Hi everyone, I recently had an ablation at the end of April 03' for SVT AV Node Reentry. The ablation seems to have been a success as far as eliminating the SVT. However since about Mid June beggining of July I've been experiencing some problems. The main problem I'm having is when i stand up my heart either races or it beats hard and slow. I also notice that when i make sudden movements the same thing results. Yesterday for instance i stood up quickly and i got this clenching feeling in my chest and it was hard to breathe my heart was beating hard and slow approx. 60-65 beats per minute. It seems like my heart is slow to react to quick changes in posture and sudden movements in general either that or it over reacts by beating fast. This ussually lasts about 10-30 seconds before returning to a more normal pace. The hard beats arent extremely hard but they're harder than normal and i get short of breathe and dizzy when it occurs. I wore an event monitor throughout August for 30 days and it showed a couple of PVCs, some extra heartbeats, and some bouts of sinus tachycardia. I had to go to the emergency room two weeks ago because i started feeling very strange when i was at a movie, and when i got up to leave my heart started beating very fast and i started to hyperventilate. I called the paramedics and my blood pressure was high, but they said this was due to nerves. My heart was fast but it was a normal sinus rythmn. When i got to the hospital everything was normal. I've seen my cardiologist twice since my ablation which was 5 months ago. He seems to think I'm fine and i need to quit worrying. I've had 2-3 EKGs and I had an echo done a week ago both which are normal. The fast beats don't really concern me because my cardiologist said it is somewhat common for people to have an increased heartrate and some sinus tachycardia for 3-6 months after an ablation. I also heard from him the first time i saw him after the ablation that people can get funky heartbeats for up to a year after an ablation. He also said that it sounds like a volume problem and that i should increase my salt intake and drink lots of gatorade. The thing that bothers me is the slow harder heart beats when i stand up and make sudden movements. The doctor in the emergency room said after an abaltion heart reflexes can change or something like that. Anyways In the past few months since this started happening it hasn't gotten any worse it's actually improved somewhat, but still bothers me. For about a month it was pretty bad and it would happen more frequently and more intensly. I would get a weird rush through my upper body and i would be short of breathe and dizzy. I recorded these on the event monitor and they were normal sinus rythmns just sudden changes in beats. Sorry for making this post so long its just very frustrating because I'm only 21 years old and i'm not feeling that good on a normal basis and its been hard to workout intensly. Some of what I'm having is anxiety, but i don't know how anxiety could cause the slow hard beats when standing. Is it possible that during the ablation my SA node was slightly damaged or would that be out of the question. They told me the pathway was very close to my SA node but they would have known right away if it was damaged. I haven't gotten any answers besides "stop worrying about it your fine" from my doctor. Sorry for making this post so long, but does anyone have any ideas as to what this is and do guys think i should get a second opinion? Also is it possible that a virus may be causing this?

I also wanted to know about hardening of the arteries after an ablation. I heard this somewhere but i havent found any information. During or after and ablation is it possible that some kind of damage was done to a vein or artery, or are these symptoms different? I'm only 21 and i was feeling pretty good before the ablation except for some svt, so i feel whatever it is now was cause by the ablation.

i had an ablation in June - ablated 0ne area - and then had an ablation in July where they ablated 9 areas - i had five different types of arrythmias.. i have very similar symptoms that you have. was at the hospital last night because my rate dropped to 31 and bp was 70/50.. get a second opinion.. yoiu know your body and if you don't think its right it probably isn't.. my dr is now contemplating a pacemaker.. if you check down the list of topics (go back a couple of weeks) you can see my whole ablation experience - i am not totally thrilled.. i wish you the best of luck - its awful being so young and feeling so bad!!!