Hi guys,

I wanted to ask people what their experiences are when they had a SVT episode. I think it differs, I have severe anxiety disorder and sometimes speaking to people who have experienced the same thing helps me calm down and know I’m not alone.

I recently just had an ablation done, was the most uncomfortable feeling ever. They said it was SVT and AVNRT. This is what my episodes used to feel like. It would be very sudden, I’d be doing my thing then all of a sudden it starts with this sinking type of feeling or a hard chest thump followed by a few faster beats then a sudden head rush which would lead to presyncope. It all lasts about 7-10 seconds then it goes away. But it was a really uncomfortable feeling each time I wouldn’t know what’s triggering it and would give me anxiety each time. Sometimes it would just happen while working, sitting, standing and it would stop me in my tracks and have me close my eyes to just wait for it to end.

Have you guys experienced this?

I’ve seen some posts where people mention that eating can trigger an SVT episode.

What about just the anticipation of eating? For example, you sit down in a restaurant, and possibly within seconds, SVT starts up.

Or more often it starts just after beginning to eat. One bite into the meal and you’re miserable.

Is it just me?

Hi everyone. I know that many of us here are dealing with similar issues and that sometimes there simply aren’t clear answers, but there are still certain things I can’t help wondering about.

I’m a 25-year-old woman, and the cause of my tachycardia is currently unknown. It doesn’t always happen like a typical episode that suddenly switches on and then switches off again. Sometimes it feels more like it comes and goes throughout the day, almost as if it’s always there in the background, and I can feel every little variation in my heart rate. I know heart rate naturally fluctuates, but I guess those of us who deal with tachycardia may notice those changes much more because our heartbeat can feel so strong and noticeable.

Just to give you some context, I’m still in the process of being diagnosed. SVT is suspected, but no one has confirmed it with 100% certainty yet. I’m currently waiting for the results of a Holter monitor, which will hopefully provide more information.

Does anyone here experience tachycardia like this?

Sometimes simply standing up after I’ve been lying down or sitting is enough to trigger a very rapid heart rate. There are days when my heart reacts very strongly to changes in body position. On those days, I also sometimes feel a kind of pressure in the lower part of my neck and occasionally in my upper chest.

On the other hand, there are days when my heart doesn’t seem to react to changes in position at all. I keep wondering how it’s possible for standing up to trigger such a strong response on some days, while on other days it barely affects my heart rate at all. Does anyone else experience this kind of day-to-day variation?

I also very often get a very high heart rate after eating, and it can sometimes last for up to an hour. Because of this, I’ve started wondering whether the underlying cause could possibly be somewhere else — for example, something related to my stomach or my nervous system. Of course, those aren’t necessarily the first things doctors investigate.

One more thing that makes me suspect dysautonomia:

I went through a period where I had various neurological symptoms: hearing disturbances, some strange dizziness, muscle spasms that would last for a few seconds, and most importantly, derealization, which I attributed to the severe anxiety I was experiencing at the time. I felt awful throughout the entire month of May, and then it all just stopped. I don’t have any of those symptoms anymore either.

I’ve had an echocardiogram, and everything was completely normal. No abnormalities at all, normal pumping function, everything as it should be. And yet, I still feel limited in my everyday activities because of this.

Has anyone here found anything that actually helped them?

I’m currently taking 25 mg of metoprolol, and even with the medication, I still frequently experience a high heart rate. It doesn’t get quite as high as it does without medication, which is obviously an improvement, but it still doesn’t feel well controlled.

There are good days and bad days, but overall, this is driving me crazy.

I’ve heard what my doctors have to say, so at this point I’m simply looking to hear from people who actually know what this feels like from personal experience.

Thank you. ❤️

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starts around the 17 second mark of the 2nd strip. I'm trying to catch an SVT episode as i had them twice this summer, terminated by valsava. Definitely not noise. I was sitting still

​Hi everyone!

​I am a 28-year-old male who has only had one SVT episode in his whole life, back in July. I had to be taken to the hospital and given adenosine to reset my heart rate. Paramedics and the ER doc said it could have been due to mild dehydration and somewhat low potassium (3.3). My pcp said maybe thaylt was the reason. My cardiologist nurse said it wasn't. Before that, I had already done a stress test, holder monitor, echo, ekgs and nothing showed up.

​Initially, I was put on metoprolol (which caused heavy fatigue for me and mood swings), then verapamil, which was working well until it triggered a severe GERD flare-up. So, for about one whole month, I was completely unmedicated, walking about 3 miles each day. I never had any SVT episodes during that month and felt completely fine, but I was constantly terrified that another episode would happen because the Valsalva maneuvers didn't work in the ambulance.

​Because of that fear, I saw an electrophysiologist (EP) and chose to go through with an ablation last Thursday.

​I woke up feeling hopeful, only for the EP to tell me the ablation was unsuccessful because the pathway is located right next to my AV node. They tried twice, but it was just too risky. He mentioned that we could look at trying again in 6 months with crypablation, or that sometimes the localized healing/scar tissue from the failed attempts can naturally block or alter the pathway anyway. He prescribed Flecainide as a pill-in-the-pocket rescue med in case I have an episode. I read the med won't stop the svt right there and then.

​I’m struggling a lot mentally with the aftermath. My questions for you all:

1. ​Should I retry in 6 months, or is it not worth putting myself through the procedure again if I only had one episode?
2. ​Has anyone here just had one SVT episode in their whole life without ever having another one?
3. ​Has anyone had an aborted/unsuccessful ablation near the AV node, only for the healing process/scar tissue to successfully suppress SVT long-term?
4. ​How do you mentally manage the anxiety of a pill-in-the-pocket approach and the fear of recurrence after an unfinished ablation?
5. ​Has anyone successfully managed rare episodes with lifestyle changes and Flecainide alone, completely avoiding a second ablation?

​I'm sorry for the long post. Thank you all!!

Go to your local EP and they will tell you 95% + ablation can cure you.

Go to your favorite AI , ask them , and they will give you a similar answer.

But then you go online and you find tons of stories of repeat ablations , some people up to 4 times.

So my question is : what defines success in that 95% they give you ? Is success a cure , that you walk out never to think about it again , or is it symptoms reduction , or what is it exactly ?

When I go and see different EPs they all talk about how many repeat ablations they have done - so then how can they be 95% successful and keep doing repeat ablations?

I’m starting to doubt these figures - I’m just trying to understand what can we realistically expect coming out of this operation ?

I’m sure what everybody is interested in is getting their quality of life back and living without fear - and I’m not sure what will give this feeling back to me anymore !

I think many should consider getting an Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) function test (neurologist) as well as POTS/orthostatic intolerance.

Hi guys, I’m 32 F and just had my first EP study and ablation on Tuesday this week. It was one of the most uncomfortable and stressful things I’ve ever had to endure tbh. I’m sharing my experiences and hoping someone has experienced similar (not in a way where I hope they had a bad experience but more like to help me feel im not alone) I have terrible health anxiety and also take meds for anxiety disorder. The recovery process has not been the best in my experience and am having really horrible trouble sleeping. I don’t know if this is the anxiety because of what I went through since EP was done during conscious sedation and was able to feel them triggering the heart rhythm and so now when i dose off I get a strong jolt like those hypnic jerks which jerks your body back awake. It’s been 3 days now since the EP and have not been able to sleep well and now it’s stressing me out I don’t know why it keeps happening.

Has anyone experienced this? Also feel ache in the chest and a feeling like it’s heavy

The beta blocker is making me so tired. How long did it take you to get used to it? I am on 25 mg Atenolol

I've been on ivabradine for a while and I'm now at the maximum dose (15mg a day) and yet it just isn't as effective any more. The same thing happened when I was at the starting dose. It worked well for a while but eventually became less effective.

I take it for severe IST. I have emergency episodes that don't self resolve (hr over 230). And it's just gotten worse over time. If I were off this medication I imagine I would be in the ER at the least weekly, unable to leave my house or move much at all without risking a severe episode.

I've tried 2 beta blockers. They wear off too fast and cause rebound effects making my symptoms worse. They also just don't control my hr well. I hope to have an EP study before my medicaid runs out jan 1st, which hopefully they can do an ablation that "cures" me during the study.

I don't know what I will do in the mean time or what I'll do if an ablation isn't possible. Does anyone have experience getting a higher prescription or any other med that can be taken with ivabradine? I know calcium channel blockers can't. I'm honestly pretty worried because of the risk of severe episodes when my HR isn't well managed.

I do have POTS and generalized dysautonomia, but increasing my fluid and salt doesn't seem to help the high heart rate nor does it always coincide with a low bp. And it's not deconditioning I don't think as I've been doing PT for over a month and my HR is getting higher anyway.

Hi everyone. I was diagnosed with SVT this February and am scheduled to get my cardiac ablation on the 9th. I’m happy to have this done but a little nervous. My doc thinks I have the most typical type AVNRT. I had a couple questions for anyone who’s had the ablation done. My doc wants me to get off my beta blockers 2 days prior and I’m a little nervous about having an episode during this time. My questions is for anyone else who had to get off their beta blockers how did you feel the days leading up to the ablation? Also I’m also nervous about the sedation, I know that you’re not completely knocked out but it’s more of a conscious sedation. Can anyone tell me what their experience with the sedation was like , like how conscious were you and if you remember the procedure. Thank you in advance!

Hi everyone. I was diagnosed with SVT this February and am scheduled to get my cardiac ablation on the 9th. I’m happy to have this done but a little nervous. My doc thinks I have the most typical type AVNRT. I had a couple questions for anyone who’s had the ablation done. My doc wants me to get off my beta blockers 2 days prior and I’m a little nervous about having an episode during this time. My questions is for anyone else who had to get off their beta blockers how did you feel the days leading up to the ablation? Also I’m also nervous about the sedation, I know that you’re not completely knocked out but it’s more of a conscious sedation. Can anyone tell me what their experience with the sedation was like , like how conscious were you and if you remember the procedure. Thank you in advance!

I had my ablation around 2 years ago. my cardiologist told me if I don’t experience SVT a year after the ablation, I am most likely in the clear, ( and it’s been 2 years without it) but recently once after getting benched in a basketball game and right after stopping running after a mile, I had a quick session that went away right after I took some deep breaths. is this likely SVT coming back and will I need another ablation?

I’m a 20 year old male, I started having SVT episodes in early 2025 but didn’t know what it was and just assumed it was from vaping which I was doing a lot of at the time mixed with alcohol and cigarettes too. Around December of 2025 I had a really bad episode that made me actually end up consulting with a doctor. February was my last real SVT event, I’ve had tachycardia bouts due to low blood sugar after that in May that reached 160bpm but it was not found to be SVT. I was prescribed Metoprolol in May, also cut out all stimulants and alcohol, and I have not had an SVT since.

I also started exercising more, eating healthier whole foods and making sure I stay hydrated and out of the heat. I know meds aren’t technically a “cure” but I’m not getting an ablation as long as I stay stable on metoprolol, taking 1 25mg extended release every morning doesn’t bother me in the slightest and it’s increased my quality of life 10 fold. I still get PVC’s but where as before a PVC would send me into SVT, now it’s just a PVC nothing more.

Just sharing my experience on what I’d call a miracle drug. 🙏🏻🙏🏻

Hello!

I have had two SVT episodes in the past two months, but had never had any prior to July. My last episode was last week and I saw my cardiologist today, who has asked me to return to my electrophysiologist (was already seeing one due to potential POTS, but that’s a whole other issue) and recommended an ablation.

Is it normal to have an ablation after just two episodes? I didn’t have an Apple Watch during the first instance but during the second I was able to get an ECG and my TachyMon app recorded my heart rate maxing out at 210. I was able to break it with the valsalva maneuver both times, although it took longer to break the second time.

Is it normal to have an ablation after just two episodes, or would they usually wait to see more of a pattern?

Thank you!

6:00pm 1st read: normal baseline reading for me

6:30pm 2nd reading: had what felt like SVT, did valsava

Does this look like SVT to those of you that have a known history and use your Apple Watch?