Should I be concerned?

[emart10]

Hi, everyone!  I'm a 27 year old female who was recently diagnosed with mild v-tach, and arrythmias, and the doctor put me on 25mg of atenolol daily.  At first the medication completely changed my life, the arrythmias subsided, and my heart rate went down, but now after a few months, im starting to feel not so good again.   I have felt issues with my heart for about 10 years, and there didnt seem to be a problem that could be diagnosed until this year.  I dont know what could be the cause...i eat healthy, exercise, dont smoke, dont have caffeine intake, so im not sure what i could change now.  Im concerned with this issue and it worries me to death every time i feel my heart stop and skip beats...any advice?????

[merileegal]

I too went to a gp a few months ago. He put a 24 hr. monitor on me and my diagnosis was vt so I went back to my cardio who looked at my results of my 24 hr. monitor and said the result was bogus because of "noise" in the reading. He said my gp had an inferior monitor so he had me wear a 2 week monitor which caught an episode of the fast rhythm. (250bpm). He then set me up with an ep who specializes in this and he said I had a very common condition called SVT which can be easily fixed. I'm having my ablation tomorrow.

Gp's do wonderful things for people, but they simply don't have the knowledge that an ep so has so I again encourage you to seek another opinion from an expert in the field.

[Mom2four85]

By Vtach do you mean ventricular tachycardia? arrhythmia's = pvc's? or do you have other issues also?  are you symptomatic with it or not?

VT is extremely difficult to not only treat but to ablate, esp if it's multifocal; have they mentioned this to you?  Here's some info a doctor gave me that I put in my journal http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/284968/Ventricular-Tachycardia-VT---Vtach?personal_page_id=861727

As others have said you need a EP who deals with difficult cases and will do trial & error of finding what works for you because not everyone is the same.  I went through 5 or 6 meds trying to find what works and only Inderal worked and has for 2 years but the past weeks - month hasn't worked.  Sometimes our bodies just get used to meds or it could be something new going on - you could ask for a longer monitor to find out.

I've gone through numerous cardiologists who just don't understand and I went to see an EP recently hoping for a new answer....he also said I have a difficult case; and it was just trial/error but so far doctors had done all they could for me because I have too many ANS issues.

[merileegal]

Is there a good cardiologist near you? Since you've had all of the tests done, it certainly wouldn't hurt to have a 2nd opinion. You might see a different picture with an expert in the field.
Good luck.

[emart10]

thanks everyone for the advice.....i did have a 24 hour holter monitor a few months ago, and it was that, that made it possible for the diagnosis.  I have not seen a cardiologist and my family physician tells me this is 'normal' and that i shouldnt be concerned...however its hard not to be concerned when i feel like im going to die some days!  thats good information about med schools and universities, unfortunately the nearest one to me is 6 hours away.. may still be work looking into though

[merileegal]

I went to different doctors and cardiologists 20+ years for arrythmias and  was misdiagnosed 20 years ago. Cardio's are wonderful doctors and do incredible things, but for anything to do with the electriophysiology of the heart you need to be seen by a good ep. They are the experts on any kind of arrythmia. I don't know where you live, but there are universities that specialize in arrythmias.

[LindaTX]

I hope you are under the care of a good electrophysiologist.  I agree with Delta that a heart monitor would be an excellent idea.  Sometimes the heart meds can become ineffective and your Dr. might need to change them...if one stops working, another could work well.  Sometimes it's hard to zero in on just the right one, a lot of trial and error I guess.  And sometimes there are other triggers that you are not even aware of.  Have you considered the possibility of getting an ablation?

[DeltaDawn23]

Have you been to see a cardiologist?  Had a Holter monitor or a 30 day event monitor?  Is this ongoing or occasional?  

Sometimes a teaching university can handle a knotty problem -- they seem to be on the cutting edge of new tests, treatments, etc.

I don't know anything about your particular problem, but if it is ongoing, it deserves to be studied further.  Go back to your doctor, or get another opinion.  My doctor told me once, "If I don't hear from you, I will assume everything is ok -- it's your job to tell me if it's not."

Good luck, wishing you well . . .