I have had SVT for over 20 years. In April I will be having my 2nd ablation and I am once again having the symptoms. It scares me to go in public places because I always feel like I am going to pass out or have an attack. I am without health insurance at this time so I have learned to just try to make it go away when I can.

SVT for me started when I was around 25 years old. The first time it happened I thought I was having a heart attack due to my resting pulse rate was 240bpm. Months later and several trips to the doctor I was diagnosed with SVT, a condition I was born with. I now have a pill to take if I have an episode, but due to how fast my heart goes I still go to the hospital every time it happens.

I first felt my heart skip a beat and then start pounding away. I could even see it pounding. I was sweating and lightheaded with tightness in my chest. There were tingling sensations in my fingers and arms and a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach (which could be attributed to my extreme fright). I walked around and tried to distract myself which worked for approx. 3 to 5 minutes but then it would start up again for 15-20 minutes at a time until I belatedly felt I needed to go to the ER. All in all, it lasted a good 6 to 7 hours.

I guess I'm a lucky fella. I first experienced SVT whilst driving my car. All of a sudden I felt absolutely terrible. No pain, just felt very unwell. I pulled over to the side of the road and over a period of 15 or so minutes, I felt a little better, and drove on. Following 2 or more of these horrible episodes, I consulted a cardio surgeon, who found no abnormalities, but recommended an angiogram. As it turned out, I had a major blockage in one of the main heart arteries which was fixed by an angioplasty and stent. A couple of weeks later I had another episode and I drove straight to the hospital. They put me on an ECG machine which picked up the SVT.I am otherwise a very fit and moderately active person.

Mine started with severe chest pain and very rapid heartbeat. The first couple times it went away on it's own, though I went to sleep with it happening the second time, and my doctor said, "DO NOT DO THAT!" I went a year without problems and ended up in the ER yesterday and had to medically inverted today. I have a call in to my doc right now to see what he wants to do. I've been told surgery or a pacemaker were my options. My pulse is usually around 199 when this happens. Yesterday for the first time I was dizzy and nauseated. Chest pains were different this time. Just go to ER. Don't mess with this because you could be having a heart attack or this could lead to stroke.

This has been happening to me for over 10 years, and sometimes it only happens once a year. This year (2011) I have had it 3 times with the last one being last night. 220 bpm, tight chest, pounding visibly. I have been to several docs and cardiologists, done the ECG, Holter Monitor etc. Because it happens so rarely they have come up with nothing. I was told that when it happens to go to my nearest cardiologist. It would be over by then!

The symptoms of my SVT were of the following: palpitations that are so violent that you can see the heart beat through a thick sweater, shortness of breath, anxiety, weakness, dizziness and when the attack is over, I feel as if I ran a mile.

I had a number of tests to try to determine why I was getting severe shortness of breath, lightheadedness and fatigue during exercise. Nothing showed up on the tests and it got to the point where the doctors were making me feel like I was imagining things. Finally, two years later I had a severe episode of SVT and ended up in the ER and was then transferred to the ICU. I had heart palpitations, sweating, dizziness, shortness of breath and coughing. My heart rate was 200 bpm and my lungs started to fill with fluid. They had to do cardio inversion to lower my heart rate. They did an EP study and ablation. If you have symptoms please don't let it go. Continue to see doctors until you get a diagnosis.