Having a 24 hour monitor and I'm terrified

[Krety]

Hello everyone.

I've come asking for people's own stories, as I have an appointment next week to see whether the heart palpitations I've been having are definitely benign. Oddly though, I am not here because I am worried about dying or anything like that, what's worrying me is that if it comes back that I have a heart condition then the medication I take for my ADHD (which has changed my life for the better) will likely need to be stopped. It took me 14 years to get diagnosed with ADHD and get properly medicated, im not prepared to go back to how life was before.

So just for history, my heart palpitations started in late 2023, and my meds started in late 2024, so as you can see they didn't trigger them or anything, but due to them being stimulants it means they can impact existing heart conditions. My heart palpitations come and go, sometimes I get the odd one, sometimes they last days/weeks. I know my stress makes them worse, because sometimes I tend to hyperfocus on my chest which then makes me feel like i can't relax or breathe properly. I have gone to the hospital twice with a heart rate of 100+, chest tightness and other symptoms, and both times my ECGs and blood tests were clear. I've also had two ECGs at the drs office and both were clear. So far, every test I've had has been clear. But according to a nurse, doing a 24 hour (whilst still not perfect) ECG would be the best indicator as it's more likely to catch something. But given that I've had 4 ECGs, 2 of which when my heart rate was raised, surely they'd have found something by now? Like if something like an Arrythma was causing my heart to go super fast and chest pain, would the ECGs I had when I went to Urgent treatment not have picked it up?

I'm just kinda going crazy right now. I couldn't careless whether my heart impacts my physical health, I'm absolutely terrified at how it would impact my mental health by forcing me off these meds. So yeah any input would be great, thank you!

[.Poppy.]

I've had a 72 hour heart monitor two times. Once because they picked up an irregular heartbeat during a sports physical (which apparently has since gone away as no one has mentioned it since) and another because I swore I was having stress palpitations. Like you, the regular ECGs came back clear. I had the monitor and was supposed to press a button if I ever felt like I was having a palpitation, which I did. But then it came back clear as well. I think like you I was stressed and hyper focusing.

It may well turn out totally fine. But if it does turn up something, I'm sure your doctors will work with you to find a solution that will also treat your ADHD effectively.