SVT & sleep disturbance

[HowMyHeartSings]

Hi - I’ve been having a great deal of difficulty sleeping with my SVT episodes (I have atrial tachycardia) - I had four short episodes of racing heart last night between 11PM & 3AM. I couldn’t sleep. What do people do after a night episode - is it best to simply get up? Trying to go back to sleep I’ve found to be too anxiety laden and ultimately futile. Any tips when you first feel the ‘flutter’ or feeling that starts the fast heart in the night? My sleep deprivation is becoming a vicious cycle. Any feedback greatly appreciated.

[Fazerboy]

Hi,

A few things here. I think that you notice your hr at night when you are trying to sleep. Also, stress makes it worse so it is a vicious circle that you need to break. You don’t mention being on any meds. I have svt which got steadily worse and I’m now on Bisoprolol. This stops my hr from racing.

Before I was on this I found that I could reset my hr by lying on my back and relaxing and with slow breathing. I also found that lying on my right side tended to make me feel worse and I could feel my heart thumping. It was ok if I lay on my left side.

So back to you, I think that thinking about your hr going up could be making it worse. Very difficult to stop I know. If betablockers or an ablation are offered I would take up the offers.