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SVT vs VTACH
Hello everyone! I have been having flare ups of my old friend, SVT again and to top it off my PVCs have really ramped up to abot 120 an hour or so. I am currently wearing my third holter because last night, I woke up to a fast,fluttering,almost light beating rhythm. I tried to cough to get myself our of it and that did not work so I got scared and sat up, and immediately got that familar fast, pounding SVT. I asked my doctor what this rhythm couldve been and he said I couldve had a bunch of PVCs in a row....Im assuming he means VTACH. I am very concerned because on my first holter monitor I had 9 triplets. I have not had the PVCs this bad since starting metoprolol and I am fearing that I may be getting worse?
My question: does anyone know exactly what VTACH feels like? Or can anyone speculate what this rhythm I had may have been? I was so groggy from sleeping that I dont remember if I was having any symptoms except maybe some dizziness.
Thanks!
My question: does anyone know exactly what VTACH feels like? Or can anyone speculate what this rhythm I had may have been? I was so groggy from sleeping that I dont remember if I was having any symptoms except maybe some dizziness.
Thanks!
oh darn I forgot, I'll confirm this on the 20th when I have my PM interrogated and see waht they say :P
sorry i forgot about this till now...since I had a bad day thought I would post - I may experience things a bit differently than others because of my ANS/heart combo problems.
My whacky system decided I couldn't sit a few hours this morning. Normally I get up have a cup of coffee and read for about 30 min, do breakfast and lay down for abit, but I was so engrossed in reading; the time passed and I read for way too long. I know better than to do this and what will happen, but ugh I'm dumb like that sometiems.
I haven't slept alot the past 3 days and while I was reading I noticed my heart racing, checked my hr 115 - bp 95/70; stayed in tachycardia for a bit; 15 - 20 minutes or so and tried deep breathing; thinking oh great I'm going to get zapped from my icd lol
I had 7 or 8 intense sharp pains - almost felt like my heart was stopping again, got dizzy - lightheaded; SOB - my throat felt congested like I couldn't breathe, I got clammy feeling (I don't sweat due to my ANS problems) then started shivering and almost passed out; then I felt some tugging in my chest; usually a sign my pm/icd is pacing me out of something. When this happens I get so weak and feel like I've been ran over by a truck, dr's said it was due to my "funky" system my ANS/Heart craziness that I can't stand.
I laid down for a few hours, got up for lunch and was still weak; so I went to lay back down. Had 2 more episodes around 1pm and 230pm. I still felt really icky and been weak all afternoon; still having tachycardia off and on.
My whacky system decided I couldn't sit a few hours this morning. Normally I get up have a cup of coffee and read for about 30 min, do breakfast and lay down for abit, but I was so engrossed in reading; the time passed and I read for way too long. I know better than to do this and what will happen, but ugh I'm dumb like that sometiems.
I haven't slept alot the past 3 days and while I was reading I noticed my heart racing, checked my hr 115 - bp 95/70; stayed in tachycardia for a bit; 15 - 20 minutes or so and tried deep breathing; thinking oh great I'm going to get zapped from my icd lol
I had 7 or 8 intense sharp pains - almost felt like my heart was stopping again, got dizzy - lightheaded; SOB - my throat felt congested like I couldn't breathe, I got clammy feeling (I don't sweat due to my ANS problems) then started shivering and almost passed out; then I felt some tugging in my chest; usually a sign my pm/icd is pacing me out of something. When this happens I get so weak and feel like I've been ran over by a truck, dr's said it was due to my "funky" system my ANS/Heart craziness that I can't stand.
I laid down for a few hours, got up for lunch and was still weak; so I went to lay back down. Had 2 more episodes around 1pm and 230pm. I still felt really icky and been weak all afternoon; still having tachycardia off and on.
Hello! I know you would proably know the feeling better than anyone! I will give you time to get your coffee:) My PVCs have been known to feel different at times and so I hoping that this was just some tachycardia caused by my PVCs and not Vtach. I havent had this rhythm since having the holter put on yesterday so who knows if I will ever know what it was unless they catch it:( I have been having an increase of PVCs so Im sure the holter will show bigger numbers this time:( I was at 4000,then down to 1000 with metoprolol, and now Im sure that I am closer to my first number. Thank you for your comment!
Hello and thank you for your answer. I have been confirmed to have aprx. 4,000 PVCs a day on my holter from January with bigeminy, trigeminy, couplets, and triplets. I did ask my doctor about this and he is not sure, that is why I am wearing another holter. I quess I should've been more clear on this, I really just wanted any personal experience that people might have in regards to the actual feeling of VTACH. I will not be getting my results until next week sometime, and I also have not had this rhythm again so far since I had it on yesterday. So I am trying to distiquish this rhythm from others I have had and am hoping that it is nothing serious:)
just a thought - brain's not awake yet - make sure during your monitor you keep your journal updated with what's going and what they tell you happened - your journal not the journal you turn in - so when your results come back you'll have something to compare it to
I'll see when my brain wakes up if I can describe how I feel VTach - sustained & NSVT
for me, pac's svt & pvc's vt's all feel different [grabs coffee] lol
I'll see when my brain wakes up if I can describe how I feel VTach - sustained & NSVT
for me, pac's svt & pvc's vt's all feel different [grabs coffee] lol
Hello,
I think you should ask your doctor this questions. They are important. Or you could try to ask your question on the expert forum?
I can try "thinking loud" about some of your questions, though.
You mention your old friend SVT. If you are bothered with SVT, I would assume your atrias are a bit active too generating ectopic beats, but you do not mention PACs. Do you just assume all your ectopic beats are PVCs, or is this confirmed by Holter monitoring?
Regarding that fast, light beating rhythm (which you suspect is VT/Vtach): If you know the event afterwards is SVT, it's very unlikely the preceding rhythm was VT. VT do not suddenly change to an atrial ectopic rhythm. My guess is that your first rhythm was sinus tach, my own experience is that sinus tach from anxiety or at rest, can feel "lighter" than sinus tach from i.e exercise.
Technically, you've captured short runs of nonsustained VT on your holter monitoring. This is a quite common arrhythmia among heavy PVC sufferers, and the prognosis depends on your hearts general condition. If no structural anormality is found on echocardiography, this is usually not considered a dangerous arrhythmia. It all depends on what is causing it. If you happen to have a scar, dilation, etc, in your left ventricle (usually due to existing heart disease) the prognosis can be more severe. If you don't, the VT is usually caused by an overactive "extra pacemaker" in your right ventricle that occationally fires of a little salvo of PVCs, this is a more benign condition.
Anyway, you are hardly the first to be afraid that fast rhythms are VT. If you have a sustained tachycardia, this is very unlikely to be VT, especially if you have no known heart disease. A triplet is almost impossible to notice, but as you already know that you have a pacemaking spot in your ventricle, it's possible that it occationally fires of a somewhat longer salvo.
I don't think I've had VT before, but I know this condition causes about the same symptoms as SVT, but probably more dizziness, as your heart pumps less effective during ventricular ectopy.
Again, you should see your doctor to get these questions answered. Anxiety over heart related symptoms cause more pacs/pvcs. It's possible you should ask for echocardiography to make sure your heart is structurally OK. If you have several thousands of PVCs, and some nonsustained VT, your doctor may consider ablation.
I apologize for somewhat poor English, and an unclear answer, but this is difficult topics and should probably be handled by doctors:)
Good luck!
I think you should ask your doctor this questions. They are important. Or you could try to ask your question on the expert forum?
I can try "thinking loud" about some of your questions, though.
You mention your old friend SVT. If you are bothered with SVT, I would assume your atrias are a bit active too generating ectopic beats, but you do not mention PACs. Do you just assume all your ectopic beats are PVCs, or is this confirmed by Holter monitoring?
Regarding that fast, light beating rhythm (which you suspect is VT/Vtach): If you know the event afterwards is SVT, it's very unlikely the preceding rhythm was VT. VT do not suddenly change to an atrial ectopic rhythm. My guess is that your first rhythm was sinus tach, my own experience is that sinus tach from anxiety or at rest, can feel "lighter" than sinus tach from i.e exercise.
Technically, you've captured short runs of nonsustained VT on your holter monitoring. This is a quite common arrhythmia among heavy PVC sufferers, and the prognosis depends on your hearts general condition. If no structural anormality is found on echocardiography, this is usually not considered a dangerous arrhythmia. It all depends on what is causing it. If you happen to have a scar, dilation, etc, in your left ventricle (usually due to existing heart disease) the prognosis can be more severe. If you don't, the VT is usually caused by an overactive "extra pacemaker" in your right ventricle that occationally fires of a little salvo of PVCs, this is a more benign condition.
Anyway, you are hardly the first to be afraid that fast rhythms are VT. If you have a sustained tachycardia, this is very unlikely to be VT, especially if you have no known heart disease. A triplet is almost impossible to notice, but as you already know that you have a pacemaking spot in your ventricle, it's possible that it occationally fires of a somewhat longer salvo.
I don't think I've had VT before, but I know this condition causes about the same symptoms as SVT, but probably more dizziness, as your heart pumps less effective during ventricular ectopy.
Again, you should see your doctor to get these questions answered. Anxiety over heart related symptoms cause more pacs/pvcs. It's possible you should ask for echocardiography to make sure your heart is structurally OK. If you have several thousands of PVCs, and some nonsustained VT, your doctor may consider ablation.
I apologize for somewhat poor English, and an unclear answer, but this is difficult topics and should probably be handled by doctors:)
Good luck!
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