Digitek

I'm taking .125mg of digitek once a day for PSVT. My cardio wanted me to take it after a holter monitor recorded 8 episodes of SVT within a few days. I did not feel those episodes and the heart rate was never over 138-that's the vt rate. I have since heard and read here on this forum that once you take digitek, you can't stop taking it. Why exactly is that? if the doctors would do an ablation, could I stop taking it then?--i'm also confused about the VT rate..is the VT rate equal to the atrial HR or less? Is a VT rate of 138 really high enough to warrant the digitek? I have not felt the same after starting the medication and I just hope I don't have to be on it for the rest of my life.
thanks
Elke

4 Comments

You don't have to take it forever

by Angelie - 2008-12-11 01:12:47

Why is Digitek prescribed?

Lanoxin (Digitek, Digoxin) is used in the treatment of congestive heart failure, certain types of irregular heartbeat, and other heart problems. It improves the strength and efficiency of your heart, which leads to better circulation of blood and reduction of the uncomfortable swelling that is common in people with congestive heart failure. Lanoxin is usually prescribed along with a water pill (to help relieve swelling) and a drug called an ACE inhibitor (to further improve circulation). It belongs to a class of drugs known as digitalis glycosides.

Most important fact about Digitek
You should not stop taking Lanoxin without first consulting your doctor. A sudden absence of the drug could cause a serious change in your heart function. You will probably have to take Lanoxin for a long time--possibly for the rest of your life.

I have taken Digoxin before at an even higher dose than your doctor prescibed. It's one of about 12 medications that I've tried in the last 8 years to halt my SVT, flutter, a-fib, and the rest of my weird heart rhythms.
I haven't been on digoxin for years so it's obvious that you CAN stop taking it. A lot of heart medication needs to be titrated down - meaning you take a lower dose, and then even a lower dose until you completely "wean" yourself off of it. iIn most usual cases, it's never a good idea to abrupty stop taking any medicine that you take regulary- especially heart medicine.
Ablation can possibly cure SVT if they ablate the right area in your heart. If your SVT is caused by an extra circuit then they just ablate that and POOF it's gone. I've had three failed ablations, but they DO work for a lot of people. There are risks with ablations and your doctor will explain these risks, but another risk that's not so medical is that it may not work. Know that before you go into an ablation. I've had ablations and everything was wonderful for a few months, or a year and then all of a sudden it comes back.
Also the cost of an ablation is from 20-60 thousand dollars. My last ablation was 40 thousand more dollars than my pacemaker implant. Some of those catheters that they use in the EP lab are 8-10 grand a piece. That's just the plastic think tube that they thread through your artery or vein. Anyways, enough about money. I just want to make sure you know what you're getting into, and you weigh all of you options.
Your last question: VT?
Please don't confuse yourself with VT (ventricular tachycardia- that can be life threatening) and Ventricular rate. Your heart has two top chambers- atria, and two bottom chambers- ventricles. The atria get an electrical signal from your sinus node located in the high right atrium. The signal then travels down to the AV node which gives the ventricles the signal to beat. When you listen to your heart the atria make the lub sound, and the ventricles make the second heart sound- or the dub sound. Put them together for "lub-dub". It is possible with arrhythmias to have separate rates. I have SVT with atrial flutter. At times my atria contract at a rate of 380 bpm, but not every contraction gets through the AV node so my ventricular rate is only about 150 and not 380.
VT- ventricular tachycardia is a completely different thing than SVT. Supra means above the ventricles, in Supra Ventricular Tachycardia. VT is simply when the ventricles beat at a high rate and can lead to v-fib which is deadly.
Look up these terms on Google. And you'll see what I mean.
Hope this helps you out. Let us know how you're doing. Pleasure to meet you here,
Feel free to email as well with any questions.
Angelie

Digitek

by SMITTY - 2008-12-11 01:12:55

Hi Elke,

The medical profession, I some times think they work at trying to confuse us simple minded folks.

For example, your doctor prescribed digitek for PSVT and mine took me off of it because he was afraid it would cause me to go into PSVT.

No matter, I guess a person can stop taking digitek because I did after taking 0.25 mg/day for more than a year. I was taking it to try and correct an irregular heart beat, but it didn't help. However, I was instructed to go to .125 mg/day for two weeks and then stop. If I have had any undesirable effects from stopping it, I haven't noticed them. Ishould add the doctor did try to emphasize that I must not go the "cold turkey" routine.

Smitty

thank you

by Elke - 2008-12-11 06:12:13

thanks for your input.
CabgPatch- thanks for chiming in on this one. I have read that with irregular heart rates you can have two different rates and usually the VT rate is lower than the atrial because of the AV node, as Angelie explained.
Angelie-When I first received the news about the episodes from the interrogation tech, she told me that they were "VT"s and it scared the heck out of me. My cardio won't talk and he never explains anything to me, so I cornered his nurse and said that according the the cardio's notes they were SVT's. -What concerns me is the fact that the cardio never did any tests. Can he tell from the ekg's the pacemakers kicked out , if the VT's are originating in the ventrical or above it? I sure hope so, because digitek along with VT's would be very dangerous. as I have not felt well, I thought I'd double check with people on this forum.
Smitty- I hope to get off the med when I got to Germany. I hope they do further tests and find out what causes them. I won't quit on my own, don't worry:-)

Atrial-Ventricular Rate

by ElectricFrank - 2008-12-11 11:12:15

Angie covered it well, but I thought I would toss in my two bits worth.
Under normal circumstance the artium and ventricles beat at the same rate an in sync. The sinus pacemaker (your natural one) sets the atrial rate based upon your body's need for blood flow. Each atrial beat triggers a ventricular beat via the AV bundle.

With AV Block this path is interrupted and the ventricles fall back to a fail safe rate usually in the 2-40bpm range.In this case you have a totally separate rate between upper and lower chambers of the heart.A pacemaker takes over the task of wiring around the broken AV path. One lead in the atrium senses a contraction and uses it to time a pacing signal to the ventricle lead. All is well again and both beat at the same rate.. I have this type of problem.

There are other problems like afib where the atrium is beating very fast and the AV bundle may not be able to handle the rate, or the person may have had an AV ablation which breaks the connection. In this case you can have a fast atrial beat and slower erratic ventricular beat.

My person take on it is that a HR of 138 does not justify meds. Several web sites including Med Line do not consider anything under 150-200 as PSVT. Unless they are bothersome there is no urgent reason for the meds. I would discuss it with the doc and ask why you need the meds. Avoid the ablation unless the situation is serious. Ablation involves destroying heart tissue and once done it cannot be reversed. Frequently the first ablation fail to correct the problem and sometimes makes it worse.

frank

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