Forum Discussion
SVT - Super Ventricular Tachycardia
Sorry I have been off the forum for a few days but I have been in hospital. I chucked a wobbly yesterday and they finally let me go home. I hate hospitals bigtime!
On Friday morning it was a beautiful morning with a gentle high tide so I made a coffee, put it in the kayak and went fishing for two hours. Mistake number one- I hadnt had breakfast yet and my coffee is black with no sugar so my blood sugar would have been low.
I caught one fish, a queen fish which I bought home and put in the fridge.
Dragging the kayak up the dune, one of the wheels had locked under it, unbeknownst to me and I ended up dragging it under duress. By the time I got across the road and home my heart was racing and sweat was pouring out of me and I was getting breathless. I sat on the stairs for a while (of course no one was home yet), then got up and washed down my yak, fixed the wheel, sat on the steps again. Then I made it upstairs and sat on the lounge chair for a while until I got my breath back and had a shower and got myself cleaned up and layed down on the bed. Hubby got home about an hour later but my heart was still pounding an hour later so I said we'd better go in to emergency and see whats up, so in we went.
Not a carpark available near the hospital and my mere male man parked across the road in the cancer care carpark but instead of dropping me off at emergency, I had to walk from across the road. It was a slow walk I tell you. Hubby sort of looked at me funny like, why are you walking so slow. You gotta wonder about men sometimes lol.
Anyway we finally got to emergency and the nurse put me on a monitor and it went off with alarms and wouldnt shut up so I went in to ER. My heart rate was about as fast as a babies at 168. After about an hour in there on the monitor it still wasnt stopping so the vultures starting devising ways to slow it down or actually stop it. They stuck the shock stickers to my body and thought they might inject me with Adenosine (which stops your heart and they explained I will be fightened beyond belief with a feeling of impending doom) and they said we will hold your hand and it only lasts a few seconds. So they got me all terrified of that and then a Swedish Doctor came in and looked at the monitor and said its only a heart flutter and no need for all of that. She gave me half of a tiny Metoprolol beta blocker and my heard rate started dropping back down to 68. Easy as it was so I am not sure why the other doctors and nurses were getting ready with paddles and impending doom injections.
The hospital was full so I was parked in a cubicle until about 11 that night until a bed became available. I saw and heard two lots of car accident patients come in which brought my heart rate up again but it settled back down after that by itself. I was wheeled to a private room with no one to talk to and with door alarms, nurse station alarms and bells going off all night so I got aboutt 2 hours sleep. I hate being inside and was feeling pretty low on Saturday morning and when the doctor said to stay until Sunday I went for him bigtime. I said and then what, I stay till Monday until the regular resident doctor comes to finally release me and in the meantime you got a nice easy heart patient to mind with no challenge? He really did look like i had caught him out and he said ok go up and down the corridors and exert yourself for a few hours and if it looks good on the monitor you can go home with some tablets. So I did and I must have passed the test as they let me out, yay!
I am currently on 1/4 tab of Metoprolol, the doctors think could be forever but I am ok with that as long as I don't have to go to hospital again lol. Next week the merrygoround of a GP doctor and all the tests and stuff he will order. I suppose I will have to tell my oncologist whats happening and my job provider and maybe, just maybe, centerlink will listen to my doctors and give me a disability pension finally.
Oh and I think I may be allergic to latex and the stickers gave me awful red marks.
On Friday morning it was a beautiful morning with a gentle high tide so I made a coffee, put it in the kayak and went fishing for two hours. Mistake number one- I hadnt had breakfast yet and my coffee is black with no sugar so my blood sugar would have been low.
I caught one fish, a queen fish which I bought home and put in the fridge.
Dragging the kayak up the dune, one of the wheels had locked under it, unbeknownst to me and I ended up dragging it under duress. By the time I got across the road and home my heart was racing and sweat was pouring out of me and I was getting breathless. I sat on the stairs for a while (of course no one was home yet), then got up and washed down my yak, fixed the wheel, sat on the steps again. Then I made it upstairs and sat on the lounge chair for a while until I got my breath back and had a shower and got myself cleaned up and layed down on the bed. Hubby got home about an hour later but my heart was still pounding an hour later so I said we'd better go in to emergency and see whats up, so in we went.
Not a carpark available near the hospital and my mere male man parked across the road in the cancer care carpark but instead of dropping me off at emergency, I had to walk from across the road. It was a slow walk I tell you. Hubby sort of looked at me funny like, why are you walking so slow. You gotta wonder about men sometimes lol.
Anyway we finally got to emergency and the nurse put me on a monitor and it went off with alarms and wouldnt shut up so I went in to ER. My heart rate was about as fast as a babies at 168. After about an hour in there on the monitor it still wasnt stopping so the vultures starting devising ways to slow it down or actually stop it. They stuck the shock stickers to my body and thought they might inject me with Adenosine (which stops your heart and they explained I will be fightened beyond belief with a feeling of impending doom) and they said we will hold your hand and it only lasts a few seconds. So they got me all terrified of that and then a Swedish Doctor came in and looked at the monitor and said its only a heart flutter and no need for all of that. She gave me half of a tiny Metoprolol beta blocker and my heard rate started dropping back down to 68. Easy as it was so I am not sure why the other doctors and nurses were getting ready with paddles and impending doom injections.
The hospital was full so I was parked in a cubicle until about 11 that night until a bed became available. I saw and heard two lots of car accident patients come in which brought my heart rate up again but it settled back down after that by itself. I was wheeled to a private room with no one to talk to and with door alarms, nurse station alarms and bells going off all night so I got aboutt 2 hours sleep. I hate being inside and was feeling pretty low on Saturday morning and when the doctor said to stay until Sunday I went for him bigtime. I said and then what, I stay till Monday until the regular resident doctor comes to finally release me and in the meantime you got a nice easy heart patient to mind with no challenge? He really did look like i had caught him out and he said ok go up and down the corridors and exert yourself for a few hours and if it looks good on the monitor you can go home with some tablets. So I did and I must have passed the test as they let me out, yay!
I am currently on 1/4 tab of Metoprolol, the doctors think could be forever but I am ok with that as long as I don't have to go to hospital again lol. Next week the merrygoround of a GP doctor and all the tests and stuff he will order. I suppose I will have to tell my oncologist whats happening and my job provider and maybe, just maybe, centerlink will listen to my doctors and give me a disability pension finally.
Oh and I think I may be allergic to latex and the stickers gave me awful red marks.
17 Replies
- I wore a heart halter monitor for 24 hours over a week ago. My GP said my heart is skipping a beat and the heart rate ranged from 40 beats per minute (sleeping) to 142bpm (probably riding my bicycle). He is amazed that just 1/4 of a 50mg Metaprolol tablet twice a day is having such an effect on me. In the morning as soon as it takes effect I sometimes have to have a 20 minute lay down and at night it bombs me down for the count lol. He said he's had some take a whole 100mg for no effect so it is good the meds are working. An hour or two before the night time dose sometimes my rate does go up to 119bpm so he said if that happens often, add in an extra 1/4 tab to make it 3 times a day, spaced at 8 hourly.
We don't actually know why my heart gets racey but the doctor said avoid stress as much as possible. If the tablets stop working I will need to go to Brisbane for a catheter ablation or have a pace maker put in.
While I'm good I am wasting no time getting on with life. I love my fishing from the beach and take the kayak out sometimes too. - My cardiologist berates the echo operator if he hasn't got results in 24 hours. GPs may be busy but berating the patient? Possibly time for a change!
- I still haven't had a call from my GP's office for an appointment or anything. When I went in on Monday I was more or less berated for coming in too soon as the hospital doctor had not sent him the blood test results, echo results or the xray results or the referral. He has two weeks from last Monday. If I don't hear from his office, I am getting myself a new GP.
- I agree how incredibly hard it is, I have a few things happening on top of the BC thing and chemo side effects. People really dont understand the complexity of it all and least of all Centrelink. I looked into disability pension too, even with everything I struggle with I wouldnt get it. Mental illness is by far one of the hardest things to get a disability pension for. You have to be physically incapacitated hmmm wish they could see me struggle every single day getting out of my bed at 6am 5 days a week to go to work because I have to support myself. There is NO financial assistance I dont care what anyone says and all the people you bring together to solve it. I did the hard slog of homework for a long time tried everything. Financially ruined, and my life is forever compromised thanks to treatment. But alas I guess as hard as it is may be this is what the Universe thinks is better for my well being. Who knows...my brother has MS and is on the disability pension, when I look at his daily struggles it's nothing to what I have to go through everyday. None of it is easy. I've learnt that sometimes we have to do the opposite of what we think makes sense. Hugs Melinda xo
- Hi there @brenda. What a bloody scare you must of had! But glad you are at least home now and recovering. And yes it’s common for patients to get a reaction to the stickys from the ECG. Especially if they are left on for some time. I’m just glad you got through it ok and I did mention you in another post about your struggles with Centrelink. And good luck with the DSP as if you haven’t been through enough. And did your own mother really say thst to you? Seriously ? After everything you’ve been through ? I would of told her where to go that’s so inconsiderate. Don’t worry we love you on here and although we might only be your virtual family we are still family that cares. Biggest hug. Hope your back on the kayak soon catching your dinner! Margie. Xx
- @Brenda5 Glad you are home and fine, certainly gives you a fright! I used to suffer from SVT on and off in my life, after radiation in 2011 at my first diagnosis it actually got worse believe it or not. I had 2 major episodes and ended up in ER like you, I ended up having an ablation done which cauterizes the nerve pathways across the heart, thankfully its not dangerous and not to do with the functioning of the heart. I've been fine since, through chemo I too suffered strange heart flutters, even now but my heart never goes into that fast rhythm now. So bizarre! I didnt go on any medication, lots of people do was just easier to fix it in an overnight stay. Food for thought anyway. Hugs Melinda xo
- But you can now escape in you camper trailer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! @Zoffiel
The heart issue has been scaring me a bit, too @brenda5 - lot's of heart issues on my side. Trying to find an exercise physiologist to finish me offsgiost. Oh, thanks, Mum. ***rolls eyes***
Mine has been known to intimate that I might not be in the shit I'm in if I had 'made more conventional choices earlier on'. This from an overweight old trout who has had multiple strokes and is busily corrupting the whole wing of her nursing home with wine time every evening. At least I don't have to contend with God being vengeful as well :)
- I don't know why they didn't check my heart after chemo 2 years ago. I have been lethargic ever since and my GP just puts it down as depression.
I was a captive audience in hospital for my mother who said perhaps God is punishing you for being in debt? Get out of debt and things might turn around. Sheesh! Yeah I will jump outa bed and get a really good job mum and pay the debt off in 10 years. Get real. - @Brenda5, what a scare for you. Glad you're ok now though. I'm on metoprolol also. I had heart attack back in February 2016. I'm also on blood pressure lowering tablets even though it's never been high. Severe tiredness was a side effect from both the drugs until my body adjusted. I hate hospitals too .
