Wolf Parkinson White Syndrome

I am 28 now, I was diagnosed when I was born. i had several bad episodes during childhood. I finally had enough of being scared and at 18 had the surgery. He couldn't get rid of the pathway, Great...i was so upset. I also had terrible palpitations after the surgery but unlike the regular wolf palps..its was different for about a year too...I'm 28 and haven't had an episode in 10 years, I thank god..but now I'm recently married and want to have kids, I don't feel safe knowing I still might have this condition since it shows up on my EKG. I also am on Atenenol and have been for 10 years, you cant be pregnant and on atenenol. I went to the dr. today..hes gonna look at my past operation notes..hes a new dr.
I'm gonna do a stress test..hope all goes well...and for you all too...take care

Hi all,
I was diagnosed two weeks ago with WPW...after a lifetime of feeling progressively worse. I remember it starting when I was about 16 and getting terrible palpitations while playing sport. I assumed I was just unfit, even though I trained just as much and as hard as the rest of the team.

When I started to drink alcohol and go out dancing, I would always get attacks. I believed then that I was having anxiety attacks, as they can appear quite similar.

I ended up stopping sport altogether when I was about 24. Gym training would make me nearly pass out, and I just couldn't take the embarrassment of being so 'unfit'. Finally, last fall, at the age of 28, I decided to go back to team sport. I started complaining of the awful palpitations straight away, but again, put it down to unfitness and anxiety at not being godd enough.

The episodes grew considerably worse, my t-shirt would physically pulsate with my fast heart rate. Finally I brought it up with the doctor when I went in about another issue. I had mentioned it to docs before but they brushed it off. This time I laid it out for her, how my vision had started to go brown during the episodes (this was just me almost passing out, but I didn't know that), how I couldn't stand up during an attack, etc etc... she listened and heard I had a heart murmur and orgainsed a cardiologist appointment for me in the local hospital.
I went into her the week after, and she noticed my murmur was very loud and that my symptoms had gone beyond the explanation of stress or anxiety. She send an urgent letter to the hospital.

While waiting for my appointment, I attended training. I was not to train, under her strict instructions, but I decided to go down and assist the coach instead. I took part in a couple of drills and immediately lost my breath. I fought through it, thinking still that it was just a murmur...

I finished training after an hour and a half and was feeling bad, the old familiar palpitations and light headedness. Ihad also been experiencing extreme tiredness, and hadn't been able to get out of bed til 3pm that afternoon. i knew something was about to happen. I had a real sense of foreboding.

That night, I got chest pains. I called the Caredoc and said that it wasn't an emergency, I knew I had a murmur and was waiting for a hospital appt, but I just wanted to run this feeling passed a nurse. Spke to a nurse, and she had a doc call me straight away. he ordered me straight into A&E.

I was in hospital for 5 days on bed rest while they tried to figure out what was wrong with me. yes, I had a murmur and a valve defect called Pulmonary Stenosis, but that was all - the valve thing is just symptomatic and not dangerous.

Then, just as they were about to discharge me, to my great horror, with no medication for what I felt was a debilitating condition - they gave me a stress test. Ran fine, as most of you will know - the running itself isn't a problem, it was the resting period that my heart started 'spiking'. the doctors came running back in and watched in amazement as I went from 100 to 190 bpm. They asked if this is how I usually felt after excercise... 'Oh no', I replied - 'it's usually much worse...'. The cardiologist smiled and said I was a very lucky girl.

So! That's my long story to diagnosis. I am on beta blockers now - cardicor, and I am utterly exhausted. But! I am getting the ablation asap, as my condition was considered to be at the more dangerous end of the scale. i am looking forward, very excited in fact, to a life without WPW. I am looking forward to being fit!

Good luck to all of you...xxx

Hi, every procedure has pro and con. I'm 51 now. I was diagnosed with wpw when I was 15 years old. I have a pacemaker and this current one is number 4.

I have 2 daughters by natural birth. They are very healthy. Non of them has heart problem. So.... wpw can also has pregnancy and normal birth.

Now I've AF. My cardio expecting it'll come. I'm not sure are all the wpws will have AF later (even after ablation). I'm still having wpw. It is type B and the pathway is anterograded from the Atrial to Ventricle. I'm not sure what kind of wpw that I had before the ablation.

Take care.

hi every1 im a 24 years old girl i was diagnosed with wpw i had its attacks since i was 4 years old i tried blockers it didnt work and i made 4 ablations yes 4! and everytime the attacks just return back its so stupid and i just do not know what else to doyellow

Hey everyone,

It has been very interesting reading your stories. It is comforting knowing there are others out there dealing with the same issues that I have been my whole life.

I am 29 years old and I have been dealing with WPW since I was a child ( 4-5years old )

During my youth I was placed on a drug ( i forget the name ) which seemed to decrease the episodes. After a while, my episodes were so infrequent I decided to stop taking the drugs, I was in my teens.

Things seemed to be promising as the episodes would only occure once every 3-4 months or so and were very brief ( 2-3 minutes ) and I could control them with Vagal assistance. I typically will hold my nose and put pressure on my head which will stop my heart from racing )

Now that I am 29, I have been medication free for well over 10 years...I still currently deal with the occasional episode but since I have had it my whole life I have been taking it very lightly when it happens as it only happens for 1-2 minutes before I can control it.

I found this website being curious about my 'long forgotten' syndrome and it has resparked my interest about getting this surgery done. I hope to speak to my family doctor soon to find out if my condition is serious enough to warrant the surgery.

Even though my condition appears to be mild and infrequent it would be very very satisfying to know I could cease the episodes all together and not have the burden in the back of my mind..

I've been reading these posts about WPW Syndrome and how everyone has dealt with it. Though I was born with WPW, (as everyone who has it is), I wasn't diagnosed until I was 23 years old. I was placed on medication & finally decided 4 years later to have an EPS (Electrophysiological Study) and ablation. It worked for 2 years then my WPW resurfaced in another area of my heart. I believe my case is a little unique in that regard, because usually one ablation is all it takes. For several years after it resurfaced, I didn't even have to take medication because the episodes were so infrequent and it wasn't bothering me. As I got older and the stress level in my life increased, the symptoms increased. I have been hospitalized several times because of it and am now considering a 2nd ablation. Though it is a commonly practiced procedure now, (my 1st ablation was done in 1994 and there were only 2 places in the state of Texas that could perform it) it is still not risk free, nor is it one that should be considered lightly.

I've lived with WPW in one stage or another for the last 19 years. It is sometimes very scary, but I strongly recommend that you do your research and make the decision that is best for your lifestyle.

My daughter was diagnosed with WPW at 2 1/2 weeks old. She almost died from it. They say that she outgrew it, as 2/3 of kids do by the time they are 1. The one question nobody seems to be able to give me a straight answer on, is can it come back? Does anybody know?

Thanks

I was diagnosed with WPW during my pregnancy when I was 23. I am now 26. I have worn many halter monitors and been on toprol. The medicine did not work for me. I could still feel my heart trying to race. Last year I had a heart cath to see if I had any blackages, and that turned out good no blockages. A few weeks later I had an EP study done but no ablation. My cardiologist decided that the procedure was to risky for him to try due to my extra electrical currents being to close to the main circuits of the heart. I live in TX and was sent 8 hours away to DAllas, TX for another cardiologist to try a kryo ablation which is freezing instead of burning. After the procedure everything seems A-OK, but the next morning there seemed at though it might have been back. My cardiologist at home waited until June of this year and put in a loop recorder to record the episodes. There was enough information there to send me back to Dallas to try the kryo ablation again. The cardiologist in Dallas said that he wanted to try the burning ablation, but if he got in there and it seemed to risky (meaning I would need a pace maker) we would back out and do the kryo again. Things went well and the regular ablation was done. An hour after the procedure everything was great. I did not wake up so well and tried to be sick which then lead to my groins bleeding. After it stopped and the nausea was under control I was taken to a room. When it was time for me to be able to get up I started bleeding again. This part was the very rough part. The next morning the EKG showed that it was back. The cardiologist in Dallas seems to be frustrated with this. I don't understand why after 2 ablations in a year why it keeps coming back, but it is coming back in different places. The original places he has gotten rid of. This is very frustrating since I am facing another ablation at the first of the year. Due to being a still really sleepy when the doctor came in I think that he told me that in extreme cases that they still do the open heart surgery. I am hoping that this is not something that I will face in my near future. If anyone has any insight that will be great. please notify me at

Hi guys
I was diagnosed in the UK at 16, i was tested and they found my heart rate was in the 300BP mark so i was a ticking time bomb. I was lucky enough to go through catheta ablation and have been healthy ever since. I recommend this procedure but do your research into who you use here as the US is a different medical beast to the UK. I have the odd lurch in my chest as if the alps might come back but its not physically possible so it passes and just makes me feel a little lightheaded but i feel safe in the knowledge that i've been fixed and urge others to seek this procedure too It was terrifying but worth it. Good luck!!!

So is your daughter still on a waiting list? I have NEVER heard of a waiting list for this surgery. This surgery is in and out. I was back to work in two days. If she is still on a waiting list find a new surgeon!

I had the ablation done about 8 years ago unsuccessfully, I felt worse then I did beforeI had it done and they also damaged my mitral valve in the process. After about 3 years I started feeling better,the flutters lightened up and I started living a normal life again...until now. I'm getting flutters, pain, shortness of breath and dizziness exhaustion low blood pressure, cant breath when I lay down to sleep. Before the ablation wpw was transient now it's always there.  And the only symptom I had before the ablation was passed out once and they seen the wpw on a ecg. New, electro doc is having me wear a monitor so we'll see I guess. Because he says he don't think my symptoms are from the wpw. Huh? Told him about how I felt worse after the ablation and he quickly jumped to defend the other electro doc by saying he's good at what he does. I don't know if I can keep working my job, it seems to do it most at work. I'm about ready to just give up.

I have been diagnosed with WPW since 1995. It started when I was 15 sneaking a cigarette in the bathroom... All of a sudden I couldn't breath and my mom was at work. I called 911 forget being in trouble For smoking I was dying!!! Thank God the police have number id and was able to pinpoint my location. After contacting my mom and running numerous tests I was glad to know I wasn't hallucinating that I really did have a condition, WPW my mom or I had never heard of this abnormality and this was before widespread use of search engines and cell phones. The doctor never gave me a prescription or really asked about it unless I brought it up. Honestly there were never any complications regarding my illness. Now almost twenty years later I hardly ever think about my WPW. I've had four children ran half marathons and have never taken any medication. It hardly bothers me and when I say bother I mean skip a beat. That's what it's akin to me. I feel my heart jump or skip a beat but other than that it's back on rhythm and i barely notice. However as I've gotten older I do have some involuntary body movements ever so often. Was just wondering if it's related.

I work in a dental office and we have a patient with Wolf Parkinson White Syndrome. There are a variety of anesthetics available.(Novacaine is no longer used) I would suggest that you have the eco done to confirm your condition and delay any work that is elective. If you should require immediate treatment I would suggest an anethetic without epinephrine. Lidocaine w/o epi is well tolerated with most or all patients. Nitrous gas is also helpful in reducing rapid heart rates associated with stress.

Has he had any symptoms afterwards or he's been fine? Cause i am diagnosed with wpw as well like 3 days ago. And i am 18 and thinking of just getting the surgery. Cause i dont want to be like this no more. I want to do stuff with my life. Get a job and finish school. Would you recommend me to just get the surgery done?

I was diagnosed with WPW when I was 17 and had an ablation a few weeks later. It was a relatively easy procedure to go through and it was an outpatient operation I was there less than 24 hours and it was successful. I would recommend looking into this, but you should be fine regardless as the chances of anything actually happening are extremely slim.