Re: Is it really Tachycardia?

Posted By Kris on July 07, 1999 at 11:31:24
I am a 25 year old female who has recently been diagnosed with Tachycardia.  I have a 5 month old baby and when I was about 7 months pregnant, I wore a 24 hour monitor because I told my OB that I felt like my heart was skipping a beat every once in a while.  The cardiologist said that I was not actually skipping a beat, but adding a beat and what I felt was my heart resetting itself.   The monitor also showed that my heart rate sometimes got as high as 169 pbm.  However, he told me it was probably due to being pregnant. ( My OB thought it may have picked up the baby's heart rate).  Since I have had my baby, I have still been having the feeling that my heart skips beats and went back to the Cardiologist (this time his partner)  He looked at my tests from when I was pregnant and told me I had Tachycardia and there were two things that could be done for it.  Medicine or an ablation procedure.  I've read about Tachycardia in this Forum and have noticed everyone mentions feeling their heart race.  I never do.  All I feel is my heart skip a beat.  It seems to be getting more frequent, but rarely happens every day.  I remember getting this feeling for at least the last 6 years.  Also everytime I have ever tried to take my pulse, it is hard to count and seems to always be faster than it should be.  I guess my question is should I have more testing done now that I am not pregnant to see if I really have Tachycardia?  What does it sound like to you?  and How dangerous is the ablation procedure vs. the medication in the long run?   Thanks!

[Deb__0__0]

Posted By Deb on July 07, 1999 at 18:06:21
Hi,
I think you should see an EP doctor. (Electrophysiolgist) These are cardiologists that specialize and treat cardiac arrhythmias.  I think what you need to do before any ablation is to find out what kind of tachycardia it is.  There are many kinds.  You can have an EP study done to see if it can be reproduced, and if an ablation can help.  Certain types of tachycardia are hard to ablate. At times depending on where the tachy rates are coming from, it may be hard to ablate without ablating the AV node, and or the sinus node.  It is possible to do a sinus node modification, and this might help if the rates are from the sinus node.  But any ablation has the risk of needing a pacemaker if too much is ablated.  You need to see an EP doc who is really good at this.  They have all the info and the know how.  I would never agree to anything without first seeing an EP doctor.  You need to decide this for yourself, I am only letting you know what I was told by my EP doctor.  
Good Luck

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - CRC on July 08, 1999 at 10:59:46
Dear Deb,
I agree, an EP (electrophysiologist) is the best type of doctor for this problem.  
Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only.  Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies.  Please feel free to write back with additional questions.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter.  The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.











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