Nervous:EP Studies

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Jan 1, 2006

Everyone I know who's had EP studies had a good experience, even though some also had a pacemaker as a result. :)

One in particular said that due to the medications she got before the test, the palpitations were a lot easier to take when watching them as opposed to actually feeling them.

Hope that helps and best wishes for your procedure and treatment. Let us know how it goes.

carachel2 · Jan 5, 2006

my hearts been taking off for no apparent reason since i was 16, i'm now 24. i also have frequent palpitations. over the years, this psvt had gotten worst to the point that i have runs at work and have to be put on a monitor. i've had the whole work-up and everything and i'm on verapamil 240mg daily after being told i have psvt. well, my doctor is referring me to an electrophysiologist to have ep studies done. he told me i have a re-entry electrical pathway in my heart that needs ablated because it's causing me much problems. i have to wear a king of hearts monitor so that he can get current recording of my arrhythmia on jan 4th, then i see the ep doc. i'm nervous. i think i know too much as a heart nurse.....i'm worried that i may have to have pacemaker due to my sinus node mistakenly being burned away among other things. and it doesn't help that there's only one doctor in our entire hospital that does ep studies and he's only been doing it for about a year? for insurance reasons, he's my only choice...gulp
does anyone have any experiences with patients or personal experiences about ep studies to share, good or bad, i really need reality since this is a pretty scary choice for me?

hey there ! i am a cardiac nurse who also had to have an ablation for av nodal re-entry svt. i was fine with it until the night before when i started envisioning a burned out myocardium, tamponade, arterial bleeding from the sites,etc.etc.

i chilled out on the day of the procedure and everything went fine. i was on the table for about 3-4 hours and kept sedated enough that i was sleepy, but i was focused enough that i could talk to the cardio and see the monitors and it was actually very interesting. i had a venous and arterial puncture to both groins and a subclavian puncture as well. *do* request a foley (they will probably do it automatically) as nothing makes you wanna go pee more than being on a tiny cold table, lol. the only pain involved was the lidocaine injections and when he actually did the ablation i could feel the burning...it was pretty intense, but not over the top painful.

my husband's job was to meet me in the room afterwards. once all sheaths were gone and the foley was gone, i had a great night. at the time, i had a 3 year old, so it was kind of nice in a weird way to have a quiet night of reading a book,watching cable tv and a great sleep (thank you ambien !).

i went to a movie the next day. no problems since then and it is very nice not having to take 100 mg toprol xl/ day. no more ambulance rides getting adenosine with a toddler on my lap either.

ctunurse · Jan 5, 2006

Thank you guys so much. Yeah, I don't want to waste any more money going to ER for psvt. I want this over with. I don't have kids yet, but I would like some so I really need to get this taken care of. I'm currently wearing a heart monitor, then my PCP will send it to my electrophysiologist, and then....The study. I hope mine is a success as well. I will definitely request a foley. I don't know...I don't think I can watch my own rhythm on the monitor. JUst the thought of it freaks me out. No problem watching anyone elses. Sometimes when I'm at home having a run...It goes in the back of my head if this is svt or VT or some other serious rhythm this time. I don't want to see anything bad on the monitor. I couldn't even watch my own echo.:chuckle

carachel2 · Jan 6, 2006

Thank you guys so much. Yeah, I don't want to waste any more money going to ER for psvt. I want this over with. I don't have kids yet, but I would like some so I really need to get this taken care of. I'm currently wearing a heart monitor, then my PCP will send it to my electrophysiologist, and then....The study. I hope mine is a success as well. I will definitely request a foley. I don't know...I don't think I can watch my own rhythm on the monitor. JUst the thought of it freaks me out. No problem watching anyone elses. Sometimes when I'm at home having a run...It goes in the back of my head if this is svt or VT or some other serious rhythm this time. I don't want to see anything bad on the monitor. I couldn't even watch my own echo.:chuckle

Let us know how things go. It is good to be a nurse in a lot of ways and then harder in some....this is one of those situations.

You should definitely get this taken care of before you consider getting pregnant. I did not and eventually was diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy after I delivered my daughter. Contributing causes to PPCM are unknown, but I would have loved to have had an echo BEFORE my pregnancy...my cardiologist still says the PSVT I had for years on and off before my pg could have contributed for sure.

mustanggirl · Jan 12, 2006

Hi, actually I just had an ablation this Monday for SVT. I was worried before the procedure about things that could go wrong but everything went smoothly. They actually used cryo to freeze the area on my heart. It feels good to have it finally over with. I was kind of shocked initially when I went to cardiologist and an ablation was suggested because I haven't had tons of episodes but recently I have had two episodes in the past few months. It's nice not to have to be on beta blockers or the like. The catheter was a life saver to have while I was on bedrest. I actually only had one venous site for the introducer which was nice to not have to worry about more sites. I was very thankful my family was with me while I was on bedrest for four hours to help keep my mind off the fact that I had to lie flat for that long. :wink2:

ctunurse · Jan 13, 2006

Hi, actually I just had an ablation this Monday for SVT. I was worried before the procedure about things that could go wrong but everything went smoothly. They actually used cryo to freeze the area on my heart. It feels good to have it finally over with. I was kind of shocked initially when I went to cardiologist and an ablation was suggested because I haven't had tons of episodes but recently I have had two episodes in the past few months. It's nice not to have to be on beta blockers or the like. The catheter was a life saver to have while I was on bedrest. I actually only had one venous site for the introducer which was nice to not have to worry about more sites. I was very thankful my family was with me while I was on bedrest for four hours to help keep my mind off the fact that I had to lie flat for that long. :wink2:

I'm prayer my experience will duplicate your's. I see my electrophysiologist on Jan 19th. I hope you all are on this site later to help relieve my anxiety. I definitely want the problem over with. Feels good to hear from someone who has been there and done that. I already have another nurse who had an ablation done that told me she'll be there when I have it. I know I'll really need her. My problem is that I get anxiety when I feel I'm not in control of my mental status. Like one time I had my wisdom teeth taken out and was put on vicodin. The way that vicodin made me feel scared me. I can't handle the lack of control. So, I'm a little nervous about how I will handle sedation:imbar .

Angie O'Plasty · Feb 10, 2006

my hearts been taking off for no apparent reason since i was 16, i'm now 24. i also have frequent palpitations. over the years, this psvt had gotten worst to the point that i have runs at work and have to be put on a monitor. i've had the whole work-up and everything and i'm on verapamil 240mg daily after being told i have psvt. well, my doctor is referring me to an electrophysiologist to have ep studies done. he told me i have a re-entry electrical pathway in my heart that needs ablated because it's causing me much problems. i have to wear a king of hearts monitor so that he can get current recording of my arrhythmia on jan 4th, then i see the ep doc. i'm nervous. i think i know too much as a heart nurse.....i'm worried that i may have to have pacemaker due to my sinus node mistakenly being burned away among other things. and it doesn't help that there's only one doctor in our entire hospital that does ep studies and he's only been doing it for about a year? for insurance reasons, he's my only choice...gulp
does anyone have any experiences with patients or personal experiences about ep studies to share, good or bad, i really need reality since this is a pretty scary choice for me?

i can understand you must be nervous--i would be too. actually, it's the av node that can get fried during the ablation, not usually the sa node. (the reentry pathway is often in or near the av node). this doesn't happen that frequently though.