart, you should focus on fixing your head. Education is the best remedy – research your condition and learn for yourself that it is not going to kill you. Meditation, counseling, yoga and medicine can also help. Don’t be afraid of asking for help. I’m been through the mill myself (aged 37), and glad to say that I am out of the other side. Happy to point you in the right direction if you don’t know where to start.

(similar to Bob, I also had chest pains which turned out to be completely unrelated to my heart problem)

[Yasemin29 in reply to Mejulie69]

Hey Mejulie, thank you for your time. I agree with you, I’m working on fixing my mental well-being by seeing psychologists and often do meditation. It’s just frustrating because I get these palpitations everyday and some times it breaks me down.

In relation to your chest discomfort due to other reasons how long did it last? Mine feels like a burden in the chest and pinching sensations. Hasn’t gone for 2 months now...

Did you get an Ablation done for psvt and has it cured you?

Thank you, regards Yas.

[Mejulie69 in reply to Yasemin29]

Hi Yas, I have AF and I will be getting my first ablation on Monday! I had a variety of chest pains which I immediately associated with my heart – one turned out to be a chest muscle spasm which lasted for weeks. One turned out to be a strained intercostal muscle. I doubt very much that your pain has anything to do with the heart. If you read about the symptoms of heart attack, the pain is felt anywhere but the heart! With regards your head, if you feel that you aren’t getting anywhere, don’t be afraid or ashamed to use medication. It’s just a temporary crutch, and an effective one at that. I was on anti-depressant for 2 months and weaned myself off them without any withdrawal. Completely fixed my head, and although my heart did not improve, I barely notice the heart problems any more. Sometimes I become aware of my heart doing flip-flops, but I just ignore it!

[Yasemin29 in reply to Mejulie69]

Thanks for your reply. I hope your ablation goes well! Please let me know how it goes for you.

Just one more question, there are so many heart conditions, what is the difference between psvt and AF, can a person have both?

I know psvt is when my heart races 200bpm or so, but wondering if these night flutters and when my heart feels like it’s catching (which makes me cough) is something else...

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Yasemin29]

AF is an irregular irregular rhythm or non rhythm to be pedantic. SVT is just plain fast. (The P stands of paroxysmal. i. e. it comes and goes.)

[Zozzy in reply to BobD]

Worth mentioning I think that whilst a doctor can tell if your very fast rate is regular or irregular, it's extremely difficult for a layman to distinguish 140-200 irregular beats per minute (fast AF) from 140-200 regular bpm (SVT). I had the former and never could detect the irregularity much above 100 bpm.

[Hidden]

Hi Yasemin. Much of your situation takes me back to my 20s when I had a lot of similar stuff going on. I'm now well into my 60s with no massive changes if that's at all reassuring.

You've been given great advice. The only thing I'd say to follow up Mejulie's advice to educate yourself about your situation is to take care what you read. As you'll know, the internet is a friend and an enemy in terms of feeling ok about things. You can pick up loads of anxiety from it.... You've been lucky to find this forum early on. It's a good starting point and will be very supportive. For information about arrhythmias try yorkcardiologist.com for many video presentations on specific topics by Dr Sanjay Gupta and also drjohnm.org for an informed perspective.

Try to stay positive. Al

[ILowe]

Others have tackled well some of your questions. I will comment on PSVT and AF. i used to get psvt, usually called svt, or simply tachycardia. It would start with little warning. Some lasted a few minutes. Some I used various tricks. Some I just ignored. They always stopped suddenly within an hour. The cardiologist told me to ignore them until I had three in a week. When that happened he put me on a very small dose of flecainide and told me I could stop it when on holidays and once off I would stay off until the cycle started again. This worked for decades.

I now have a mobile ecg machine. I have a series of recordings where AF and SVT fight each other out. My understanding is that once tachycardia starts, the way to calm down is for increased irregularities. Fine. But a clear way to reduce irregularities is for the heart to get faster. When both sides refuse to give in, you get AF. Note, to return to normal requires moderation in both: irregularities and rate.

[Maggimunro]

Hi Yasemin, first of all the relatively straight forward ablation they do for SVT is usually highly successful. Mine was and I haven’t fainted since or gone spiralling up into a heart rate of 230 plus ever since it was done.

Secondly, I have come to accept that I have daily left sided chest pain, around the side about 6 inches under my arm pit. It makes sleeping on my left side uncomfortable. Nobody has ever really explained why this happens, but apparently it is very common for people with similar sorts of rhythm problems.

As has been said, our tuoe of heart problems go hand in hand with anxiety. I do yoga and also go down to our local Buddist centre to meditate now and again. Modern day life seems stressful enough without worrying about our health.