Wife With Sudden Heart Palpitations 150BPM

[GT3Manthey]

Looking for some help on this-

She's 51 non smoker not huge drinker, up until Covid was running 7 miles a day preparing for the London half marathon ( obvs got cancelled) then she went down with Covid. It knocked the stuffing out of her and her breathing hasn't been the same since.

We find out ( as she tends to be quite secretive so as not to worry us) that around the same time she started getting heart palpitations.

These have now worsened to the point they are now daily and one lasted 15 minutes with her BPM resting at 150 which then drops in seconds to 70.

We went to A&E top be told she has an irregular heart beat which needs further investigation. All fair enough.

Our GP has been worse than useless but we have now managed to engage private health care and she will hopefully be seeing a cardiologist this week.

So far all conversations she's had with any medical practitioners have ruled out menopause which TBF we were rather hoping it was.

So we are slightly worried and obviously still in the dark as we don'y know what we are dealing with and these attacks cant be quite violent.

On one occasion her chest was visibly pounding together with the veins in her neck pulsating.

Any info/ experiences/ advice would be hugely helpful at this stage as naturally we are all pretty frightened.

We were told Friday evening by the last doc we saw that she would be wired up for 48hrs and a 'tape' attached to her to monitor the condition and we go from there.

TIA

[anonymous-user]

The fast rate and irregularity that’s been noticed sounds as if she suffering with atrial fibrillation - have a read up on it. Very common and potentially triggered by onset of menopause, infection and/or just getting older I’m afraid. Hopefully the tape will give more answers but for an active, healthy person I would imagine ablation therapy would be offered (you may need to push for it). Good luck.

[GT3Manthey]

Badda said:

The fast rate and irregularity that’s been noticed sounds as if she suffering with atrial fibrillation - have a read up on it. Very common and potentially triggered by onset of menopause, infection and/or just getting older I’m afraid. Hopefully the tape will give more answers but for an active, healthy person I would imagine ablation therapy would be offered (you may need to push for it). Good luck.

Many tks for the prompt post.

Is the 'tape' the same thing as having the monitoring 'wires' fitted ?

[anonymous-user]

GT3Manthey said:

Many tks for the prompt post.

Is the 'tape' the same thing as having the monitoring 'wires' fitted ?

Yes, couple of sticky dots on her chest and a little thing to carry around recording the cardiac activity. Oftentimes the palpitations won’t occur while hooked up however so be warned.

[GT3Manthey]

Badda said:

Yes, couple of sticky dots on her chest and a little thing to carry around recording the cardiac activity. Oftentimes the palpitations won’t occur while hooked up however so be warned.

Yes the Doc Friday evening did mention this although she is now having daily attacks so hopefully it catches it.

many tks once again

[Evanivitch]

Badda said:

Yes, couple of sticky dots on her chest and a little thing to carry around recording the cardiac activity. Oftentimes the palpitations won’t occur while hooked up however so be warned.

Also generally a good time to avoid going into a bank.

Often they're only for 24 hrs, but if an event doesn't occur you should push for it to be done for longer.

[GT3Manthey]

Evanivitch said:

Also generally a good time to avoid going into a bank.

Often they're only for 24 hrs, but if an event doesn't occur you should push for it to be done for longer.

Sorry maybe me being thick but 'avoid going onto a bank'?

Ok good advise on length of time fitted many tks

[anonymous-user]

Also take a look at this

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/arrhythmia/

My Mum is in her 70s and suffers from tachycardia. Took a while to get under control but managed effectively through drugs and lifestyle choices. Can also be brought on by viral infections according to the link above.

[anonymous-user]

If nothing is captured on the device, they may give you a letter that enables you to go to a local hospital (not a&e) or GPs to have an instant ecg should the palpitations present again. This probably differs on locality and resources though.

[GT3Manthey]

Badda said:

If nothing is captured on the device, they may give you a letter that enables you to go to a local hospital (not a&e) or GPs to have an instant ecg should the palpitations present again. This probably differs on locality and resources though.

Ok great .....As i said we are now private so i'm hoping all options are available to us..

[GT3Manthey]

wormus said:

Also take a look at this

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/arrhythmia/

My Mum is in her 70s and suffers from tachycardia. Took a while to get under control but managed effectively through drugs and lifestyle choices. Can also be brought on by viral infections according to the link above.

Brilliant tks

[motco]

A family member here has paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia which causes exactly the symptoms you describe. Immersing her face in cold water for as long as she can reasonably hold her breath invokes the diving reflex and that normally stops it. If it persists and becomes chronic then a daily dose of a beta blocker may control it. IANAD but related to a sufferer. Other conditions are available. She needs to see a cardiologist with particular interest in the electrical aspects of the heart.

[Evanivitch]

GT3Manthey said:

Evanivitch said:

Also generally a good time to avoid going into a bank.

Often they're only for 24 hrs, but if an event doesn't occur you should push for it to be done for longer.

Sorry maybe me being thick but 'avoid going onto a bank'?

Ok good advise on length of time fitted many tks

A few years ago, and may have improved, it did look a bit suspicious walking around with wires poking out. Looked a bit... Hollywood.

[anonymous-user]

motco said:

A family member here has paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia which causes exactly the symptoms you describe. Immersing her face in cold water for as long as she can reasonably hold her breath invokes the diving reflex and that normally stops it. If it persists and becomes chronic then a daily dose of a beta blocker may control it. IANAD but related to a sufferer. Other conditions are available. She needs to see a cardiologist with particular interest in the electrical aspects of the heart.

Modified Valsalva manouevre is probably more effective and convenient.

[motco]

Badda said:

motco said:

A family member here has paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia which causes exactly the symptoms you describe. Immersing her face in cold water for as long as she can reasonably hold her breath invokes the diving reflex and that normally stops it. If it persists and becomes chronic then a daily dose of a beta blocker may control it. IANAD but related to a sufferer. Other conditions are available. She needs to see a cardiologist with particular interest in the electrical aspects of the heart.

Modified Valsalva manouevre is probably more effective and convenient.

Pressure on the neck works if it's not too severe, as does the breathing in a paper bag, but sometimes it is just intractable. At its worst it can lead to fainting. The beta blockers have more or less put paid to it now.

[GT3Manthey]

motco said:

Pressure on the neck works if it's not too severe, as does the breathing in a paper bag, but sometimes it is just intractable. At its worst it can lead to fainting. The beta blockers have more or less put paid to it now.

Tks, ill be sure to update the thread as we go along this journey.
It may help others too

[brman]

I would also try to keep track of when episodes occur and what might have triggered them.
I have found....
- eating too much or too much sugary stuff
- caffeine (tea as well as coffee, chocolate etc), alcohol.
- strenious excercise. Exercise to a point is good but push too hard and things go pear shaped.
- any form of stress.

If you can work this out and and adjust lifestyle to suit then it really helps. Drugs (betablockers, digoxin, flecanide etc) can be good but do have side affects. Ditto an ablation is not without risk and does not necessarily work long term. So lifestyle changes are best, if you can find something that works.

hmm... I wish I was better at following my own advice!

[GT3Manthey]

brman said:

I would also try to keep track of when episodes occur and what might have triggered them.
I have found....
- eating too much or too much sugary stuff
- caffeine (tea as well as coffee, chocolate etc), alcohol.
- strenious excercise. Exercise to a point is good but push too hard and things go pear shaped.
- any form of stress.

If you can work this out and and adjust lifestyle to suit then it really helps. Drugs (betablockers, digoxin, flecanide etc) can be good but do have side affects. Ditto an ablation is not without risk and does not necessarily work long term. So lifestyle changes are best, if you can find something that works.

hmm... I wish I was better at following my own advice!

Tks
I've just found a thread that was started about AF and i'm now convinced this is what she has.

There is constant mention of beta blockers in the posts too so what you say makes sense.

I'm finally starting to realise we are not invincible !

[motco]

brman said:

I would also try to keep track of when episodes occur and what might have triggered them.
I have found....
- eating too much or too much sugary stuff
- caffeine (tea as well as coffee, chocolate etc), alcohol.
- strenious excercise. Exercise to a point is good but push too hard and things go pear shaped.
- any form of stress.

If you can work this out and and adjust lifestyle to suit then it really helps. Drugs (betablockers, digoxin, flecanide etc) can be good but do have side affects. Ditto an ablation is not without risk and does not necessarily work long term. So lifestyle changes are best, if you can find something that works.

hmm... I wish I was better at following my own advice!

My family member was given flecanide as an instant stopper for the tachycardia. It worked but it became less and less effective. The electro-cardiologist described it as a bit of a sledgehammer and that it must never be used in parallel with the beta blockers in any case. Remember that this case here was ventricular, not atrial. I don't know whether that makes a lot of difference. It had been present on and off for decades but became more serious in later life and whilst also being treated with various cancer medications. One of these medications requires regular echo-cardiograms because it can cause heart damage.

[anonymous-user]

motco said:

My family member was given flecanide as an instant stopper for the tachycardia. It worked but it became less and less effective. The electro-cardiologist described it as a bit of a sledgehammer and that it must never be used in parallel with the beta blockers in any case. Remember that this case here was ventricular, not atrial. I don't know whether that makes a lot of difference. It had been present on and off for decades but became more serious in later life and whilst also being treated with various cancer medications. One of these medications requires regular echo-cardiograms because it can cause heart damage.

Both AF and ‘SVT’ are atrial in origin. If they were ventricular it would be a VT, which is non-sustainable and not compatible with life. Carotid massage for resolution isn’t really recommended nowadays - the risks of throwing a clot off in your neck, in an older patient, outweigh the benefits.