Hawklore, it sounds like you may have what I have.
Rip-N-Paste:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/tachycardia-rst/index.htmlSupraventricular Tachycardias (SVTs)
Fast heart rhythms beginning above the ventricles in the atria can have symptoms of palpitations (pounding in the chest), dizziness, chest pain, clamminess, and shortness of breath. These abnormally fast rhythms frequently occur in people who have no heart disease, and can affect children, young adults, and older adults. These abnormal rhythms are usually due to electrical signals that form "short circuits" and fast heartbeats.
Treatment Options
In the past, supraventricular tachycardias were treated only with medications. Since the late 1980s and early 1990s, a procedure called a catheter ablation has been developed to treat some supraventricular tachycardias.
In a catheter ablation procedure, steerable catheters (flexible, insulated wires) are placed into a leg vein in the groin, and guided to the heart. During the diagnostic portion of the study, the location of the extra pathway, or source of extra heartbeats is determined. The catheter is then placed next to the heart region responsible for the abnormal rhythm and a type of energy called radiofrequency energy is delivered through the catheter.
This procedure destroys the abnormal cells responsible for the fast rhythms, or supraventricular tachycardias. For most supraventricular tachycardias, the success rate for catheter ablation is greater than 90 percent and can result in a permanent cure. For these reasons catheter ablation has become the first choice for treatment of many supraventricular arrhythmias, preventing the need for lifelong medication use and possible medication side effects.I have chosen to treat this with medication for now, although I may opt for the catheter ablation in the future.
I don't know about you, but before I was on meds for this, the "episodes" as my doctor calls them, were scary as hell. I could feel the extra heart beat, that starts off the arrythmia, as a big "thump", and then my heart was off to the races. I could be sitting down doing nothing, and my heart would be doing 180 bpm.
In fact, first time I had my first "episode", I was home alone watching TV, and I called 911 and got the full treatment: police, paramedics, ambulance, etc..
Was basically a preview of what it would be like to have a heart attack, even though that's not what I was experiencing.
One nice thing about living where I do, is that the Mayo clinic is only 2 miles from my house. Not a bad place to live if you need expert medical care!
Hope things go well for you. Drop me an email at
jdahlen@us.ibm.com if you want to discuss it.
One nice side effect from my medication is that my blood pressure is down from 120/80 to 104/64.
