Anybody else have problem with SVT

[rdmc]

Thanks Jan. I have hypertension normally and was on 3 bp meds. Then in 2007 I started fainting after I stood for a few minutes and they found my bp was taking a nosedive. They have me on a calcium channel blocker for the bp and tachycardia which I had for years along with 2 other bp meds. They added a betablocker in 2009 after a bad fainting episode. It has helped somewhat but I still can't stand for more than 3-7 minutes and now my heartrate runs in the 40-50 bpm area. The electrophysiologist wants it to stay under 70 for some reason.
I am glad you don't faint but I think the presyncope is almost worse feeling. My drs say I am a medical mystery. I have ms, autonomic dysfunction, RA, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, svt, osteoarthritis and now they think maybe lupus. it just seems like it never ends doesn't it?

As Jan said, you've got a lot going on. I have the hypertension and now the SVT, but the hypertension has been explained as relating back to my MS due to a lesion. Has anyone tried to link your diagnoses together, in other words is your autonomic dysfunction secondary to one of your other illnesses. Sure sounds like you have your plate full. I did a little reading and there is a condition called POTS and it can present with high or low BP, but it does cause the fainting like you're reporting.

i agree with Jan, maybe if you found a forum for dysautonomia, they'd have more suggestions to help you learn what kind of doctors or treatment work best. With all of that I don't imagine you're functioning too well. What do your doctors think?

[tuesdayschild]

Valsalva and ice on the face

have worked for me many times. Valsalva's something that can be done any time any where. You can look it up but essentially it is the same thing you do when you're pushing hard during a bowel movement. "The person will inhale, close the glottis, and tighten the chest and abdominal muscles. This increases not only the intra-abdominal pressure to assist with colon evacuation, but it also increases intrathoracic pressure and produces the Valsalva effect," from the EMS1 web site.

This has been recommended to me by both my PCP and my cardiologist.

Shelby

[Beccah0206]

Mine is unrelated...

I've been on verapamil since I was 19 for Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome. It isn't a first line treatment anymore but since its working for me I stay with it. My cardiologist took me off for time last year and I had too many runs of SVTs for comfort. I also began exhibiting bigeminy (apparently common in people with sleep apnea) which had clearly been tempered by the verapamil.

I'd been told at age 15 I was too young for heart problems but at 19 when I'd had enough of the SVTs and chest pain I went to the ED. They referred me to a cardiologist who diagnosed the WPW as well as mitral valve prolapse. Apparently I was "lucky" because the WPW doesn't always show up on an EKG and the doc found it the first time. They attempted to ablate the extra AV node but to no avail. They consider this SVT a dual AV nodal re-entrant tachycardia.

I have also been treated for high blood pressure since 19 though on different medications as my needs have fluctuated. As I didn't start having MS symptoms until I was in my late 20s I doubt they're related.

[rdmc]

I've been on verapamil since I was 19 for Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome. It isn't a first line treatment anymore but since its working for me I stay with it. My cardiologist took me off for time last year and I had too many runs of SVTs for comfort. I also began exhibiting bigeminy (apparently common in people with sleep apnea) which had clearly been tempered by the verapamil.

I'd been told at age 15 I was too young for heart problems but at 19 when I'd had enough of the SVTs and chest pain I went to the ED. They referred me to a cardiologist who diagnosed the WPW as well as mitral valve prolapse. Apparently I was "lucky" because the WPW doesn't always show up on an EKG and the doc found it the first time. They attempted to ablate the extra AV node but to no avail. They consider this SVT a dual AV nodal re-entrant tachycardia.

I have also been treated for high blood pressure since 19 though on different medications as my needs have fluctuated. As I didn't start having MS symptoms until I was in my late 20s I doubt they're related.

Hi Beccah,

Sorry to hear you're dealing with the same type of issues...I was a little surprised to see this thread because it was started when I first was diagnosed with the SVT.

Since then I've had all the heart tests, saw a cardiologist and a cardiac electro physiologist amd the conclusion was that the SVT was from the MS. the electro physiologist said ablation wouldn't work...so over the past year we've (GP, Cardiologist, Neuro) have honed a protocol that works pretty well. Atenolol is the med I use for the SVT, and Clonidine for the BP...I take them daily but when it starts to go into "hyper drive" I pop more of those meds, get somewhere comfortable, and get a big glass of ice water...and wait.

I've been very fortunate in that this combo has worked very well...and I've not had any need for the Er visit.

as far as your SVT/BP being related to your MS, sounds like it's been determined otherwise. Certainly not everyone with MS has BP/SVT problems and not all MSers who has SVT and BP problems has them due to the MS. Those determinations have to come from the "specialists"

Good to hear you've found meds to temper it. You started having problems at such a young age, must have been hard.