Cardiology appointment - reassurance needed

[white1989]

Hi everyone,

I'm in great need of some reassurance!

I have registered with a new GP who has referred me to a cardiologist to check out my symptoms. I have suffered with strange heart sensations for nearly 2 years, intense fluttering sensations, feeling of missed and prominent beats, I have had 4 ecgs and one 24 ecg which all came back normal. My blood work was also normal.
I am incredibly anxious about what will happen at the cardiologist. My GP said that they can do more testing/investigations to see what is causing these sensations. I have previously been told that it is all down to anxiety, so this has made me feel really anxious! Has anyone ever been referred to a cardiologist for similar symptoms, and if so do you know what it involves, what tests they do etc? Also if my ecg's have come back as normal, is there still a chance there could be something seriously wrong with my heart?
I'm 26 years old, female, otherwise healthy.
I'm in anxiety hell and really need some reassurance :weep:

[ricardo]

From what you have said and also allowing for your age and the fact that you have had 4 ECG's and one 24 ECG, I wouldn't be too worried despite the fact that you have been referred to a cardiologist.

Various rhythms of the heart don't always show up on every ECG but I wouldn't prejudge the situation beforehand that something is wrong. Anxiety and hyper ventilating can alter your heart beats and cause all sorts of strange sensations.
ECG's are preety accurate to pick out anything that is not the norm.

[white1989]

Hi ricardo,

thanks for your reply. that's reassuring to know. I have a bad habit of not believing what the doctor's tell me and constantly panicking that the tests have missed something!
going to try and put it to the back of my mind and take it as it comes.
thank you for your support

[jerseyguy]

Hi everyone,

I'm in great need of some reassurance!

I have registered with a new GP who has referred me to a cardiologist to check out my symptoms. I have suffered with strange heart sensations for nearly 2 years, intense fluttering sensations, feeling of missed and prominent beats, I have had 4 ecgs and one 24 ecg which all came back normal. My blood work was also normal.
I am incredibly anxious about what will happen at the cardiologist. My GP said that they can do more testing/investigations to see what is causing these sensations. I have previously been told that it is all down to anxiety, so this has made me feel really anxious! Has anyone ever been referred to a cardiologist for similar symptoms, and if so do you know what it involves, what tests they do etc? Also if my ecg's have come back as normal, is there still a chance there could be something seriously wrong with my heart?
I'm 26 years old, female, otherwise healthy.
I'm in anxiety hell and really need some reassurance :weep:
I have been dealing with palpitations that take my breath away for over 3 years now. I have been to 4 top cardiologists in the NYC/NJ area. I've had over 20 ekgs 5 echocardiograms, 4 nuclear stress tests, 2 -30 day event monitors, at least 8 24 hour holter monitors, even a CT angiogram that showed I had zero plaque. I do have maybe 15 or 20 pvcs or pacs a day that show up on my tests, but all the doctor's say this is normal. To me a healthy heart shouldn't have any palpitations. My problem is like you, I think they are missing something. I do have some things my doctor can't explain like my resting HR has gone from about 77 a few years ago to 60 now and my doctor just said don't worry your heart is healthy. so hang in there, your not alone and remember even if we don't believe the doctors, in most cases they end up being right. Best of luck to you!

[white1989]

hi jerseyguy,

thanks so much for your reassuring post! it made me feel loads better. it sounds like you're going through a really tough time too, sorry to hear that. the palpitations really take over your life and they stop me doing so much for fear of having a heart attack!!
that's so good that you've had so much thorough testing and things have all come back clear. I'm praying the same will happen to me and I can start to relax and stop worrying every day!
Have you ever tried any counselling or support of any form?
best wishes

[hanshan]

The shaky heart with frequent missed or extra beats or occasional tachycardia can still be "normal" if doctors can find no abnormality. It doesn't have to be due to anxiety, but can often cause anxiety. It's not linked to a sudden heart attack.

The main thing is to have the heart checked. If the doctor finds no abnormality, it means that you are in no danger, even if symptoms re-occur. Learn to live with them - often they occur in young adults but subside in time.

[jerseyguy]

hi jerseyguy,

thanks so much for your reassuring post! it made me feel loads better. it sounds like you're going through a really tough time too, sorry to hear that. the palpitations really take over your life and they stop me doing so much for fear of having a heart attack!!
that's so good that you've had so much thorough testing and things have all come back clear. I'm praying the same will happen to me and I can start to relax and stop worrying every day!
Have you ever tried any counselling or support of any form?
best wishes
My GP feels that anxiety isn't causing my problems so I haven't been to counseling. I feel my anxiety is caused by the palpitations not anxiety causing the palpitations. Wow I just confused myself with that sentence. I do have some signs that do worry me. like on my last 48 hour holter test I had 577 runs of bradycardia. The most I ever had before that was 9 runs. Again my doctor said not to worry.. easy for him to say.. When you say that you get intense fluttering sensations, do you ever have ones last like 15-20 seconds? I used to have the sensation for 1 or 2 seconds and now it's much longer like 20 seconds and that is scary.. Thanks and have a great day..

[2Anxious]

My GP feels that anxiety isn't causing my problems so I haven't been to counseling. I feel my anxiety is caused by the palpitations not anxiety causing the palpitations. Wow I just confused myself with that sentence. I do have some signs that do worry me. like on my last 48 hour holter test I had 577 runs of bradycardia. The most I ever had before that was 9 runs. Again my doctor said not to worry.. easy for him to say.. When you say that you get intense fluttering sensations, do you ever have ones last like 15-20 seconds? I used to have the sensation for 1 or 2 seconds and now it's much longer like 20 seconds and that is scary.. Thanks and have a great day..

Bradycardia is not dangerous at all. It simply means your heart is beating less than 60 beats per minute. I'm pretty sure 60bpm is not the average resting heart rate for young, healthy people. Just google 'Resting heart rate forum' and you'll find threads from every kind of forum asking people for their resting heart rates, most are in the 50s or 40s.

The fluttering could just be runs of PACs or PVCs which we all know, in a structurally normal heart is not dangerous. You should try and get another 24 hour monitor to catch these runs just so you know definitely what they are.