Ironically, I'm listening to Heartbeat Loud as I write this.

It's not really an unusual thing for me to be in hospital. I've been admitted for severe dehydration, constant infections, myalgic encephalomyelitis flare-ups, a strange type of liver disease, an exploded appendix and mental health issues. Those who know me well know I have a bit of a dodgy relationship with my health. However, last night was a first with being told by a health adviser that I needed to be seen for my heart in an emergency facility within the next 60 minutes. Having turned down an ambulance, I got up from the sofa and gathered my things; phone charger, mobile phone itself, bank card and some taxi fare, and Nick and I made our way to the hospital. Luckily, and similarly to my hometown, we live a mere 5 minutes from the emergency department.
I'm well aware at this point that NHS hospitals are incredibly underfunded, stretched and crowded through no fault of their own, hence taking the essentials to last me the next day or two should I have needed it. Upon arriving and seeing the walls adorned with 'average wait time 3 hours' whiteboards, I have to say I wasn't thrilled about my impending stay. Taking my pulse on my iPhone as I sat down, Nick gave me a kind 'be careful' as he noticed my pulse was climbing again.
I should probably explain. My heart rate has been massively increasing at random intervals of late, bouncing up to around 140 each time I stand up, causing me to feel it in my ears and in my neck. It got bad yesterday, and I almost passed out just standing up to grab my drink. (Thank god I didn't grab my drink, or I'd be dealing with coke zero and glass everywhere and that sounds way too stressful to handle.)
So there I was sitting in the waiting room. Two young girls with sick bowls probably didn't help my heart rate as my emetophobia was kicking in, but I just kind of assumed it couldn't get much faster. I was called in pretty quickly, within 15 or so minutes, by a young nurse with a huge smile on his face. This was nice, a bit of a change from the majority of triage nurses I've seen. Sitting down, I started explaining what was going on with my ticker, and in response he put a pulse oximeter on my finger, promptly grabbed my septum piercing and pulled. "Does this hurt?" That was an odd one, but made me laugh nonetheless. The pulse oximeter started reading my heart rate and Nick's face kind of said it all, as the display was angled towards him and not me. I could hear the beeps though, and they were pretty fast to say the least. Sounded like the drumline of an Andy C remix on speed. Irregular too. The nurse turned to me, asking me if it happened all the time or just on occasions. "Only really when I stand up. Or walk around. But sometimes when I'm doing nothing too, but that's rare." He laughed. "It's just high because I'm here!" Again, this made me laugh. Which made my heart rate shoot up higher. Damn amusing nurse.
He referred me for an emergency echocardiogram after disconnecting me, and I found out that my heart rate had been bouncing at almost every interval between 60 and 190bpm. Scary, but I was comforted by the thought that should anything happen, I am literally in the best place for it.

The next hour and a half were spent sitting in the waiting room, taking regular heart rate readings and trying to find which was the most comfortable position on a chair that creaked and threatened to break every time you put so much as a jacket on it. Side note, it's to sit forward with your elbows on your knees, but that's a bit irrelevant. After a wait, I was called through to see a doctor who sat me down on a bed, took my glasses off, checked my eyes. Then asked twice if I had taken any drugs. No, I just naturally look like this, I promise! After a short conversation about my symptoms and checking my ECG results, he concluded I have a lovely little heart condition called supraventricular tachycardia, or SVT. And what he believes is the beginning of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, too, but that one's almost to be expected with my myalgic encephalomyelitis. He explained that SVT is a condition characterised by arrhythmia and extremely high heart rates, sometimes up to 250bpm. That really is an Andy C remix on speed. It's caused by what is essentially faulty electrical signals in your heart, and is normally managed by medications or a heart surgery. That sounds scary and more painful than I'd like, so let's try the medications.

I was discharged and sent home as there's nothing emergency departments can do for supraventricular tachycardia unless your heart rate is not coming down from, say, 200bpm. It's now my job to get in with my GP and organise starting some heart medicines. Yummy!
Of course, with obsessive compulsive disorder, I've been researching each and every little thing about this condition. Not necessarily a bad thing. I'm not scared per se, just a little surprised that I have a heart condition I didn't really have any idea about before. And anxious to start medications, as beta-blockers made me feel so unwell last time I took them for something completely unrelated. If it's going to stop my actual drum and bass heart from sporadically going for a sprint though, probably going to be worth it.

I am not affiliated with any of the charities listed below, but as will be a regular feature of my blog, I have listed some charities and information pages regarding the issues talked about in this blog post and issues related to them.

Have a great bank holiday Monday evening, I'm off to await my Amazon package, make a roast dinner and cry about how I have to reduce my caffeine intake. 😅😅

• Supraventricular Tachycardia on NHS choices - supraventricular tachycardia information on NHS choices
• Supraventricular Tachycardia on the British Heart Foundation website - supraventricular tachycardia in young people - BHF
• Arrhythmia Allience UK - heartrhythmalliance.org
• Supraventricular Tachycardia on the Children's Heart Federation website - Supraventricular Tachycardia in children - CHF

xo