Glad I found this group. I feel like I am the only one with this heart condition. What advice can you give when you have an episode and other people panic?
Hi Terry!
I know it can be quite hard. You say heart condition and people tend to freak. My go to would be very clear.
“It can’t kill me or harm me but sometimes my heart rate jumps very fast due to an extra electrical pathway. It’ll pass and I’ll be fine but I just need to sit and breath for minute or two” would pretty much cover it. The most important thing for people to know is that it won’t kill you or cause you harm or induce a heart attack or anything like that
Thank you Emily2009. It happened at work yesterday and my boss freaked out. I sat in her office for an hour. Not that it lasted that long but she wouldn’t let me leave. She wanted to call an ambulance. I said no need. She wanted me to breath into a paper bag. I finally called my husband to come get me.
Hi terry.
It’s nice that she cares! I’ve been having these episodes since I was a kid. And since no one could capture them for ages it was just put down to panic attacks so no one cared. Then when I found out what it was and got older I would always give the heads up to employers as it was bound to happen every month minimum so they wouldn’t freak out when it did and so they knew what it was. I was lucky in the sense that my episodes would last around 5 minutes and I became very proficient at the val salva.
Try and explain to them that you have had these before and you know what to do. Have you had an ablation?
I have not had ablation. Not sure if I can have one. I have had 2 major open heart surgeries. It has never been discussed. I don’t get SVT episodes very often.
I have had them for 15 years. I have warned my boss, and explained it. I don’t get them very often so this was the first one at work. I am lucky she cares. She is a great boss.