Can anxiety cause SVT?

[projimo87]

I have been dealing with regular panic attacks and anxiety for 3 years, then for the past 2 months my "panic attacks" have gottan so bad that the doctors at the ER are saying that it is SVT. My attacks used to make my heart rate be around the 130ish range, but now they shoot up to 190. My attacks keep getting worse and worse. They take a while to peak and they take a while to go back to a normal pace. Adenosine and beta blockers do not help with my attacks at all. The main thing that helps is a shot of Ativan. So far there is a pattern with my attacks, that they happen exactly every 23 days. Could anxiety and panic attacks messed up the electrical system in my heart that causes my "SVT attacks"  to get worse and worse"? Would an ablation still work well in my case?

[projimo87]

Every attack I have, they say I am low on potassium or magnesium. Im not sure if I am low on that first and then my attacks happen or I am low on them because my heart was beating so fast for so long.

[SassyLassie]

I was going to say hormone related, but I noticed you are "male". I doubt if hormones are the culprit, although, you never know.

I would say it is your anxiety causing a lot of your issues, when my anxiety is high, I get all kinds of weird heart issues. No fun.

[Jenn1302]

You said it happens every exactly 23 days. That's interesting... Maybe you should get your hormones checked just to make sure that's not causing it somehow.

[Bromley]

You are describing a situation where you are confused as to whether your problems are related to a heart rhythm problem or anxiety, and it is already known that you have problems with anxiety.

Philosophically, I would trend to think that the first line of treatment should be for your anxiety, since relieving it with Ativan also eliminates your fast heart rate.

Next, to be clear, I do not believe that heart rate of 190 necessarily means you have SVT, especially if you are less than 30years old. I also dont know of any heart rhythm issue that strikes every 23 days. This is a bit of a red flag here.

However, you or your doctors should look at the ecg to make sure there is nothing structurally wrong with it. AVRT's or ventricular rhythms capable of producing fast heart rates do not look normal on the ecg. If your ecg is normal, but fast, it strongly points to anxiety, or a small possibility of an an issue with your sinus node. In your case, I  imagine it will show something consistent with a normal, but fast heart rate, which could be a sinus node issue, but is more likely an anxiety issue, since you have already established that you have a problem with it.

If you have something wrong with your sinus node, you dont want to ablate it, unless you are beyond desperate. Having really bad anxiety does not warrant any sort of ablation on or around your SA node. It is way too risky. So really, it seems like the best solution you have is to attack your anxiety. You can always see a cardiologist too to get a perspective on this. I think they would probably tell you that it is unlikely that you have a heart rhythm problem, but you should hear this from a qualified medical professional.