rapid heartbeat

[Davjak]

supraventricular tachcardia......im experiencing all the symptoms of this.been to gp had ecg over a year ago,had the 24 hr.ecg but no real symptoms at those times.gp says no further action needed, but its quite scary when i get it.The rapid heartbeat usually lasts 2-5 mins and usually if I have many things on the go at once....any info or kind words welcome please?

[dawny1908]

Hi I also suffer svt. I got told my palpatations were normal and that some ppl feel them some don't. So after that I just went with it thinking they are normal. Then 118 months ago I went to doc feeling all achey etc. The doc said he would send me to hospital as he couldn't rake BP and all he could hear was rapid heart bumping. I went in they took me to resus which was scary and I ended up having a drug called adenosine. I was told some ppl get it once and others with get it again. I now have to give them 15 mins when they start and if the don't go I have to go to a & e. I am on bisoprolol 1.25mg twice daily. Docs think mine is stress related. Its annoying as I can't go far in case it should start. The highest mine gas been is 196bpm. They was another lady in with it next cubicle to me and hers was 256bpm. If there's anything I can help with let me know

[Hidden]

The big problem with diagnosing arrhythmias of all types is actually catching them. How often are you having episodes? You can get holter monitors for as long as a month in some cases, but for sure, a 24 hour tape isn’t going to be much good for SVT unless you’re having symptoms every day. The only good thing is that even if these are episodes of SVT, they are currently short and self-limiting. In my own case, my episodes were often hours long and requiring hospital intervention, although I’d been incorrectly told that you only needed to go to hospital if they lasted longer than a couple of hours and/or were above 180. The correct advice once you have a diagnosis is that you should seek help if they last more than 15 minutes. Management day to day is medication to reduce the number of ventricular ectopic beats you have, as ectopics are the trigger for episodes of SVT. When I also cut out the dietary/lifestyle factors medically known to cause ectopics, I completely stopped having episodes where I had been having them 3 or 4 times a month on average for 5 years. It’s now been 5 years since my last episode, and whilst I still have noticeable ectopics, and still require medication and to avoid certain foods to keep it under control, I’m no longer on pins waiting for the next episode and winding up in A&E to get my heart reset.

It’s worth bearing in mind that although it’s very unpleasant, in 99% of cases it is considered a benign arrhythmia. That’s not to say it doesn’t need dealing with, because it does, only that it’s not life threatening. The first thing you need to do, though, is get a diagnosis. If you’re in a position to get a private appointment, I would potentially pursue that route both because it’s quicker but also because you are paying for the privilege so they do tend to be more willing to look a little harder, but the only other option is to outright ask the doctor to refer you in to cardiology on the NHS. Sometimes you do need to be politely assertive with these things. I would sit down and explain you’ve been having these episodes, you haven’t been able to catch them with the monitor last year, they’re still ongoing, and you’d like to be referred because you’re concerned you’re having short episodes of SVT that need ongoing management.

[Davjak in reply to Hidden]

can you give me a rundown on the dietry adjustments you made please?im vegan,have cut out caffeine and rarely take alcohol.My diet is a very healthy one consisting mainly of wholefoods and plants.I also take the appropriate supplements that a vegan diet benefits from...thanks for your reply it was very helpful

[Hidden in reply to Davjak]

So, there’s a short list of lifestyle and dietary things medically known to increase and/or worsen ectopic beats:

Caffeine, including in things like green tea, and it doesn’t have to be large or frequent amounts - I’ve found I need to completely avoid caffeine wherever possible as even a quarter of a teaspoon of instant coffee is enough to trigger loads of palpitations and additional ectopics

Dark chocolate, including where dark chocolate has been used to make a chocolate cake or pudding, and also including cocoa powder in some cases. I’m not sure what the situation is with raw cacao, though.

White chocolate

Ginger of all types - this is one I’m particularly sensitive to, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s fresh, stem, or powdered, it will set me off

Alcohol

Tobacco

Some medications including antihistamines, salbutamol, local anaesthetic containing adrenaline (normal lidocaine), and also over the counter remedies containing pseudoephedrine, which is found in many cold, flu and cough treatments. Worst bout I ever had not ending in hospital was after a dose of covonia cough mixture.

Recreational drugs, particularly (but not exclusively) stimulants

Insufficient sleep - burning the candle at both ends is a guaranteed naff few days for me

Stress

Some people also say that spicy food sets them off, but it’s not an agreed trigger not 100% what element of spicing sets people off. As you mentioned being a vegan, there is an increasing belief that any food containing higher levels of tyramine may aggravate ectopics and associated arrhythmias because it has an effect similar to adrenaline. Significant levels of tyramine are found naturally in many cured, fermented, and spoiled foods including in soy based dairy alternatives, tofu, bean curd based products, and in a number of fruit and veg.

As with all of the above list, some people find they’re sensitive to one specific thing, others find they’re sensitive to multiple things, but some also find that exclusion has no impact. In my own case I have found that the things that trigger me have to be avoided completely, and I notice a massive difference if I don’t or unknowingly eat something by accident. It has made a huge difference to my quality of life though.

[Davjak in reply to Hidden]

wow thankyou so much for that!i have tea and dark chocolate.... and tofu but very occasionally.I think my worst thing is stress,especially since covid reared its ugly head! Im in the vulnerable group at 76 and with copd...which requires inhalers....are the meds available suitable for copd sufferers i wonder.

some days i have none...last week had none, but today ive had 4...lasting about 2-3 mins.My GP is not the most understanding person sadly, and since covid the surgery have stayed very much below the radar so to speak...the whole thing is making me feel scared and anxious and quite depressed actually..I value the time youve given me thankyou so much...jackie

[Hidden]

Sounds like you’ve had an adventure TRST. Not trying to be funny or difficult, but I felt the need to reply to your comment because SVT on its own wouldn’t require an ICD. It’s an arrhythmia driven by the atria: the supra bit of the name literally means above, so the faulty signal is coming from ‘above the ventricles’, which is why it’s not considered a life-threatening problem. An ICD is appropriate when there’s VT and/or VF as these are ventricular problems that are considered potentially life-threatening. It may be that you’re having episodes of SVT in addition to either VT or VF (and SVT can very occasionally trigger VT in people with a ventricular problem), but they try very hard to make sure ICDs can distinguish between VT and SVT so that it only fires for a sustained ventricular event. An ICD shouldn’t fire at all for episodes of SVT.

[Hidden]

Thanks for the compliment, and I’m glad my explanation was of help, but I do find it really sad that so many doctors fail to do that in appointments. There’s nothing in medicine so complex that it can’t be broken down into plain English that everyone can understand!!