heart monitors

bebop · Feb 02, 2009, 05:33 PM

errrrrrrrrr I am wearing one for the next 3 weeks. yuck! anyway this thing has a thing if you feel something you push a button and it records what is going on at the time. it also records on it's own when it senses something. ok so sunday and today it goes off by itself. that to me is scarey. the tech always says well it is nothing to worry about. makes me afraid to go back on the 20th! well you know what? it is MY heart and it is scarey to ME when it goes off! waaaaaaaaa

cantstopcrying · Feb 02, 2009, 05:46 PM

Please be assured that when it does "go off" or you trigger it to go off, your doctor's office will receive either an email or fax with the read out and if there is anything of an emergency nature, they will call you in.

Trust me, I know how scary they are. I wore one for a month (and I WORK for cardiologists!) and I was constantly on-line reading the printouts for every little blip. Try not to focus too much on it, as your stress level will be higher, which can cause palpitations and increased heart rate. They want to get a true, real-life reading, so relax, and trust that they will call you if you need to be seen immediately.

bebop · Feb 02, 2009, 06:47 PM

you can look at them online? not sure that would be a good idea lol I know the dr will go over it with me on the 20th but geesh I hate this wait. I know I am going to end up with a heart cath! waaaaaa I don't want one!

cantstopcrying · Feb 02, 2009, 10:11 PM

I could look at mine online because that's how we pull them off in the office, so I logged in with my office login and looked.

A heart cath, though sounds scary, is really ok. I've had one. The worst part for me was I had a reaction afterwards and had to stay overnight because I had a rash.

If you do have to have one, make sure they explain to you what they will do if they find a blockage...will they stent it right then or go in later. Also, speaking from personal experience, I would recommend highly to ask the doctor & the person who boards this to please use a new "sandbag" from St Jude Medical that reduces the amount of time you have to stay and also reduces the amount of bruising. I can't think of the name of it right now, but it's the packing they use to stop the bleeding. I had it and I would have been ready to go 2 hours after my cath except for the rash. I bruise when I brush against anything and I had no bruising at all from the cath because of this. Stay as informed as you can and relax.

bebop · Feb 03, 2009, 09:39 AM

I had a cath about 10 yrs ago. this is kind of what worries me. the dr that did it said I would need a bypass in about 5 yrs. well that should have been 5 yrs ago! so it does worry me big time. I hated the cath though. it hurt like crazy! I only had to stay a couple of hours so that wasn't too bad. it only hurt when he made the cut though but heck that was enough lol. thanks hon. I may be coming to ask you questions lol

cantstopcrying · Feb 03, 2009, 09:46 AM

No problem, I'll answer what I can. It bothers me that you felt the cut, you should have local anesthesia through your IV and a sedative pill. I was awake but was rather out of--I started cussing at the doctor because I was cold!! Is it a cardiologist or your family doctor doing the monitor?

bebop · Feb 03, 2009, 10:43 AM

oh the nurses said he would do a local but he didnt'! man that hurt lol. my cardiologist is doing the monitor. I hate that it just goes off when it picks something up that I am not feeling. to me it is scarey. I know that techs can't really tell you anything and they do tell me that they are not calling my dr with any info when I have to call it in. I also realize they are not drs and might not can fully read the strips. *sigh*

Beholden · Feb 03, 2009, 03:40 PM

I had a monitor also, twice several years apart. Nothing was wrong "structurally" which is what they look for first. So I needed no farther testing. But not one of the doctors explained that it was "stress" related which I'm thinking was not right. But, the heart palps have stopped. i also think it was from my family doc increasing my Effexor up and up and up and one of the side effects of that drug are heart palps! I'm not on it anymore thank God.

Hopefully your monitor testing will be fine, and if it does show something abnormal, they will be able to figure it out and fix it. I know how the waiting is the hardest part and I'm the type who needs to know what could be wrong and start looking up all sorts of info on the internet. Even though that is probleably not the best thing to do, that's me. I want to know in case I have questions for the doctor.

Good luck and try to relax with the monitor. easier said than done, I know. We are all pulling for you!

bebop · Feb 03, 2009, 04:04 PM

awe thanks pex. nice to meet you btw! yeah I am also that kind that will do all kinds of research on my health. I want to be informed! thank goodness it has not gone off today so far! woo hoo! 3 more weeks!

bebop · Feb 03, 2009, 05:28 PM

not 10 minutes after I posted this the alarm went off. errrrrrrrrrrrr this is so frustrating!

Rhapsody · Feb 04, 2009, 12:21 AM

Interesting.... what is the name of the monitor you are wearing?
I am asking because the monitor I wore two weeks ago did not go off my its self - I had to push the button to activate it.

bebop · Feb 04, 2009, 09:30 AM

it is by medicomp. they told me it would pick up on its own and go off. I was kind of surprised that it picks anything up that I am not feeling.

Rhapsody · Feb 04, 2009, 01:10 PM

Thanks for the INFO - I will ask my doctor about the monitor as I think it could help determine what is really happening (needs medical care) and what, if any, might be a part of my PTSD or DID.

Beholden · Feb 04, 2009, 02:02 PM

Hey again Be...

Nice to meet you also...aren't medical devices "interesting"? Mine was the type that I had to push the button whenever I felt something. Do you have a history or past heart troubles? I have hight blood pressure, controlled by meds. also high cholesterol controled by meds and lifestyle. Over the past 3 years I've lost ~30 pounds. I've gained some of it back since August when I had a surgery, I've been inactive most of this winter season. The only new thing my relatively new family doc did was add baby asprin to my regular stuff. I haven't had troubles with heart palps. now for some time. I'm grateful too because it is scary and frustrating just like you said.

hang in there, what is it they say, it's all part of the journey...

bebop · Feb 04, 2009, 02:05 PM

rhap what are your symptoms hon? I hope they find out soon what is going on. have they talked about a cath?

bebop · Feb 04, 2009, 02:06 PM

pex mine also has a button if I feel anything. they wanted to monitor me because at times if feels like my heart skips beats. in December it went on for like 2 hrs straight. it seemed like every 4th or 5th beat would skip

Rhapsody · Feb 05, 2009, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bebop

rhap what are your symptoms hon? I hope they find out soon what is going on. have they talked about a cath?

No they have not talked about a cath yet, but then again they are still trying to find (locate) the cause of my symptoms.

My Symptoms:

Chest Pain (severe at times)
Shortness of Breath
Numbness in face and lips
Back & Jaw Pain
Nausea with headaches and chest pains
Palpitations (flutters, thumps, stops)

Last week I had one day where both arms and face went numb when I had pains in the middle of my chest... scared me to death.

bebop · Feb 05, 2009, 09:41 AM

oh dang hon! have you gone to the er when these symptoms occur? did you have any of them while you were wearing the monitor? have they check your caroid(sp) arteries? I never can spell that! sorry.

Rhapsody · Feb 05, 2009, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bebop

oh dang hon! have you gone to the er when these symptoms occur? did you have any of them while you were wearing the monitor? have they check your caroid(sp) arteries? I never can spell that! sorry.

Last time I went to the ER for this issue was eleven years ago, I was admitted to the hospital and that is when they found that I had RA and it was screwing up my hearts function & that I had a heart valve problem... now I just deal with it all through my doctors (and) what can I say but that they are still trying to decide what the exact problem is this go around.

bebop · Feb 05, 2009, 11:51 PM

maybe get to the er while it is going on hon. have they considered it may be angina?

Rhapsody · Feb 06, 2009, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bebop

have they considered it may be angina?

No - they have gone past that as test has shown that some thing is wrong, they are just having a difficult time finding out what. (story of my life)

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