Robert’s Heart

It’s a new year and there’s no better way to start it off than with a few more arrhythmias.  I’ve had palpitations regularly over the last couple of months.  That seems pretty normal and I’m getting used to having the SVTs every few weeks.  Mostly they are pretty minor but seem to be worse when I’m stressed like when I’m entertaining over the holidays.  Usually they get worse the week after a stressful time.  This week I’ve been having them pretty regularly and got a chance to record one today.  For today’s SVT you can view the Start (CLICK HERE FOR ECG) and End (CLICK HERE FOR ECG).  Both of these are the Lead II view.  This SVT ran about 220 beats per minute and lasted about a minute and a half.

On another note… earlier this week I spilled a bit of freshly brewed hot coffee on my hand.  It hurt, but more interesting was that my body reacted within a second or two by having an immediate and strong SVT.  After dealing with the coffee spill I took a moment to perform a vagal maneuver to convert the SVT back to sinus.  I tend to hold my breath with preasure and slowly let it out concentrating on the beats pounding in my head.  This almost always works for me to convert the SVT.

So, on 12/30/07 I finally caught an SVT on the monitor (ECG: 12/30/07 SVT), that’s great. The problem is, that evening, I kept having them. While it was a bit uncomfortable it did give me an opportunity to capture some good information. Later in the evening on 12/30 I was monitoring myself when I caught a complete SVT and more… This SVT was particularly painful and had a feeling of significant pressure in my chest in addition to the usual light headed feeling. At about three and a half minutes into the SVT the pain and pressure went away, but I still had the arrhythmic feeling in my chest. The ECG still showed an arrhythmia, but it wasn’t regular like the SVT. The next morning my mom identified the irregular rhythm as Atrial Fibrillation. FYI My mom is a retired cardiac care nurse who has been a big help for me to understand (in a novice kinda way) what I’m looking at on the ECGs.

This strip (Click Here For The ECG) shows the beginning of the SVT. At about 14 seconds on that strip a “glitch” in the SVT causes it to speed up from what was 190 BPM to 232 BPM. That’s when the SVT became particularly uncomfortable.

This strip (Click Here For The ECG) shows the conversion from SVT to AF. It is pretty noisy because I was moving around at the time. After a few minutes the AF settled into about 140 BPM (Click Here For The ECG) and lasted for at least 15 minutes when I stopped monitoring. It did eventually, spontaneously, convert to a sinus rhythm.

I built the little ECG machine to capture an episode of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) for the doctor. After waiting several months for something to occur I captured this SVT on December 30th 2007. It lasted several minutes. This SVT ran at about 220 beats per minute. This strip shows the last 2 seconds of the SVT and the conversion to sinus rhythm: Click Here To View

One of the first recordings I took with my homemade 3 lead ECG is this one. I took it on August 26th 2007.  It is a normal rhythm:  Click Here To View

My Nuclear Stress Test (earlier post) was prompted by an emergency room visit where I appeared (by my own account) to have short runs of ventricular tachycardia (VTAC). It had been my understanding that any VTAC was dangerous.

On Wednesday (7/16/08) I had been having some rather strong arrhythmias some felt like Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVTs). In the mid afternoon I had a few of these which caused me to have a light headed feeling. This has happened before when I’ve had SVTs. So, I hooked up my little 3 lead ECG and monitored my heart for a few minutes when I had a run of PVCs. At first it was 3 in a row every couple of minutes and occasionally it was 4 in a row. I ran these past my mom who is a retired cardiac care nurse. She confirmed that these were technically VTAC. She also indicated that I should be concerned. Moderately concerned I attempted to contact my doctor for an opinion (yeah right… just try to get a doctor on the line at 4:50 pm). A few minutes later I had a run of 9 beats of VTAC (3 seconds) (Click Here For The ECG). Now I’m concerned. If it can run for 3 then 4 then 9 beats… it can continue. “I’m going to the ER.” So I printed a copy of the ECG and headed there in earnest.

When I arrived in the ER the triage nurse took a look at my ECG and said “looks like VTAC.”

…skip a few hours of being hooked up and monitored plus blood tests…

ER Dr. says we want you to stay over night for monitoring. Ok… they agree this is concerning. I usually get “Benign Palpitations. Have a nice day.” With the tone: “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.”

…skip being awakened every two hours for blood tests DOH!…

The next day my Cardiologist eventually came by to see me (about 1:30pm, and yes that’s an annoyed tone in my typing). He indicated these too were benign, but that I should probably be on a higher dose beta blocker and we should do a few more tests. Specifically a Nuclear Stress Test and a Cardiac MRI. He did confirm that technically this is VTAC. But it isn’t dangerous unless it becomes prolonged (i.e. I pass out). So if I pass out I should dial 911. Yeah right

I’m not so certain about the beta blocker thing. About 2 weeks ago I started a daily extended release beta blocker and this is the first time I’ve seen runs of PVCs. I monitor my heart whenever I have strong feelings of the arrhythmias. I would know if I had seen these before, and I haven’t. The cardiologist wants to basically double that dosage. I’ll discuss the beta blocker thing next time we talk.

Had several SVT’s yesterday (7/23/08) so I hooked up the homemade 3 Lead ECG to see what was up (I know I’m a freak). Monitoring Lead II for a short period of time I had an SVT and noticed something new today: Inverted P waves after the SVT converted to a sinus rhythm. I’m not certain what that means… but it’s new. I’ll have to print that one for my cardiologist.

At between 16 and 17 seconds on the ECG (Click Here For The ECG) the P wave inverts.

Come to think of it the SVT in this strip doesn’t really follow the normal pattern I’ve seen in the past. Hmm.