Concern for my stress test

[islandgirl_08]

Hi.....I am so nervous and anxious for my stress test tomorrow.  I'm getting some anxiety sensations because I'm scared to feel weak and chest pain while doing the stress test.  My doctor had ordered out this stress test to figure out the fact that I had about 2-3 episodes of Supraventricular Tachycardia in less than 6 mos. to a year.  My doctor at first thought it was because of low potassium levels, but was able to rule that out after the 3rd episode.  My potassium level in the ER was normal.  It's like now I can't even do house chores or daily activities because I would feel rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, and feeling of faint.  It feels like when I do normal activities my heart has a set limitation, it's not the same as how it use to be.  I am already suffering anxiety because I fear having another episode of SVT and it's uncomfortable symptoms.  I am a 21 year old female, who use to be so active with my kids.  I use to be playful and take them out often, but I fear having unpleasant symptoms associated with SVT.  Forgot to mention, even just to walk up a staircase, causes me to feel rapid heartbeat and an uncomfortable faint feeling.  Is that normal?  Please help me, let me know that there is hope, and I'll be fine during the stress test.  I need motivation to take away the fear of me feeling ill and helpless while on the stress test procedure.  Please tell me I will be okay.

                                                            GER

[Douglas Bogart, MD]

You should clearly have the stress test to get to the bottom of your symptoms.

[ireneo]

I didn't notice any increase in heart events while flying. If my heart wanted to hiccup or flutter, it did it just like every day. As for moving from Denver - I was having daily tachy that would last average 45 minutes at 180-190 bpm. I just figured I had to live with it. The doctor there just said I had PSVT, use the valsalva maneuver, End of story. My husband happened to get a job in the NW and we moved. That's when I noticed my heart was much quieter overall. I didn't make the connection right away.

As for you and airplanes, it's best to ask your doctor if it would have a bad effect on your heart. I'm not clear what's going on in your heart. I can only say flying is safe for me.

I've never had a migraine but considering the stress you were under, I'm not surprised you felt exhausted and bad after it was all over. But aren't you glad it's done and you did well? Congratulations.

[islandgirl_08]

Hello there, you were right, the stress test went all well.  The weird thing was that because I was so  nervous prior to the exercise, my heart was already tachy up in the 130's.  So the doc said, she might not have to work me up all that much and laughed.  I was able to at least reach 83% of my max heart rate, only because I had lightheadedness somewhat minor SOB, but no chestpain.  Afterwards, when I came home had major migraine, not quite sure if it was from the work out, or what had triggered it.  Along with that migraine had somewhat a tachy even 2-3 hours after the testing was done.  It was up in the 100's, didn't quite bother me much.  But I wanted to know if that was normal to have it up above 100 even past 2-3 hrs past the test.  I was also curious you mentioned that flying went well for you, but you did have to move from Denver due to the elevation.  May I kindly ask what elevation does or how does that become dangerous to our heart especially with our tachycardia?  Do you feel pressure or discomfort while flying up high in an aircraft?  I'm just curious to know if I'd be safe or not up in the air.  

                                  Thanks GER

[ireneo]

Again, want to encourage you - I fly on planes to visit my son and daughter in law. Not a problem. We did have to move from Denver because of the elevation, I was having many more episodes than I do now and they lasted quite a long time. Then again, I've recently had 3 catheter ablations which have helped my heart too. Yes, really.

Has anyone talked to you about using vagal maneuvers to break a tachy time? My favorite is the valsalva. If my heart acts up and doesn't want to stop dancing around, I take a breath, hold it and bear down like during a bowel movement. It takes about 10 seconds and I can feel my heart thump and protest. But usually when I release my breath slowly, my heart will kick back to a normal rhythm. Sometimes it takes up to 3 valsalva's to break it. Don't wait for an hour though. The longer the tachy goes on, the harder it is to stop it. Ask your doctor about vagal maneuvers or look them up online. Maybe you'll find one that works for you. Let us know how the test goes.

[islandgirl_08]

Thanks for your comment.  I guess I'm so nervous and scared of my outcome.  I'll admit that I fear having a tachy and it's symptoms while on that treadmil or even so after.  I am petrified as it is.  I wish I could be how it all use to be, where I hadn't had much limitations to what I can do.  I suffer anxiety because I fear of having an episode.  I'm praying that all goes well for this test.  Not quite sure if I actually want to go through with it, that's how bad my fear is.  Although my mother keeps telling me, that it's one way for the Doc to find out what my heart can cope with.  Of course, I want to know how well or poor I do, it's just hard for me.  I'm also shocked about a friend who'd mentioned about people with heart problems like mine don't cope well with flying on an aircraft.  Now I'm so stressing on that fact, only because I need to get back home in 4 mos or so without having a health issue while on board. I know this is so off the subject, but I just needed someone to talk to.  I feel comfy getting advice from you all that share the same health issue as I do.  Once again thank you.

[ireneo]

I can only share what happens with me. I'm wearing an event monitor now for the month. I go through this every 2 years. Although I'm not recording everything that happens, I'm keeping a general log of how often I get a tachy time. I seem to be averaging 8-17 episodes a week these last 3 weeks. Sounds like a lot? Not really since they're not all that fast (under 200 bpm) and don't last long (typically under a minute). Do some activities trigger an event? Yes but sometimes they just happen when I'm sitting. The good news is that I've had this all my life, I'm 55 and still living it up.

I did do a stress test recently and got lucky - no tachy during those 10 minutes on the treadmill and so I passed the test. It wasn't difficult at all but I was nervous. They watched me closely, kept asking how I was feeling (fine, fine) and then it was over. Even if your heart decides to start doing a tap dance in there, they'll ask how you're feeling and if you feel bad, they'll stop the treadmill. They don't want any harm to come to you. They just want to see what your heart can do. Try to get some rest and just have fun with it. Pretend you're going for a hike or a walk around the neighborhood. I even closed my eyes for part of it so I could ignore them. Let us know how you do. It's not bad, really.