Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

SVT, PAC, PVC

Can those of you who have these conditions (Supra Ventricular Tachy, PAC and PVC) explain what it feels like when it happens.  If you have SVT especially.  I just am having such a hard time with my docs diagnosis.  I thought if I could get those who have these conditions explain what happens to them, it might help me figure it out.  
Thank you!
...Danielle
12 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
21064 tn?1309308733
Hi and welcome.  Sorry you're having a hard time with your heart rate and the weird beats that we sometimes get.  I don't have PSVT, but there are other members who have and will be able to help more.  I was thinking it might be helpful if you copy the text of your posts and paste them into a new post.  That way, your post will be current and more people might notice it.  Also, try putting something in the subject line about PSVT.  Hope that helps.  

By the way, you are not alone and there are a lot of friendly and helpful people here.  Stick around, read some of the others' posts and try not to worry. This is a great place to learn and find support.

Connie
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Sometimes upon rising from sitting i feel like my heart will slow skip a beat and then the next beat is really hard and then tries to get back on track. I also noticed after this attack i had two weeks ago that i woke up with my arm asleep and my heart was racing and i ran into my living room (sideways) and feel onto the floor, trying to reach my husband. I regained my balance and breath shortly after. Didnt know if it was from the levaquin they prescribed or the attack i had. Is the heart palpatations i have from time to time related to psvt, or are they different problems? I really need someone to talk to who is going through what i am, i feel so scared and alone. I feel like i have been handed a death sentence with no date! I am 32 years old!
Really scared
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have had palpatations since i was 12 years old. The doctors tried several times to document them but couldnt catch them on the holter monitor. Every since i was 12 i knew something was very wrong. It wasnt until i turned 22 that i started feeling out of sorts, shaky (like i had just drank 50 gallons of coffee) and became short of breath. Rushed to the er. I wouldnt lay still long enough for them to get a good reading on the ekg but it stopped itself after about twenty minutes. I remember going from freezing to hot within seconds and having body tremors. Shortly after that episode i tried to have my morning cup of coffee and the symptoms started all over again. I learned real fast that i could no longer have stimulants. I have had small bouts with a racing heart over the past ten years but nothing that needed emergency care. Two weeks ago i started feeling really yucky just like i remembered ten years ago and lo and behold it all started again. This time my heart was squeezing every few seconds and it fealt like i was having a heart attack. Heart rate was 180 with bp slighlty elevated. Fllowed up with my doctor and he mentioned that i might have psvt and need to follow up with cardio. I have spent the last two weeks crying and wondering if my husband isnt home if i drop dead or pass out what will my 3 year old son do. Im really scared and would not wish what i went through on anyone. Is there anyone out there that has these symptoms?
Helpful - 0
170935 tn?1225371076
I think i know what you mean by when your heart rate drops to 30 and then shoots upto 180. I think when it is at about 30 bpm that is a couple of ectopic beats which feel like your a slow heart rate. The ectopics then trigger the svt. I also have svt and sometimes just before the svt starts i get a weird flip flop feeling in my chest first which my ep says is the ectopic beats that trigger the svt. Some people feel that as a slow heart rate.
Doesn't anyone else experience this before a svt attack?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
what was your doctors diagnosis
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
SVT, PAC and PVC's.  I just am unsure how some people experience them, and it's so hard to describe, that I want to be sure that what my doctor has told me is the case, is really the case.  I get terrible episodes, where I will lose my breath, and my heart will feel like it's fluttering, not really beating correctly.  I get very weak and shaky and if it does not reset itself right away, I feel like I am going to passout.  Then my heart races and I get very weak for about 10 or 15 minutes.  I try and take a deep breath while it's happening and I can't.  Sometimes it happens and it's very quick and over with and I don't even hesitate, and then other times it will last for about a minute or longer and I get very scared.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I am not even sure what the P, in PSVT is?  My cardio just said I have SVT, and that's all she refers too.  What is the difference?  My heart rate drops to about 30 and then when my heart 'resets' (as I like to say) it goes up to about 180.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
The rate just drops right at first, but then shoots up.  180 is what it always goes to when this happens.  In the 180's.  As it goes down, I get that really weak, shaky feeling and then everything is o.k. until the next episode.  
I was offered Toprol, but decided not to take it.  I hate taking medication.  But I just had surgery for a ruptured disc in my neck and the anesthesiologist made me take the Toprol for 7 days prior to surgery, just to be on the safe side.  
Hearing others descriptions of how this feels is helpful.  It is so hard to describe to someone what exactly happens or how it feels.
Helpful - 0
187666 tn?1331173345
Just wanted to clarify something: when I said my PSVT starts and stops suddenly I didn't mean it lasted for 3 seconds. The HR changes suddenly, stays there however long (for me now 1 - 15 minutes), then drops right back to normal. Normal increases in HR due to exercise for example change gradually and slow down gradually. Am I making any sense? Do you know your rate when you're experiencing PSVT?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have these same exact symptoms, the shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, feeling like I'm going to pass out, and feeling like I cant get a breath. It feels like an out of body experience almost, like time is stopping, if that makes any sense.

The only thing my Cardiologist has diagnosed me with is MVP, which doesn't even show on my Echos. He thinks that I have symptoms of MVP, and therefore I have it. I wore  a 24 hour Holter Monitor last week, but I still haven't gotten the results back from that yet.

What tests have you had so far? I'm not familiar with SVT. I wish I could offer more info on that.
Helpful - 0
187666 tn?1331173345
Very odd - you said it drops to 30 and "resets" to 180? Neither of those are very normal rates. 30 is very slow and 180 is tachy. My heart used to jump to 180 or so before the ablations. Now it only pops up to 150. My usual rate is 60 - 65.  

The "P" in PSVT is for paroxysmal. It's an abrupt or unexpected change of rate. Like I said, if you're climbing a hill you would expect your HR to increase. But PSVT isn't gradual or expected.
Helpful - 0
187666 tn?1331173345
I can only tell you how it feels to me. But I've read  many different descriptions from others.
PSVT: my heart rate increases dramatically. It starts suddenly and reverts to normal just as suddenly. That's different than an increase from a scare or activity. Sometimes it can come on from exertion (like carrying groceries or lifting something) or I can be reading a book and click, pitty-pat goes my heart.
PAC's and PVC's: I call them my heart hiccups. There's a thump in my chest without warning. Sometimes I get a little head rush or an urge to cough if I have several close together. Once in a great while I get one with a real kick that gives a little zing of pain. But it's so quick and then it's gone. Like regular hiccups sometimes it's very light/mild, sometimes it gives a whomp. Oh well.
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Heart Disease Community

Top Heart Disease Answerers
159619 tn?1707018272
Salt Lake City, UT
11548417 tn?1506080564
Netherlands
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Is a low-fat diet really that heart healthy after all? James D. Nicolantonio, PharmD, urges us to reconsider decades-long dietary guidelines.
Can depression and anxiety cause heart disease? Get the facts in this Missouri Medicine report.
Fish oil, folic acid, vitamin C. Find out if these supplements are heart-healthy or overhyped.
Learn what happens before, during and after a heart attack occurs.
What are the pros and cons of taking fish oil for heart health? Find out in this article from Missouri Medicine.
How to lower your heart attack risk.