Has anyone had telltale symptoms before getting af/flutter/STV/aberrant tachy?

The past few episodes I get these symptoms up to hours beforehand while in nsr -sort of a warning (if that’s the right word) that a very high tachy (160-244hr) will occur.
Symptomatic order:
1. I get short runs of tachy lasting 8-10 beats and then it goes away only to return later on to get 8-10 more 150-180hr beats before it self converts to a calmer hr only to continue and get af.
2. Nausea and Angina from carotid radiating to center of neck and down to heart follows...or I get the angina and nausea first then the tachy.,. It’s not GERD. I get a stronger pain when the flutter/af/etc tachy starts. This pattern started 5 Er episodes ago. Then a warning turns to a full blown episode. Either that night sitting watching tv, or with no warning (always always happens) the second I wake up and get out of bed to stand...then my heart changes to a horse race.

I posting to see if I’m alone or others have experienced any warnings. Thanks.

Susan,

Just an obvious thought that I am sure your doctors have considered; taking a beta blocker as soon as you first notice these symptoms? So what do the ER docs or ER cardiologist say you should do before or during one of your 5 "ER episodes" (I assume that means visits). Just curious...

Jeff

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Jeff W
Susan,

Just an obvious thought that I am sure your doctors have considered; taking a beta blocker as soon as you first notice these symptoms? So what do the ER docs or ER cardiologist say you should do before or during one of your 5 "ER episodes" (I assume that means visits). Just curious...

Jeff

Jeff, because my hr is very fast I’m told by the ER docs to immediately come to the Er to be ecv after the episode starts. My local EP agreed. The past two times I was triaged and ecv very quickly. They put the pads on as soon as I got into their bed and assembled the staff.

I am on sotalol. It acts like a beta blocker plus an arrhythmia drug (like flecainide or multaq etc). My hr before the tachy runs between 47-52 so I can’t take a beta blocker. The Er knows (from reading my Er histories) that after they ecv me my hr is in the high 40s —so far I won the battle of not getting chemically treated as a conversion and instead get ecv. One time the Er dr insisted on giving two doses of a BB but that resulted in my hr crashing to 24 afterwards so I’m am an advocate to prefer an ecv over trying a chemical approach to convert me to avoid the possibility of my hr dropping again.

What I did do last night was take my sotolol dose an hour early with a Valium 15 minutes later with 300mg magnesium. So far so good but I was getting chills all night so my hr must had dipped. I’m on the lowest sotolol dosage of 80mg 2/day. Today I woke up to a 48 hr which I am told is fine. I’m taking my morning sotalol with a 52 hr. It will drop my hr.

Sotalol is a bandaid until my next ablation in 4 weeks. I posted because I’m curious if anyone gets telltale symptoms before an af/STV/aberrant tachy? I never did get warnings from 2004 until December 2020. The only thing different in December was my heart couldn’t keep up as well and the tachy resulted in a type 2 MI in December. Since then I get warnings.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2021 12:53PM by susan.d.

Before flutter entered my life, I was always aware of impending episodes a day or two in advance. I could predict them with accuracy almost down to the hour. It's almost impossible for me to describe what I felt, but I definitely felt it coming. The best I can describe is it felt like a sort of tension or restlessness associated with my heart. It wasn't PACs or PVCs or anything arrhythmic, just an odd sort of tension or awareness. Once an episode began, that feeling would be gone and wouldn't reappear until a day or two before the next episode.

But once flutter showed up that was gone. The flutter started whenever it wanted, for no apparent reason, and with no warning whatsoever.

Thank you Carey.