24hr heart monitor
I had a 24hr ecg a week & half ago an... - British Heart Fou...
I had a 24hr ecg a week & half ago and chased my GP up who says they haven’t had anything back yet… do I assume this means no news is good?
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Caveo
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meant to say this was one of those heart monitors you have to wear for 24hrs
l had to wait 4 weeks they said it was due to having to go through the whole 24 hours and they had a backlog
it’s just hard to know whether to assume it’s good news that I haven’t heard anything… but knowing my GP hasn’t heard anything either I’m suspecting my results haven’t even been processed yet… the nurse who fitted me with the monitor indicated I’d get my results faster but evidently she was optimistic
Do you mind me asking if after the 2 weeks when you found out your results, was everything normal or did they detect something/anything? I’m getting the impression on here that the longer you wait to hear it means all is good and nothing to worry about
this is some information that i have picked Up dealing with hospitals. When i had my 24hr ecg. You have a report to fill in, if you have any weird feelings. Any way i did not have many 3 to be honest. But one was dizziness when getting up quick. But i had just been put on blood pressure medication. I was a bit concerned but i thought i had better put it down. Any way when i went to have it removed. I handed in the sheet of paper and the nurse said oh i see you had a dizzy spell. Can you sit and wait. I thought here we go. Fortunatly a nurse came out after 10 minutes and said you can go, could not find anything strange. Sure enough when report did come back after about 2 weeks it was good. Also had a blood pressure 24hr monitor and iam still chasing a report however the lady on the phone said that they triage them and if they see anything strange they call the doctor. Otherwise they get thoroughly looked at later on and then a full report is made. So we will see. But i suppose they do have a quick look and if all ok they just let the report go through the motions. So you could be ok, but it can take 2 weeks minimum for full analysis of the ecg. I have to admit my tests have been resonably quick. But it is long process and doesnt help your mind.
Caveo in reply to
I see so it must mean that all is good then. The nurse who fitted my monitor said that my GP should get the results within a couple of days so I’d chased my doctors up more than a week later and they said they hadn’t had the report or anything at all back yet. So all must be good then - that’s good to hear. I totally get that if they spot something imminently life threatening they escalate those as a priority. Guess I’ll just play the waiting game and assume in the meantime all must be good.
in reply to Caveo
I would think that nothing too strange has been found. The waiting is the worst bit. But i always phone hospital up who done the test to just give them a nudge. Some times dont get me far but it makes me feel in control, sort of. . When it comes to emergencies the nhs they are in my opinion the best.. pospossibly in the world. But once you get on the merry go round it does get slow and can get bogged down. But i do believe if anything strange is seen then they go into action.
Caveo in reply to
yes I totally get that if there was anything immediately life threatening they escalate those cases first. I was just going off what the nurse who fitted my monitor had said - that my GP would have the results in a couple of days. I’ll just play the waiting game and assume all is perfectly fine/normal as I haven’t heard anything this far
in reply to Caveo
I know it is hard. Thats what my therapist trys to get through to me. Do the tests. Let the hospital and specialists do the worrying. Get on with living your life. Sounds easy?
Any way i have had all sorts of ecgs. 24hr. Ecg on a stress test using a bike. Rigged up to ecgs when i had mri. And all the electrical signals seem ok. No one has said otherwise, However due to my congenital heart disease i have copy of an ecg to keep which is unique to me. And i assume they take that into consideration? But no one has hauled me off because of dodgy electrics. I was chuffed with my 24hr ecg report so i look at that as a positive.
Caveo in reply to
it was the nurse when I had my routine asthma check that said I had an irregular heartbeat and then did an ecg to confirm while I was there and it showed up on there too. Hence why I was asked to have a 24hr monitor. I’m just impatient to find out what was found/detected as I definitely know I was having lots of ectopic heartbeats at the time of having the monitor on - I have an apple watch which has the ecg app on it.
in reply to Caveo
at least you are being checked. I did have some atrial ectopics and ventricular ectopics. But all my events where less than 1%. And no other arrhythmias. But stress and anxiety can cause weird things. I hate anxiety..
Caveo in reply to
I’m so glad I don’t suffer with anxiety… it’s a horrible thing to have 😢 and as for stress I’ve been off sick with long covid for the last 3 months so I’ve been off work so have had the least amount of stress in my life than I’ve ever had… I’ve literally been exhausted so I’ve slept so much
I recently had a 24 hour monitor too. At the hospital they said if there was anything urgent they would contact me. It sounds to me that no news is good news
Dear Caveo
Please don't assume anything that has you worried enough to post on here.
Just get your Dr to chase for your results and explain to them the reason { rightly so } why.
I hope that your results are as best as can be.
Take care and please keep us informed
Different hospitals have different waiting times. I'm in Berkshire and I had to wait 8 weeks for my 24 hour monitor to be processed (on two occasions). I found waiting was very stressful. I really don't understand why it took so long.
Yes it's usually the way. No news is good news.
I had an events monitor for a month. I gave it back on the 5th April (Saturday). I phoned the Doctor 3 times in a month and was told there was nothing yet. Eventually phoned the cardiology department and was told my results were in a clinical portal and had been there since the 7th April. This was almost a month later. When i phoned the doctor apparently its only doctors that can access this clinical portal and not the receptionist. Received a phone call a few hours later and told i had paroxsymal atrial fibrillation. This is a long post just to say try phoning your hospital if that was where you got the heart monitor.
i had 24hr ecg taken last monday. Was told result take about 3 weeks at the moment.
I had this test done by Kings Mill Hospital in 2021 and it took me around six months to get a response. Then the records were reviewed by a Cardiac Nurse, not a Consultant.
Hi Caveo, I had a 7 day holter fitted and waiting for the results for three weeks so far. Several possibilities, they haven't looked at the results yet, the results have been analysed but the consultant hasn't read the report yet, the results are inconclusive and don't require urgent action, the results are conclusive and don't require urgent action. I think it's a post code lottery. I'm six months on from a severe stroke, treated brilliantly where I had it away from home, with recommendations for ongoing investigations. Yet to see my local stroke consultant or anyone from the stroke team. I've had two pointless phone calls, "keep taking the medication" for now. I chased up a lot earlier on and the GP was helpful in the end, by making appointments to see in person, rather than going through reception. Enabled me to get the 7 day holter and a scan after an inconclusive 24hr Holter. The worry is the possibility there is something showing on the results and nobody has yet acted on it! But my local hospital health service like many in the country is in a mess and me worrying won't make a bit of difference. I know this doesn't directly help you but you're not alone. You might ask your GP about a private Cardiologist Consultation, not as expensive as you might think. It will be quick and you will get immediate feedback.
Thank you!! Yes the waiting is frustrating and you’ve definitely had more than your fair share of it. I was basing everything on the what the nurse who fitted the monitor said - that my GP would have the results in a couple of days. Just that it’s been a week & half now and GP office just said if still nothing by next Wed they will chase it up - so at least that’s something. Maybe the the nurse was a little over optimistic about it only taking a couple of days 🤷♀️
I've been monitored by Cardiology for over 10 years and I hate to disillusion you, but I had an echocardiogram back in June and still haven't had the results yet. I would say six weeks would be a more usual time to wait for for any cardiology results, including 24 hour Holter monitors. And also some results do get lost or not reported (and that can include the less good results).
The best thing would be to chase up with a cardiology medical secretary in a couple of weeks time.
Best wishes.
tbh ive never recieved ecg results, including 24 hr holter ones, and never thought to chase. I assumed they would contact me if it offered new information. But I already have a diagnosis. In my experience theyve been used less as a diagnostic tool and more for their records.
If youre keen to know results, I'd follow up with the cardiology dept.
sounds like with you already having a diagnosis that your ecg’s are more of a formality. I’m the type of person who would just like confirmation that all is okay - like another person wrote, sometimes things get lost or not actioned so I hate assuming all is well if I haven’t heard anything. Like my doctors advised, I will chase next week and they said they’d chase cardiology. Thanks.
good plan! 👍🏻
mine never picks up the phone
you dont say whether fitted at hospital or docs surgery or private or what was suspected.I had to chase mine a year ago with the arrythmia nurses who arranged it and average was four weeks and I know of others the same . but possibly an overload because of covid.
not really, mine took 6 weeks !
Caveo in reply to
wow!!! And after the 6 weeks had they spotted anything or was it normal. People are implying that the longer you wait all must be good/normal and nothing detected…
in reply to Caveo
yes, Occcasional AF, ectopic beats,lots of them, and something called bigemeny, on all the usual heart meds now and appears controlled apart from breathlessness,but I am 78. Good luck.
Caveo in reply to
gosh so they did find some issues then after waiting 6 weeks… I wish the nurse hadn’t told me it would only be a couple of days to get the results now as reading lots of comments here seems rather unrealistic now… thanks for your reply
try not to worry too much,many heart related issues can be remedied by medication alone. Yes the. NHS is not working well at the moment but those people on the ground floor will do all they can. It is never as it seems,it’s always fear of the unknown they makes it worse,I am sure you will be ok ✅
Caveo in reply to
I’m not so much worried about the results to be honest, what will be will be… I think I’m just more impatient than anything
😆
well… I’ve chased up cardiology where I had my 24hr heart monitor fitted and been told it’s normally between 10-12 weeks to get the results - she’s gonna have a word with the nurse who advised me it would be a matter of days… so, here’s to playing the waiting game…
I had mine last week of September no results yet a week later I had a CT scan and I had the results back in 10 days
mine was 7 weeks ago yesterday but as they’ve now said 10-12 weeks I’m just not thinking about it now. All their departments must be busy as I had a scan of my womb last Friday and the report was sent to my medical practice the same day. I know it probably takes much longer having to get through 24hrs of data
