Originally Posted by
equus123
First post, woo hoo!
I went to the cardiologist a few months ago because of 2 episodes of super high heart rate (as in 220 or 240 bpm). I was out riding alone the first time it happened and was ~220 for about 3 minutes, had one hard beat, and then dropped right to 135 bpm in about 5 seconds (where it should have been). The second and more severe time it happened was on a group ride. My heart rate went up to 240 bpm for about 4 minutes. I was still like 3+ miles from my car and left the group. It was still elevated above 215 for the 15 min back and any time I came to a small hill and added a little more umph to my pedalling, my HR went straight back up to 240 bpm. By the time I got back to my car, took some layers off, got changed, ate a bar and drank something it had been a good 20 minutes. My HR slowly went down to what my resting rate should have been.
So for all that I got referred to a cardiologist, the prognosis being Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT). I wore a Cardionet monitor for a month 24/7. Unfortunately, I could not get this to replicate in order to record it and get some data on what was going on. I've never had it before and who knows if I'll get it again. The cardiologist said that it was definitely an electrophysicological problem. I might have an extra electrical pathway in my heart that the electric pulse had travelled through on these occasions, causing the elevated heart rate. I can be treated by doing 1) nothing, 2) medication, or 3) invasively through ablation - catheter into the heart to burn the location on the heart where the extra electricity passes through. The scar tissue that forms from this does not conduct electricity and essentially removes this avenue from the heart's electrical pathways. Since I'm only 24 and in very good health and fitness, we both agreed to leave it be and come back if it were to ever happen so severely again.
Hope this information helps anybody :)