E246 Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 Are svt's a product of pots?I notice quite a few people here experience them. At what point do you take drugs to control them?I have them off and on and usually they only last for say 10 seconds but today i had on in the 200's that went on for 3-5 minutes. I tried the valsalva technique repeatedly before it worked. It was a bit alarming not to be able to control it for once and i was very shaky all day afterwards.I can't take bb's as i often have a slow hr.What does anyone else do to control them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L4UR3N Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 I cant really give you an answer as to if SVT is a product of POTS, but it is interesting that many of us do have SVT in addition to POTS.Have you had this arrhythmia evaluated by a doctor? I actually have Atrial Tachycardia, which is a rather rare form of SVT. Unfortunately they cant easily ablate atrial tachycardia, so I am living with it. Most other forms of SVT can be ablated, and if you have Wolf Parkinson White (WPW) it is something you definitely want to have evaluated and treated because it has the potential to be fatal.SVT is very scary when it happens and feels like complete crap. The first time it ever happened to me I was exercising and wearing a heart monitor. With POTS my heart rate is already way above where it should be, and I do get dizzy, however when I get SVT I get so weak I cannot even lift my arm to my head (to call 911), let alone stand up or exercise. My heart rate went from 140 (I was slowly walking on the treadmill) up to 220 and would not come back down even after lying down. After having many many many bouts of SVT I decided to try to get an ablation--that's when they realized that it was atrial tachycardia and unfortunately it could not be ablated. One thing I know helps break SVT is to put and ice pack over your eyes. This stimulates your vagus nerve and will lower your heart rate. It works a million times better than bearing down .So sorry you have to deal with this too . It's no fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janiedelite Posted March 1, 2012 Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 Emma246, this would be a great question for one of our medical advisors. We publish a column in each newsletter in which DINET members get their questions answered. If you'd like to pose this question to one of our medical advisors, go to this link and follow the instructions: http://www.dinet.org/q&a.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Csmith3 Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 My guess is that they are related. I think there are several drugs which potentially help and it is a case of trial and error finding one that suits you. I couldn't tolerate BBs either. I take flecainide which has been a great long term solution with no side effects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L4UR3N Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 Antiarrhythmics can definitely work. Just remember though that any antiarrhythmic also has the potential to be a proarrhythmic (meaning can cause more arrhythmias). Everyone is different though, so what may work well for one person might not for another. We all seem to be unable to take beta blockers though which is interesting, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E246 Posted March 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Thanks, That's really reassuring to know there are medications to deal with this if it becomes worse. Do these drugs interfere with exercise? If they stop the heart beating fast then is exercise a problem? This is really important to me.I presume at the level i am getting these, medication is probably not necessary but at what stage or length of episode would you seek help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serbo Posted March 4, 2012 Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 For those of you on BB's, what is your resting HR prior to, and on BBs?E.g im not on a BB and my resting heart rate is like 45 - 60. Creeps below 50 when i sleep.Bit concerned about going back on BBs becasue how low my resting HR already is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoegal Posted March 4, 2012 Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 atrial tachycardia is rare? I have that + inappropriate sinus tach, doc said both where safe and meaningless and told me I don't need a cardio anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L4UR3N Posted March 4, 2012 Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 Hey Shoegal! Yes atrial tachycardia is one of the more rare forms of SVT. Do you know what type of atrial tachycardia you have?I actually work in cardiology, though I cannot give you advice. I can tell you though that depending on what type of atrial tachycardia you may have there is a potential for decompensation into heart blocks (which are dangerous). This is just my personal opinion, but for me personally, I would be very cautious of any cardiologist that would send me away with IST and atrial tachycardia. These are not normal rhythms and they do need to be monitored and treated if possible. Any type of tachycardia (POTS included) can lead to an enlarged heart called Cardiomegaly. This in turn can lead to heart failure and a host of other life threatening issues. I'm not saying that to scare anyone, just to create awareness that tachycardia is not a benign arrhythmia, and does need to be treated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E246 Posted March 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 Serbo, my rate is ususally between 50-60 and they do not want to prescribe bb.Rissy,I was diagnosed with narrow complex tachcardia and as they were short lived there was no action needed. Is this an adequate explanation and investigation? I get irregular rhythms as well but no one seems to have picked up or commented on this.Also well done for getting all you diagnosis in the uk. Struggling to get tested for anything. How did you do it.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L4UR3N Posted March 4, 2012 Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 What sort of testing have you had done? Month long holter monitors, stress tests, echos, CXR--these are all typical tests for cardiac arrhythmias. In my opinion, if you feel that something is wrong, then it needs to be evaluated. Month long monitors are very important because a lot of arrhythmias are short lived and can play hide and seek, lol. I also get copies of all of my medical records and read through it with a fine tooth comb--things can be, and are missed all the time.I am actually in the U.S.A not the UK. It has been a looooong hard road getting diagnosed (I have had these problems my whole life). It wasn't until the past few years that I got very fed up with waiting around for doctors to order the right tests. I do a lot of research and reading, and actually ask my doctor for specific tests that I feel may be beneficial. My job helps with being taken seriously, but even without that there are things you can do. If you present them with scientific articles that can support your request (in other words, no wikipedia --think research articles--pub med is a great place to find them), they will take you more seriously and be more likely to order tests. Be aware that family doctors are generally not the doctors who will order unusual tests--you need specialists such as Cardiologists, Neurologists, Geneticist etc. Just be very persistent and try to put aside the fear of what they might think of you. Your health is more important than any one person's uninformed opinion of you . Hope this helps!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoegal Posted March 4, 2012 Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 Hey Shoegal! Yes atrial tachycardia is one of the more rare forms of SVT. Do you know what type of atrial tachycardia you have?I actually work in cardiology, though I cannot give you advice. I can tell you though that depending on what type of atrial tachycardia you may have there is a potential for decompensation into heart blocks (which are dangerous). This is just my personal opinion, but for me personally, I would be very cautious of any cardiologist that would send me away with IST and atrial tachycardia. These are not normal rhythms and they do need to be monitored and treated if possible. Any type of tachycardia (POTS included) can lead to an enlarged heart called Cardiomegaly. This in turn can lead to heart failure and a host of other life threatening issues. I'm not saying that to scare anyone, just to create awareness that tachycardia is not a benign arrhythmia, and does need to be treated.They didn't say what type of atrial tach, it's usually short though although have gone to 190 instantly and stayed there for 20 mins (not fun) The last month my sinus tach has been bad, I have low BP so they cant up my beta blockerThe cardio got mad I came in for the results, said there is nothing to be done for either, they are fine and I was wasting his time, he is dismissing me from the practice, the only cardios in the county.I asked for a copy of the strips, no idea if my PCP can tell which type of atrial tach it is though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoegal Posted March 4, 2012 Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 He also tried to say it was "just normal female anxiety issues"The nurse said something too about no P waves for the tachI asked if I could have Sinoatrial nodal reentrant tachycardia, they laughed me off, maybe I was right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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