PSVT confusion

Hello,
Last week I had the strongest/longest episode of psvt of my life. My manager ended up calling 911 and when the paramedics got there my heart beat was at 246. They gave me 6 mgs of adenosine and that didn't work so they gave me 12 more and then it converted. They took me to the ER and I saw a cardiologist there who asked why I never had the ablation, but I never considered my symptoms bad enough to warrant ablation.

I saw a cardiologist once after my GP caught a few seconds of psvt on an ekg about four years ago. That cardiologist lead us to believe having any serious implications from PSVT was akin to getting gangreen from a hangnail. I take 100 mgs of metoprolol daily and I have about 3-6 episodes a day, most last less than a minute, but I usually get one a day that goes on for 1-2 minutes. Over the last three weeks however, I've had one really strong episode a week lasting 20-40 minutes.

My husband and I are very confused by this because we always thought it was just bothersome, but not that it was serious. How serious is PSVT? I have a very physically demanding job (I work in a warehouse). Could this be causing an increase in my episodes? Is it common to have so many small episodes a day? We're waiting on a referral to see a cardiologist. When we get my appointment, should I be pushing for the heart monitor?

Thank you so much for your time!

[ireneo]

I don't know if a heart monitor is necessary since they already know you have PSVT.

Before my ablations my PSVT would last 15 - 45 minutes at a time. I also had many of the small episodes during the day simply from standing up or rolling over in bed. But since I'd had this all my life, I thought it was "normal" for me. I was in my 20's before a doctor told me what it was called. And it wasn't until I was in my late 40's that a doctor told me it could be fixed with an ablation. So the advice you get can vary widely from one doctor to another.

I'm not sure why you had a bad tachy time (duration). It's such an unpredictable problem. I was so used to limiting my activities because I knew what would trigger my tachy. Then when I saw the cardio that wanted to do an ablation, I thought he was weird. Why poke around in my heart to fix something I've had all my life? He simply said "Well, I wouldn't live like that."  

The bottom line is if the PSVT is disrupting your life or if you need to go to ER to get it converted every now and then, perhaps an ablation might be best.