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PSVT, event monitor, weakness
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MedHelp Member's Question

PSVT, event monitor, weakness

by em1981, Jun 28, 2006 12:00AM
I'm a 25 year old female, good health. I posted about a year ago after a holter catching psvt, pvc's, pac's, bigeminy, etc. Recently found out it also caught nsvt. Had a normal echo at the same time. I have recently been having episodes of rapid heart beat with weakness. The intial episode was preceded by nausea, spine tingling, and exhaustion, several hours leading up. The rapid heart rate itself only lasted for maybe 10-20 minutes, during which it pounded and I felt very weak. My GP still thought it was anxiety but got me an event recorder which I'm on right now. I've caught some episodes although not quite the same. I've also been having some episodes of feeling faint, but I'm bordering on being anemic and currently taking iron supplements. The faintness has occurred in extreme heat and after a lot of exercise (not during).

My GP has said everything is from anxiety. However, this morning a few minutes after I had put on my event monitor I felt a one second head rush/shortness of breath, which I would have attributed to anxiety but looked at the event monitor and my pulse read 208, at least for one 3-second reading.

I've also been having difficulty eating without having diarreah a few minutes afterwards. This often either follows or precedes a rapid heart episode, but not always.

1. Is it likely something has changed to something I should be concerned about?

2. Is the 208 pulse something to be concerned about? Are event monitors accurate in pulse readings over 3 seconds?

3. I would like to have children, but am terrified to be pregnant with this - advice?

Thanks!
Doctor's Answer

by CCF-M.D.-MJM, Jun 28, 2006 12:00AM
Hello,



1. Is it likely something has changed to something I should be concerned about?





The answer is in the holter/event monitor. It is usually fairly easy to differentiate an SVT from sinus tachycardia (seen with anxiety in some people).  I doubt anything significant has changed.



2. Is the 208 pulse something to be concerned about? Are event monitors accurate in pulse readings over 3 seconds?



I would not be concerned.  That is a very short burst of "something."  It could be real or artifact from motion -- I would have to see the study. Several beats of PACs could do this and would require no additional therapy.



3. I would like to have children, but am terrified to be pregnant with this - advice?



Have the children.  SVT is almost never a dangerous arrhythmia and there is nothing about your case that sounds dangerous.  Talk to you doctor about this, but I am sure he will encourage you to have children.



I hope this helps.  Thanks for posting.
Member Comments (16)

by em1981, Jun 28, 2006 12:00AM
I knew I forgot something - for 2 nights over the past 2 weeks, I have had irregular beats while laying in bed, that won't go away unless I sit up. This caused 2 relatively sleepless nights. This has happened several times, but less more recently until these two episodes. These worry me less than the rapid beats.

I would like to hear from anyone who has heart an event monitor, or any monitor that showed really high but nonsustained (or sustained) pulses, like over 200. I'm trying not to freak out but I've pretty much been having a panicky few weeks. Oh, how we all think we're going to suddenly die :) it's a bad way to live.

by em1981, Jun 28, 2006 12:00AM
To: anacyde
Thanks so much for your comment. I do have anxiety, and it's 100% worrying about my heart rhythms, which is what gets me - which comes first, the actual heart rhythm disturbances or the anxiety? It's hard to figure out. All I know is I do feel much better during times of minimal stress, and when I get enough sleep, don't drink alcohol, eat well, exercise, etc. I can almost guarantee that my current sudden spike in symptoms is due to some major life changes - getting married AND getting a house this summer, so things are hectic. But there's been no problems or anything - it irritates me that I seem to be overly sensitive to stress. Any little thing and my heart freaks out on me. Which is why pregnancy concerns me, but I'm happy to hear you made it through successfully.



I'm also afraid of the lack of sleep in the months following a birth, because exhaustion seems to effect me more than monthly hormonal changes. But my mom and fiance know that, and have already said they'll help me through the times when the baby doesn't sleep through the night so I can at least mostly sleep through the night. So that's great, they're supportive of me.



Do you know if your heart spikes to 200 often? I was feeling good for about a year, even with occasional symptoms, but of course I educated myself too much and became terrified of the fast rhythms more than the pvc's, pac's, etc. Then when I started getting weakness and fatigue symptoms it really freaked me out and that's when I went back to the docs. But I guess my frame of mind should be, I'm still alive :)



I was back to feeling ok last week, after catching some episodes on the event monitor and seeing that it mostly only spiked in the 150 range. But the 208 freaked me out this morning.



Minimalizing the freak outs is probably critical eh? Haha. Eh - yeah I'm Canadian, and the health system is from my perspective much slower than it is in the US, which also doesn't help.

by mia2552, Jun 28, 2006 12:00AM
i am a 28yr old female. i think i might have symptoms of mvp. heart beats so hard out of my chest, iget dizzy from that. i can't fall asleep on my left side or my heart starts fluttering and sometimes after an hour of sleep i'll wake up and my heart beats real hard and slow. my sister is 26 and has an irreg. heart bt. and takes atenol(beta-blocker) for it. she likes it and no longer gets dizzy from her heart. well, i go to the cardio next month. hopefully he finds that my heart is not doing its job right. so, do u think this sounds like mvp???

by Pum, Jun 28, 2006 12:00AM
I have been pregnant and actually found it decreased my anxiety hugely.  The pregnancy hormones calmed me right down and all my anxiety symptoms cleared.  This continued on right through breastfeeding.  So please don't worry about that.  Having children is such a joy and I'd hate you to miss out due to irrational fear.



Good luck.

by em1981, Jun 29, 2006 12:00AM
To: anacyde
Thanks again for the post. It's always comforting to hear of someone in a similar situation, because nobody in my personal life really gets it at all. They're supportive and don't think I'm psycho or anything, but they really can't understand.



I've been trying to wean myself off of the websites, they are definitely torture. Unfortunately my willpower declines when I'm feeling particularly bad, which is when it's most important that I don't read, haha.



I'm glad to hear you had relatively good pregnancies. How was being in labour? I'm concerned about the hormonal changes in general, but also the moments of being in labour - being in that type of stress gets your heart rate up to begin with.



I'm mostly concerned of my heartrate going into a sustained rhythm that's over 200. But, I guess I shouldn't be when I have no proof that I've ever gone into any sustained rhythm, other than nights full of pvc or pac bigeminy, still, I can even knock myself out of that rhythm if I get up out of bed. And even if it DID, I hope as an atrial rhythm I'd still have time to get to a hospital. My biggest problem is getting over the "what ifs".



Having children might be good for me - get my mind off myself and onto someone else :)



Always good to get another opinion and thanks to the doc for that. I love this website. Also because unfortunately I really don't trust my doctor, she's had me diagnosed with anxiety/panic since before she got any test results back. And it's annoying when the tests show that yes I do have psvt, she still thinks I'm completely psycho haha. Drives me nuts. Took me 7 months to get into see a cardiologist the first time, and I don't think she'll send me to one again with these event monitor results. The last cardiologist I saw basically laughed at me and told me to go home - but the holter results he had only had a few pvc's and pac's, no runs.



Anyways, I AM STILL ALIVE! Haha. And I have a wedding to plan...

by bama jane, Jun 29, 2006 12:00AM
To: em
I have had a few short episodes of high heart rates as well.  I am on a low dose of atenenol and when it does race now it usually doesn't go over 130 or so.  It still races sustained for no more than 10 minutes about once a month.  I have short bursts of psvt lasting a few beats daily.  Also I have pac's or pvc's that wake me most nights for 7 years. My doctor doesn't seem that concerned either.  The problem is in living with it and the shortness of breath and discomfort it causes. Tried an ablation did not work for me. Tach was much faster and more frequent back then. Makes it difficult at times to get enough rest at night. If anyone has any tips on how to sleep through runs of palps at night I would love to hear it.

by mom4cem, Jun 30, 2006 12:00AM
Can't say anything better than what has already been said. I've been through 3 pregnancies. It was worth it. It was rough at times, and other times it was good.



It is hard to get past the fact that your heart is fine, good, when you get those pvc,pacs and pesky arrhythmias.  I still freak out about it and I've been going through this for years also.



I recently have been going through bouts of my heart