WORRIED ABOUT 24HR TAPE PLEASE HELP

[linjane]

Hi everyone,
Its been months since I last posted, i've tried so hard not to keep dwelling on my symptons.....
Some of you might remember me, but basically my problem is caused by missed/ectopic heartbeats. I had a bad patch of them earlier in the year and my doc referred me bk to hospital. I had an ecg a couple of months ago which was fine, but my doc also wanted me to have the 24hr tape. I had this done last week and today I rang for the results. My doc is on hol until next week but his secretary said that they have had my results but he hadn't written out my letter yet and only he could tell me what the monitor said, but she also said he wanted to see me again.....This has really scared me, but the appointments section has said that this is just their routine.
I have had these missed beats for over four years now and they have constantly scared me, I have good patches and bad but generally get them on and off most days, either a fluttering feeling or missing beats etc...
Sorry to go on but I just wondered what else could be wrong if everyone has been wrong and its not caused by the anxiety. (My history for anxiety is mainly caused by bereavements and personal problems, my dad died when i was 21, my mom when I was 27 and pregnant with my first child, I've lost two babies when I was 5months pregnant and my husband also had an affair!!! Thats just a basic rundown of what I've coped with. I'm 39 now)
Sorry if I've gone, just wanted to try and get it all out.
Thanks for reading.
Hi to everyone who remembers me and hope you're ok.
Love, Linda.x

[jodie]

hi linjane

i know how you feel realy i do

i get these fluttery feelings every day and night iv had them for 7 years after my doughter died
i have had ecg,s done and a few weeks ago i had a 24 hour tape done they did find ectopic beats on the tape but sead i was fine .i dont feel fine i carnt do anything because they happen that much and scare me lots .
i feel like my family are fedup of me going on about it all the time and once the doc tells you that your fine it seems like you just have to live with it witch is hard because they are so bad somtimes .
pm me is you ever need to talk i know hoe scary these can be
jodie x

[dizzyd]

Linda - hello..... it's a while since I last discussed our shared problem of ectopics and flutters. Take 'heart!' that if your results had been a concern you would have been called into hospital straight away. In all probability the ectopics will show up - and they will consider that to be a normal trace. I have more or less accepted that everyone experiences ectopics but that it is only 'us' hyper sensitive folk who hone in on them. They can be so alarming - especially a run of them. I also hate that sinking feeling that I experience sometimes - not when I am drifting off to sleep but wide awake. Yet I am still here and - to my knowledge - none the worse! You are and will be fine Linda - Always here for you as you were for me last year x Love Dawn x

[hunny]

Hiya

I know exactly how you are feeling,im sposed to be having a 24 hour tape done today

I agree with the others thought hun,if there was something there they would have called you in,thats what my Dr told me last time,they wouldnt just leave you to it.

I know you wont feel reassured until you see your Dr tho!When you see him next week,i bet all will be fine
Love to you
Hunny x

[linjane]

Hi,
Thanks for the replies.
Hello Dawn, how are you???
I know I should try not to panic but it has worried me....It just seems like I'm back to posting about the same thing again and thats one of the reasons I avoided coming onto the site because I just go and on about the same thing.
Because I've had them for so long I just can't get my head round that they're not serious and I shouldn't be having them. What if mine are different to the ones everyone else gets and I'm just assuming they are the same???
I'm tying myself up in knots really, I just the hospital would tell me what was going on to put my mind at rest.
Thanks for listening and I would be really grateful if anyone has any medical info they could give.
Love, Linda.x

[**whenwillthisend**]

hi linda...im sure everything is fine, i had a 48 hour moniter fitted a few months back..as i get ectopics, palpitations and the usual...so i took it back on the sunday to the hospital, then didnt see the consultant until a week later...he said it was interesting but fine (uhhh?)

He said the tape showed ectopics but thats all, he also said if the majority of the population had a tape done the probability is it would show ectopics too..as most people have a couple a day!

im presuming the interesting bit could have been in relation to the diary i had to keep(make a note of when you feel a symptom eg ectopic or palpitations) and record it alongside the time on the moniter
maybe my notes and what the moniter said didnt match(my mental mind must have thought otherwise!!)

anyhow im sure if anything drastic was on the moniter you would have found out by now...they dont leave you
good luck let us know how it goes

[Paddington]

The best news from a hospital is no news!!I t is true,if you had a heart condition thatwas a threat to your life they would get in touch,i knw this to be true as it happened to me!It wasn't my heart but the protocol is the same.So rrelax if you can and know you are safe,The missed beats are vile but wont kill you!I am sorry youhave had such a tuff time hun,you are in the right place tho,so dont feel as tho you cant repeat yourself ,keep on writng it down and also your story wil be a help to others !Lovemary rose.xxxxxxxxxxxx

we are all in the same boat and can guide each other ashore

[dizzyd]

Hello again Linda - With regards to how I am doing you can have a read about me on the successs pages (Never thought I would be writing there!) You know I am always baffled when people say that everyone has a couple of ectopics a day as I seem to have huge long runs of them not a couple! and then think - this can't be normal - but my doc assures me it is normal- for me. This whole heart thing is such a common anxiety issue. It's our major organ that keeps us alive - and we have no control over it. For someone like me who likes to be in control that has been, in the past, a big thing to accept. I am proof that by accepting these ectopics, weird sensations around the heart, dizzy spells, surreal feelings, floaty head etc and just plodding on forwards life carries on regardless. Here we are 18 months on from when I was desperate for reassurance and you and I are still 'ectoping on!' and really none the worse for it.
I sound very in control don't I - the truth is I wobble, but as I have said before "the taste of freedom I have experienced is not worth trading in for the anxiety ridden days I have lived through" I say 'come and do your worst anxiety - heart beat as you wish - I will survive and live another day - and if I don't I will know nothing about it. " For me death - fear of death -has somehow lost it's sting. I accept I cannot control my departing from this life so I will enjoy what time I am graciously given. Love to you - as always x
Dawn x

[linjane]

Hi Dawn,
Thanks for that lovely reply, I really appreciate it.

I know what you mean about moving on and getting on with things, because really, thats what I have done and am still doing, but its just the thought that it might be something else, because I have to go back, that has scared me beyond belief again! Also, I can't be like you about the fear of the 'D' word, it absolutely petrifies me still and I can't get past that and don't really know if I ever will.

Hope to hear from you again soon and its lovely to hear how well you're doing.
Take care,
Love, Linda.xxx

[guitarboyuk]

here's the thing, the majority of people arent listening in or waiting for the next palpitation/ectopic, but because we've felt it once, whether we were supposed to or not, we are. we are constantly expecting it to happen again and this is why, when it does happen, we notice it so much and it is scary, but hey, at least we're not alone!!!! think of how scary it would be if no one else had experienced this?? now be glad that there are thousands of us that experience the same thing and prove it to yourself by looking at the ammount of views on some threads/posts. it makes me feel a little better, so i thought i might mention it to you all.

guitarboy x

[Aussie]

Hi Linda,
Has your Dr told you what causes these ectopic beats?
I have had them on and off for a while now and have had all the tests, 24hr moniter, ecg, ultrasounds and blood tests.
Basically, unless there is something wrong with your heart structure (which would have been picked up when you were young) it is nothing to worry about.
What happens is that the electric impulse that goes off in your heart to make it beat fires off the opposite wall causeing the other chamber to beat instead, this feels like your heart has missed a beat if you are taking your pulse, but it's just a much shallower beat that happens in a different part of your heart.
The large chamber in your heart that usually beats then fills with a little more blood than usual and has to beat a bit harder to expel it, that is why you sometimes get that thumping feeling in your chest.
The top cardiologist in my state has told me that this sort of thing happens to most people, it's just that they are not aware of it. It is perfectly normal for a healthy heart to behave this way.
Don't worry, i went thru all the tests and i'm fine. They have assured me that no one has ever dropped dead from this either!
I find that they are worse when i am stressed or have had caffine.

Hope this helps

x

[alexis]

Hi Linda, nice to hear from you, long time no see, well I have same problems, STILL, I have learnt to cope with it most of the time, but sometimes it rears its ugly head agian.
As you know, a year ago, or more, i had 24hr ecg after being admitted into hospital , recently I once again got the same problem and although I was sure it was the same i returned to GP who repeated all again, to reassure me it was just very fast heart , I was offered beta blockers, but have so far resisted, still not out of the question though,it is hard and worrying when these things never seem to go away, I have improved with coping with it, and can ignore mine a lot of the time, and diet definitly can be part of it, I have had so much going on in the last year (still have) as my friend says, bad luck follows me,that although its not good, it does take my mind off it, My gp called me back, when results were normal, just fast but good rhytm, so I would try not to worry too much, easier said than done i know, pm if I can be of any help, you are not alone.Take care Linda.xx

[Jinkus]

Hi,

I too have suffered with ectopics for about 2 years now,, i have been to hell and back with them,,, i remember starting with them and rushing to A&E thinking i was dying or about to have a massive heart attack,, i remember getting up in the middle of the night and going downstairs to lie in front of the fire to take my mind of my skipped beats, i have been reduced to tears and serious anxiety with them.

I have had all test possible,, ECGS, X Rays, Barium Meals, 24hr tape, 48hr tape, 7 day tape, ECHOs, blood tests, i have seen many differnt consultants and specialists, and they have al said the same "ectopics are normal,, theres nothing to worry" this is obviously easy for them to say as there not going through what we are going through.

The truth is im still trying to find answers, i post alot on this site and it helps me a great deal with reassurance, i think its something that we have to live with,, hopefully in time, and with the right mindset they will dissapear, but in the meantime try and carry on your life to the full and not let the ectopics ruin it as its to short to miss out on.

I hope this helps and beleive me i genuinely know what ur going through,, just remember were always here for you!!

Take care and god bless.

Sean
x