Heart issues at 40

[Guardian12]

In need of a handhold. I am 40, had a baby 7 weeks ago after years of infertility and miscarriages and it looks like I might have an issue with my heart.

I developed preeclampsia at the end of my pregnancy and have been weaned off blood pressure meds but my heart rate has remained very high (over 100). To be honest I think it has been high for quite some time but no health professionals ever seemed bothered about it and I put it down to stress.

Today I had an ecg and the result came back abnormal. I don’t know much else at the moment, I will see the GP tomorrow and be referred to cardiology.

I just want to enjoy my daughter after all I’ve been through and now I’m scared I will leave her motherless. Any hopeful stories welcome.

There is a thing called Supraventricular tachycardia which is a fast heart rate, and occurs very frequently during pregnancy. It is not life threatening if diagnosed and treated, and can be treated in a similar way to atrial fibrillation, which I have. Sometimes lifestyle changes can help too.

The GP will know what it is if he has the report.

Supraventricular tachycardia - Diagnosis and treatment - Mayo Clinic

This is what my sister has been diagnosed with. She is 39y and due in August.

They wouldn’t have just sent you home in an SVT OP, so that’s pretty unlikely to be the thing. It would also usually be a fair bit over 100bpm. Also, there aren’t any heart rate/rhythm problems that could be ‘managed with statins’ as suggested.

there’s a whole load of reasons people may have a fast heart rate after having a baby - being anaemic/iron deficient would probably be the commonest.

if they’ve just taken the machine’s analysis of the ECG so far, it’s probably useful to know that they are almost universally wrong! I’d wait until a doctor has interpreted it before worrying too much. There are also a whole bunch of things that may be ‘abnormal’ but are ‘normal for you’ and aren’t a major problem.

sounds like they’re doing the right things by being thorough, especially given the PET history, but it’s not at all impossible that it’ll could be something really unexciting. If you think about it, you’re unlikely to have a major, long-term heart problems if you’ve just managed to push a baby out - it’s a pretty good work out and previously unknown heart problems often declare themselves in labour/immediately post-partum. There are some pregnancy related heart problems that can happen, usually pretty soon after delivery, but they’re not common and are usually pretty dramatic. HTH.

I had a very intense and confusing day yesterday re: the results.

At the GP appointment I found out the ecg showed ‘P waves bifid several leads: possible left atrial abnormality; may predipose to atrial arrhythmias; non-specific ST-T wave abnormalities (widespread).’ Obviously I don’t know what any of that means except it looks like there could be an arrhythmia. He took my pulse which was 120bpm and told me to go to the hospital right away and be seen by the cardiology registrar. He gave me a copy of the ecg and a cover letter to show them.

At the hospital I went through A&E triage and they said they would do some tests before deciding if I needed to go to cardiology. They did a repeat ecg which was normal, blood tests and measured my blood pressure and heart rate. My heart rate was lower than in the GP surgery, ranging from around 80 to 110.

The emergency medicine doctor wasn’t concerned at all and thought the ecg which showed the abnormality wasn’t a big deal and didn’t show problems in the short or long term.

So not sure where that leaves me or why my heart rate spikes sometimes. Last night I had the most sleep I’ve had since my daughter was born and my heart rate this morning is about 60bpm so maybe it’s triggered by stress and exhaustion?

Sorry to hear you're going through a worrying time OP. I don't have any advice but am going through similar.

I was admitted to hospital with pericarditis earlier in the yr & had several ECGs which all came back abnormal & showing tachycardia. I was seen by a cardiac consultant while I was there who seemed to imply that there might be some sort of underlying condition so he referred me for an echocardiogram & a follow up outpatient appointment. Had the echo & then was given a double appointment for my follow up which is next week. Presuming as it's a double appointment it doesn't bode well.

Hopefully you will get some answers when you see the consultant. Do you know when that is? The waiting list is nearly a year for a GP referral where I live. I think it's quicker though if you are referred as a hospital inpatient.

@MissAtomicBomb1 sorry you’re going through it too, it’s very scary. Is your tachycardia constant or do you have episodes?

I have episodes where it feels like my heart is racing - it makes me feel anxious and then I'm not sure if I'm making it worse by being anxious!!
When I was in hospital it was between 90 - 120 but 80-90 is normal for me. It's always been in the fast side, yet my blood pressure is low.

I have episodes like that too. Did they give you any indication of the echocardiogram when you had it or do you have to wait for the follow up appointment?

No, the sonographer didn't say much apart from at when I arrived she said that the results would go back to the consultant and he would decide if I needed a follow up appointment then at the end she said, the consultant would be in touch to see what he could do for me!
I interpreted that as she had spotted something but I kind of felt like it wasn't the time or the place to ask as it wasn't a consultation.
I could of course be completely wrong and reading far too much into it!
Have you been referred for an echo?
They are about £250 where I live. In hindsight I wish I'd paid and had it sooner.

My follow up is in clinic this Weds so I'll let you know what they say

I have heart issues (atrial ectopy and SVT) so know how you feel.

I think the next step for you is to ask for a heart monitor - these can stay on for up to 14 days and allow the cardiologist to see a prolonged period of time (ECG literally shows a 30 second snapshot).

Happy to chat if you want to as heart problems are so unnerving x

@MissAtomicBomb1 is an echocardiogram where they put nodes around the heart area and do an ultrasound? If so then I think I had one a couple of months ago when I was diagnosed with preeclampsia. They just called it a cardiac scan but reading up on echocardiograms I think that’s what I had. The result was normal and so much has happened since then I’d kind of forgotten about it. Hopefully as it’s only been two months nothing much will have changed.

I hope your follow up appointment on Wednesday goes well, I know it must be nerve wracking waiting for it.

@wineandsunshine thanks for sharing your experience. What kind of symptoms did you have before your diagnosis?

No problem!

Symptoms were a feeling of 'missing beats' or fluttering in my chest. I then had a V fast heart rate for two minutes per episode.

I've had these since 18 years old but was only properly diagnosed last year at 39.

@wineandsunshine Are you having treatment for those conditions?

Daily medication - bisoprolol x 3 tablets

I couldn't have ablation surgery as the SVT didn't last for long enough periods. It's very sporadic x

@wineandsunshine hope the meds are keeping it under control. Do you live life normally otherwise? Sorry about all the questions!

I was also going to ask whether you might get a holter monitor, as @wineandsunshine suggested. Because you wear the holter for an extended period, your doctor will get a far more accurate picture about what your heart is doing.

(By the way, the doctors would not have let you go back home if they thought you had a serious problem that required immediate intervention. You are not about to render your child motherless!)

Sorry for delay! Teaching at the end of term is so tiring!

Medication does help. It reduces my SVT. I would say for me, it's about identifying my triggers. So caffeine, stress, hormones, wine can all play my heart up which is frustrating.

I just keep in the back of my mind that my heart is healthy and I've had all the tests so that mindset does help - especially on a bad day x

I have had this for 18 months too and i am 38. I was on bisoprolol (sp?) and also flecanide (sorry cant remember exact spellings!) for the arrythmia. I was feeling flutterings and heart palpatations. my SVTs were for over 11% per 24 hours. They recommended ablation for me but after 18 months this started to subside so no need. I had 5 heart monitors over this period - they helped to show when the events were happenng - i had stopped drinking all caffeine and alcohol but the episodes seemed to occur when I was often completely still not doing anything.
In the end my cardiologist thought I had suffered undiagnosed myocarditis following covid and this had been brought on as a result of that.
I had most treatment on the NHS but saw a private cardiologist - happy to share his name

@MissAtomicBomb1 I hope you got some answers at your appointment this week?

@trying29 yes please share the name of the private cardiologist, I’m not sure when my NHS referral will go through.

Sure - Dr Boon Lim at OneWelbeck. He’s been excellent - I can’t recommend him enough. He directed my treatment but most testing was still done through the NHS - holter etc

I had SVT for several years. I had some early episodes, for which I have beta blocker meds for for a while, then it seemed to settle for a few years and then came back. It was initially for shorter periods of times but gradually got much faster and for far longer.

When shorter periods I could use techniques such as valsalva manoeuvres, to control them myself at times. However this eventually became not the case.

My heart rate would spike to 250/280+ bpm - very very high and wouldn't stop. I was having increased visits to A and E, and having to have chemical cardioversion to reset the speed. My heart rhythm was normal besides some ectopic beats.

I had ablation in 2019. Whilst I no longer get the uncontrollable periods of SVT I do still have a fast heart rate at times - 140 isn't that unusual for me if I'm doing stuff or if I get ill and I have periods of ectopic beats. The cardiac team aren't concerned about these.

Have you have a 48 hour ecg machine whilst at home going about your normal activities?

@Guardian12 if you mean the hospital discharged you without further tests or monitoring because the symptoms weren’t present at that particular moment, then I think you need to get your gp to make a standard or urgent referral to cardiology

I had my cardiology appointment on Weds and have been discharged.
The results of my echocardiogram were normal so no structural problems and they also did an ecg just before my appointment. Apparently the ecg is still showing inverted t waves but these are now almost close to normal and much better than they were in Jan so they are confident things are heading in the right direction.
He said I may get Pericaditis again but it's not really a worry more of a nuisance.

Hope you get some answers soon. I did a lot of googling and had convinced myself of the worst but it's turned out to be nothing really. Hopefully the fact that you've been sent home and they don't seem overly concerned is s good sign.