Reassuring cardiology sites

[saab]

I have mentioned at least one of these site previously in my posts on NMP, but I though I would give them their own thread.

Basically, having ectopics/pvc's/missed beats/palpitations for 8 years, I have scoured the internet for info. Whilst my anxiety is much better than it was, on occasion I still go back to the sites that gave me reassurance.

These sites are run by doctors, so the info is medically valid. It's not hearsay or anectdotal, it's medical opinion based on current accepted research and views:

All Experts Cardiology : a fantastic site where 3 cardiologists answer heart questions. I even copy and pasted some of the answers into a document that I could get out and read when my ectopics were really bad.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Heart-Cardiology-964/

Questions on palps and ectopics:

http://en.allexperts.com/sitesearch....tations&sdn=en

Cleveland Clinic : top US heart hospital, lots of support from others with palpitations, doctors and nurses who answer questions.

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Heart-Rhythm/show/91

Support forum:

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/search...3%3B&query=pvc

Just to be on the safe side, anyone experiencing palpitations should have them checked out by their doctor, preferably with an ecg, holter monitor, or echocardiogram, especially if accompanied by symptoms like shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea, feeling faint, fainting, black-outs etc. But from reading these sites I have learned that:

'Missed' heartbeats etc are, as Dr David Richardson says, normal heart activity, easy to understand, easily identified on an ecg, and usually benign in a structurally normal heart.

From the Cleveland Clinic site you will see that they only carry out ablation (small op where they burn away a bit of heart tissue.....Tony Blair had it done) if people have really bad symptoms and/or over 10 to 15% of heartbeats are ectopic - that is 15,000 palpitations a day. Some of the people on the support forum have thousands a day and still their docs say they are ok. On some days I have thousands and my gp is totally uninterested.

I found these sites very reassuring and I hope others will too. I still recommend buying some CBT books to help you see how your mind tricks you into seeing things in a different way than they really are, but hopefully these sites will help people look at their heart worries a little more rationally.

Does anyone think it would be worthwhile making this a sticky?

[LeMa79]

RLR is so calming and knowledgeable! Puts med jargon into plain easy to understand language.

http://palps.chemicalforums.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl

[Typer]

I do get faint and have fainted twice - that is the part that worries me

[saab]

Feeling faint can be caused by over-breathing due to anxiety. Hopefully, your doctor is aware and doesn't think it is anything to be concerned about?

I have posted on the RLR forum on occasion. My only issue with him is that he always seems to say that the palps are caused by vagus nerve activity. This may be true for people who get them very occasionally, eg after meals. I know mine don't originate from there because I have had their origin explained to me in hospital.

My other issue is that his answers are needlessly complex and wordy. Also, he is in his 80's I believe so I am not sure how up to date his knowledge is. Plus, he is a retired neurologist, not a cardiology specialist.

I do think that his answers are reassuring and it is certainly a helpful site. However, no web site is a substitute for having the tests and seeing a cardiologist - that includes No More Panic and All Experts cardiology. We should use these sites as support and as back up to help us look at our health more logically and help us to accept the diagnosis we have been given. Easier said than done, though!

[Typer]

Interesting view on things.

I personally think some palpitations are produced by an over-active and/or irritated nervous system.

[anaconda]

Thanks for posting these, very practical.

One of the issues with the NMP forum is that it can be too focussed, though understandably so, on the 'there there everything will be ok' threads and general supportive comments. Clearly these are important but its equally if not more important for people to really examine their conditions, in a studied logical manner, and share the details of their experiences - when do symptoms occur, any patterns, triggers, ways to reduce etc. This way we can learn from each other and hopefully improve. And information from good external sources is more than welcome.