what to do to calm tachycardia

[chitown1120]

My 21 year old daughter has been dignosed with supraventrical tachycardia and sinus tachycardia I have taken her to the er multipal times for this condition.How scared sould I be that she will have a heart attack?

[itdood]

Things like the valsalva maneuver (bearing down hard like you are going to the bathroom) can stop SVT in its tracks.  It's better to do this as the SVT starts, if it's been going on too long it's harder to break on your own.

These are called "vagal maneuvers" and can help prevent a trip to the ER.  Discuss with her doctor.  ERs are no place to get a long term diagnoses or treatment plan.  ERs often misdiagnose nuisance-type conditions.  Spend your time and resources with a cardiologist instead of at the ER.

[cindy707]

Amiey is correct in the heart muscle being deprived of oxygen but also be aware that one of the causes as well is plaque that is built up in the arterys and breaks lose also causing the same result.  Your daughter has age on her side however you didn't tell us what her heart rate is beating at and what other symtoms that she has.  You may  want to make an appt. for her to check to see if she is a candidate for an ablation.  (See Pam924 earlier post).  Sounds to me like you need to help her make an appt. with a cardiologist for med control and possibly a holter monior for a couple of days to really track this thing down.  She is young enough that they should be able to get a handle on this with no problem.  I understand your worry completely because i too have two daughters altho thank God they are in good health but know i would be sick inside if something serious happened to their health.  Do your job....be the mama bear and protect her by leading her in the right direction.  With medical science the way it is today within a couple of weeks this could just be a distant memory for both of you.  Check out not good but great cardio docs in your area  and good luck to you and your daughter......

[amiey2217]

you should not be concerned that this will cause a heart attack. although the symptoms are scary and can be similar to those of a heart attack, they are really unrelated. svt is an electrical problem. a heart attack is a result of the heart muscle being deprived of oxygen (usually from a blood clot in the heart). the muscle becomes ischemic and dies without rapid intervention. This does not happen with svt. svt can occur for many reason but the basic thing is that something outside the heart's "pacemaker" is telling the heart to beat much faster than normal. it depends on what is causing her svt, but she could try meds or opt for a cardiac ablation for the svt if it becomes troublesome enough. she should see a cardiologist.