Aa
Psvt
Hello everyone,
I have been diagnosed with psvt not too long ago. I had a couple of questions if anyone knows or has any experience possibly.
1) does anyone else get high blood pressure when psvt strikes? My blood pressure is normally normal/low but when those episodes happen(maybe because of anxiety too), my bp rockets, I saw it once that I was kinda freaking out at about 175/90. I took it today when it happened, not too long ago and the first times I tried, the monitor gave me an error, and finally after it had stopped, it showed 145/70. Does that happen to anyone else, your bp to go up due to psvt? I thought that it was supposed to go down, not up, so I am confused...
2) I have a flight in 2 weeks, going to live back to my country and it's an international trip, around 8 hours and then layover and 3 more hours and I am really scared... I don't know what might happen if that things starts when I am on the plane and I cannot stop it. I am freaking out that it will happen on the plane and I will die because there is nothing I can do.
Would appreciate any answers. Thank you, John
I have been diagnosed with psvt not too long ago. I had a couple of questions if anyone knows or has any experience possibly.
1) does anyone else get high blood pressure when psvt strikes? My blood pressure is normally normal/low but when those episodes happen(maybe because of anxiety too), my bp rockets, I saw it once that I was kinda freaking out at about 175/90. I took it today when it happened, not too long ago and the first times I tried, the monitor gave me an error, and finally after it had stopped, it showed 145/70. Does that happen to anyone else, your bp to go up due to psvt? I thought that it was supposed to go down, not up, so I am confused...
2) I have a flight in 2 weeks, going to live back to my country and it's an international trip, around 8 hours and then layover and 3 more hours and I am really scared... I don't know what might happen if that things starts when I am on the plane and I cannot stop it. I am freaking out that it will happen on the plane and I will die because there is nothing I can do.
Would appreciate any answers. Thank you, John
SVT events can last for many hours. My longest lasted over 24 hours. My feeling is that you'd be fine. Perhaps a chat with your physician on this subject would help.
Thank you all so much for your responses, I truly appreciate it. My doctor told me before about the beta blockers, I am a bit hesitant but if it reaches the point that I can't really function I will certainly try it. I have also thought of the ablation, it sounds a bit scary but I know that I might have to try it to get rid of all that stuff.
My fear is that when I go on the plane, I will get an episode that lasts for too long and it will make me drop dead. The one thing that works for me sometimes is drinking cold water , which makes me burp and stops it sometimes.
What happened actually last night was that I ate and then my heart started having pacs( I have gerd and gastritis) and I guess that's what brought it up. I have to say that I have grown afraid of eating after all that...
I know that everyone's advice is not to replace a medical opinion and I will ask my cardio about it, but do you think that if it happens on flight( the one that is 7 hours), I could be in danger for my health? I mean, is it possible for it to last that many hours and finally hurt you?
Thank you all again for your responses!
My fear is that when I go on the plane, I will get an episode that lasts for too long and it will make me drop dead. The one thing that works for me sometimes is drinking cold water , which makes me burp and stops it sometimes.
What happened actually last night was that I ate and then my heart started having pacs( I have gerd and gastritis) and I guess that's what brought it up. I have to say that I have grown afraid of eating after all that...
I know that everyone's advice is not to replace a medical opinion and I will ask my cardio about it, but do you think that if it happens on flight( the one that is 7 hours), I could be in danger for my health? I mean, is it possible for it to last that many hours and finally hurt you?
Thank you all again for your responses!
When re-reading my post, I found an important correction. The sentence:
" Firstly, the conductive tissue should be there in the first place." should be, "Firstly, the conductive tissue should NOT be there in the first place."
" Firstly, the conductive tissue should be there in the first place." should be, "Firstly, the conductive tissue should NOT be there in the first place."
I will give you my analysis that is based on generally along lines of accepted facts about SVT.
1) If you are a smoker, stop. I know it's easier said than done. You are placing yourself into another bracket for SVT susceptibility.
2) While exercise helps cardiac tone, it does nothing in the way to re-map, remodel, or otherwise alter existing electrical activity within your heart. I say this as I once competed at international levels in speed skating and sprint cycling. My cardiac conditioning was superb, yet I continued to experienced numerous SVT events. Young people MAY outgrow SVT as their hearts develop and grow in size. But if you're an adult, don't expect exercise to do anything in the way of preventing SVT. It will certainly make you healthier, and I wholeheartedly support that!
3)Beta blockers are NOT the dreadful medicine they may be made out to be. They can be helpful in maintaining cardiac rhythm, and reducing the number of SVT events. They will help in lowering blood pressure, and may reduce resting heart rate. These last two effects are actually side effects of the medicine but are often prescribed to take advantage of them. If you are not on one now, I suggest looking into them. I found they greatly helped in converting an episode. I've taken the beta blocker Metoprolol for nearly a decade at varying strengths. Some experimenting is necessary to find the correct dosage that works for you, but not adversely affect you. The only effect I feel is that it takes a little longer for get my heart up to "operational" speed. I just compensate by warming up a little earlier and a little longer than everyone else. Also, a beta blocker is not meant to be "popped" when you feel that you need it.. It should be taken on a regular basis to build a therapeutic level in your blood.
4) As I mentioned above If you're an adult and have SVT, it will most likely not going to go away on its own. If you haven't had an episode for a while, you're probably just lucky. Quite often a correctly timed PAC or PVC can initiate an event. These cardiac "twitches" can happen sporadically. If you aren't experiencing them, you might be SVT free as well during this "quiet" period.
5) Most SVT's are generally benign to an otherwise healthy heart. Again, smoking does not lend itself to a healthy heart. The problem arises when SVT occurs in an older person. When my cardiologist saw the high rate my heart was running at during an SVT event, he urged me to seriously look at my situation considering my age. At the time, I was nearing 60. I was clocking episodes at 240 beats per minute or 4 beats per second and this really concerned him. Despite knowing my current and past athletic background he was concerned that the frequent SVT events could prove to be damaging to my heart particularly as I aged into my late 60's and early 70's. This leads to:
6) Cardiac electrophysiology procedure and ablation. This procedure offers the best chances to eliminate your SVT for good. It involves cauterizing pinpoint locations in your heart to sever the pathway that is causing the SVT. The success rates for this procedure when used on common forms of SVT are in the high 90% range. I personally don't buy the argument that you're destroying heart tissue. Firstly, the conductive tissue should be there in the first place. Secondly, the area that is cauterized is very small. For instance, mine consisted of a "wide" line of 17 connected burns which amounted to a small scratch on the wall of the left atria near the valve to the ventricle. I was 100% again following about 2 weeks of taking it easy. There are instances of SVT returning again after an ablation, but this is uncommon. The scar left by an ablation is merely a barrier in the errant conductive path. If it heals over of if the path wasn't totally severed, conduction can resume.
7) If you don't know methods of converting your SVT, you should learn. That knowledge kept me out of the hospital ER for over 50 years. There are different methods used, but a popular one is Valsalva which worked for me. Others use headstands, ice water face plants, and with specialized training carotid artery massage. For some, none of theses methods work, so professional intervention is necessary.
If you were asking me for advice on how to deal with your upcoming travel plans, I recommend that you see a physician prior to traveling and have him prescribe something to take the edge off your anxiety. Something like Alprazolam would take the edge off but not totally lay you out so you'd remain alert during the trip. You could get home and seek further advice there.
In closing, I'd urge you to address your arrhythmia now rather than later. I lived a lifetime with it. I know what it prevented me from achieving, and what it made me miss out on. I know how SVT was intertwined into my daily life until my cardiac abnormality seemed normal to me. Take care of it now, and be able to live a life free of the millstone that you must constantly carry around.
1) If you are a smoker, stop. I know it's easier said than done. You are placing yourself into another bracket for SVT susceptibility.
2) While exercise helps cardiac tone, it does nothing in the way to re-map, remodel, or otherwise alter existing electrical activity within your heart. I say this as I once competed at international levels in speed skating and sprint cycling. My cardiac conditioning was superb, yet I continued to experienced numerous SVT events. Young people MAY outgrow SVT as their hearts develop and grow in size. But if you're an adult, don't expect exercise to do anything in the way of preventing SVT. It will certainly make you healthier, and I wholeheartedly support that!
3)Beta blockers are NOT the dreadful medicine they may be made out to be. They can be helpful in maintaining cardiac rhythm, and reducing the number of SVT events. They will help in lowering blood pressure, and may reduce resting heart rate. These last two effects are actually side effects of the medicine but are often prescribed to take advantage of them. If you are not on one now, I suggest looking into them. I found they greatly helped in converting an episode. I've taken the beta blocker Metoprolol for nearly a decade at varying strengths. Some experimenting is necessary to find the correct dosage that works for you, but not adversely affect you. The only effect I feel is that it takes a little longer for get my heart up to "operational" speed. I just compensate by warming up a little earlier and a little longer than everyone else. Also, a beta blocker is not meant to be "popped" when you feel that you need it.. It should be taken on a regular basis to build a therapeutic level in your blood.
4) As I mentioned above If you're an adult and have SVT, it will most likely not going to go away on its own. If you haven't had an episode for a while, you're probably just lucky. Quite often a correctly timed PAC or PVC can initiate an event. These cardiac "twitches" can happen sporadically. If you aren't experiencing them, you might be SVT free as well during this "quiet" period.
5) Most SVT's are generally benign to an otherwise healthy heart. Again, smoking does not lend itself to a healthy heart. The problem arises when SVT occurs in an older person. When my cardiologist saw the high rate my heart was running at during an SVT event, he urged me to seriously look at my situation considering my age. At the time, I was nearing 60. I was clocking episodes at 240 beats per minute or 4 beats per second and this really concerned him. Despite knowing my current and past athletic background he was concerned that the frequent SVT events could prove to be damaging to my heart particularly as I aged into my late 60's and early 70's. This leads to:
6) Cardiac electrophysiology procedure and ablation. This procedure offers the best chances to eliminate your SVT for good. It involves cauterizing pinpoint locations in your heart to sever the pathway that is causing the SVT. The success rates for this procedure when used on common forms of SVT are in the high 90% range. I personally don't buy the argument that you're destroying heart tissue. Firstly, the conductive tissue should be there in the first place. Secondly, the area that is cauterized is very small. For instance, mine consisted of a "wide" line of 17 connected burns which amounted to a small scratch on the wall of the left atria near the valve to the ventricle. I was 100% again following about 2 weeks of taking it easy. There are instances of SVT returning again after an ablation, but this is uncommon. The scar left by an ablation is merely a barrier in the errant conductive path. If it heals over of if the path wasn't totally severed, conduction can resume.
7) If you don't know methods of converting your SVT, you should learn. That knowledge kept me out of the hospital ER for over 50 years. There are different methods used, but a popular one is Valsalva which worked for me. Others use headstands, ice water face plants, and with specialized training carotid artery massage. For some, none of theses methods work, so professional intervention is necessary.
If you were asking me for advice on how to deal with your upcoming travel plans, I recommend that you see a physician prior to traveling and have him prescribe something to take the edge off your anxiety. Something like Alprazolam would take the edge off but not totally lay you out so you'd remain alert during the trip. You could get home and seek further advice there.
In closing, I'd urge you to address your arrhythmia now rather than later. I lived a lifetime with it. I know what it prevented me from achieving, and what it made me miss out on. I know how SVT was intertwined into my daily life until my cardiac abnormality seemed normal to me. Take care of it now, and be able to live a life free of the millstone that you must constantly carry around.
And just to let you know, when I first started getting all my rhythm issues: PVCs, PAC, PSVT etc. I was scared to death to do anything, travel, exercise, ANYTHING! That was almost 30 years ago and I'm still here. The moral of the story is, you will learn to live with these things. Or in your case since its just the PSVT you have the other options I mentioned above. Hang in there it does get easier.
My feeling is, the rise in bp and headache may be due to anxiety more than anything else. I'm no doctor but you're young, healthy and had the cardiac testing. Remember, this won't kill you. It may become bothersome and you may want to treat it with meds or ablation in the future but you shouldn't worry about flying. Ps: even the rise in bp shouldn't be worrisome in a young healthy person.
Thank you so much for your reply! My psvt normally does not go above 180, one time was 182, another time it was 174 and last night close to 150. I am currently in the USA and I am moving back to Greece. I tried to check about shorter times, but most of the flights are the same, because you have to cross the ocean.
My psvt started around 4-5 months ago. My episodes last from seconds to maybe 10 minutes max(for now), and the weird part is that sometimes my trigger is fatty foods as it happened last night. I never had to go to the hospital to get the IV yet. I am 27 years old, had all the heart tests possible and my heart is in good health otherwise. I do drink one cup of coffee a day and I am a smoker too though. I used to exercise but after all that started I am too scared to do so. I am 5' 10'' and 125 pounds, lost 40 pounds since all that started...
My other question is, yesterday when I got the episode I started having a headache, which I am not sure if it was because of the blood pressure or not. I mean, is it possible that your blood pressure can rise dangerously during the episode for something to happen?
Thank you again for your reply!!
My psvt started around 4-5 months ago. My episodes last from seconds to maybe 10 minutes max(for now), and the weird part is that sometimes my trigger is fatty foods as it happened last night. I never had to go to the hospital to get the IV yet. I am 27 years old, had all the heart tests possible and my heart is in good health otherwise. I do drink one cup of coffee a day and I am a smoker too though. I used to exercise but after all that started I am too scared to do so. I am 5' 10'' and 125 pounds, lost 40 pounds since all that started...
My other question is, yesterday when I got the episode I started having a headache, which I am not sure if it was because of the blood pressure or not. I mean, is it possible that your blood pressure can rise dangerously during the episode for something to happen?
Thank you again for your reply!!
I've been dealing with PSVT fir many years. I usually max out about 220 hr. Have you learned the tricks to self convert? If you read some of the older posts many of us talked about it. You can always Google it too. I can't remember how to spell it (valsalva?) But maybe someone else can come in with that. Self conversion doesn't always work and sometimes chemical conversion is needed but the important thing to remember is PSVT will NOT kill you. In an otherwise healthy heart even several hours in SVT won't harm you. Try not to worry yourself too much over your flight. (I know easier said than done) let us know how it goes.
If your PSVT was below 180 you would still be pumping blood through your body sufficient to raise your blood pressure. If it is over 180 then your left ventricle does not have time to fill before the next beat and it stops pumping blood so your blood pressure can drop precipitously. Mine jumps from 70 to 160 and stays their so my blood pressure goes from 128/78 to 165/110 because of the increased amount of blood being pumped.
Where do you live now and where are you going to? Maybe you should be taking a number of shorter flights instead of one long one. You could take some heart medications like Beta Blockers to slow your heart rate from 72 to 55. I don't know. You could also take a presciption of Beta Blocker Meds or another fast acting med to slow your heart-rate so you can take these if you have an episode.
My suggestion to you is start daily 45 minutes lap-swims and continue these for 23 months. It will lower your resting heat rate by 10% at least, which is what Beta Blocker drugs do anyway, and your heart muscles will get stronger and remodel themselves and your electrical pathways will become re-established so they will no longer short-circuit.
How many years ago did you PSVT start? What is you heart-rate during an episode? Have you had Adenosine to revert? What exercise do you do now. The worst is running, the best is swimming.
Where do you live now and where are you going to? Maybe you should be taking a number of shorter flights instead of one long one. You could take some heart medications like Beta Blockers to slow your heart rate from 72 to 55. I don't know. You could also take a presciption of Beta Blocker Meds or another fast acting med to slow your heart-rate so you can take these if you have an episode.
My suggestion to you is start daily 45 minutes lap-swims and continue these for 23 months. It will lower your resting heat rate by 10% at least, which is what Beta Blocker drugs do anyway, and your heart muscles will get stronger and remodel themselves and your electrical pathways will become re-established so they will no longer short-circuit.
How many years ago did you PSVT start? What is you heart-rate during an episode? Have you had Adenosine to revert? What exercise do you do now. The worst is running, the best is swimming.
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