how to get my doctor to give me an ECG

[daisycake]

I regularly suffer with a weird feeling in my chest, it's as if my heart just stops and then I cough or take a deep breath and its back to normal (no thumping or anything..) Sometimes at night it races as well, and when doing exercise I get more of these beats and if I'm say running or post-sex I can feel it pounding in my chest! I had my heart monitored during a general anaes. when I was seven, then again when I was fifteen but that's all anyone has ever done - the Dr will take my pulse occasionally or every couple of years they'll listen with a stethoscope but that's all Am I to take it then that they aren't worried? I've over the last week become breathless when talking and exercising &coughing a lot too, so I'm quite worried! Everyone else I know with these symptoms is carted off for an ECG, Echo etc and I've never been checked - at the back of my mind I'm worried about sudden death and I'm not sure what to do. But then the net says ECGS aren't all that accurate for sudden death, is that true? I've had the fluttery feeling since I was about ten (but suffered anxiety since I was tiny!) I sometimes after eating sugar get a weird throbbing feeling in my hand and occasionaly the bit below my thumb (not my wrist) will visibly throb, that's been happening since I was eleven.. So I am quite worried. I used to use an exercise bike at home but every time I used it I got dizzy so stopped. I also had one episode about two years ago, when I was very dizzy, and was at an open day for nursing - so we could play with the pulse things and blood pressure machines and my heart rate was soaring at about 130bpm, I've had this happen again since and a doctor checked my pulse and said it was caused by the way I breathe and said if she breathed like me her pulse would be up too - but I don't know if I can believe her. My GP at home said it's so normal to get these heartbeats and everyone's heart does funny things occaisonally, and once you've noticed it once it's so easy to notice again but I'm still worried. There was an article in the news about some lad who died of it and they said if you get fluttery feelings you should ask for a refferal to a cardiologist but will my doctor even agree to that? Considering in the last month I have been reffered for CBT, chest x rays ( that I didn't ask for) and they are referring me to gynae again for vulval dermatitis, am I not wasting their time and money? I feel so stupid haha

[dodo]

Gosh well it sounds very much like these things are happening to you when you exercise because you are expecting them to. Our mind is very powerful and can bring about any kind of symptoms just by the power of it. I was for example walking yesterday with my daughter, I thought to myself 'wow I am feeling good, no shortness of breath etc etc' What happened a minute later? Started getting a tight chest and breathing difficulties. Just because I had allowed my brain to think about it for a second or two.

How old are you now btw?

[daisycake]

19 Yeah I know what you mean and I do that too, if i don't feel anxious I start to question why!

[dodo]

I think if you are concerned you should go and have a chat with your GP and if they then listen to your chest etc and say everything is ok it's best to try and accept it at that stage.

I think because you've been worried about it so long is why your problems are still manifesting themselves. If there was a real issue it would invade when you are preoccupied. When we are preoccupied we don't notice all these goings on in our bodies.

[itoldyouiwasill]

Yes, an ECG can only really tell if you are having a heart attack/angina attack etc at that moment in time. It really has little to no use in ascertaining the functioning of the heart on a day to day basis or if any form of heart disease or disorder is present.

As has been rightly said, we all tend to suffer with flutters and the like but obvioulsy health anxiety sufferers are far more highly sensitised and attuned to their bodies and these sensations and therefore we notice them far more and then over catastrophise them.

Just reading your post it seems you are worried about dieing suddenly and a heart issue probably seems the most likely way this is going to happen. I would suggest concentrating your thinking around the sudden death worry, where it comes from and why it is debilitating you so much as opposed to the heart issue. As hard as it is constructive thought and reflection on the true core issue is far more beneficial than chasing your tail with aimless worrying on the way your anxiety has decided to manifest itself to you.

[PokerFace]

OMG is that really true about ECGs?

[dodo]

No I don't think it is totally true. A good friend of mine's wife works in hospital and she said that if a lot of young adults were given an ECG then the chances of sudden death would drop as it is a problem with the left ventricle which does show up in ECGs. Why would people be sent for ECGs if they only assess a heart attack.

[PokerFace]

Oh good, started cryin really bad when I read that I've only had ECGs! ;( x

[itoldyouiwasill]

OMG is that really true about ECGs?

Indeed, what you have to remember though is that if you are given an ECG and that indicates that you have a perfectly functioning heart at that moment in time then statistically this lowers the chance of anything actually being wrong with the heart.

This really highlights the problem with medical testing....I literally used to beg my GP to tell me that I didn't have cancer etc as the tests did not show anything but he would never do this...his reply was always that medicine was not an exact science and that in order to return my mental health back to normal I had to learn to accept and live with the same amount of uncertainty as his 'normal' patients...crikey, I hated him at the time but he was dead right!!

Being well is not about test results....being well is about choosing to be well. If you want proof of that just read into the life of Sir Laurence Olivier...amazing stuff.

[ladybird64]

Yes, an ECG can only really tell if you are having a heart attack/angina attack etc at that moment in time. It really has little to no use in ascertaining the functioning of the heart on a day to day basis or if any form of heart disease or disorder is present.

As has been rightly said, we all tend to suffer with flutters and the like but obvioulsy health anxiety sufferers are far more highly sensitised and attuned to their bodies and these sensations and therefore we notice them far more and then over catastrophise them.

Just reading your post it seems you are worried about dieing suddenly and a heart issue probably seems the most likely way this is going to happen. I would suggest concentrating your thinking around the sudden death worry, where it comes from and why it is debilitating you so much as opposed to the heart issue. As hard as it is constructive thought and reflection on the true core issue is far more beneficial than chasing your tail with aimless worrying on the way your anxiety has decided to manifest itself to you.

Is that correct?

I was given to understand that an ECG could show whether someone has previously had an MI (heart attack), abnormal rythym and to ascertain whether the blood suppy to the heart is sufficient.

Just want to be sure that incorrect info isn't being given out.