View Full Version : Scary heart episode
So I was sat there minding my own business this afternoon when all of a sudden I felt this fluttering in my chest at the top slightly to the left. I have had one off glittering before but this carried on in a string and when I took my pulse it was racing at rapid speed. I'm not sure how long this lasted before it slowed down to normal panic proportions.
I called nhs direct and they told me to go to a&e to be checked over. Basically they did an ECG which was fine and did sats which were fine.
They listened to my description and told me not to panic and that I am ok.
I am so frightened now though.
I don't know whether my heart was racing first or whether I panicked and this made it race. It was very very very fast.
Started worrying about af and svt now and other abnormalities and I am really scared of it happening again.
Has anyone had this before? I was relaxed at the time it happened.
Yea I've had this once before, scared the hell out me really bad. If you went to A&E and they checked you out and said you're fine, you're fine. :)
Jus cuz it happened once doesn't mean it's gonna happen again, I know it's easier said than done but try not to dwell on it. xx
Do you know how fast your heart was going cos mine was over 200 and I'm so petrified because I couldn't get it to slow down at all. And the fact I wasn't doing anything. I wasn't anxious or on edge, was just sat watching tele is what scares me the most.
It was goin over 200 when it happened? Like you definatley clocked it at 200? Once I was convinced my heart was goin over 200 but my mum took my pulse and it was 140.
I don't remember how fast my heart was, I was on Propranolol back then and could hardly feel my heart at all. You're fine though, if there was any chance there was something wrong they couldn't have let you go home. xx
Yes I certainly believed it was but the dr said it was highly impossible I had recorded that myself.
I worry that because I panicked that it kicked mh heart back to normality and if I hadn't my heart would have continued to go crazy.
I didn't get any sleep last night and dn a complete mess abs back to square one now after doing so very well with it all.
Aww Dodo, you're never back to square one, we always live and learn a little with each attack. It is kinda hard to take your pulse at 200 cuz it would be doin like 4 beats a second really quickly! (I think, maths isn't my strong point) so it was probably a lot lower than you thought.
To be honest, if there was something seriously wrong I don't think panic would make it go back to normal, I'm pretty sure it would have gone back to normal on it's own but panicking when something like that happens is a natural reaction to those of us constantly fixated on our hearts. It's probably even a natural reaction to those of us that arn't! If it makes you feel any better I didn't get a wink of sleep last night either! Looks like we're in the same boat today :)
All I know is if there was something wrong with your heart they would not have let you out of that hospital. Also, I read on RLR's website that dangerous heart palps/flutters etc are usually accompanied by black outs so you'd definatley know. But don't get worried if you feel light headed or dizzy or about to black out because that happens to me quite a lot and probably millions of other anxiety sufferers! You've been given the all clear for your heart with your echo and your ECGs, hold onto that Dodo, don't let anxiety get the better of you :hugs: xx
Ella_Jayne
16-02-11, 14:20
I had this a few times Dodo.
Once I was out and my heart fluttered, I was okay with that as I just put it down to palps but it kept happening, about 5-6 mins later I started to freak out! My heart went really fast and I ended up in a&e, same as you they did an ecg and sent me on my way. Said It sounded like I was just having palpitations and that they were harmless.
The nurse was lovely though, she was saying that I was too young to worry about heart problems and to stop wasting time in hospitals when I could be out partying! LOL! But honestly Dodo you're fine. Our hearts do weird things, sometimes we feel it, sometimes we don't. For heart anxious people any kind of heart flutter can be enough to send you into a panic and get your thoughts racing about heart attacks and arrhythmias and all that but a normal calm person wouldn't even think about it.
You've been given the all clear. You're fine. I know that's harder to accept than said but you have to consider that anxiety could be causing all of this. :)
Thanks for your replies.
I had cone to accept the episodes I gave had in the past were just anxiety because in hindsight I could see something had perhaps happened that day.
But this was completely different to anything I've ever felt. It was the sustained episode of how fast it was going.
I saw my gp today as I knew I would brood if I didn't. He said it was probably SVT. which scared the life out of me again. He said that SVT wasn't anything to worry about with a normal echo though and I should try to put it out if my mind. Easier said than done though. And being pregnant I am just waiting for something to happen again as my heart is working harder anyway.
I have started to go over all my symptoms again though and reassess in my mind what's what. I wish I could just stop worrying about it but it's your heart. It's the fundamental part if us and if it goes wrong....
Yes what I meant to add was that everyone I have read on here who have been diagnosed with SVT have implied surgery or medication is needed and this wasn't said to me at all. I'm not even going to see a cardiologist about it or anything.
Ella_Jayne
16-02-11, 15:08
Just because your doctor suggested SVT doesn't mean that it was that. I went through a point where I thought I had SVT (i thought I had most heart conditions) and it turned out that it wasn't. My heart used to race REALLY fast 168bpm at one point, probably went faster at different times but never caught it only that one time.
It sounds like you had a run of flutters and then panicked and your heart went into over drive. It's happened to me loads of times.
Worst case scenario and the unlikely thing is that you have SVT... (u don't but just saying) it's not serious, not atall. It's just uncomfortable.
You'd proabably just have to take beta blockers.
But I honestly don't think that's what you have.
You're pregnant, you should be relaxed which your feet up thinking about that beautiful baby that you're carrying.
Try not to stress about it hun.
countrygirl
16-02-11, 15:39
I was told that tachycardia from sinus is completely normal and its only a problem if it gets above 160bpm and stays there for a long time but is normal for everyone to have fast heartbeat up to 160bpm usually due to anxiety or a full stomach at times but most people would have no idea they had it.
The dangerous one is ventricular tachycardia following a heart attack this is what kills people but needless to say you would not be posting about that afterwards!
I have just come back from cardiologist because my usual ectopics had changed and I was getting prolonged flutters in chest and feeling faintish. I had 24hr ecg plus 3 weeks event moniter to put on my chest when I felt anything and he said the 24hr ecg picked up rows of ectopics which would make me feel funny headed and its normal for your heart to race after a row of ectopics. I had also managed to feel my pulse during one of these 15 sec attacks and I had long pause a beat long pause a beat then 6 fast beats then long pause again and a beat. he said this corresponds with what I had on the 24 hr ecg and its nothing harmful.
Like previous poster said you would black out with any harmful arthymia and the cardiologist said this as well. He also said you heart can get short spell or irregularity but it means nothing harmful.
The dangerous one is ventricular tachycardia following a heart attack this is what kills people but needless to say you would not be posting about that afterwards!
Off topic slightly but I had that come up on an ECG a while back - that's reasured me a bit what you've just said as I'm starting to realise there's no way the nurse would have let me leave if that was really happening lol! Seemingly false positives are quite common but it's been hard to trust my GP in that haha!
So how is vt different to svt?
The thing I struggle to get my head round is how can that be normal and nothing to worry about if your heart went so haywire?
Oh and also I worry that next time I will be faint, short of breath or black out :(
countrygirl
16-02-11, 16:24
SVT means the trigger was in the sinus part of the heart which is where it should be - VT means its orginating in the ventricles which means the heart cannot work and unless you get shocked this will kill you - remember this only happens after major trauma to the heart as in heart attack and is the reason first responders and ambulance crews have defib machines they only work on dangerous heartbeats so if a defib machine was attached to you during one of your attacks it would not work which is great.
Worrying causes ectopic heartbeats and fast heartrate or both together!
Ty :)
I suppose I'm limited as to what it was anyway having a clear echocardiogram last year.
I just worry what this means for me and the baby I'm carrying :(
I just can't stop going over this in my mind. Did I feel faint, a little . Dud I feel I couldn't breathe, a little. All bad signs.
countrygirl
17-02-11, 08:49
Don't forget when you are pregnant your heart beats quite a bit faster anyway- you should have been told this at antenatal classes, or at least 30 years ago they told me this to stop us worrying about our racing hearts!
Yeah I know this is the case towards the end but I'm very early days right now so not much has changed so far.
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