Hello, I hope it's ok for me to ask for help here about my wife. She is 53 and had heart problems since childhood which are now starting to seriously impact her way of life. She is on a ton of drugs for high BP and SVTs and is also being threatened with a pacemaker. She had a loop recorder implanted last week but was not given much information about when to use the magic wand to make it record. She also had to install an app on her phone but she is a bit of a technophobe and found it all very stressful. She is now too anxious and scared to ask for help and so I am posting here to see if anyone is in a similar position to her and can maybe help her through this period. She is the sort of person who loves to help others (she was a midwife) so she would pay back any goodwill many times over. Thanks for reading and good luck and blessings to all of you who are coping with health problems and treatments.
Anxious scared wife: Hello, I hope it's... - British Heart Fou...
Anxious scared wife
My suggestion is, unless there is not a cardio contact number for you, why not take your wife back to where she was seen and ask them to clarify what she should be doing. That way you and she will get it right. And as far as the phone app is concerned you could also explain that you both don't feel comfortable with using it, that's not something to feel ashamed of, it's just how it is. It also begs the question what happens if you don't have a phone, which still applies applies to many people?
Hello 
I cannot really give any advice but I know others will come a long that will be able to and will when they see your post
I had to reply though as even though the nature of the post is not what we want the way you have written it and how much you care about your wife really came through and I thought how lovely and how lucky she is to have you
Been anxious is horrible I suffer with it and since my heart attacks and triple Bypass it has got worse so I know how she will be feeling with the anxiety side
With the suggestions you will get from other members I hope it will help your wife to feel confident and be able to move forward and no one has to pay back on here we all share our experiences with each other because we know how it feels and we want to try and help each other and I hope now you have posted the replies you get will do that
Tell her she is not on her own and let us know how she gets on x
I agree with Lowerfield that you need to contact the cardiology department for clarification.
I would also add that a pacemaker is nothing to be worried about. If the cardiologist thinks it is necessary, it can make a huge difference. I have had one for 4 years with no problems.
Hi concernedhubster, I might not be of much help with regards to your wife's meds or condition but I can give you some info about the loop recorder.Ive had a loop recorder for nearly 2 years now to try and find out the reasons behind my bradycardia and dizzy spells etc and I too have been told I might need a pacemaker depending on further test results.
The loop recorder will monitor your wife 24/7 and the activator (key fob) can be used when you have symptoms like irregular heart beats , dizzy spells or symptoms of your condition etc by holding the fob against your chest while holding down the button till you hear a confirmation beep. This will then create a time stamp on the recording making it easier for the pacing team to locate and analyse the data. If they see anything that needs attention they will call you otherwise no news is good news as they say. I think your wife might have a newer version of the loop recorder since you mentioned an app for her phone? Do you have a base unit by the bed? This usually downloads information from the loop recorder each night and the cardiologist will also download info every 3- 6 months from the unit. It's a very useful bit of kit watching over you 24/7 and reassuring to know someone is looking out for you so please try not to worry.
I hope your wife gets a conclusion to it all soon.
Best wishes
Taz.
Hiya, I’m a similar age to your Wife and had a Loop Recorder implanted in Feb this year, following O.H.S last year. I’ve also got the App version.
So my understanding of it is (having also needed clarification from one of the Cath Lab Technicians…) is:-
The app needs to be open and running in the background on your phone, to be able to monitor what the I.L.R is up to.
It monitors all the time, but will download the info at night. So you have to make sure the app is def open and running at bed time and have the phone charging within in a metre of her.
If it picks up anything unusual, that will automatically be sent to the lab, equally if your Wife is aware her heart is behaving erratically, there is a record facility within the app. If she presses that, it will send a 2 min recording to the Lab - who will then call you back (usually within a few hours) to discuss.
Hope she gets on ok with it.
Thanks for all of the replies, some really useful stuff there, and much appreciated. Good luck amd best wishes to you all.
As others have said, the ILR is a continuous loop recorder that will record significant heart events with or without any form of external monitor. The ILR’s significant event parameters are set by the cardiologist/pacing team depending on what they are looking for. For example, my wife had repeated episodes of TLoC. She also had a history of ectopic beats and first stage heart block. The ILR was, inter alia, set to record TLoC episodes where the heart paused for more than 4 seconds.
My wife was given an external monitor that was supposed to do a daily data pull from the ILR at about 2am each morning. On a number of occasions, it failed to call ‘home’. Nobody in the pacing team was concerned.
In the event, she had a long heart pause and a further collapse so I took her to A&E. The pacing team were able to download ILR data which showed an ‘unequivocal need for a pacemaker’ which she now has.
As an aside, our 52 year old daughter has a a congenital heart condition which has deteriorated over the years. She is now on her second pacemaker. Following the re-siting of the pacemaker leads she now has an improved EF despite the fact that her heart is now fully paced. Yes, life can be a struggle for her at times but she remains positive. She is now under the care of The Liverpool Heart Hospital following many years as a patient at The Royal Brompton.
I’m sorry to hear she is so anxious. I’m 40 and have had a a pacemaker since 2002. It’s honestly nothing to fear and will improve her quality of life. I myself suffer with anxiety depression and PTSD so I totally understand where she’s coming from.
as well as contacting cardiology dept I would really recommend she has a chat with someone on the bhf helpline, they are really good at explaining things carefully and I found them really reassuring when I was very anxious about my condition.
I agree with sleepyzz. I have always found them very helpful.I'm 49 and was heading towards pacemaker. I've had a reprieve for now but I definitely understand how scary it sounds. And will prob end up back down that path at some point.
I have been encouraged by family members who have pacemakers, and people on this forum, who have found them life changing, in a positive way.
Please assure your wife she's not alone on this journey. 🌸
I don’t know about the loop recorder but as far as the pacemaker, all I can say is it gave my husband his life back, he used to black out completely, basically his heart would stop for 15seconds each time then I demanded a 5 day monitor, we handed it in on the Thursday evening and Friday at 8am we got the call to get him straight to the cardiology ward and he was fitted immediately, discharged within hours.
Hope this helps
Wendy xx
Can help out with the meds, but sorry have not had any experiences with loops and pacemakers.
I had a pacemaker/ balancer/ defib implanted last November at the age of 55. I completely understand how you must both be feeling. It took me a while to figure out the app that I had to download toy phone and to work out what it actually did. Depending on where you are you should get a dedicated phone number/email address for the cardiac implant team to answer any questions and help you get used to the new stuff.
You may want to have a look at Pumping Marvellous in addition to British heart foundation. They have a website and Facebook/Instagram page and I have found them helpful as they explain things in plain language and have masses of help sheets available free of charge.
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