My personal Heal SVT Naturally Success Story
For those of you that are just getting to know me, I wanted to share my Heal SVT Naturally SUCCESS story…(You can also read it on the My Story page at www.HealSVTnaturally.com HERE)
For those of you that don’t know me yet, I’m Laura Madrigano. I am a mother of two young boys ages 11 and 4, a former New York City fashion designer, a Board Certified Life Coach, an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, a fellow SVT thriver, and the creator of Heal SVT Naturally.
My first SVT happened when I was 26 years old.
I was working as a Fashion Designer in NYC when I had my first SVT episode. I was stressed out to say the least but was used to pushing myself, working long hours, and putting my personal needs second to the demands of work and my new business venture.
Since I had suffered from panic attacks in my early 20’s, I was familiar with the sensation of a racing heart and palpitations. But , this time it was much different. I couldn’t control my heartbeat with the usual attempts such as slow, deep breathing, drinking water or calming techniques. My breathe and heart felt completely disconnected. A trip to the Emergency Room, and a shot of adenosine confirmed that I had Supra Ventricular Tachycardia. Say what? What on earth is SVT? Needless to say, I felt alone, confused, and scared. Wasn’t I too young for a heart issue?
I grew up on guard about feeling ill or getting sick. As a child I had chronic stomach aches and nausea. At age 12, my doctors speculated that I had symptoms for either juvenile rheumatoid arthritis or Lupus, (later re-diagnosed as Lyme). In my late teens and early 20’s I suffered with severe panic attacks that lasted for years. I also had constipation, occasional hives, and headaches. In my 30’s add in horrible, debilitating migraines, anxiety, adrenal fatigue, gas pain and bloating after eating, constant low blood sugar, heat intolerance, waking in the middle of the night with a pounding heart, exhaustion, always feeling “off” and POTS. Later I would understand that all of these health issues were directly or indirectly related and part of my whole SVT health picutre.
The start of my Heal SVT Naturally journey…
All of my symptoms seemed to culminate in my 30’s and after my first pregnancy. The physical exhaustion of giving birth coupled with ongoing adrenal fatigue and the demands of being a new mom wreaked havoc on my body and I just couldn’t bounce back. I woke up every day feeling exhausted and afraid. I never felt rested no matter how much I slept or like I had the energy to take care of my newly born son. I felt depressed, unhappy, sick and constantly as though I was going to have an SVT. They no longer seemed “once in a while” or out of the blue, but I felt symptoms of one “coming on” nearly every day. I longed to be able to figure out what was wrong with me and began searching for answers at various doctor appointments.
I made appointments with leading cardiologists and electro physiologists in premier New York hospitals to educate myself and to get opinions about treatment and prevention of SVT. I wore holter monitors and took every kind of blood test, stress test etc all of which came back “normal”.
I became more than frustrated to say the least as I lived with constant palpitations, electrical misfires of the heart, SVT “attempts”, actual SVT or the crippling fear of one occurring.
One morning after eating a cheesesteak sandwich the night before, I woke up not feeling well. As usual I didnt have a bowel movement, I felt foggy, as though I was either hung over or just not “right” as per usual. That day, I experienced a long and difficult SVT that made me question my survival. I intuitively knew that if I didn’t figure out and take control of my health problems, that I was in serious trouble.
I became an SVT Detective
And thus, the most important journey of my life would begin. Like a detective, I began to study and track my symptoms. I had to cover all of my bases including food, water intake, bowel movements, feelings, and activities and consider everything a potential clue as to why I was so sick in general, and what was causing my SVT specifically.
There must be a reason why I had random SVT episodes, and more that I could be doing to help myself. I began to draw connections, such as links between FOOD + SVT, Lack of Sleep and an increased likelihood of SVT and more! I seemed much more likely to get an SVT when I was hot, or had sugar for breakfast or got run down. While I understood that I had an accessory pathway allowing the SVT to occur, I wondered why they appeared to happen on certain days, or when I was sleep-deprived, stressed or constipated?
Were SVT’s really random or were they linked to food, stress and self-care?
Frustrated with Traditional Cardiology
The only advice I consistently received from my cardiologist was to avoid caffeine. I knew that my doctors were well-intentioned and provided me with their best advice. Yet, I really questioned the lack of practical information available that I could use to help myself. If caffeine was to be avoided, then wouldn’t there be a long list of other foods that could help or hurt my SVT symptoms? Why weren’t my doctors as fascinated as I was about my links I was surely making between a lack of a bowel movement and the increased chance of an SVT or lack of sleep and SVT?
I knew there had to be more I could do to help myself. Food and self-care became my focus. I remained determined to figure out all the contributing factors that provoked my SVT.
Accepting that I had to change and moving forward
Even though I had a lifelong interest in holistic health, and was fairly educated on the subject, I knew there was a lot of work to be done with my food, nutrition, stress management, emotional healing and self-care. I needed the expertise of people with a similar way of viewing health to help me. I employed a health coach, a naturopathic doctor, an acupuncturist and other alternative health practitioners to look at my symptoms in a whole new, whole body way.
This is the guide I wrote to help anyone with SVT who, like me, is interested in a whole body approach to healing SVT naturally
Some of the first steps were layering in quality supplements, testing for food sensitivities and changing my diet to avoid what was making me sick (such as gluten + sugar). I worked on gut healing as well as adding in more nutrient-dense foods.
I also had to address old emotional issues and lifestyle habits that were self-destructive like my lack of self-care, and healing my old emotional wounds from the past that led to self-neglect and emotional eating. I also had to make tough decisions and face personal issues that were causing ongoing stress like my living arrangements and stress with my partner, and learn how to manage my stress and being a new mother in intentional and productive ways.
I embraced self-care as if my life depended on it!
I tracked my trials and errors, and progress, as well as my decision to decline medication and ablation, on a blog I started called Heal SVT Naturally. It was a place for me to vent my frustration and my success, and to share stories with others who had SVT. I wasn’t sure where it would lead me, but I trusted that it was an important step in my journey.
A whole new life
That little blog has turned into a valuable website and leading resource on the internet for people who are searching for alternative approaches to healing SVT, just like I was! Over the years this website and the community have evolved, and so too has my health and my life dramatically improved.
My POTS is gone, healed, non-existent. I don’t have any SVT-related symptoms anymore, such as palpitations or chronic electrical misfires, or actual episodes. I never wake up with my heart pounding in the middle of the night, and my heat intolerance is gone. I can lift my children without worry of triggering an SVT and never get postural triggered SVT anymore. My general anxiety, panic attacks, exhaustion and blood sugar fluctuations are also gone and I have lost weight as a bonus. In short, I am finally forging the path of living life to the fullest and without the constant fear of an SVT occurrence.
You really can change your health using natural remedies, lifestyle medicine and DIET as your tools to do so!
A New Career
Because self-care, health, spirituality, and food became the things I focused on in order to transform my life and health, I changed careers to allow the things I valued to be in the forefront of my life everyday. I became a Board Certified Life Coach and later an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach.
Today, I write, coach, and create healing resources for people with SVT from all around the world to use to transform their lives and health just as I have. I love helping other people
I help people from all over the world learn and apply the same natural methods that worked for me
Healing SVT naturally is not magic. It takes an open mind to seek testing for food sensitivities and changing your diet. It requires commitment to embrace self-care, to address emotional wounds and to listen to your heart in new ways. To be successful in this healing, it helps to view this diagnosis as an opportunity to take your health and happiness to a whole new level. So prepare to do some work on yourself, but know that you will be completely supported.
A wealth of resources
You can expect to find new insights into the impact that food, digestion, emotions, sleep, exercise, and stress have on SVT. I will share my philosophy that there are four root layers that can either trigger SVT episodes, or if healed, can create a foundation for a life without SVT. I will show you how food, supplements and specific self-care habits can act as your medicine to manage your SVT. And much more…
I KNOW that you are being called forward for big things, just like I was, and that you need to feel better to be able to reach your greatest potential. You don’t have to suffer or live in fear of SVT! There is a better path and I want to help you discover and embrace it.
With love and healing,
Laura, Your SVT Coach
MY RESOURCES for You:
My TOP TEN TIPS to HEAL SVT NATURALLY get it when you sign up for my email list for FREE HERE
The Heal SVT Naturally Private Facebook Group
Heal SVT Naturally E-books and Digital Downloads HERE
If you have a Heal SVT Naturally Success Story I would love to interview you, talk to you and share your story on my blog to help inspire thousands of other people who are struggling with SVT. Please comment below or email me at Lmadrigano@aol.com
Hi wish I had found this site before I had the dreaded ablation but hey ho! Whilst the SVT episodes have ceased the trauma/fear continue “have I caused other issues” diet/lifestyle/hormones I know are massive triggers just want to move forward now!
Hi Katie, Do not worry or beat yourself up about your decision. You can just do your best to take great care of yourself, and still work on all the things that are root causes even though you had ablation. You can probably think back to when you had episodes and try to relate them to diet, or stress, or dehydration etc, so you can still use some of that evidence to make changes to help yourself. You can also do a stool sample or other labs to find out about what your foods sensitivities are. Hopefully you are feeling better, which will motivate you to take the best care of yourself possible and elevate your diet, stress management and self-care. Wishing you all the best, Laura
Hi Thank you so much for your reply! I really didn’t expect it, I wish I had found your blog b4 I had my ablation it really would have deterred me!
Never mind can’t change the past but I am embracing such changes that are really helping ditching the glueten & sugar, much more plant based organic diet proper rest & listening to my body in general really does help! Menopause is the next obstacle & I have always wondered if hormones play a bigger role than any “specialist” care to mention! 1yr on and no episodes just need the “fear” of one to disappear but I’m working on that! Every day is a new day, small steps & all that! Keep up this amazing site thank you!
Hi Katie! Sounds like you are really embracing your diet and lifestyle!! Good for you. Don’t worry that you had the ablation. As long as you address the deeper issues like your gut integrity and avoiding food sensitivities you are not doing further harm and ARE Addressing some of your root causes. Im not totally against any kind of modern medicine, I just know that when it comes to SVT, the medication and treatments have no consideration for Diet and lifestyle which really play a huge role. I just want to steer people in that direction in addition to traditional options. And, in many many cases, like my own, these changes are enough to completely prevent SVT. Its just insane how sick I was and how much diet and lifestyle, and listening to my heart changed my health and life and…the elimination of my SVT. BUT, its always a work in progress, and I live a lifestyle of constant prevention. Since SVT is my Achilles heel I will always have to live to prevent it, but it keeps me on track, and I respect my body and my limits because of it! Keep in touch! And let me know if you want to write a blog post about your approach. I think it would very interesting for people to hear your story…How you chose ablation and are doing all the diet and lifestyle as well. Many people would love to hear about that route!
It feels like Im reading my own bio. Im convinced my overall anxiety, diet and stress levels contribute to my recently diagnosed SVT. I only have had one bad episode that landed me in the hospital but resolved on its own. First cardiologist said beta blocker and ablation. Second one said beta blocker and exercise…that was getting a little closer. Only I really am against taking ANY medication because of all the side effects. I dealt with my anxiety attacks in my twenties by going to therapy, and hadn’t had one in years until I watched my father die from lung cancer last year. Looking forward to learning more and the healing along the journey.
Dear Elizabeth, Im so sorry about your father. Many times SVT comes up after a stressful emotional times in people’s lives. I never had ablation or went on any type of medication. There is so much you can do with diet and to reduce your body burden and heart energy issues to reduce your risk of episodes. Are you gluten free yet? Have you read my first e-guide? Our stories sound very similar especially regarding our experience with anxiety and doctors! When a parent passes away, and even before, there are many childhood issues that come up for healing, grieving, and release. Im sure this is a very taxing time for you and SVT thrives on depletion. Lots to share and I hope to learn more about you! All the best,
Is PSVT and SVT the same?