I've just been discharged from hospital and am very confused with the information given regarding my condition.
I'm a 38 year old male (underweight) non-drinker for past 5 years and non-smoker for the past four months.I visited the hospital last week complaining of chest pains and was immediatly given ECG and placed on monitor.
It has been discovered that my heartrate is 34 - 38 (I'm not in the slightest way athletic) and seems to change of it's own accord.
While lying in bed (on a monitor) I went from 38 to 44 to 22 to 160 and back to 34 in the space of half an hour.
Further tests are scheduled, including 24 hour home monitor, ultra scan, and treadmill but my query is what are the implications of these findings.
I never had a problem with my heart before last week and have a pretty satisfactory medical history. Stress is a big factor in my life.
Thanks for being there!
Declan
_Dear Declan, thank you for your question. Your heart rate abnormalities are
confusing but I will focus on the slow heart rates since it sounds like that
was occuring more frequently than the rapid heart rate. In a young person, the
heart rate can be below the normal range of 60-100 due to a phenomenon called
resting bradycardia. Usually, this occurs in people who are physically fit who
are so well trained that a slow heart rate will suffice to meet all the metabolic
needs of the body. But, even people who are not physically fit can have a slow
resting heart rate. The key to determining why your heart rate was so slow is
to know what type of rhythm your heart was in. If your heart was in the normal
sinus rhythm, then you do have resting bradycardia. Sinus rhythm is the normal
rhythm where the electrical impulse is initiated in the sinus node in the right
atrium and travels down the conduction system to the ventricles to cause a
"heartbeat." When the sinus node is not working correctly, a rhythm can be established
from other areas in the heart and is usually slower than 60 beats per min. In
your case, this is all just speculation because I don't know what your heart
rhythm was. I agree with the tests your physicians have ordered and I believe
those tests will help determine why your heart rate was slow and what caused
your chest pain. Until you get the results of these tests back, I can't determine
the implications of what happened to you in the ER. Please write back with the
results of the tests you will have if you have further questions. I hope you
find this information useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only. Specific
diagnoses and therapies can only be provided by your physician.
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