Anyone with experience of SVT?

[alex3333]

I have searched through the forum and I cannot find anyone mentioning SVT (Supra ventricular tachycardia). I am not sure whether it is also called in some other way, hence the lack of search results.

I have started having a few episodes, usually exercise induced, but lately also stress related. The symptoms are quite easy to describe. While the heart is regularly beating away (in my case, if I exercise on the bike, I am in the region of 160-170 bpm, if I am going uphill), it seems to stop momentarily, then I feel a strong thud in the chest, and the ventricles start beating randomly, and the heart rate monitor shows my heart is stuck at 200-220, and even stopping and standing still will not slow the heart down significantly. Clearly I lose all power, and can hardly breathe when this happens.

They say it's not life threatening, but for sure it is scary, and makes you feel weak. The previous episodes lasted only a couple of minutes, but the other week (After 3 years of no episodes) I had one that lasted 2 hours, leaving me physically debilitated, and unfortunately it has made me lose pretty much all my confidence in doing tasks which need some force, and to top it all off, panic attacks have come back after many years of absence, with the added bonus of them happening even at home when I am on my own. Before, home used to be the safe place where I would have no panic attacks, not any more.
I have to laugh at myself to relax a bit, but sometimes I fail to see the funny side of it.

Last time I had the attack, I made the mistake of not doing any of the usual maneoveurs to stop SVT (coughing, bearing down..etc.), but it had been such a long time ago, that I couldn't believe it was happening again. I should keep exercising, but the anxiety I have ,if I get on the bike or if I go for a long walk, is too much due to the fear of what happened.

It is fair to say that I have pretty much hit rock bottom in self confidence due to this, and even going shopping is a challenge thanks to the panic attacks.

Does anyone else have similar experiences with SVT? It would be nice to hear some stories in the matter, and how you have overcome it or are dealing with it or maybe I am the only one in which case I will feel honoured

Have a nice Friday everyone!

[poppy1]

I have SVT. I only feel it in the night when it wakes me up with my heart racing. Not sure of the rate I think it's about 160bpm. I breathe through it and it reduces quite quickly but it's still fast. Lasts about 15 mins ordinarily but now and again I'll get a really fast and hard bout which makes me sweat and feel a bit dizzy.

[glennyboi]

I know exactly what you are talking about! The momentarily stopping....the thud...then the super fast heart rate that suddenly goes back to normal in a second! Super scary!
I'm very slowly slowly getting over it. I've had it since I was 13 and I'm 20 now. Doctors have taken no notice when I mention it to them. Had an echocardiogram, 5 resting EGS's, a 24 hour Holter Monitor and several doctors listen to my heart. Everything normal!
I annoyed my GP so I have another appointment with a cardiologist to speak to him about SVT but I'm on a super long waiting list cause she said I need to start exercising again. Lost all confidence to exercise! :(

[Lady Penelope]

Find this interesting article on SVT