any info on ECGS would be really helpful

[Miss.Katyy1990]

Hello there

I needed some advice really, I'm not really "anxious" about this per say I'd like some information really if anyone could help

my mum had a heart attack (minor) nearly 3 years ago, she's doing okay now but for the last few months she's been getting the occasional "heart thud" and fluttering which has been bothering her a fair bit as she's very anxious like myself. She went to the doctors who checked her pulse, used a stethoscope to check four places in her chest (I don't know what this was checking) and she also had the little clip thing on her finger to check oxygen I think he said (sorry I'm not very good with the medical terminology)

anyway, he was quite happy and said there was no need for an ecg it all sounded fine and the heart palps were probably down to her being anxious and worried he did said however it was still bothering her by all means come back and they'll do the ecg. She was happy for abit but then the worry set in again and she went back for an ecg, which came back as "normal" however, she didn't' have any of these feelings and flutters during the ECG so what it pointless

my main question was do palpitations and flutters need to happen during the ecg for something to be detected and could there be something going on with her heart but the machine didn't pick it up because none happened during the test?


any information would be great really as I'm trying to steer clear of googling it's my new years resolution and so far I'm doing pretty well!

[Gary A]

Hello.

Generally, with palpitations it's better for the patient to have a heart tracing over a period of days. This involves wearing a holter monitor for a pre determined period, which is usually 4 to 7 days. Palpitations can be caused by abnormal heart rhythms, so it's quite unlikely that's what's happening with your mother, as EKG and physical exam have thrown up nothing.

Palpitations, for the most part, are caused by sudden surges of adrenaline, which is, of course, very common when people are anxious. If the palpitations continue then consider requesting a 4 to 7 day monitoring from your GP. Personally though, I think the doctor is right by placing the cause as being anxiety related.