Svt and pvc's

[Kmariiie]

I am a 21 year old female. I've had generalized anxiety my entire life. After the birth of my first son 3 years ago, I suddenly for no apparent reason developed very frequent PVC's. All day every day since the day they began I have had them. The cardiologist told me they were benign and to live with them so after a year or so I learned to live with them. I had my second son a year ago and all was well until two weeks ago after a night of drinking (the following night) I developed what I thought was a very long run on of PVC's. Constant flipping in my chest for about 15 to 20 mins straight. I went to the ER where they told me my EKG was fine and hooked me up to a monitor. I asked them if they could see the PVC's but they told me it didn't look like PVC's to them it looked like an irregular heartbeat. Later the actual Doctor came in to tell me my blood work was good and they didn't catch anything on the monitor. Following up with my cardiologist, he did a 48hour holter which he skimmed through and told me looked like I had an episode of SVT (which I had every day for a week following). But when the episodes are happening, I can feel skipped and hard beats but my pulse doesn't seem abnormally fast. Not any of the episodes I've had feel like an abnormally fast heart beat, just a very abnormal beat. Does anyone else experience SVT like this? I feel like I can't function anymore because every time I have a few PVC's in a row I get prepared for another attack of svt or whatever it is. I'm on propranolol 10 mg twice a day which does help a lot but lately it seems like it is wearing off.

[itdood]

Also, there are ways to break SVT, called vagal maneuvers.  One of them is called a valsalva maneuver.  There's a guy on this board that is really good at explaining/using these, look for posts from Tom_h.  He's very helpful.  

[Kmariiie]

Thank you! Appriciate it

[researcher09]

For some people, alcohol triggers atrial fibrillation.  In your case, what the ER doctor told you sounds like AF.  To get back on track, you probably have to skip alcohol for a while, watch what you eat and drink to see if there are any other triggers.  Eating foods that are rich in potassium and magnesium may help, and don't stress or stop exercising because that doesn't help either.

[Kmariiie]

Caught the same feeling on the holter though and dr. Assured me it wasn't Afib but probable svt. I was in sinus on the holter. drank plenty of times and never experienced anything, just this once during a hangover. Lots of PVC's before the svt attack as well. Alcohol seems to bring on the PVC's only the day after.

[Kmariiie]

If only I knew how. It's a vicious cycle. No matter how many times I tell myself I'm fine the thought of having an svt attack getting out of control and needing to go to the ER for meds prevents me from doing damn near anything. Its actually put me into quite a depression reading others experiences online gives me the impression it will only get worse over time. Just waiting for the next attack constantly is ruining my life. Saposed to go to Vegas next month for 21st birthday, but petrified. Needing some sort of encouragement

[itdood]

The best thing you can do is face the fear.   It takes practice and work.  When the panic starts there are ways to break the thought cycle.  Research it, go see a therapist who specializes in cognitive behavior therapy.  What you are technically trying to do is "extinguish a learned fear behavior".   Try googling this, but you probably need some outside help.  I'm a DIY kinda guy, I had to reach bottom before I stuck my hand up and asked for some help.  That's what got me on the road to overcome it.  

[itdood]

Resistance to propranolol builds up fast and you have to keep increasing the dose to chase it.   Propanolol is a great compound, one of the oldest drugs out there, but your body finds a way around it easily.  Therein lies another bad can of worms, but that's what you'll need to address if you want to stay on the med.   I've always backed off meds completely when this was my reality, and that worked out in the end for me, but everyone is different.  

The SVT might be a very short run.   I really hate the term SVT, because it's an umbrella term that can mean different causes depending on who you talk to.    So when I hear someone say they had SVT I'm wondering what actually happened.  Any tachycardia that arises in the atrium a.k.a SUPRA (above) Ventricular falls under SVT.   There's quite a few etiologies for this (root causes).  

And if you develop an anxiety issue over a fast heart rate, well good luck with that!   Been there, done it.  Talk about a feedback loop, yikes!   Took me all sorts of time and effort to get past.   It was like trying to get over PTSD.   I would nip that in the bud if that's starting to happen to you.  

[Kmariiie]

Can anyOne relate???