Need to vent

I finally decided to look for a new EP after having some very extreme heart rates recently (nearly 300bpm) - so I called the office where my EP used to be. He left back in February and silly me, I assumed they would have some sort of plan in place to refer his former patients to a new EP.

They no longer have any electrophysiologists on staff. They told me I would have to first get an appointment with one of their cardiologists or my GP to get a referral to an EP. So now I have to wait for that appointment, then finally get a referral so I can wait for another appointment. Why? When they know an EP is what I need and they have all my records? Why would you not have some sort of plan in place for the patients of a specialist who left? So now I'm waiting on an appointment with my GP to get a referral, and then have to have the clinic that refused to just refer me, send my records to the new EP. It seems like jumping through hoops just for the heck of it. It would be so much easier, and faster, for the clinic where I saw my old EP to just do it. Ridiculous!

And BTW none of this has anything to do with my insurance, mine requires no referrals. This is all them. 🙄

Guess I'm off to the ER if I have another episode to maybe get my medication changed before I end up in cardiac arrest.

[Tapanac]

Vent and rant all you like. All these referrals do seem a waste of time. 300 beats must have been very frightening. The most (I think) I’ve had is about 240 snd thst was scary enough

All the best

Pat

[jeanjeannie50]

It's absolutely farcical isn't it, but I'm afraid that's how the world often works these days and good old common sense is disappearing.

Goodness, just saw your 300bpm, didn't see that earlier. You should have gone to hospital.

[Hidden in reply to jeanjeannie50]

It's happened to me so many times now I've just accepted it. It always ends between 30 minutes to 2 hours after starting. It's not 300 the entire time, its more like 30-60seconds nearing 300 bpm, then goes straight back to 80-90 NSR for a minute or two, sometimes 5 minutes if I'm lucky, then a wave comes again and straight back up, instantly from NSR to ultra fast beats that appear on the EKG as 4-5 beats per second. Some waves a little slower, but always well above 200, and many near 300. The next day I feel like I have transitory heart failure or something - extremely slow resting heart rate in the upper 40s low 50s all day, and a general ill feeling. It returns to normal after a day or so.

This is another part of why I want to see a new EP at this point since these episodes have come back, I want to see if the new one has the same reaction as my previous and acts like it's no big deal. When I straight told him I could read the ekg and count 5 QRS per second he finally actually looked kind of concerned for a second and expressed it, but STILL he said to me, well I'm going on sabbatical, and then he did not say a word that I should seek another EP in the meantime so I guess he still didn't find it that urgent or concerning!

You know, I could almost describe it like being in labor, where you're just anticipating the pain of that next contraction. That's kind of how it feels, obviously different in where the pain is, but the same sort of helplessness of here comes another wave.

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Hidden]

Sometimes we just wonder who can/will help us. I wouldn't mind if they feigned concern, it would at least make us think they understood. Sorry that you have this worry, it's a hateful condition.

Yes, I agree that you should perhaps seek the advice of another EP.

Jean

[JOY2THEWORLD49]

hi

300 plus H/R what... you must be sweating like a ...'pig'.

Me at 186 it was horrible even though I was on Metroprolol, and fatigue with no energy.

That's dangerous ring your emergency for an ambulance.... what is your BP?

cheri JOY. 73. (NZ)

[Hidden in reply to JOY2THEWORLD49]

My BP is “perfect” most of the time, right around 120/80 or a little lower. On ER visits for the episodes in the past it has been around 170/110, but that was at a lower heart rate around 200. I’ve never been able to record BP at the heights because it is too painful - I sit on the floor and deal with the repeating waves of extremes when it happens because I’m afraid I will pass out and don’t want to be far from the floor.

I will be off to the ER if I have another episode.

[JOY2THEWORLD49 in reply to Hidden]

hi

Regardless 200 is too high.

Think of your poor heart goes twice as hard!

Controlling that will help you significantly.

If your BP is normal then it is the AF attacks causing it.

PIP pill in pocket may be the answer or is it the Vag.. artery bulge which means smaller meals for you, no alcohol etc.

My AF was related to Thyroid Cancer. So 2 years 6 mths later we are waiting

for my heart to revert to normal and meanwhile meds.

But the specialist says my heart may never revert and an ablation is nor on the cards. An ultra-scan shows venticle left enlarged.

The specialist said visualise your heart going twice or three times as fast per minute x 60 and 24 times each day!

We are bound to wear out.

cheri. JOY

[SeanJax]

do your research for your local ep. Book an appointment with him/her and you can ask the old office to send records to the new ep. Or the new ep can request it himself/herself. You don’t need any referrals. As I said your case is above average as complexity and your episodes are life threatening. So the route to go is ablation with a highly experienced ep to do ablation for you. He will request medical records for you. And it takes usually to have appointments with the expert two to three months. They don’t need any referrals, just your records to see if they can take your case. Your Kardia records are good enough in my opinion. In the mean time see the medical treatment with your local ep. In the States ep leave the offices to go somewhere because there is not enough volume of patients for them. That was one of the reasons they left. Your body your choices. All I can say your episodes of flutter and Afib are life threatening.

You can vent as much as you want and the 911 ambulance will take 10 to 15 minutes to come your house. Few people can sustain 300 bpm as heart rate for two or three minutes without crashing. I hope you see the points I try to make.

[Hidden in reply to SeanJax]

I called the new EP office I chose and they told me I need a referral - I tried to get it from my old EPs office. I also tried another - all of them want a referral - I told them my insurance doesn’t require one, and they said their office requires one. I run into this with every cardiologist office I call here. I also called the one I went to first, to see if they have an EP but before I even got that far they told me because I wasn’t there in over 2 years I would be considered a new patient and appointments for new patients aren’t until February or March!

I’ll get the referral Monday from my GP - but in the meantime, I will go to the ER if I have another episode.

[rosyG]

just wondering if you have a mixture of AF and Atrial Flutter? just that your rate is very high How does your ECG look when it's at 300? Flutter is easily ablated so good to work out what's going on