Advice

Hi, I'm after a little advice. I recently had a 5 day ecg and the consultant sent me a letter just stating he 'thinks' everything looks satisfactory. It goes on to state the my left ventricular systolic function reading was normal but low and that it doesn't 'necessarily' mean there's a problem.I'm not sure what to think. My BP readings are high and I keep having to take sudden deep breaths and get chest pains. Any advice? I have asked for the full readings taken from the ecg to determine the left ventricular thing but they won't reply I just gave to keep calling.

[Tos92]

It might be worth monitoring your own heart rate at home as well. Do you have a watch or an oximeter which you can do this with? This will be good information to share with your cardiologist. I would also record your BP readings alongside your heart rate readings too. This will give your GP or cardiologist a better idea of what’s going on and if there is a genuine cause for concern when it comes to your heart. I would also double check with them and ask them to clarify your recent results. Chest pains are not always cardiac related, so it may be worth ruling out other conditions as well.

All the best.

Tos

[Hidden in reply to Tos92]

Hi thanks for your reply. I do actually have an oximeter and bp machine to keep an eye on my 2 boys whi have muscular dystrophy,so I'll start to record some readings. Thank you.

I am trying to speak to the cardiologist for more definite results but getting hold of him is a nightmare.

I have had chest xrays and my lungs were ruled out though I do have a scared right lung from previous pulmonary edema.

[Tos92 in reply to Hidden]

Don’t take my word for it, and please do check with your GP however, every time I present to A&E or to my GP/cardiologist with chest pain, they ask me to take deep breaths in to see if that triggers the chest pain. Usually, if it does not, then it is an indicator that it may not be respiratory related however, I notice that you mentioned it does hurt when you breathe in and you have some scarring on your lungs. Therefore, it might be worthwhile discussing with your GP if the two could be connected and whether the scarring on your lungs is contributing to the chest pain.

[wischo]

Chest pains when breathing in are generally not heart related and a high peroportion of people have scarring on their lungs from bronchitis to any lung infection or injury. Left systolic readings of low normal are fine and you should take this as such, another day and test and it could well show up as perfect. Get your info and stop needlessly worrying about this.

[Hidden in reply to wischo]

Ok thank you.