Rapid heart beat due to stress

[Firefighter1959]

As a firefighter on duty I had my heart start to race after just a very stressful meeting about my captain being incompetent during the meeting it felt like my heart was about to jump out of my chest after being put on the heart monitor  my rate was at 250 I was then transported to the ER where several attempt's of Cardizem finaly my heart went back to a normal rhythm of 60. No I am afraid to do my job and that my heart will do the same thing agin when I am doing something very physically demanding and that the outcome my not be good and indangering me and or the people I work with. what can I expect???

[tom_h]

I'm sorry, but that last comment was meant for the OP.

SVT is not something to be alarmed or afraid of.  I went 54 years with SVT with my first episode beginning at 6 and lasting to nearly 60.  I do not think you should continue to exert yourself if an SVT episode begins.  You should sit, relax and attempt to slow it with one of the methods known to convert SVT episodes.

I noticed your age.  Extremely high hearts rate are not good on an aging heart and it was the primary reason that I decided to get something done about it when I did.

[tom_h]

Stress alone will not cause a heart rate of 250.  But stress can cause a dump of adrenaline which in turn can precipitate an episode of Supraventricular Tachycardia, or SVT, sometimes referred to as PSVT.  If you were being ripped a new one, and were super stressed, this is very likely what happened.  Yes, a cardiologist should access the ER records and make the call.  SVT is typically a harmless event, but if you get one, chances are that you will have more.  Stress and exertion are big causes of SVT.  Once you're in SVT, there are methods to convert to normal rhythm.  The methods are met with different degrees of success.  If your body responds to one, it is a good way to stay out of the ER.  I used one method called Valsalva nearly all of my life to successfully convert hundreds of episodes,  It wasn't until they had reach 3 to 5 episodes a month that I went in for an electrophysiology procedure with a process call "ablation" where the location of the trouble was pinpointed and destroyed with a brief burst of microwave energy to burn the errant path open.  The one day procedure was followed with a couple of days rest, and I was back at it again.

Your cardiologist must make the call, but from how you describe your symptoms and events, I would not be surprised if he told you that it was SVT.

[Elli126]

Hi. First let me say I come from a family filled with firefighters and know how stressful that can be. Were you diagnosed with PSVT? Have you followed up with a cardiologist to get a proper diagnosis? SVT in general in a structurally healthy heart is not life threatening. Most of us here have been dealing with these issues for years. There are treatments you can discuss with your doc after a proper diagnosis. Also reading other peoples experiences on here with the same problems always helps me a lot.