SVT attack

[nlkbck]

Hello, I am a 27 year old female. I have just experienced my first Supraventricular Tachycardia(SVT) attack. I was just walking down the hall at work and became very dizzy, sweaty, and it felt as though my heart was pounding out of my chest. Luckily I work at a hospital so I wired myself up to a cardiac monitor and my heart rate was 168, by the time I was wheeled to the Er my rate had jumped to 223! They gave me an Adenosine injection and within 1 minute my heart was in normal sinus rhythm. But I still felt short of breath, my arms were tingly, and still felt light-headed so they proceeded with an EKG( Normal Sinus), a chest xray-(clear), a CT checking for a P.E.(Clear). My blood work was a bit screwy...the major concers were that my D Dimer was +1592 and My potassium was low. I was also given a Echocardiagram after a day of still feeling a bit light-headed and short of breath, and fatigued. (Normal results). I was given a clean bill of health and was told that another bout of SVT may or may not reoccur. I was also told that my fatigue and SOB was still my body readjusting. That such trauma on the heart releases hormones that will make you feel pretty crappy for a few days. And that I need not follow up with a cardiologist.
It has been 2 days since my SVT occurence and I am still feeling fatigued and like I need more air, like I am short of breath. I feel a slight tightness in my chest.
My question to you is, IS THIS NORMAL, and when will these feelings start to dissipate?
Please get back to me with your thoughts/concerns and or advice.
Nicole

[sb786]

Thats exactly what i think that the adrenaline and the fact that i'm startled/frightned triggers the svt. i wonder if fright can trigger svt, i have heard alot of people say that stress can trigger svt but i'm not sure if fright can. last night i woke up because of missed beats i couldn't believe it. have you had pvcs whilst sleeping ever? If you don't mind me asking how old are you? i am 27?

[bama jane]

I have svt pvc's pac's and combinations of both for 7 years.  it is awful but I tried an ablation, didn't work for me.  I get awakened from sleep almost every night with extra beats.  I am on a lose dose of beta blockers and it has lessened the speed of my svt and made the long episodes lasting 30 minutes or more very rare.  I do however have short runs of svt every few days. I used to have svt wake me up from sleep 2 or 3 times a night.  It isn't that bad now.  Was hospitlized a lot the first year.  Try to tough it out at home when it happens because I have had enough of the emergency room and hospitals to last a life time.  Sometimes a hard cough will break mine.  I also have extra beats at times every 2nd or 3rd beat. Have tried most of the heart drugs with little success. Some actually made it worse and made me have pauses in my heart beat. I just don't think medicine has figured out a way to stop the extra beats. When it happens I try and tell myself I have been here so many times before and am still here to talk about it.  It is so life altering though and I have such compassion for anyone trying to live with this condition.  Anyhting that seems to change the blood flow in the heart will cause misbeats for me at times.  Eating, reaching over my head, bending over, lieing down. The thing that has helpe me the most is consistent exercising on the treadmill. One hour and 5 minutes 7 days a week. It lowered my resting heart rate 15 beats a minute and I don't go that fast just under 4 mph.  It's a fast walk. I think that is what really helped to cut down on the sustained svt (30 minutes or longer) I've been consistent at it for 3 years and the fear of returning to the days of rushing to the er every week is what keeps me doing it.  Good luck and Merry Christmas to all.

[iAmEllen]

Sb, I'm the same age as you.

I do sometimes have PVCs in my sleep.

[sb786]

I pray we don't have to go through that again. Have you ever tried the vagal manouvers, do they work? my cardiologists says you must not panic and started moving about. he suggests to lay down and try the vagal manouvers and if they don't work the first time just keep trying.
Whenever i have had a nighttime svt its always been within the first hour or so of sleep. i usually wake up startled and by the time i sit up in bed the svt kicks in.
did your svts start at the same time as the pvcs? i seem to get loads of pvcs straight after eating and when i lay down. i'm thinking about starting a beta blocker for the pvcs.

[tickertock]

The first question I would ask concerning a choking sensation while taking a beta blocker is a bronchospasm or if the patient is asthmatic, in general beta blockers are contraindicated in asthmatic patients though some persons that have asthma do well with no side effects on beta blockers, though they should be monitored closely , as far as i know metoprolol and atenolol are cardioselective and are least likely to exacerbate the symptoms of asthma in a asthmatic patient though all beta blockers can aggravate the condition. I'm not a medical doctor this is only my understanding, your fiancee should report her symptoms to her doctor.

[second2n0ne]

Were you prescribed any meds after your episode? My fiance (also 27) complains that Toporol gives her a choking sensation.  I always thought it was a side effect of the Toporol but now it may be related to the SVT episode...can anyone confirm this?