Atrial tachycardia

A few weeks ago I posted saying that I felt really bad, with skipped beats and a 'heavy' heartbeat etc. I went to A&E and the ECG there showed nothing, and when the cardiology technician interrogated the PM he didn't find anything either, so I tried to ignore it after that. Well, it continued to happen and yesterday it happened so badly that my heart raced and raced and I thought it would burst out of my chest so I knew something was wrong. Today I saw the technician and when he interrogated the PM he found that my HR went up to 155bpm, and he said that either I've got AF or atrial tachycardia, but given my age it's more likely to be tachycardia. He gave me a monitor to wear until Monday so they can get a better ECG, but he was explaining that the treatment for it will be either medication or an ablation. What does all this mean? What sort of medications would they be? Beta blockers are what started my heart condition in the first place!

4 Comments

Different things

by ShadowWeaver - 2009-09-30 03:09:01

They sometimes use beta-blockers and other times more general anti-arrhythmics as far as medications go. An ablation is a procedure where they go in through a vein either in the arm or groin area and stick different catheter equipment up to burn the parts of the heart that are causing the tachy thus destroying those small parts and preventing the tachy.

From what you said about it going to 155bpm, I would tend to agree that it sounds more like tachycardia then it does fibrillation. I have frequent bouts of a-fib where my heart rate has gone as high as 330bpm, but in my case, I normally don't even start feeling it until around 160 or 170. Normally, fibrillation has a lot higher heart rate then does tachycardia, although tachycardia can degenerate into fibrillation.

Hope this helps.

Michael

Tachycardia

by scadnama - 2009-09-30 03:09:19

Hello!

Medications are usually the treatment of choice for mild tachycardia. Beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, and anti-arrhythmics are all used to control a fast heart rate. Ablation is usually only attempted when all other options have been exhausted. A heart rate of 155 bpm isn't too bad, if it's not sustained. Of course, your doctor will be the one to make the decision, depending on the cause and severity of your tachycardia.

I have tried nearly ever medication on the market, and have had 5 ablations because of my tachycardia. If you have any questions, or would like to chat, feel free to send me a message!

Hope you get to feeling better soon!

Amanda

Emma

by ecf2xtreme - 2009-09-30 05:09:49

Hang in there, Kiddo-you've had a rough time. I hope this works out!

-Ellen

Not too young

by Angelie - 2009-09-30 08:09:45

I've had a gamut of EKG anomalies for half my life, officially being diagnosed with SVT in my early 20's. Now that I'm 34, I've been diagnosed with SVT, atrial tachcardia, inappropriate sinus tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, atrial ectopy, ventricular ectopy, ventricular bigeminy, and now after 5 ablations and 2 pacemaker operations my natural heart rhythm without the help of being 100% atrial paced is a junctional escape rhythm.

Over the last year, I've had 3 ablations and two pacemaker surgeries. I have had many ablations, but one I know for sure works quite well is the one for atrial flutter. Since April, I haven't had any more fast rhythms at all. In fact, now I run slow. But it's a mixed blessing. I already had my pacemaker to back me up during my ablations, and it's SO much easier to fix slow rhythms from fast. Believe me, it's taken me almost 10 years, and I've tried all of the drugs too.

I certainly hope that it doesn't take you as long as it took me to get fixed. I wish you all the best, but if you have questions, please feel free to ask.

Angelie

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