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Anyone have v tach with a normal heart?
I'm a 24 year old female who was diagnosed with PVCs earlier this year. I had a halter done back in January and it picked up a 7 beat run of v tach. Naturally this freaked me out. Since then I had several EKGs, blood work, and an echo which all came back normal. In March, I was lying in bed and I felt something move in my chest and I had a sudden, crushing pain. I checked my pulse and it was going very fast. I tried to measure my pulse but I was too alarmed by how fast my heart was going. I felt my heart move again and my beats returned to normal. I contacted my cardiologist and he put me on a month long event monitor which only picked up PVCs and normal sinus rhythm. I voiced my concerns about this event, but he did not seem concerned and told me to move past this. I believe that this event was either PSVT or a longer run of v tach. I wasn't counting the seconds so I'm not sure if it was sustained or not. All I know is that it stopped on it's own and my heart was beating abnormally because I had to pee every 15 minutes afterward. I read that a chemical called ANF (atrial natriuretic factor) is released when the heart goes into some form of arrhythmia and can cause frequent urination. Since I was not being recorded during this event, I will never know if it was PSVT or NSVT. Its hard for me to move on from because my doctor brushes me off and the fact that everything I have read about v tach refers to it as a dangerous arrhythmia and a precursor to something worse. My question is what causes v tach to happen in a health heart? Is it just as deadly as it is in an unhealthy heart? Have any of you experienced v tach and have a structurally normal heart with no other disorders? How do you manage it? What does it feel like when you experience it? Can you differentiate PSVT from NSVT without a reading? I also do not have a family history of arrhythmia or sudden death.
In any otherwise healthy heart even vtach is not considered life threatening. It is more dangerous than an svt occurring in the atria but if your heart converted on its own then odds are it isn't something that is a major threat. It's generally a big threat when a person falls into a fast rhythm and can't get out of it. As well you very well had a fast beat from the atria. I've had both, svt and nsvt and the nsvt for me felt like a thumping in my chest while the svt felt very fast and manic. I have never had sustained vt and my episode was stress induced so I can't say for sure what you felt but unless you are passing out from what is going on odds are doctors are not going to get overly concerned. It's one of those things you may just need to keep an eye on and see if it gets worse as you age.
I personally would not take anything for it. Beta blockers only help people with pvcs in some cases and in others they make it worse. They do nothing to prevent an svt episode except it may be a bit slower than it would have but it would still likely be fast. And antiarrhythmia meds are dangerous in and of themselves.
I had svt my whole life with very rare episodes while I was young only for it to become active enough to treat when I was in my 40s. You really need to be active for the EP to be able to find and ablate the problem area or the whole procedure becomes a waste of time and money. Sounds like you are in the States and it is very expensive so a doctor would need proof you had it before they prescribed the procedure. So I would say read up on vasovagal maneuvers to learn what to do to help the episode stop as soon as possible if you get them again. Holding your breath and bearing down or drinking a cold glass of water or even sticking your head in ice water are tricks that often work. As well watch what your stomach and stress. Issues with the stomach can actually contribute to triggering an episode. Acid reflux and gas especially. As well caffeine can throw the heart rhythm off a bit as can becoming dehydrated. Watch sugars and carbs and drink plenty of water because it helps the heart function better. And work on stress and anxiety as those will trigger the heart to act up as well.
To understand the dynamics of what is happening, most of the time people with arrhythmia issues have multiple issues, especially premature beats with some form of tachycardia. People with premature beats don't necessarily have a tachycardia issue like svt, afib or vt but if one did have a tachycardia issue odds are they also have premature beats. It is common for a premature beat to trigger a tachycardia episode because the premature beat throws the normal beat cycle off giving the other rhythm issue a chance to happen. So the movement you felt was likely a premature beat or maybe a few of them close together which gave your heart the opportunity to fall into a fast beat because of some extra muscle fibers in your heart creating a loop and then another premature beat likely did the same thing to reset the heart to normal. But the fact that your heart did it on its own is a good sign you really don't have too much to worry about because the signal is able to be disrupted without intervention. So do your best to try and not obsess about it because the stress will actually leave you more vulnerable to your heart acting up.
In the end most heart rhythm issues do not lead to death. Even VT is no longer seen as a death sentence. It must be taken seriously and responsibly but unless the heart is really damaged odds are the heart will revert back to normal on its own. And yes, after an svt episode I would pee a lot because of the chemicals released in the body during the episode so odds are you do have some sort of tachycardia but because of your age I would suspect it is more likely an svt than vt. Either way if your heart is healthy it can handle both so long as they are managed well. So just do what you can to try and minimize your chance of triggering the episodes and work to get them to stop as soon as possible and you should be fine, your heart should be able to handle things without any extra wear and tear on it. There may come a time that you will need to deal with getting your issue tended to or you could go your whole life with minimal issues. Time will tell but odds are in your favor either way you will live a long healthy life despite your heart being a little wonky at times. Take care.
I personally would not take anything for it. Beta blockers only help people with pvcs in some cases and in others they make it worse. They do nothing to prevent an svt episode except it may be a bit slower than it would have but it would still likely be fast. And antiarrhythmia meds are dangerous in and of themselves.
I had svt my whole life with very rare episodes while I was young only for it to become active enough to treat when I was in my 40s. You really need to be active for the EP to be able to find and ablate the problem area or the whole procedure becomes a waste of time and money. Sounds like you are in the States and it is very expensive so a doctor would need proof you had it before they prescribed the procedure. So I would say read up on vasovagal maneuvers to learn what to do to help the episode stop as soon as possible if you get them again. Holding your breath and bearing down or drinking a cold glass of water or even sticking your head in ice water are tricks that often work. As well watch what your stomach and stress. Issues with the stomach can actually contribute to triggering an episode. Acid reflux and gas especially. As well caffeine can throw the heart rhythm off a bit as can becoming dehydrated. Watch sugars and carbs and drink plenty of water because it helps the heart function better. And work on stress and anxiety as those will trigger the heart to act up as well.
To understand the dynamics of what is happening, most of the time people with arrhythmia issues have multiple issues, especially premature beats with some form of tachycardia. People with premature beats don't necessarily have a tachycardia issue like svt, afib or vt but if one did have a tachycardia issue odds are they also have premature beats. It is common for a premature beat to trigger a tachycardia episode because the premature beat throws the normal beat cycle off giving the other rhythm issue a chance to happen. So the movement you felt was likely a premature beat or maybe a few of them close together which gave your heart the opportunity to fall into a fast beat because of some extra muscle fibers in your heart creating a loop and then another premature beat likely did the same thing to reset the heart to normal. But the fact that your heart did it on its own is a good sign you really don't have too much to worry about because the signal is able to be disrupted without intervention. So do your best to try and not obsess about it because the stress will actually leave you more vulnerable to your heart acting up.
In the end most heart rhythm issues do not lead to death. Even VT is no longer seen as a death sentence. It must be taken seriously and responsibly but unless the heart is really damaged odds are the heart will revert back to normal on its own. And yes, after an svt episode I would pee a lot because of the chemicals released in the body during the episode so odds are you do have some sort of tachycardia but because of your age I would suspect it is more likely an svt than vt. Either way if your heart is healthy it can handle both so long as they are managed well. So just do what you can to try and minimize your chance of triggering the episodes and work to get them to stop as soon as possible and you should be fine, your heart should be able to handle things without any extra wear and tear on it. There may come a time that you will need to deal with getting your issue tended to or you could go your whole life with minimal issues. Time will tell but odds are in your favor either way you will live a long healthy life despite your heart being a little wonky at times. Take care.
First have you been told that this is not in any way life-threatening (or not)? I take a combination of a beta blockers and calcium channel blockers. After an unsuccessful catheter ablation (my PVCs disappear when I lie down). I have tried many many meds but so far my best result has been to stop trying to treat the arrhythmia and concentrate on BP and heart rate. The PVCs are vastly improved once HR and BP are under control. For me the dosage is critical. I use a Polar HR monitor and Elite HRV on my phone to monitor heart rate variability. I can see the PVCs on the phone which is helpful. I can also see what effect the meds have which means I can control the dosage quicker and easier than letting the consultant do that.
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I was never told that it was life threatening. My doctors tell me that it's nothing to worry about but I feel like they aren't listening to me. I take beta blockers currently, but the side effects are impacting my quality of life and I'm constantly told by others that I'm too young to be on them. I want some sort of heart monitor, but every one thinks it's a bad idea because I would just obsess over my heart more. I want an ablation too but it's so expensive and I'm terrified of what might happen during the procedure.
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