Paroxysmal Atrial Tachycardia-hmmm - Heart Disorders Message Board

Graciella · 02-15-2006, 01:44 PM

Hi,

My name is Graciella and I'm 25 years old. A couple of year back, I started having rare incidences of palpitations, Rapid heart beats. It was bothersome but since it would occur so seldom, I didn't think much of it. Over the past year it has become more frequent and it wouldn't just happen when exercising. I am a healthy individual, none of the risk factors apply to me (no coffee, no alcohol, no obesity).
So, I had myself checked recently and found out I suffer from P. A. T. or supraventricular atrial Tachycardia.
The treatment involves a procedure called ablation, the removal of tissue by heat or cold with a catheter.
I am not sure where to go from here. I haven't experienced any fainting yet, so, I don't really want to do it, since I am not at a very serious stage.
Is this really a serious condition? I don't want to have to worry about it.

Graciella · 02-15-2006, 02:06 PM

Oh, I forgot to mention that my breathing really bothers me. Every other minute you'll see me gasp for a good breath because I feel like I am not having enough exygen intake. Usually i try to take that full breath by yawning, and it really bothers me, cuz it's not an induced yawning, it just comes over me. Maybe this has nothing to do with my condition but I thought I should mention it.

Timber · 02-15-2006, 02:51 PM

Most people on this board refer to paroxysmal atrial tachycardia as SVT or PSVT (supraventricular tachycardia). SVT isn't life threatening, unless you have an ailing heart to begin with and it doesn't sound like you do. Generally they want to treat SVT if it starts to become frequent, because SVTs beget SVTs; the more you have the more you have. How often are you having episodes? Have they put you on meds for it?

Several people on this board have had ablation for SVT, and have had really good experiences with it. If you do a search, you'll find their posts.

It won't kill you, but it can start to really interfere with your life if it happens frequently or starts to cause fainting, and other troublesome symptoms. In that case, you might want to get treated.

Graciella · 02-15-2006, 05:07 PM

Oh yea, I know about the alternate naming of the condition. I have also read over posted going back quite a bit, and it seems that going through the non-surgical procedure of ablation really has its ups but also downs. Some said they encountered complications, some confirmed a 95% safe outcome. I'm still uncertain.
My palpitations happen maybe once a month, but it really depends on how I'm feeling (stress, overexertion...).
The cardiologist did not mention anything about medication, instead he recommended ablation from the start after the results of the ECG from the holter monitoring.

Graciella · 02-17-2006, 02:39 PM

Any more advise?