24 hour holter monitor appointment

[Melaniejm92]

What happens at an appointment for a 24 hour holter monitor fitting. How long will the appointment be? Can I leave my bra on whilst being fitted with it and does it matter if your bra has underwire in it? What happens after the 24 hours, do I take it back to the hospital and how do I get the results? This is my first time getting a holter monitor and not quite sure on what to expect.

[cwill]

My nurse just attached the electrodes and off I went. No need to alter bra for metal free. Do keep an activity and symptom diary as they may not capture all events and all information is helpful in the interpretation.

healthline.com/health/holte...

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

I have had a 24 hour monitor fitted. I kept my underwired bra on. There were two electrodes (small sticky pads), one mid chest above cleavage which the monitor fitted onto, the other left hand side under bra band. The wire for the side one was tucked under my bra. The monitor was about the size of a matchbox and very lightweight, you don't notice you're wearing it. Mine was attached to a lanyard around my neck, some are attached to trouser belt.

It took about 10 minutes in total to fit, get it up and running, and the nurse to explain about what to do if you wanted a shower or if you thought it wasn't working, there is a little flashing light that tells you it is working.

It goes back to the hospital the next day for them to download the data.

If your GP has ordered it then he will contact you if he wants to discuss it.

[bantam12]

Wear something easily got off once you are wired up, it can be fiddly. I had a button on my monitor to push when I experienced the symptoms, not easy when walking the dogs across fields !

When the 24 hours are up usually you just disconnect yourself and drop the monitor back to where you got it from, results will either go to your Cardiologist or GP, whichever one ordered it.

[Rmichelle]

I have just had one recently 2 weeks back-took 5 mins to fit-on the waistband of my jeans and off i went!! I recorded my symptons for 24 hours on a sheet of paper, my pen never had a breathing space as i filled both sides-😊 i didnt sleep very well with it as i didnt want to pull wires out but they would have not come out anyway as when it was time to take it off the sticky pads were really hard to pull off😠. When going to the loo i would just take it off my waistband and just pop it back on later- i attached mine on my knickers for bed-i know too much info there😊. On the returning day i clipped mine to my bra as i wore a dress that day and took the monitor off in the ladies toilet at hospital-not recommended as i was getting in a right pickle as wires were getting wrapped around everywhere-not good in a small confined space. I rang cardio yesterday for results but was told it can take upto 5 weeks for a result. ☺☺

[Melaniejm92 in reply to Rmichelle]

Silly question but were you able to keep your bra on whilst being fitted with it? I've read somewhere that they make you take it off and some others say you can keep it on haha I'd prefer to keep it on the whole time. When your writing things down is it just your symptoms and what your doing at the time? Or do you have to keep a record of everything, like if your doing anything physical cos whilst I'm wearing it I'll be pushing kids around in a double buggy on school runs (and I'm guessing this will make my heart rate go up) thanks for your help

[Rmichelle in reply to Melaniejm92]

Hi there-yes thwy told me to keep my bra on as i was going to whip mine off-lol😊 just say you are pushing your buggy then record on sheet-it dies say on there time, activity and also record time in bed and get up as your heart rate is different then-like the very experienced fruit andnut says dont sit there and relax try and carry on as much as possible but rest in between.😅 dont worry about writing the sheet out and forgetting things-i said to tge nurse the sheet would be difficult as some days its 24 hour symptons-she said dont worry just jot down for a rough idea of things as they check all readings on monitor. Dont stress the biggest stress for me was trying to get the damn thing of in a very small toilet and detangling it around from my bra and there was a que of people wanting a wee!!!😊

[Rmichelle in reply to Melaniejm92]

If yiu have it fitted at 2.30 then yiu will take it off the same time!! But they will give you a time.x

[Fruitandnutcase]

Don’t do what a work colleague of mine did although it doesn’t sound like you will. She got the holter monitor on then did nothing strenuous all day - I would have thought that she should have done the normal sort of activities that she felt were making her feel ill or even pushed herself a bit but nope, she lay around and played the invalid so her monitor had nothing out of the ordinary to show.

I took my neighbour in to hospital to have one fitted a couple of years ago. She went to let the dog out first thing, fainted and woke up with a broken ankle - her doctor thought it might have been her heart that was the problem, hence the holter monitor.

Can’t remember how much she had to strip off - i have a feeling she didn’t have to remove her bra. I’d definitely go with wearing loose clothes. I know my neighbour took the monitor off herself next morning and I took it back in to the hospital for her - there was a collection box waiting for them.