How to cope with SVT....Need advice...ablation or drugs or nothing?

[sb786]

Hello everyone,

I am 27 years old and have been recently diagnosed with svt and have just started to get the annoying PVCs too. I have not really tried any meds to help with the svt yet. I have mild asthma so can only take a very lose dose of beta blocker. I tired calcium channel blockers for 2 weeks only but they do not work for me and i hated the side effects. Now i am thinking about an ablation. I have read very few success stories and many horror stories. Personally i'm afraid of the whole procedure and don't like the idea of scarring/burning areas of my heart. I just want to ask other SVT sufferers that have had an ablation for their experiences.
After the procedure did you experience other arrythmias such as increased PVCS? I have read that some people still get the svt but only very short runs instead of the sustained attacks. I also remember asking a paramedic about ablations and he said they were not a very good idea unless your svt attacks were unbearable and very frequent. He told me that the scarring from the ablation has caused some patients to suffer AFIB later on in life! How true are these rumours?

Also are there any SVT sufferers who have found success with drugs rather than the ablation? Or perhaps you have other coping techniques that work during an svt attack??
It would be interseting to see how many people have taken the ablation route, drug therapy route or do nothing and just put up with it route!

[CollegeGirl143]

oi vey.. Another example of beware of what you read... Unless that paramedic is secretly an EP, cardiologist, or had prior experience with ablation himself, he really is in no position to make a judgement on ablation..

Depending on what type of SVT you have, success rates usually vary around 90-98%... These are VERY good numbers..

I had an ablation for SVT and its the only thing that saved me and made the anxiety stop.. Yes i had more frequent palps in the month i was healing, but after that, i felt less palpiations..

Complications during ablation are less than one percent.. And i can safely say as a patient that fell into that one percent, the complication i suffered was extremely minor, and didnt change my opinion on the procedure whatso ever.. I give ablation a 5 star review.. Its the only thing that stopped my anxiety...

[PikaPika88]

Ablation takes 5 to 10 stars at that few recent years that I classified.  When my A-Fib came in 2005, my cardio said he expected. It just come in a bit early!

Now 2007, showed that portion of my heart muscle dead. Heart wall movement impaired.  Again another cardio said that the infarction could due to the radiofrequency ablation and less likely a blockage.  I think the Research is waiting for the first few radiofrequency survivors reported.  

I wonder now a day so many young children have the ablation....  I think the bio medical engineers need to speedy up their invention of artifical heart.  Otherwise will turn up their parent or lovers going to robb a good heart for their child or love one. LOL  

Ask the medhelp doctors if anyone have a chance to get in that answered forum.

[anacyde]

I have read the horror stories too, but the statistics are excellent.  The internet can be a frightening place!  90%+ for successful SVT ablation.  I don't much care for the idea of burning my heart either.  I've been dealing with the PSVT for 12 years now.  I mostly experience PACs.  They're my warning to back off, as if I don't, the SVT will typically follow a rapid succession of the single ectopics.

I like natural management, avoiding the potential triggers.  However, if an ablation is indicated, it's a risk versus benefit issue.

[sb786]

Was your ablation for svt? Was the svt cured?
Are you saying the ablation caused your AFIB?

[PikaPika88]

I've His bundle ablation.  SVT & medication free for 20 years.  During these time, I had 2 babies.  Considering successful.

2005, I've vibration in my chest.  I told the cardio.  He said is A-Fib.  He expected I'll have that but didn't expect it'll come so early. (He knew what caused because he expected but I did't expect the A-Fib is included in the ablation package.  I expected cure with no side effect that what they told me before the ablation in 1985.)

I didn't read and see any ablation package in the web.  All I read is unsuccessful then tried again and again....  And so many parents wanted their children to do it as early as the EP will do it.  

I wish to see and read some posts who had their ablation more than 20 years.  What comes up?  A compare?  Well, I know normal human being could have A-Fib too but not 100%. Would the scar caused the heart muscle dead and movement impaired?  Are these in the ablation package?

[mariop]

I just had an ablation the other day and unfortunately the doctor could not reproduce the arrhythmia.  However because he was fairly familir with my heart he burned the most likely areas.  It will take 2-3 weeks to find out if there was any success.

The reason for an ablation is that the meds do not control the problem or the side effects are intolerable.  In my case all the meds we tried either were not effective or I wasn't able to handle the dizziness, or other side effects.

If this ablation was not sufficiently successful, I will go for a repeat ablation.  My only complaint is that my EP is booked for two and a half months. This is a long time to wait when you get pounded relentlessly by your heart day in and day out.

[sb786]

I hope your ablation was successful. What was the ablation for?
I have not really tried any meds to see whether they will help. I am currently on a low dose beta blocker and i hate the dizziness. My resting heart rate and bp are naturally very low so i cannot take a great amount of heart meds. What was the actual ablation procedure like for you?

[CollegeGirl143]

I didnt remember mine at all.. I remember them giving me a sedative, saying "night" and i woke up four hours later infront of a tv in a bed... I remembered going up an elevator to get to the cath lab, so i guess once i started coming too i kept asking over and over again "how did i get here? did i go on the elevator?" someone would tell me yes, and then ide ask again like 30 seconds later lol.. I woke up briefly during the ablation when they induced my svt because im so sensative to it.. all and all, it was a very easy procedure...

[mariop]

Well I did experience some discomfort; mostly from my body being in a fixed position for a long time.  You cannot move at all, your hands are tied and there's an oxygen mask that felt as if it was suffocating me.  I think the Aenastheleogist was an idiot.  Otherwise the whole procedure was fairly tolerable.

My ablation was for PVCs that originate in my left ventricle.  There's a site with more info on this:
pvcablation.com

I have to wait for 2-3 weeks to see if it was successful, if not I will request a repeat ablation.  I do not tolerate meds well, so there's no choice left.  My problem is that my EP is booked for a couple of months;  sad to say but there just aren't enough EPs around to do these procedures.  Moreover, I found the typical advise about "just forget them, their benign" to be nonsensical. An irregular heart beat is un-natural, and somewhere down the road it must take its toll on the heart apparatus.

[PikaPika88]

We got no more choice left!  Ablation is only the last resource.....  Some, they not even try the medicine yet!  Only some.....  but I'm still wishing them "Good Luck" and "Take care"!  Long term medication can cause other organ damage too!  Really a hard option.

[vange]

Ablation...Im 26 female, and had one 4 years ago...i havent had SVT since...my heart rate was up to 240bpm...so I hear ya....I didnt even have an EP study because they caught it on an ekg strip from the paramedics...honestly, i havent had any runs of SVT...just have annoying PVCs now...dont worry, it could be just what helps you.

[kjaj]

I have had PAT and SVT for 22 years now and have managed it quite well with meds. For many years I was on Digoxin but eventually it stopped working effectively. Then I began a very old medication called Norpace and it has really done the trick! I may get a skipped beat or so 1 or 2 times per week but no racing episodes. However when I was on Prozac for 2 months this last winter I ended up in the ER with a geat rate of 185. I beleive it was a side effect of the prozac as the pharmacist told me it is a possibility even though the doctor's said they did not think so. I stopped the Prozac! They reccomended the abaltion to me but after a stress test the doctor said I was very healthy and so was my heart and that  only having 2 real episodes in 22 years I could continue the meds and hold off on the ablation. Over the years I have always had skipped beats and a few minor episodes of a racing pulse but nothing major as it did subside and I am a very anxious person to boot! I really feel good with the norpace. I don't plan to have an ablation unless it is absolutely necessary.

[diagnoseme]

I had an ablation six weeks ago (Sep 09) for SVT.  My cardiologist said that I was "cured" and that there was only a 1-2% chance it would return.  Well, it returned.  About four weeks ago, I had a short 5-minute episode while taking a shower.  And a few days later, had a couple of 1-2 minute episodes.  Then this past weekend, I had an episode that lasted over 45 minutes before I went to the ER because I couldn't get it to stop on my own.  While in the ER, my heart rate was between the 170's to 230's.  After 30+ minutes of waiting for the dr, I was given adenison via iv two different times (the first one didn't work) before my heart rate finally slowed to the low 100's.  This has been so frustrating.  I opted for the ablation rather than meds because I am trying to get pregnant and then after I had it done, it started back even more frequent that before.  I have also had continuous heart palpations all throughout the day which is very bothersome.  Not sure what to do...??  I am 32 years old and this has been an ongoing problem for at least 15 years, which has gotten worse and more frequent as I have gotten older.  This was the second time I've had to go to the ER this year and about the sixth time total, all within the past 5 years.  Does anyone know if there are any meds out there for this that will be safe while trying to get pregnant or during pregnancy?  The last thing I want to do is take anything which may be harmful but I don't know how much more of my fast heart rate and palpatations I can take.