Questions to ask the cardiologist

[Trevor29]

I’m paying to see a cardiologist privately next week as the NHS waiting list here is 8 months. I had bypass surgery two years ago but have recently being getting strong palpitations and tachycardia. I’m keen to get the most out of my appointment so how should I prepare and what questions should I be asking? Thank you all for your help.

[Prada47]

Hello Trevor

I think I would ask him after an ECG what is his opinion of the surgery you have already had !!!! and then I would probably ask where do I go from here. i.e. is there nothing to be concerned about from here on in.

That's what I would want to know.. Hope it helps a little.

Vaccinated Hands Face Space to keep safe

[QuadroVEINia]

Hi,

I don’t have knowledge about your specific condition so can’t advise what to ask, but on preparing, as a general rule I jot down all my questions in advance as they occur to me, then when I meet my consultant I tell them at the start I have a list of questions to run though and that sets an expectation which allows time to work through the list. Works well for me...

Good luck.

[Newcastle53]

Hi Trevor i would take a note of when these palpatations and tachycardia occur ie at rest, after specific activities, after caffeine containing food or drinks or just random etc so he might be abke to assess any triggers.

[santisuk]

I would encourage anyone in the years immediately following their heart operation/bypass etc to get a blood pressure monitor for home use, take some home readings at different times throughout the day/night and record them to show your cardiologist.

Two weeks ago I went through a period of feeling 'liverish' in the morning on waking up. Decided to take my blood pressure realised it was giving hypertension scores and took to doing some longer series including walking myself up a couple of times at night. I have found that my overnight/early morning readings have gradually improved, but are still borderline, whereas my day readings are good. The higher readings could have been stress (a particular one-off at the time) or an onset of an infection that didn't ultimately take hold.

When I googled 'night time hypertension' I found that cardiologists are increasingly giving creedence to night time readings as an indicator of the long term outlook on blood pressure. All the readings every clinic has ever taken on me have been day time readings so I get an easy pass.

I'm seeing my cardiologist, here in Thailand, for my second annual review post triple-by-pass next week and will be interested to hear what he says when he sees my data

[Hidden]

Would be interested to hear what you think of / get out of a private consultation.

I am thinking about going the same route as all you can get out of the NHS are very infrequent and in my opinion pretty pointless telephone appointments. In fact I was thinking that since my heart attack in August 2019 I have probably only had one face to face discussion with a cardiologist for about 10 minutes.

As I have now learned a lot about living with and monitoring my condition and also about the effects / side effects of medication, I feel I'd benefit from a face to face discussion in an unhurried manner. I don't think that is going to be coming from the NHS anytime soon.

[Trevor29 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Mike. I’ve done it before and would recommend it as it can be very reassuring. This time I’m paying £200, but that does get me an hour with the head of cardiology at a major hospital. It’s important to do some research into different consultants and find the one that is most appropriate for you. Good luck!

[Pollyanna23]

Hi Trevor. I would write a list of all concerns so when you see the Dr you haven’t missed anything out. After each attack if possible after 10 mins sit down and take three readings of your blood pressure this could be of help when you also have your hospital appointment. Good luck.