New to Arrhythmia

[BryterLayter]

For the past month I have been feeling dizzy and mildly nauseous from time to time. I thought was it was an inner ear problem I.e. Labyrinthitis. Then on Monday I was sat on my settee when I had a feeling of severe nausea and a wave of hot flush swept my body leaving me sweating, disorientated and shaky.

Cut to the chase an ambulance was called and on the way to the hospital I had an other episode, I was hooked up to a monitor and the paramedic said I was bradycardial my heart rate dropped to 33bpm. Once I arrived at the hospital I had no further episodes. I told the doctor these episodes had happened before, the last one about two years ago and eighteen months before that, I thought they was panic attacks.

They took some blood which they said appeared to be fine, the doctor then explained to me that she thought I may have an arrhythmia and that the hospital would write to my GP and arrange for me to wear a monitor for 24 or 48 hours at home.

What I would like to know is I am still feeling dizzy and light headed. Can this bradycardia issue be causing this, even though I only had severe episodes on one day.

My GP said don't be surprised if nothing shows up on the readings as my issues are intermittent. What happens after I have worn the monitor, what happens next?

I have noticed I feel slightly breathless from time to time, not sure if this is anxiety or if it is related to what happened.

Finally have I caused this issue, I eat healthy, low fat, little meat and dairy, has this been caused by previous bad eating habits in the past.

Apologies for asking so many questions, it's a lot to take in at the moment.

[Hidden]

Hello,

your symptoms are very similar to mind.

Three months ago I was referred by my doctor who discovered my heart rate was 50 beats a minute, only when I had mentioned in passing that I was extremely tired all of the time and had been for a few months, no energy etc also that I was feeling a fluttering in my chest.

I got to see a cardiologist a month later and all my blood tests were negative, I had an echo which was fine, apparently, and I have had a 48 holter monitor in December, plus keep a diary of your symptoms and then they compare your symptoms with the readings and hopefully will catch something. Will not always and different monitors may be necessary. It apparently can take some time to analyse things and then in my case they wrote to my doctor. In the meantime my symptoms got worse very quickly and I had 24 hours of palpitations, nearly passed out at work, doctor signed me off because of me going dizzy. After any activity and a slight delay I got lightheaded and palpitations and nearly fainting on one or two occasions also my extremities went freezing cold, very scary especially if you are on your own. I also had a 7 day monitor which recently showed up my problem very clearly. So now I am being treated for Atrial Fibrillation and ventricular and supraventricular ectopics with a low dose beta blocker and aspirin so hopefully I will not need a pacemaker but if I do it will not be as scary as all of the symptoms I have been having all these months, of course when you are scared it causes stress and anxiety and the symptoms get worse, not nice, I fully sympathise with you and anyone else who is in the process of being diagnosed. Now I know I feel like a different person it makes all the difference. I had a few hiccups along the way, such as a monitor being faulty, very frustrating, and the fact the hospital wrote to me to tell me nothing was wrong while they wrote to my doctor to say there was, still have to get to the bottom of that as I could have been treated weeks ago, only by me ringing the doctor as I was not feeling well and going in to see him did he read the results and then give me my prescription. So if you are worried about anything at all it pays to be proactive and chase things up. Everyone's symptoms are different and everyone will have different causes for their symptoms, no two people are the same but I hope my experience helps you. Try not to worry Good Luck

[PattiJRyan]

I agree it pays to be proactive. Check out reputable sites on the web. Our site is for Atrial Fibrillation patients and written by my husband, Steve, who was cured of his A-Fib in 1998. He started the website, Atrial Fibrillation: Resources for Patients, A-Fib.com, so folks like you could get independent, well researched information written for patients and their families. Education yourself; Learn to deal with the stress (and fear). Read how others with similary symptoms are dealing with them.

Good luck,

Patti Ryan

Editor, Atrial Fibrillation: Resources for Patients, A-Fib.com