For people that don't know, Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT) is very rapid pulse triggered by an electrical glitch in the heart. It's underlying causes can be genetic, too much caffeine, stress/anxiety, an electrolytic imbalance, a histamic reaction etc etc. A not-inconsiderable proportion of the population get it from time to time (~5% AFAIK - mostly women though, heh). Most people I've talked to about it tend to know at least one person that gets it.
In my case it's something that's (IMHO) not serious enough to contemplate an operation or using medication for life, but it does bug the hell out of me from time to time. Plus, when you get it it feels like you're going to die, which isn't very fun. Usually my BPM will jump suddenly to about 240-250 for anywhere between a few seconds and a few hours, and the couple of times the latter has happened I've begged people to take me to a hospital. A shot (adenosine) stops it straight away*. Ultimately it's just an inconvenience though - I'm thankful I don't have a more serious condition.
Bit of a self-indulgent topic thus far, sorry, but I'm pretty sure quite a few of you guys will either get it from time to time or know someone that does. How badly are you affected? Anybody had the catheter ablation op (supposedly over 90% successful) or take meds for it? The worst thing I've found about it is that it is both caused by and causes anxiety. So if you get really depressed about something it's very easy to develop a complex that involves the condition and grind yourself into the ground.
MuFu.
* The weirdest feeling... your heart actually stops beating momentarily, you feel like a baby elephant is sitting on your chest and then it starts beating normally again and everything is fine.
In my case it's something that's (IMHO) not serious enough to contemplate an operation or using medication for life, but it does bug the hell out of me from time to time. Plus, when you get it it feels like you're going to die, which isn't very fun. Usually my BPM will jump suddenly to about 240-250 for anywhere between a few seconds and a few hours, and the couple of times the latter has happened I've begged people to take me to a hospital. A shot (adenosine) stops it straight away*. Ultimately it's just an inconvenience though - I'm thankful I don't have a more serious condition.
Bit of a self-indulgent topic thus far, sorry, but I'm pretty sure quite a few of you guys will either get it from time to time or know someone that does. How badly are you affected? Anybody had the catheter ablation op (supposedly over 90% successful) or take meds for it? The worst thing I've found about it is that it is both caused by and causes anxiety. So if you get really depressed about something it's very easy to develop a complex that involves the condition and grind yourself into the ground.
MuFu.
* The weirdest feeling... your heart actually stops beating momentarily, you feel like a baby elephant is sitting on your chest and then it starts beating normally again and everything is fine.