SVT controlled by Beta-blockers/Introduction!

[blenki]

Hello everyone, I'm new to this site, so thought I would introduce myself and give you my 'story' as it were. I also have a couple of questions for people also experiencing SVT. (apologies for spelling mistakes!).

I'm 26, and had my first episode in May last year. I woke up feeling very unwell, with palpitations. I'd had them before but only for a few seconds, but this lasted from waking until I got to work and spoke to a colleague who insisted I went to A&E to be checked as its just down the road. On arriving I had an ECG and was told my heart rate was around 250bpm. They tried vagal manouvres to get it down, the dreaded adenosine injections (3 times!) which worked for about 10 secs. In the end they gave me Metoprolol in an IV form and this took it down to about 180, which they seemed more happy with and I had an overnight stay. By the morning I was back down to the low 100's, so they let me home with a weeks prespcription of the metoprolol.
I was referred to a cardiologist and had a 24hr tape, and an echo.
In August last year, I woke with the same feeling, and though I knew it wasnt as bad as before, I went to A&E as I had been told by my Dr I should do if I ever experienced the same thing again.
This time, by the time we got there I could feel it had become slower already and it was logged at about 150 when we arrived. They kept me in for a few hours, did a blood test and let me home as it returned to normal with out any treatment.
My echo and 24hr tape had come back clear, so the cardiologist 'signed me off' in October. I had thought that it could be stress related, as I got married last year.
I cut out coffee, cola and anything with caffiene in, and have felt fine...until last week.
We had been to New York, and a week after returning I was feeling very tired, like I hadnt recovered from Jet lag. I woke up and felt my heart racing again. I tried to go back to sleep - I've had a couple of occasions where I've woken in the night to feel it racing and then gone back to sleep on it had been normal when I woke.
I couldnt get back to sleep so I ended up in A&E again, with my heart at 240bpm
More adenosine injections (5 this time!!) and all talk of being shocked.
Eventually, when they had given me something (dont know the name) and had gotten it down to 180 again, they took me up to the CCU ward. Here I was given Flecianide and this reduced the rate to the 70's almost immediatly. I will remember the name of this drug!!!

This time I had another overnight stay for obs, and saw a different specialist, who diagnosed SVT. Finally a name!
He mentioned an ablation, but said if I was happy to, we could try to control it with medication first.
Now I'm a real scardy cat, hate needles (cried when they came to take blood) so of course I chose this medication option.

I'm now taking 50mg Atenolol (beta-blocker) everyday. So far i think i am having mild side effects in the form of vivid dreams (but not nightmares), cold hands (had this before to be honest, and maybe a bit of dizziness.

So my questions are:
Is anyone else controlling their SVT with medication and how have you found this so far?
What about side effects?

Also, they mentioned subclinical Hypothyroidism on my discharge form, which i've seen my gp about, but was intereseted to find out if anyone had anything like this also?

THanks for reading if you have gotten this far!! I'm sure this is a complete epic of a post!
x

[EMT23]

I have to admit I was far from thrilled to have an ablation scheduled for my SVT's.  My "tough" attitude was that I can deal with these. But then I kept having them and they seemed to get more frequent. When I had my "bad" ones that landed me in the ER  I noticed the fear in the eyes of my kids when they had to watch me go through these horrible symptoms and I realized I'm not being "tough" I'm being stupid.  So I called my EP and told his nurse to get me scheduled. I go in on March 23rd to have it done. As far as the meds...they might help for awhile but you may still have break through SVT's. I'm on Metoprolol 200 mg. daily and I still have break through SVT's. Just had another one this week. With each SVT I have I know I made the right decision. Good Luck with your decision and listen to that Cindy707 she gives excellent advice and support! Don't know what I would have done without her!!! She's a gem!

[IaneFortin]

Hello, welcome to the site.

I used to be on Atenolol 50mg once a day for the past 13 years. It worked great overall keeping my heart rate in check. When I had episodes of tachycardia ( leaning forward or lifting something with-out taking a proper breath)  I could to the Vasalva techniques and they would usually end quite fast. So the medication works for sure. I would consider the ablation route as soon as possible since it could cure you before any more serious symptoms occur. This is the route I was finally given and I'm supposedly in the 90%+ chance of success. Waiting to find out what type of SVT I have.

[blenki]

Thanks for your response. It is interesting about the dreams...the list of side affects include 'nightmares', maybe it depends how people interpret them...I would just call these dreams i've been having a bit freaky!! But someone else might class it as a nightmare.

At the moment I'm happy to try the drugs, as I mentioned I'm a real wuss. Plus seeing as though I've only had 3 episodes, I'm not keen on having a operation for that, especially when I read that some people experience them everyday! That must be awful.

Its good to read about the ablation stories though, as if I do ever go ahead with that route, at least I have some real-life situations to read, I dont think Drs tell you the full story.

[cindy707]

Trust me blenki we all have a story to tell from all sides of the pond.......so definately don't apologize.  I don;'t know if it were me i would be sick of going back and forth to the hospital however you have chosen to see if meds are the best route for you so you want to give them a little time for them to saturate your system to get control of your episodes and sometimes it can literally take a couple of weeks to do so.  For thing for sure i would say is if the adenosine is not working when you go to the hospital i would tell the staff that work there that it doesn't do it for you so you don't have to lie there just to wait for them to decide something else works better.  It seems to me that you are experiencing an awfully high heart rate and you may want to girl up as we say and seriously consider the possiblity of an ablation because they really aren't that bad and the results for many changes peoples lives for the better.  Definately ask them tho what percentage you are in and if they tell you that you have a 70% or higher i would go for it because to me its alot more relaxing having the ablation done than laying on a gurney for hours at a time waiting out the meds that may or may not work.  There are alot of success stories on this site....antenolol is one of the most common beta blockers out there with the least side effects on the market and i could really tell you about vivid dreams when i take it but its interesting because studies show that people on antenolol experience almost nil nightmares....so yes before my ablation we used antenolol to control the tach and it worked...welcome to the site i hope i was of some help to you......