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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
Could palpitations be slow SVT?
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Could palpitations be slow SVT?
by jtznh, Nov 21, 2004 12:00AM
Hi, I have a question about palpitations. I have been diagnosed with PVCs and PSVT which I can usually correct by bending over. The palpitations have all been checked out as benign. I've had ultrasound done and the PVCs and PSVT have been caught on the EKGs, and I'm told there isn't any structural problem. I'm 31, non-smoker, in great shape and get a lot of exercise.
Sometimes though, I get different palpitations that give me the same weird feeling in my chest I get with the SVT, except with a very slow pulse (40-80 I think). This only happens if I'm at rest. This is hard to describe, but maybe it feels like a frog deep in my throat, and my pulse sort of pounds, and I know it isn't a normal heart beat. It almost feels like I'm in shock and I'm not getting enough blood. When this happens I get pale, dizzy and unsteady, and pretty scared, even though I'm used to the usual SVTs and they don't scare me anymore.
The slow palpitations will then speed up to be SVT, hang around for a while, and eventually my heart will reset itself (usually with a trick like bending over or the valsalva maneuver). Since this is rare, it's never been caught on a monitor (unlike my PVCs and SVT which have).
So my question is, does this sound like part and parcel with the other benign arrhythmia? Can SVT be slow, does that make any sense? Or does this sound like something different I should worry about? Thanks!
-Josh
Sometimes though, I get different palpitations that give me the same weird feeling in my chest I get with the SVT, except with a very slow pulse (40-80 I think). This only happens if I'm at rest. This is hard to describe, but maybe it feels like a frog deep in my throat, and my pulse sort of pounds, and I know it isn't a normal heart beat. It almost feels like I'm in shock and I'm not getting enough blood. When this happens I get pale, dizzy and unsteady, and pretty scared, even though I'm used to the usual SVTs and they don't scare me anymore.
The slow palpitations will then speed up to be SVT, hang around for a while, and eventually my heart will reset itself (usually with a trick like bending over or the valsalva maneuver). Since this is rare, it's never been caught on a monitor (unlike my PVCs and SVT which have).
So my question is, does this sound like part and parcel with the other benign arrhythmia? Can SVT be slow, does that make any sense? Or does this sound like something different I should worry about? Thanks!
-Josh
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-M.D.-MJM, Nov 21, 2004 12:00AM
Hi Josh,
It is very difficult to tell without catching it on a monitor. Most PSVT or VTs warm--that is start slower and accelerate. SVTs like the one you describe, that break with vagal maneuvers like valsalva and bending over, usually start at one rate and stay at that rate until it breaks.
One possibility is your heart is beating fast enough that you can't feel every heart beat. If the beating is irregularly, irregular, it may be atrial fibrillation, but again, you need to record it on event monitor.
Although it can happen, it is unusual for someone to have two different arrhythmia's through a different mechanism.....in otherwords, SVT and VT don't usually occur in the same patient, especially a young person.
Less likely but always in the differential, anxiety attacks cause accelerating sinus tachycardias.
It always boils down to catching the rhythm on monitor though.....
Hope this helps.
It is very difficult to tell without catching it on a monitor. Most PSVT or VTs warm--that is start slower and accelerate. SVTs like the one you describe, that break with vagal maneuvers like valsalva and bending over, usually start at one rate and stay at that rate until it breaks.
One possibility is your heart is beating fast enough that you can't feel every heart beat. If the beating is irregularly, irregular, it may be atrial fibrillation, but again, you need to record it on event monitor.
Although it can happen, it is unusual for someone to have two different arrhythmia's through a different mechanism.....in otherwords, SVT and VT don't usually occur in the same patient, especially a young person.
Less likely but always in the differential, anxiety attacks cause accelerating sinus tachycardias.
It always boils down to catching the rhythm on monitor though.....
Hope this helps.
Sounds like the feeling I have when I had bigeminal PVCs, a PVC every other beat. Another cause could be AIVR(accelerated idioventricular rhythm) just a thought. Good if it could be caught on a holter to identify the rhythm.
Best wishes.
It took a while (15 years maybe) for me to catch mine. It changed over that time, becoming more lengthy and predictable. I found mine to be correlated with strenuous exercise after laying off for a while. Symptoms similar with yours. Pulse rate much higher, however.