heart transplant

[marr1]

for the past 2 years ive had very bad arrythmias and there getting worse im on antenlol 12.5 mg for a month and doesnt help with arrythmias still getting them but now its getting worse i get dizzy when i get them and weak. very scary i get these during my mentrual time the worst.  the other day i got palpitations that lasted 6 hours.  i was told to get a ep study done, but what happens if this dont work either do i get a icd pacemaker and how long can you have this until that dont work anymore?  would i be a candidate for a heart transplant, even though my ef is 65% i was told? the cardiologist said i have sinus tacharcardia and arrythmias and i have qt pause, will a new heart stop the arrythmias that i get?  could i live a normal life without arrythmias? i feel like im suffering from this my life feels complicated and abnormal and im scared most of the time! i cant go anywhere without feeling nervous and scared! i need a normal life again! im only 42 i would love to go to college without thinking about dying every minute! this has consumed my life but i want to go on and try to get my life back again! is there anyone who has this problem and could share there experience! did anyone have a transplant and get better? and does the medications you take for your heart transplant make you very sick?

[grendslori]

One more thing I forgot to write: the transplanted heart is denerved, it only beats on adrenaline. Adrenaline makes the heart beat faster so the reality is the normal heart rate for a transplanted heart at rest is 100 bpm; get into a smokey room or go to see a scary movie and you have an adrenaline rush which raises the heart rate and it doesn't slow down the same way as the normal heart. The faster heart rate can last for hours and land you in the ER....been there, done that, don't want to do it again!  

[grendslori]

To think about a transplant for simply having an arrhythmia problem is like saying you are afraid to drive a car, so your best bet is to go out and buy yourself a plane to fly. Transplants are not a cure, by any means, and you are told that at your first meeting with the transplant team. Patients are usually referred to a transplant team when they generally have about 18 months of life left. that's about how long it takes to get a new heart. You have to be of SOUND mind in order to even be considered because the stress of living with a transplanted heart is very high. There are biopsies that are done all the time and the taking of drugs on a STRICT schedule is very hard for most people to deal with; miss more than one dose, it's IV therapy. The drugs basically kill most of the immune system so in the beginning, something as slight as a simple cold can land you in the hosital for days fighting to stay alive. (That happened to my daughter) cancers can crop up because there isn't much immune system to keep them in check. A patient with a heart transplant is still classified as being terminally ill because a transplant is not a cure; the longest life extended by transplant at our facility is 20 years, that's it. If you can't tolerate living with an arryhythmia, you certainly would never be able to tolerate something as drastic as a transplant! They don't do transplants because of an arrhythmias, they are done because the heart can no longer pump enough blood to keep a person healthy.  

[jsm7679]

i had wpw in august its apretty serious arrthymia i had it ablated during a ep study 2 mounths later after heavy drinking my heart kept pounding i went to my gp who is also a cardiologist an he said it was stress an told me to calm down but i kept having palps so i would go to er nothing then i made him give me a holter monitor thats a24 hour ekg i recorded any time i didnt feel right an when they got results back i would get a fast heartrate for a few seconds he said he wanted to contact my doctor that did my ep i deciced to go to her myself she stunned me an said i had a svt a tachcardya on top of the ventricals  she put me on beta blockers an told me i needed another ablation im going next week  she also made me get a stress test which came back with some abnormal results now im 30yrs old a father of two happily married i was very scared because a rythem proplem an coronary artery disease is not good an my family also has ahistory of heart proplems anyway i was scared the doctor wanted to do a angiogram cath but i asked if there was anything else she said if my insurance coverd it a ct scan of the that came back normal an cad was ruled out now im just waiting for my ablation an trying to live a heart healthy life lots of grains vitamins no coffee modert alchol an 2000mg of flaxseed oil an anything with omega3 in it basicly dont be afraid go see a ep cardiologist an get properly diagnosed dont listen to anyone but yourself its your body an you know whats going on but the worst thing you could do is nothing also if you get palps try vagal manuvers basicly hold your breath an beardown like your going number2 that can bring hr down ice water on face also works so calm down go see the doc an get on with life like ireneo said we just  beat to a different drummer take care an good luck but im sure youll be fine

[ireneo]

I doubt they'll offer a transplant to you since you have an excellent EF and just have some arrhythmias. Even people with severe heart failure have a hard time getting on the transplant list and still have to wait for a suitable heart.

I don't see any information that you've shared that would require an ICD. That's often given to people who have frequent episodes of ventricular tachy or fibrillation. Atrial tachy is managed by ignoring it, taking meds or having an ablation. In very, very severe cases they may want to ablate a node and implant a pacemaker. Only an EP cardiologist can tell you if you need that.

An EP study might be the way to go if your doctor feels it's necessary.

You can have a full and active life with arrhythmias. I've had them all my life (I'm 57 now). I've had 3 ablations (2 were not successful and the 3rd improved things quite a bit). But even before I had any ablations I was still able to do most anything I wanted without fear of dying. Was it uncomfortable? You bet. Was it inconvenient having to lay down sometimes because of my wacky heart? Sure. But then I kept on going.

Don't give up. There are treatment options out there. Will your heart ever be completely quiet again? Maybe not. But the doctors can make it easier for you. Some of us just "beat" to a different drummer.