Horrible episode tonight

Had a really bad argument with my ex tonight.  I was following him in my car because he had my children and was driving very erratically and fast in the rain.  My heart was going absolutely nuts.  It felt like I was going in and out of atrial fibrillation or tachycardia.  It would take off for a few seconds at a time, then beat normally, then take off again. Then I was having groups of PVCS or PACs.  I still can't tell them apart.   It lasted for at least fifteen minutes and it really didn't seem like my heart was going to go back into normal rhythm.  Has this ever happened to anyone here?  How can you tell the difference between SVT and atrial fibrillation?  Are they the same thing?  Things seem to have calmed down for the most part.  Anyone?

[FLBrat]

I would tend to say that any mother following her children in a car that had a driver acting irresponsibly would have problem heartbeats.  I think it is more incident related.  Too bad a grown adult doesnt realize better than to  take agression out on the roadway, especially with passengers.

[Artaud]

Hi,

The on the road Cardiac Stress Test, definitely not Doctor Approved. I surely have gone through many of these over the years. You would think that I would have the sense to avoid needless confrontation (I am not suggesting this has anything to do with your actions tonight). But no, I get mad, my heart goes insane, and sometimes the rhythm goes awry. But unlike Pavlov's Dogs, I do not seem to be bright enough to learn by the repetition of the symptoms.

Groups of PVCs or PACs? Try taking your pulse at your wrist, and see if you feel the same symptoms that you are aware of at your heart. If the symptoms at your wrist are not in sync with your feelings inside, try gently taking your pulse at your neck. I have read that PVCs can easily be felt at the wrist, but PACs are not always so easy to feel there. Also, groups of PVCs, take note of the group repetition. I get Trigeminy, suddenly my constant companion in place of the usual random PVCs that I would get. Two normal beats and a PVC, etc. It goes on and on for several minutes. Trigeminy is quite common, as is Bigeminy, and I would guess Quadrigeminy. Bigeminy has a PVC every other beat, Quadrigeminy is every forth beat. My wife brought a book home from work that showed the EKG pattern for Trigeminy, and the text said that the heart easily falls into this pattern of beating (at times). Usually these pattern type PVCs, in someone with a structurally sound heart, are benign.

Wish you well.

[Celeste77]

So sorry to hear about your episode tonight. I've had very similiar situations in my past, and tonight, I'm right there with you. I believe it's definetly emotion-stress related.
After an argument with my fiance today, my heart has been hard at it off and on. I even had a run of NSVT when he started back up an hour ago. Like yours, mine was speeding up, then normal, then I would throw a string of PVC's. I've often wondered if I'm having runs of SVT too...it's so hard to tell everything apart sometimes.

Wish I could offer more about SVT and AFib...

I'm happy to hear things have calmed down again, Take care!

[caregiver222]

You have my sympathies. Please don't worry about having a cardiac problem! Almost anyone placed in such a stressful situation may have temporary irregularities.