Asking about PVC's and PAC's SVT, ablation or no ablation?

I'm new to the site trying to gather as much information on the net from as many people as possible about what I have and their own similar stories. I'm a 26 YOF who is physically active. Since I was 12 years old I was diagnosed with high BP. I did every sport in high school and many sports outside of high school.
about 3 years ago I had bouts of passing out accompanied by SVT. This was made worse with any type of stimulation especially stress. about a year ago I was feeling like my heart was skipping and I felt like I had to cough to get the feeling to stop, I had a halter monitor again showing that I had SVT and PVC's. Its a year later and now I have been getting even worse symptoms. The frequency is so great that I can count easier the times when I feel "normal". My symptoms are worse when I exercise. I did the halter monitor again a month ago and it showed SVT, PVC's and now PAC's. I'm so tired all the time, I have pressure in my chest almost constantly especially with exercise, I have dizziness, and right arm pain. I also have been experiencing sharp pains in my back where my heart and lung sit. My family doc just did a echo to make sure I wasn't at risk for hyportrophic cardiomyopathy, and it came back norm.
Unfortunately I do not have a cardiologist that will do any tests other than a halter monitor. My fam doc is the one doing any tests on me and has talked to me about going to a bigger area with more experienced docs to look at me and see if they can help me. Spacifically talking about getting an ablation. My symptoms are starting to rule my life, and are getting more and more severe as the years go by. I almost blacked out while playing with my 20 month old son in the woods. I am taking Atenolol 75mg AM 75mg PM this seems to help cut back on the skipping and tachycardia but my bp is dropping so low I feel tingly a lot of the time and feel like passing out every time I stand up. The cardiologist suggested anti-arythmics, but I do not want to take them considering we are trying to get prego and my fam doc has warned me of the side effects. Please offer any insight you have. I am stuck in what I should do.
Sad thing is that my cadiologist works for the biggest heart hospital in my area. They have a very bad reputation. I can go down to Salt Lake City, UT that is the next closest place to me with good reputation. Again I don't know anyone there or where to start.

lovemykids3

Good Morning and Welcome to HealingWell.  I would seek a a second opinion if you have never been on medications.  You have had this condition for 2 months,  have you ever had to go to the ER due to the PAVs or PVCs ?  Have you ever had a holter monitor ? 

Do get that second opinion and if not tested yet do look into some testing before agreeing to an EP study and ablation.  Remember I am not a physician so do be your own best advocate.

Kindly,

Kitt

Thanks for the info as it helps me understand a bit more what is going on. 

Supraventricular tachycardias (SVTs), which originate somewhere above the ventricles, are caused by abnormal circuitry in the heart, usually present at birth, that creates a loop of overlapping signals. Episodes may last only a few seconds or several hours.

In one form of SVT, an abnormality in the AV node may "split" an electrical signal into two, sending one signal to the ventricles and another back to the atria. Another common abnormality is the presence of an extra electrical pathway from the atria to the ventricles that bypasses the AV node. This may result in a signal going down one pathway and up the other.

The treatments goals for tachycardias are to slow a fast heart rate when it occurs, prevent future episodes and minimize complications. Your doctor may  prescribe a pill version of an anti-arrhythmic drug, such as flecainide (Tambocor) or propafenone (Rythmol), to take if you have an episode of a fast heartbeat that doesn't respond to vagal maneuvers. Anti-arrhythmic medications may prevent a fast heart rate when taken regularly.

Other medications that may be prescribed either as an alternative or in combination with anti-arrhythmic medications are calcium channel blockers, such as diltiazem (Cardizem) and verapamil (Calan), or beta blockers, such as propranolol (Inderal) and esmolol (Brevibloc).  Trying to eat more healthy is a wise move but you may also want to look at the medications.  I understand not wanting to take meds but sometimes it is the lesser of 2 evils. My thoughts and prayers go out to you.

Hello everyone,
I have had SVT for 23 years now . It first started when I was in my 20's I had opened my own hair salon and was about to get married. My doctor's think it was the stress of everything that was going on in my life at that time. The first night I woke up to my heart pounding and I had no vision, I called for my parents to help me who in returned called the doctor who told them I was just having an anxiety attack. It lasted all nite from 3:00 am till 7:30 pm, I thought I was going die for sure. What helped stopped the heart's racing was me throwing up after hours of having to deal with it racing. I kept having those attack's { as I call them } I even went into cardiattack and was told that I was flat linnering my heart was up over 300 something beats and my B/P was very high at that time , that was years ago, till I was in my 30's then they just stopped. I even had a child at 36 with no problems my heart never felt better. Then out of no where they started up again in Oct. of 2011 no warring, my husband called the EMT's who had to give me 2 unpleasant shots to re-boot my heart the shoots were the waste thing I ever felt. My heart then was 221,then again out of know where it hit's again in Feb 2011, this time my heart was at 192 and agian I had to get 2 unpleasant shoot's that re-booted my heart. I am fearful most of the time of leaving my house not knowing when the next attack will hit me. It is causeing me to have axiety attacks and I am also waking up from my sleep with racing heart and miss beat's. It's been 5 day's since my last attack and I am just starting to feel back to my self. Now my doctors want me to concider having a SVT ablation and I am really scared. Can anyone please give me there in put on having the ablation done . Thank-you

For anyone out there that is having PVC's or PAC's, do you consume Black Licorice?  I began having PAC's recently and started doing research on the internet.  I stumbled upon an article this weekend on Licorice-Induced Hypermineralocorticoidism.  It just so happens that I have been consuming about 42-50 grams (3 to 4 pieces) of imported Australian black licorice almost daily for a year.  I had no idea that licorice could be dangerous.  I am a female, 48 years old and otherwise completely healthy.  My symptoms started out as high blood pressure (which I never had prior), headaches, fatigue and muscle cramping, and finally irregular heartbeat.  I wanted to get this warning out ASAP to anyone else that might be affected.  I'm seeing a cardiologist tomorrow and will share with him my suspicions, but I'm shocked there aren't more warnings out there about this and that my doctors never asked me if I consumed licorice!

Post Edited (ForBuck) : 3/12/2012 4:01:23 PM (GMT-6)

Here is the link regarading Licorice Induced Hypermineralocorticoidism: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199110243251706
Also, someone just sent me this link as well -- an actual FDA warning regarding black licorice!  http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm277152.htm
If anyone else has experienced any problems after eating licorice, please contact the FDA consumer complaint coordinator in your area:  http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/ConsumerComplaintCoordinators/default.htm