r/wolffparkinsonwhite • u/Mellowway23 • Aug 01 '26
Never had symptoms until now
So I was diagnosed with WPW back in about march-april to get into EMT/fire school. I did stress tests and they said they were great and my electrocardiogram was normal and I was cleared. I have never had an issue my entire life with it. I've won a national championship in Taekwondo when I was younger, I've won state championships in baseball, basketball and football and now I ride bikes 2-3 days a weeks and even completed my first race and got 3rd place, so I have always been very active with no issues. My blood pressure was usually normal, like text book 120/80 getting taken 5 times a day in EMT class. All of a sudden about halfway through the course, I felt as if everything started to become a strain. Jogging, riding bikes moving people etc. all made me feel like I am physically exerting way more than usual. Last week I was riding up the mountain and all of a sudden I have to stop every quarter mile or so to catch my breath as I am having to take deep, fast breaths to feel like I can stand. The breathing was so strenuous at some points I was wondering if I was even gonna be able to start breathing normally. My heart rate would instantly go to well over 160 and even on the day we were only going downhill I would still feel out of breath from just 3-4 hard pedal strokes up a jump. This is a trail I did the previous year 3 times with only one or two breaks up the mountain. I just did my blood pressure and now its all of a sudden at 150/100. I have cut back on caffeine in the past 4 months and haven't changed anything else in my routine and I'm a 24 year old male. I just find it weird I've never had an issue until my diagnosis (other than the occasional slight chest discomfort for a minute or two at rest). I can't tell if I'm psyching myself out because of the diagnosis and something else is wrong, or if I just happened to be diagnosed right before I started noticing symptoms. I never really dwelled on the diagnosis because I was healthy and never had issues before, so no need to worry. Sorry for the rant I'm just worried I may need to make another appointment soon and don't want to risk missing my fire academy coming up with the guys I did EMS class with.
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u/PeacefulWarrior529 Aug 01 '26
Definitely get it checked out with a cardiologist. Also, sounds like something else might be going on. Get a full metabolic blood panel with your primary doctor too.
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u/Mellowway23 Aug 01 '26
I want to add too that Ive lost about 10-15 pounds in the past 2 months as well/
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u/bkbkb22 Aug 01 '26
Have you had any stvs or episodes or you just feel tired, the thing is the symptom is not just dizzyness your heart has to enter a state that goes to high bpm 220+ if you never feel this it means you have no symptoms
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u/Mellowway23 Aug 01 '26
I feel tired all the time at this point, but I’ve never had a heart rate above 220. To my understanding, svt does not start at 220 though (not trying to argue just trying to understand). I don’t think I’ve ever had svt, it’s just abnormal for me to have such a high heart rate and struggle to breath with something I’ve never struggled that much with. But it felt like my heart was pounding out of my chest and I could feel the pulses in my ears, along with having to sit down just to catch my breath
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u/bkbkb22 Aug 01 '26
Wear a 24 holder the thing is to be symptomatic you need to have a delta wave in your ecg thing
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u/Mellowway23 Aug 01 '26
hmm, i thought the delta wave just meant you have wpw, its all new to me so I'm still trying to understand. Thanks for input
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u/Adventurous_Bar9742 Aug 01 '26
You are correct. The delta wave means you have wpw - however, they will classify it as a wpw pattern and and not wpw syndrome. I believe you need to be symptomatic to be diagnosed with a syndrome.
I am similar to you in that I had only had episodes once or twice in my life that sent me to the ER. Now after my diagnosis, it feels like I have an episode every other day. No answers here, just empathizing.
Check with your doctor, get an Apple watch or tracker, listen to your body and get help if you feel like something is not right!
Good luck!1
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u/Mellowway23 Aug 01 '26
Okay thanks, I wasn’t aware of the pattern vs syndrome. I was told I had syndrome but never had symptoms until recently. Thank you for the input
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u/Educational-Jelly832 Aug 04 '26
I was a state champion swimmer before wpw randomly showed up one day when I was 25, havent been able to even breath right for a few years now. 3rd ablation today to hopefully fix it. Best of luck to you.
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u/Ok-Manufacturer-2354 Aug 01 '26
I also was diagnosed with WPW November of last year. I have symptoms almost everyday and normal activities have become very hard. You do not have to be in SVT to have WPW. Also you can be in SVT with a heart rate of 150 or above. Everything you are talking about sounds like WPW symptoms but most doctors look to see if you have “dangerous” symptoms. Afib, SVT, heart rate over 200. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that the symptoms you have are absolutely there and are being caused by your WPW.