A related discussion,
SVT's after 2 abaltions was started.
Thanks for all the advice. I'm hoping to get referred back to my cardiologist on Wednesday so I'll see what he says about event monitors and such. I'm a bit less worried now though so thanks!
Thanks for your replies. It's only recently happened so it hasn't been monitored. They only last for about 10s and I've only had about 4 in a couple of weeks so I'm not sure how you could monitor it. Would I have to where a monitor the whole time till one happens?
there is an event monitor that I wore for 30 days at a time. There are only a few leads to attach to your chest compared to a holter or ekg. It has a small little box that the leads are attached to that will fit in your pocket. It isn't as cumbersome as the holter, unless they have made the holter's smaller in the last 2 years. You hit a button when you feel the arrrhythmia and it goes back a few seconds and records your heart rhythm for 30 or so seconds. Then you call in to a number on a land line telephone and lie the little box on the mouth piece of the receiver and then press a button and it transfers the info over the phone to the people there that are trained to read it and they pass it on to your doctor to review. It makes a tracing of you heart rhythm sort of like an ekg and then your doctor can read it. I have worn one for 30 days at a time 3 or 4 different times over the last several years. You can take it off for baths and things and then reattach. I think it is called a king of hearts or event moniotr. If you catch it right away you probably wouldn't have to wear one after that. It's not that bad and will help them catch it for you and maybe ease your mind. I have svt as well and had a failed ablation 7 years ago beecause they could not reproduce the arrhythmia at the time. Mine use to last 30 minutes to an hour but now my runs are usually 30 seconds or less. I have them a couple of times a week. A small dose of atenenol and a lot of fast walking for an hour a day have helped me a lot in that I have shorter episodes and that keeps me out of the hospital and er. I was hospitalized a lot in the first year. I would have 3 or 4 episodes a day of 30 minutes to an hour of 160bpm plus, sometimes as high as 200. I still get lots of extra beats throughout the day and that is not easy to live with either. To give you some reassurance I have had this for 7 years and while difficult to live with I am still here and lead a normal life riding horses and gardening and exercising and I am a lot older than you. Good luck.
i just wanted to say that i always look forward to reading your posts! I was diagnosed 5 months ago with svt and i also get tons of pvcs. Whenever i read your posts i find them very reassurring and they give me hope that maybe one day i can go back to living a "normal" life one day....
An event monitor would be a good idea, I think. I have short runs of SVT myself, and they've been impossible to catch on Holter due to their intermittent nature.
have you caught this new problem on a monitor yet?? If not, i think that would be the first step, that way your EP can see if its the same type of arrhythmia, and go from there.. Good luck!
Laura,
Thanks for the post.
The ablation modified the electrical circuits of the heart. Sometimes, it can reveal other pathways, sometimes it's completely effective sometimes it can improve but not eliminate arrythmias, and sometimes it may not be successful.
I would think about obtaining another event monitor to really assess what your new symptoms are coming from. It may or may not be the arrythmia.
Once you have that information, it'd be easier to comment on the success of the ablation.
good luck