Do I show signs of early heart failure ?

Hi I recently joined the site I was looking for someone’s opinion

I believe I show signs of early heart failure but NHS nurses and doctors play with the mental health card when they speak to me and I don’t feel like I’m being taken seriously

5 months ago I started getting tachycardia episodes and sometimes I’d get sudden lapses of breath for no reason . The experience of sudden breathlessness was horrific , it felt like my lungs would just stop for a second with no explination .

I’ve been to the hospital for ECGS 8 times and my ecgs are always fine , I don’t think they’re doing the right tests .

Lately my breathlessness has increased . When I get a breathless episode it lasts for 10 seconds usually and feels like I’m being strangled slowly then it fixes itself

For the last 3 months I’ve quit caffeine altogether and the tachycardia hasn’t returned but I still get spells of breathlessness temporarily

My ankles don’t swell , I have lost weight and appetite . I don’t get chest pain a lot but sometimes I get aches near the rib cage or above it .

I’ve been trying to get my gp to help me for 6 months now . So far they’ve put me on a waiting list for the heart palpitations clinic for a 24 hour heart monitor ( which could take a year or more ) I’ve also been referred for a chest scan this month . So far I’ve been waiting 6 months for the heart palpitations clinic .

The hospital in the past have done heart blood tests and say my heart isn’t damaged .

They can’t detect anything else though

I’ve also lost a lot of friends , they all use the anxiety card and mental health card in general and dismiss what I’m saying. They say things like “ the doctors would know by now and they would have kept you in “ Actually a lot of doctors don’t get it right.

I hope your doing well and maybe someone can shed some insight ?

For the record , I do have anxiety issues but when I’m experiencing these breathing problems there is no anxiety beforehand . The breathing problems seem totally ad-lib with no anticipation , it feels like I’m about to die when it happens .

I’m actually afraid to call 111 or presssure my gp any further because I’m scared when they start talking about my mental health , that’s when I know I’m not being taken seriously .

My biggest fear is that the nhs put me on a waiting list for two years, this possible heart problem doesn’t get detected and I possibly may die.

Before anyone suggests private healthcare, I honestly can’t afford it.

Kind regards

[jeanjeannie50]

Welcome to the forum Amschel.

Your symptoms sound typical of atrial fibrillation. In a lot of people the feeling of not getting enough air into our bodies is normal. Becoming anxious will certainly feed the condition and make it worse. I find getting a little more exercise by walking helps. Remember too that it's most unlikely to kill you.

Other people find it difficult to understand how a heart malfunction can make you feel so dreadful. So it's best not to talk about it to them. I know someone whose main topic of conversation is her health and to be honest it's boring for me when that's all she talks about. Come to this forum instead, we understand what you are going through and will give support when we can.

I really don't think it will be as long as two years before you get an NHS appointment to discuss what you are experiencing. When you do, try your best to appear relaxed and talk calmly. Make some notes before you go, so that all your concerns are discussed.

Are you on any medication?

Jean

[Nettekin]

Hi TWU can I just jump in and say what a constructive and empathetic post this is. I hope the original poster takes some comfort from it. As once again the world is heading into a crisis, positivity is good for us all. Hope you are keeping well yourself. X

[Liam-James]

Can I just say from my own experience that your reply is completely false and wrong! Last year I was feeling unwell for a good couple of months tiredness, fatigue, all of a sudden couldn’t eat, I lost weight I had weird sensations in my chest and stomach a lot. Numerous trips to the doctor the mental health/anxiety card was pushed on me each and every single time by the GP trying to push antidepressants on me.

Numerous trips to a&e ECG after ECG nothing ever detected, bloods done etc nothing, then after a pounding heart and very fast tachycardia and then fainting episode and being took to a&e on New Year’s Day, yet again bloods and ECG done and told all is normal and nothing to worry about, the doctor ordered an urgent echocardiogram as I’d been to a&e that many times I think they knew I wasn’t making this up anymore.

Low and behold the echo report comes back I had left ventricular systolic impairment and a low EF so no ECG’s don’t always pick things up, so I completely understand this persons post and why they’re very worried and feel like the mental health and anxiety card is being thrown at them, sometimes you just know of something isn’t right and you trust your own instincts and get yourself heard

[Liam-James]

I’m stating that his story is very similar to mine and unless he pursues it and doesn’t take no for an answer, an ecg won’t give you the answers, that’s more of an electrical problem with the heart not if there’s an issue with the muscle or pumping function of the heart. I had around 10 ECG’s, probs 5 lots of bloods including troponin in the space of a month and a half. Not one came back with any irregularity, but I knew something wasn’t right and all that kept getting pushed in my face was anxiety and mental health.

I stuck to my guns didn’t take no for an answer even though my GP and a&e doctors made me feel like I was losing my mind and having a mental breakdown, the echo was what made the difference for me, no amount of ECG’s where going to find the heart failure I was later diagnosed with.

And I know you said extremely unlikely but that doesn’t cut it in my opinion you need to no full stop and these GP’s and doctors have a responsibility and a lot to answer for everything is on it’s knees and people aren’t getting the proper tests and treatment fast enough and it stinks, I suffered far to long because of reluctant doctors who have a duty of care not doing there job properly, so sorry if I come across like I’m being funny but after what I went through nobody should suffer that.

I’m not trying to worry this person further I’m just stating unfortunate facts that happened to me, and like he says he knows he has anxiety but he has the capacity to know the difference between that and the real physical symptoms he’s suffering from, hence my reply because he isn’t being listened to just like I wasn’t!

[Larivee]

I would look into side effects of other meds you are taking. I also have had recent heart issues and both my echocardiogram and stress test showed heart muscle issues and low blood flow. I think my heart trouble might be a side effect of Humira I take for AS. Have been on Humira for 8 years. I could be wrong but planning to stop Humira to see if heart failure issues clear up. I don’t think doctors investigate med side effects sufficiently because of time and training.

[Hidden]

I would like to thank you all for your insightful and rational/ logical conclusions .

I do not get palpitations , in fact I don’t feel anything abnormal in my heart anymore since stopping caffeine but I was getting tachycardia and flutters when I was drinking it very often . Today it’s mostly just breathing.

When I go to hospital they check my stomach , ankles , fingers , heart rate , they do an ecg etc but can’t find anything . I’m afraid to go to hospital anymore incase they section me under the mental health act .

I know what I’m experiencing is abnormal and quite frightening but they will never be able to experience the 10 second intermittent breathlessness I get throughout the day and the intensity of it .

I phoned 111 last night to ask if heart failure can be detected from an ECG . They said it’s more complicated than that and if my breathlessness was from heart failure my breathlessness would last much longer .

The nurse I spoke to didn’t seem very smart . She kept blaming it on anxiety

( I thought they weren’t allowed to make a diagnosis over the phone ? ) seems they can when you have a history of mental health .

I just pray to god something good happens that spares me from this slow and agonising unfortunate scenario .

I expected better from the nhs , can’t believe so many people are getting undetected and suffering . My gp doesn’t even seem interested .

Thanks for your support and Liam-James what you had to endure was horrific , I hope your condition can fix itself one day . I hope your getting good treatment and effective medication now . I empathise with you strongly , they have no right to use anxiety as an excuse . Anxiety is a lazy and sometimes dangerous explanation

Another thing , albeit it’s off topic . Cancer is the number one killer in Scotland , but I’ve noticed they don’t test for cancer until the last minute for some reason , often sometimes when it’s too late . My uncle had lung cancer and the GP told him it was nothing , months later he was dead .