Recently moved from Kent to Peak District to be near family. Suitable hospitals are not near though!! Have CHD and stent and arrhythmia which, according to one cardio may become AF. After 2 hours of erratic heartbeat phoned 111 and got the advice I knew I would, as it wasn’t the first time, get to hospital. So in the worst weather/roads ever, we drove to Derby. ECG normal. Good as I could feel things had settled. Told was right to come as should so so after 30 mins of suspected AF. Car got stuck in snow 5 miles from home. Police towed us out. Whole night out and feel tired! GP and cardios have said only to go to hospital if chest pain, dizzy etc. But was scared of stroke as that is the main risk. Not on anticoags as AF not diagnosed. Glad about that but am in dilemma when the situation like last night occurs. Always at night/ weekend/BH or in bad weather! No solution I know but any thoughts?
Hellish night : Recently moved from... - British Heart Fou...
Hellish night
Dear Frootbat
Sorry I can’t help you with your medical worry.
I just wanted to say how harrowing your story was to me and to wish you all the best for the future.
You are in my thoughts
Thank you
My advice is start taking blood thinner as soon as possible because you suffer from arythmia it’s a life saving medication with no side effects
Yes I will speak to GP. Thank you
Hi, the trouble with having palpitations is the only way they can be safely treated is to have evidence of what they are when they happen. It can be so frustrating and must have been for you esp given the horrendous time you had on the journey to hospital.
I have sick sinus syndrome and I know it took years to get accurate diagnosis. I would have pre syncopal episodes as heart rate would plummet yet by time I would get to hospital the ECG would be fine. The impact on life work family was huge.
Trouble was this was so random as I could go for weeks being fine and then boom it would happen.
We took the extreme measure of buying a handheld monitoring device which allowed us to capture these episodes alongside the circumstances and symptoms at the time. This was a godsend and I could take evidence to cardiologist and subsequently got pacemaker fitted which has worked wonders.
There are now Karidiamobile or Apple Watch devices that take a reasonable heart trace so that if when you feel palpitations are beginning you could record them and take them in for specialists to review.
Good luck
Kardia mobiles are ok. I have one. The one line sort. Recommended by cardiologist When I feel ill I take a reading sometimes it pronounces that I have afib. I send the readings to the NHS cardiologist who recommended the device and get nothing in return.So I went to a private cardiologist who on all occasions said it wasn't afib.
So I did an online course on how to interpret an ECG.
One wonders what the NHS is coming to when I have to diagnose my own heart problems
thank you yes a cardiologist last year advised me to get an apple watch which I did as he said " you may well get af at some stage in the future and even one episode may cause a stroke". So if I get a reading of af I should let someone know asap but if during the night or at weekend when there gp is shut am not sure whether to go to hospital or not so am too scared to take the ecg even though I can feel it may be af, albeit brief. A 28 hr tape last year did not show af but ectopics. I am now reading the criteria for commencing ac therapy as that will be the next stage. I am (probably unecessarily) worried about starting yet another drug.
You poor thing , what a horrible time you’ve had , I’ve no advice at all . You’ve had an awful experience and hopefully you will be feeling a bit better now . Much love xx
Thank you
Our hospital is also a good hour away. IN a situation like that I would have phoned for an ambulance. At least the paramedics could have checked it while it was happening. No one can help snow but if you need to be seen, you need to be seen. I had a few days recently of very rapid heartbeat and phoned my GP. I was told I should have called an ambulance. When I said I was reluctant because they are so stretched I was told that's what they are for. We do have an urgent care centre close by which would have been an alternative. Not really geared up for heart problems but hey could have checked it. Although the idea of having big hospitals with all the equipment and staff works in one sense it does make it almost impossible for patients.
Yes I think next time I will say I have no-one to drive me. It was a horrendous drive, especially for someone (my husband) in his 70s. Thank you for your response
They'd probably just say get a taxi. A taxi just one way to our hospital is £20!
Oh did ask whether I could get a taxi! I think it would be a lot more than £20. So the answer is to lie and say you’ve got chest pain as that qualifies for an ambulance. I would feel awful doing that as worked for the nhs most if my life …
Needs must sometimes. but these key words can be a real pain. Right after my heart attack, I once rang 111 with really bad upper stomach pain from ticagrelor. Because it was above my waist she kept insisting on sending an ambulance. I had a devil of a job getting it through to her that it was my stomach not heart. I Only wanted to know if it was safe to stop my tablet for a day until I could contact my GP. No wonder they're overworked. The tick sheet just doesn't work at times.
The GP & cardio may have told you to only go to a&e if you're in pain, but all a&e docs will say it's better to go there and get it checked. The pain advice would have been useless for me as I had a silent heart attack, followed by fainting with ventricular tachycardia, and I have never been in pain! I can't do anything about the snow, though 
You’re quite right. The a&e doc said I shouldn’t hesitate to go. What happened to you sounds like the typical scenario where women go undiagnosed. I met women in my rehab group who had had “gastric problems”!
Yep. I went to my GP after 3 weeks of vomiting & diarrhoea. She sent me for a blood test (she must have suspected something to include a troponin test). Later that evening, I got a phone call from a panicking out-of-hours doc, yelling "YOU'RE HAVING A HEART ATTACK YOU NEED TO BE IN HOSPITAL!!!"
Flu Jab
Blood pressure fluctuating during the night
AF and Troponin Level 5
feeling not quite right at the moment 
3 weeks post triple heart bypass
