Finally a Diagnosis

[rhoffman86]

Hello everyone! I have been reading a lot of posts on this forum while I waited for my holter results. It all started 8 years ago when I was 25. I had just gotten out of the Army and was in the best shape of my life. One evening, my band was performing (drummer) when I felt my heart beating so fast, I thought I would pass out. I went to the doctor and he said, "Sounds like you're out of shape. Keep exercising." Without fail, every time my band had a gig, my heart would race about 250 bpm for about 30 seconds when we opened up the show. It was concerning but it always went down so I let it go. Then it started happening every night when I would respond to a call while I worked in law enforcement. It got to the point where I had to quit because I could not effectively do my job.

Then, it started happening each time I played hockey. Right at the beginning of each game for about 30 seconds then bam, right back to normal. I saw another doctor who did a 24 hour holter and of course I did not have an episode. She told me "you had a lot of PVC's but you also have panic disorder so just eliminate stress." Mind you, I am not working, not playing in a band, and rarely exercising. She upped my anxiety medication and added ativan which helped my anxiety but not the fluttering / racing heart.

About three months ago, when playing hockey, my heart did the racing thing then came down. Then it went up around 165 and stayed there for about 10 minutes. It started to do that each time I played hockey when I was warming up and really not doing anything. Then, while walking up a flight of stairs, my heart went to 210 for about a minute before coming down. This time, I caught it on my Apple Watch ECG and showed it to my new doctor.

She asked me a lot of questions that no doctor had ever asked. How does my heart beat when it happens? How does it make me feel? What am I doing to provoke it? What helps it calm down? So and and so forth. She ordered a Zio patch for 14 days to see what she could find. Throughout the course of the two weeks, I definitely felt racing, but not the 250 bpm like when my adrenaline pumps. I thought all hope was lost and that I would never get a diagnosis. She called me first thing this morning and told me the holter caught 5 different SVT episodes, each lasting a minute or under and the highest of 185 bpm. She immediately ordered a heart ultrasound and prescribed 25 mg of Metoprolol.

Of course I have ridiculous anxiety and panic attacks since way before I was diagnosed with SVT. I am always on edge and nervous which I know makes it worse. I hate taking medication and haven't started it yet because I am afraid of how it will make me feel. I am relieved and stressed all at the same time. But for anyone else who has been told that it is all in your head and it is just panic and anxiety, don't give up!

[jeanjeannie50]

Welcome to the forum and may I say what an interesting post yours is.

The first thing I want to make you aware of is the fact that your heart beating as fast as it does could eventually cause certain parts of it to enlarge. Also feeling anxious will feed your AF and cause your heart rate to go even higher. Your symptoms are typical of how AF starts for many people.

I guess you probably hate the thought of taking medication, as we all do! However, you may want to reconsider whether to take your small dose of the beta blocker Metoprolol, which would reduce your heart rate and calm anxiety a little. I guess you're aware that it's natural for our heart rates to rise when we are excited, anxious or exerting ourselves physically? However your high rates are not typical, other than for a person with AF or extreme anxiety, where they often are.

I felt just like you when my AF started and was extremely reluctant to take any pills, still am a little that way now! However, I now realise how foolish that was and how it possibly allowed the increase of my abnormal heart rhythms.

I'm not medically qualified, but after having had AF for 14 years feel I have a lot of experience with the symptoms. Why not just take the pills to see if they help? I take a small dose of Metoprolol too and as far as I'm aware it doesn't affect my energy levels in the slightest.

I personally think it's unwise to do any energetic sport when your heart has actually started racing as high as yours does. Those are the times when you really need to sit down and rest until it passes.

Many people with AF have discovered that taking magnesium orally, or rubbing it on their skin in oil form, or by putting magnesium salts in their bath, can help reduce symptoms greatly. Also avoiding caffeine, alcohol and having a healthy diet with no artificial additives.

Wishing you well.

Jean

[rhoffman86 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Jean,

you were right! My wife made me take the medication and I went into full blown panic. BUT! They work so well! I have only had one SVT since and it was really short. My PVC's and PAC's are much rarer now and only occured with that one SVT. I am so glad I am on the medication and the side effects for me are totally bearable.

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to rhoffman86]

Pleased to hear the tablets worked, they are a low dose too

[meadfoot]

Thanks for your post. Yes many of us have been diagnosed with stress and or panic attacks way before we had a proper diagnosis of arrhythmia. Sure if we didn't have stress beforehand we certainly do when we experience these awful arrhythmias.

Hoping you get in front of a first rate electrophysiologist if you aren't with one already and together with your medic you get a treatment plan best suited to you and get back on track quickly. You are in good company on the forum we all understand what you have been going through. Best wishes.

[2468abcmuk]

My gp told me it was stress & I was 19 years old when I had my first attack my heart would race for hours at 260 and I felt like death after !! One day I had enough and drove to A&E were I was admitted for a week and was told I had svt and should never have been left untreated

For years with such a condition in those days gp came to your home & my heart had always returned to normal by then

So he never caught it ! I felt badly let down

And moved gp