I'm currently taking 27.5mg prednisolone for GCA and have svt which has been controlled by bisoprolol
until the past week when I have had attacks of increasing severity. Can this be a reaction to the steroids which I am reducing but I can't do so too quickly. Does anyone have advice/experience. Thanks.
SVT comes in clusters, well it does for me, I call them major and minor, unfortunately the major one's see me going into hospital. Steroids have never affected my SVT, I have COPD as well, use steroids in my inhalers daily and if I have an exacerbation (which is regular) I then take a higher dose of steroids.
Only come off the steroids as you've been told by a medical professional, otherwise you can have side effects, so my respiratory team told me. I don't use Beta Blockers I can't take them, I have something called verapamil which I take on a daily basis for my SVT.
I'm not sure this helps, but I hope it does, but, please see your GP or specialist team.
Thank you for that. SVT certainly does come in clusters. I'd had virtually none since taking a low dose beta blocker since diagnosis three years ago, until three weeks ago when they increased in intensity and frequency. My GP increased my dose of Bisoprolol beta blocker but they are still coming more frequently. I had three within an hour this morning.
I've been taking the steroids at high dose for three months and am sure there must be a connection though GPs are equivocal about this. I have to reduce the steroids very slowly as I have GCA/PMR and too rapid reduction produces a flare up.
My attacks are short -only minutes long - but frightening as you know. I am to have an ECG next week and hopefully a review of medication after that.
Thank you again for your advice.
Maria, have you been given information about being able to stop them? There are several ways and for me it really depends on the severity as to whether it works or not.
1. Hold your nose tight and strain as though you are constipated (I know) but there are times when it works!!
2. Immerse your hands in really cold water up to your wrists. This has never worked for me, but again I've been told it can work.
3. Immerse your face in really cold water (I think the shock factor) and this does sometimes help.
4. Don't panic, easily said, but sometimes when you can hear your heart beating, it can set you to panic mode. This may sound crazy, but I start talking to myself, taking deep breaths and sitting up straight helps too alleviate the panic.
Are you only seeing your GP and not a Cardiologist?
Thanks for the techniques for stopping; I had heard about a couple of them but my problem is once an attack announces itself I'm so dizzy all I can think of is finding something solid to hold onto and hope I don't pass out.
Local surgery is in meltdown at the moment and all that is an offer is a telephone consultation but when I get my ECG next week I shall try to press for an appointment at cardiology. I haven't seen a consultant since my initial diagnosis and as things are worsening I thinks it's high time I did.
Thanks again. It's good to hear from someone who understands this illness.
If you wish to ask any more questions, just write and I'll of course respond. As you become used to them, yes, you will get used to them! You will start reading the signs of an episode coming on and start to deal with them better. Good luck and ask to see a cardiologist, if only to put your mind at rest.
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