Needing a Event monitor for a while

[Deerpark01]

Just back from first cardiologist appointment

Nothing to be frightened of at this moment doc says.

But he wants to investigate further my fast heart beats . Hes not worried about heart missing beats which I have to .

Will be going back for echo ect .to scan heart .

And will put on a monitor for a few weeks (cardiac event monitor ). So when I have episodes .. press machine and can send info over phone ect

If they are concerned they will get me back in .

So just waiting for appointments for heart scan and get monitor fitted ect .

Has anybody else have same ?

[Charlpalp]

What is your heart rate xx with you saying you have fast beats xx

[Deerpark01 in reply to Charlpalp]

Not sure hun . He didnt say . I know it's fast at times. Even if resting . x

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Two friends with similar issues have found eliminating alcohol, caffeine, chocolate and spicy foods from their diet has made a massive difference to them. One is now off medication. If you have not done so it is worth a try.

[Deerpark01 in reply to MichaelJH]

Its something definitely to think about . x

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to Deerpark01]

I trust I am correct to assume you do not smoke. Smoking raises BP and HR which can lead to AF. There is also a secondary mechanism where the nicotine affects the tissue of the heart changing the electrical conductance. This can also cause AF.

[Deerpark01 in reply to MichaelJH]

Nope don't smoke . Quit 10 year's ago .

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to Deerpark01]

👍 😁

[Hidden]

Been there, done that - twice in fact! 😁 I had an episode of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) out of the blue at the age of 26, and was put on portable monitoring linked to the cardiac lab for the 6 days I was in hospital, as well as having an echo to look for potential causes. SVT is a condition where your heart trips into overdrive due to a faulty electrical signal and gets ‘stuck’ at a very high rate - mine was 240+ for almost 2 hours before arriving at hospital - until it either passes or is forcibly stopped using medication. It happened visiting my dad in the Isle of Man, so when I returned home I had to get myself in to see cardiology via the GP as it’s technically not part of the UK and doesn’t link in to the NHS. First thing the cardiologist did was book another echo and stick me on a holter monitor for a month (that’s the event monitor you’re talking about). This was all partly because even on beta blockers, I was suddenly generally very tachycardic and my hr would hit close to 200 just talking, never mind wandering around or doing anything strenuous, as well as getting a huge number of palpitations. No cause for my SVT was ever found (not uncommon), but once my medication had been tweaked things settled down a fair bit and I only had relatively minor episodes until another huge one requiring A&E again in 2015 (first was right at the end of 2009). They did the same set of tests again at that point, and added in a stress test, but again came up empty. I’ve had further issues with palpitations and things since then, but two further week long holters haven’t added anything to the picture, so I’ve basically had to learn to live with them. My SVT is now well controlled, but I do have a very reactive HR whereby just scratching my head gets it up to 120bpm sometimes 🤷‍♂️

The skipped or missing beats you mentioned are actually very common and generally not a concern unless you have either SVT or atrial fibrillation: it’s ectopic beats (skipped beats) that generally trigger an episode in these conditions, so the treatment is geared towards minimising or stopping ectopics completely via medication in the first instance, and failing that a procedure called ablation. One of the biggest things anyone with any kind of tachycardia can do for themselves, even if it’s just a benign elevation of heart rate rather than a diagnosable arrhythmia, is eliminate the things that are known to trigger a faster hr. I finally gave in and cut out coffee, dark chocolate and ginger after my second major episode of SVT and in doing so not only reduced my resting hr quite significantly, but also eliminated all the minor episodes of arrhythmia I’d been experiencing. Other substances known to cause tachycardia or trigger arrhythmias involving tachycardia are white chocolate, alcohol, and some medications such as cold/cough remedies containing paeudoephedrine, lidocaine, and some asthma medications. In addition to that, insufficient sleep is also a proven trigger, and stress also plays a documented role.

[Deerpark01 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Charlie

Thanks for your history.

Will mention about chocolate and coffee to doc about quitting. Can start cutting back though.

Hes not said much about what it is yet . He wants to investigate more . All I know its nothing frightening as he says at the moment. I was worried about heart attack ect .

Will know more after echo and monitoring x

[STUBAX]

Currently wearing a heart monitor for 7 days, due to return it today after 7 days, guess what - no episodes whilst wearing it up to now 🤔

[Deerpark01 in reply to STUBAX]

Oh that's no good.

Mines are usually daily or near enough x