Resolved question:
I was diagnosed with SVT a few years back. It has not been bothering me or hindering my daily activities until now. I've also been recently diagnosed with fibromn, ivyalgia and am wondering if my symptoms are a result if either. For the past few days I've been experiencing alot of "flutters". After that started , I've been experiencing severe pain in my hands and feet. There is not much swelling but definitely redness. I have a tight chest which is causing shortness of breath or trouble getting in deep breaths, dizziness when I lay my head back, sweating without a fever, unusual fatigue, pain behind my eyes or severe headache. My BP has been consistently running 140's over high 80's to low 90's with a pulse in the 80-90's. In October I was hospitalized due to chest tightness, difficulty breathing and left arm pain/numbness. An EKG showed an upside down T wave but I had a normal stress test. Tests showed I did not have a heart attack so the doctors attributed it all to my SVT. After leaving the hospital, I wore an event monitor for about a week. After completion of the monitor, I never heard back from the Cardiologist or my Primary Doctor. I went on assuming it was just SVT. I do NOT have health insurance at this time so I can't go running to the doctor if it is not absolutely necessary. Is this something that I should concern myself with or not worry about it.
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
Cardiologist
Hello,
Thank you for your query at DoctorSpring.com.
You have been diagnosed as SVT. Has it been documented on ecg during such an episode that you have SVT?
Have you ever checked on your pulse rate when you had this SVT?
It is a good thing that during the episodes of chest tightness and breathlessness your bp and pulse were quite normal. A pulse of 80 to 90 during the episode suggests that it may not have been due to svt. Also negative TMT after the episode rules out coronary artery disease to a definite extent.
The loop recorder would record the svt in case of you having palpitations and racing heart during the time it was applied to you. Did you have palpitations or increased heart rate during the time of loop recorder application?
What I feel is that if the SVT is well documented on an ecg then we can take the diagnosis as confirmed.
But if it is an assumption that all this may be due to SVT then the heart rate of 80 tp 90 during one such episode doesn't suggest SVT. You could do one of the following. Whenever you get a suffocation feeling with warm limbs or flushing and impending doom feeling just measure your pulse rate. It is easy. Just
place your fingers on your wrist. You can feel the radial artery pulsating. Count the pulse in one minute. If it is less than 120 or 130 then it is unlikely that it is a SVT. IF more than 150 then more likely. If the pulse is more than 130 or so get to a nearby ecg centre and get an ecg done to document the ecg so that we may be sure.
One more thing, Such attacks of suffocation and flushing with sweating can occur in other conditions as well. If a woman is nearing her menopause then she may have some of these symptoms. Such symptoms may occur prior to menses in normal females as a Perimenstrual syndrome.
Are your menses irregular in the recent times?
Panic attack and anxiety may present similarly.
I know it is a discomfort to have such symptoms but your negative stress test assures that coronary artery disease isn't the cause and that is a solace.
Hope this helps, please feel free to get back with any queries.
Regards
Dr Vivek Mahajan
DM Cardiology