Medical people? Anyone familiar with

[momabear]

inappropriate sinus tachycardia? I was diagnosed with that this week. I wasn't too worried until I started googling. Now I am freaking out a bit!

[CloudBee]

I have it, amongst a host of other rhythm issues. IST is the least of my doctor's concerns and is often considered benign and not concerning.

What did your doctor say when you were diagnosed? Most people don't require meds or any sort of intervention.

Are you freaking because your doctor didn't give you much info?

What's the plan going forward? Do you have a follow-up with a cardiologist? Did your PCP diagnose you?

[momabear]

I was diagnosed by the cardiologist after a 24 hour holter monitor. I have a nuclear stress test scheduled as follow up because there were some slight EKG changes with the higher heart rates. I am freaking out because of the number of people I read about that end up with failed ablations and then pacemakers at a young age!

From what I understand it is commonly benign. However my heart rate goes to the 170's with walking. I have very little exercise tolerance and get short of breath going up the stairs. I won't know what the plan is until the stress test.

[CloudBee]

Try not to get too worried. Ablations are rare with IST. Much more common with atrial fibrillation - especially when the length of runs are significant.

170 is high, but how long the runs are plays into that quite a bit.

From my experience and understanding meds are always the first course of action before a pacemaker would be considered. Usually the course of action would be in this order:

-meds (for treatment and rhytm issues that are benign but impact quality of life as they are frustrating to live with)

-ablation (significant impact on quality of life, or runs that have you blacking out, or runs so intense/long that they risk weakening your heart muscle)

-pacemaker (very, very, very extreme circumstances, and more often in people who already have a host of other heart issues)

I've had many discussions with my doctor about IST/SVT/A-Fib, and pacemakers are not the normal at all. I've had 4 surgeries, an internal patch on my heart (metal and goretex) and an ICM but no pacemaker.) You're probably just finding the rare studies that make it to medical journals online. DO NOT FREAK. I know that heart problems of any magnitude can be scary, though. So don't discount that true emotion. But try your hardest to remain calm through it all as it's sorted out.

I've hit well above 200 in my sleep (upper chamers/sinus and lower chambers) and don't have a pacemaker. It's never even been on the table. I have an internal monitor called an ICM so they can monitor me remotely, but that's because I have had bradycardia scares (to slow rather than fast), and a lot of stuff happening in my lower chambers, which in my situation can be dangerous.

Try not to read too much about the worst case scenarios. It sounds like you've got a really proactive cardiologist, which is fantastic.

I hope your nuclear stress test goes well and that you get more answers. Is it coming up soon?

[momabear]

Thanks CloudBee. I appreciate all the info and your story. I actually work in a medical field and most things don't scare me. I wasn't freaking until searching around about it. I did read some studies and also ended up reading a message board for a hospital where 4 or 5 people had ablations that failed and 2 or 3 of them had pacemakers in their 20's.

I will avoid reading anything else and just wait for my stress test. It is in a few weeks.

[CloudBee]

Jan 25, 2013 16:35:26 GMT -5 momabear said:

and also ended up reading a message board for a hospital where 4 or 5 people had ablations that failed and 2 or 3 of them had pacemakers in their 20's.

I will avoid reading anything else and just wait for my stress test. It is in a few weeks.

Even if it's a large university hospital, that's insane.  I wonder if there was damage from a faulty ablation, or if their condition was bad enough and the ablation was really a failed attempt that it required the pacer.

If you end up on meds, have questions about tests, or need an ablation, feel free to ask me more questions.  I've had several ablations.

If you're up for it, post an update on how the test went.  I'll be thinking about you.  Heart stuff can be stressful to deal with.