Anyone ever experienced heartrates from 258 to 36 bmp repetitively?

I was diagnosed with SVT and put on Metoprolol twice a day on Feb. 22.  For 10 days all my symptoms seemed to go away.  Then, Wednesday I began to feel irregular heartbeats and fatigue.  On Saturday, I felt really fatigued, so I got out my sport watch heart monitor so I could monitor my heart rate.  For 3 hours my heart rate would go from 60's to over 200 beats a minute, then down to the 30's or 40's.  The time in the 200s would be brief--5-10 seconds.  The recovery time from the 30's or 40's took a few seconds longer.  For a while the episodes occurred as often as 3 times a  minute.  I never felt the accelerations or decelerations themselves, just felt fatigued and "yucky".  I went to the ER, but had my last episode while I waited to be seen.  I did have a heart rate that kept going under 54 bpm and kept triggering the monitor alarms.  I was kept on O2 the entire time I was there.  The ER doctor put me on a Holter monitor for 48 hours, but I've had few symptoms.  He said there was some heart condition where the heart rate would go from high to low extremes, but didn't tell me what it was.   So, has anyone else ever experienced this?  Is it just a weird form of SVT that I'll have to learn to live with?  And how should I deal with it when it happens?

[Bromley]

Hello.  This sounds like a wild ride.  I had SVT that would take my heart rate up there in the 200's someplace.  This rate could last for 6 minutes sometimes.  After ablation though the duration of fast arrythmia decreased to 10-15 beats.  However, I was also put on metoprolol and found that my heart rate would drop quite low as a result of the drug.  I must say that when the episodes of the arrythmia are bad, metoprolol provides a great deal of relief.  In my case a very small amount suffices to eliminate symptoms, and does not seem to slow my heart rate as badly.

I suggest telling your doctor about this.  Maybe they would want to adjust your dosage.

Man I am really sorry to hear this; I know what its like to have these sorts of symptoms, and it really is not a lot of fun.  Hang in there though; medicine has really improved and there are answers out there for people like you.

regards, Bromley

[Bromley]

Oh. Point of clarification.  When I say suggest talking your doc about "this", I mean talk to your doctor or doctor's office about your symptoms (not mine).  Perhaps they would want to adjust your dosage....

[waverly]

Been taking metroprol for several months; 150 mg per day; still have episodes as often as twice daily for at least an hour at a time. Second ablation planned for about 3 months from now. Is it common to have episodes while taking this med.  The episodes do not last as long now with this drug but are nevertheless quite scary.

[sian333]

Hi there.

I think your doctor is referring to Sick Sinus Syndrome, but he may also be talking about SVT. I'm not too sure.

SVT can start very quickly and end very quickly, so it can go from 200bpm down to 60bpm within a beat or two.

Sick Sinus is when the Sinus node goes from high to low and alternates from one extreme to the other. It's also known as tachy-brady syndrome. (fast-slow syndrome)

I'm being investigated for Sick Sinus, but it may just be SVT.

My heart rate will sometimes go really rapid (around 200bpm) and then drop to really slow, hard beats. I've also had (i think) a few very brief episodes of A-fib...which supports the sick sinus idea. But I can't say for sure as I haven't caught this on a monitor.

The cure for SSS is normally a pacemaker for the slow beats, and drugs for the tachy. But sometimes EPs will perform a sinus node modification / ablation to control the tachycardia aspect.

I hope this helps : ]