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ABNORMAL EKGS

I am a 42 year old active female. Weight 115 lbs. Normal BP. Normal cholesterol. I had an abnormal EKG last week which said "cannot rule out anterior infraction" and "non-specific T wave abnormality, improved in anterior leads".
I had another ekg yesterday and this one did not show what the first one did but said "left atrial enlargement" and long Qtc interval.
I was not able to get an appointment with a cardiologist till next week and am extremely worried.
I have no family history of heart disease. My previous EKGs have all been normal.
The only medication I take is Provera 5mg a day for fibroids and cysts.
Also take a multivitamin every day. I play tennis 3 times a week and use the treadmill 3 times a week.
I have never smoked and eat a vegetarian diet.
Hope you can reassure me till my appointment next week.
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A related discussion, EKG showed I had heart attack in the past! was started.
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Hi Melodie... i have had almost exactly the same sympomes as you. Please keep me posted as to what seems to be going on... Im 49 and very fit also.. thank you.
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I am a 48 year old woman in generally good health.  I have six kids, my youngest is 6 the oldest is 28.  Within the first year after having my youngest, I noticed a "fluttering" feeling in my chest and occasionally what felt like a skipping heartbeat.  I went to the doctor and he did a number of tests including a holter monitor, stress test and ekg,.  They came back showing a slight irregular beat, but they weren't concerned.  They gave me Ativan to take.  (I also have suffered with anxiety/panic attacks most of my life.)  I felt better for a while and the skipping heartbeats were less and less frequent.  A year later they started again.  We had moved (my husband is military) and I had a new doc.  He did the tests again and they showed the same thing.  This time I also had an echocardiogram.  The tech doing it told me he had the same problem and it wasn't uncommon.  Since then it's gotten much better, although occasionally I will get what feels like a "racing" that lasts only a second or two.  Now I have another doctor.  Recently I went through a tremendous amount of stress.  My niece passed away at 27 and just keeping strong for my brother has been more than I can take sometimes.  Plus, remember I still have all these kids and a grandson now too.  I felt stressed out so I went to the doc's again.  Again they did an EKG.  He called me today to say that I need to see a Cardiologist because it was abnormal.  I don't know any specifics.  But I am a wreck.  I am not overweight, I eat well, get moderate exercise, feel generally good.  But my family does have a history of heart problems and heart attacks.  Just the thought of an invasive procedure is enough to put me into a full blown panic attack.  Even though I've had so many kids, most of the time I was in control.  I had the last two with NO medication at all just because I'm so afraid of EVERYTHING.  I guess I need some kind of hope that I don't need to be panicking right now, even though I am.  Has anyone gone through anything similar to me?

Oh, my cholesterol was up a bit.  236.  But my "good" cholesterol was very good.  The LDL wasn't though.  All my other blood work was fine the doctor said.  Can being nervous, or stressed out affect an EKG?  My blood pressure usually runs around 116/66 but last Friday it was up to 138/80 due to the stress.

Sorry I got so long winded.  Just want to cover everything.  Hope someone will reply.  Thank you.  Melodie
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I sit here this Friday evening with my anxiety at a 12 on a 1 to 10 scale after being called by my physicians office relative to an abnormal stress cardiolite.  I was requested to not go to work this weekend (shiftwork) and stay inactive until Monday when an appointment with a cardiologists can be made. I am a 48 year old male who over the past 4 or 5 years have dealt with many stress realted issues (divorce, fathers passing, etc)including panic attacks and in the past 6 months high blood pressure.  I presently take 5mg of Altace for the BP issue and do not get the exercise I should get.  I am a previous runner and am 20 pounds heavier than I should be (5'10" 215 pounds mesomorph frame).  I had an echo stress test done April a year ago and my heart internal blood flow was fine.  All of this is is the result of intermittent chest tightness symptoms that I conveyed to my physician over the past year. Now I sit here this evening with my mind thinking the worst.  How accurate are the stress cardiolite tests and what can I expect if they do a heart cath on me?  What are the risks associated with the cath?
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Avatar universal
Hi
I came upon this site doing a search of abnormal EKG.  My 14 year old daughter had an abnormal EKG after her potassium level came out high on a blood test.  (it was determined later that most likely her potassium was a lab error)

Her EKG print out stated sinus rythm with PACs.  Inferior and anterior T wave changes.  The next week I took her to a cardiologist who repeated the EKG and it again had abnormal T wave.  Right now she is scheduled for en echocardiogram in late September.  All her other tests checked out fine and we've been told not to worry and not to restrict her sports participation.  Of course, I am worried and I was looking for any insite anyone here might have.
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Avatar universal
Thank you for all the advice and support. All my other tests came back normal. This forum and all the wonderful people who take the time to resposnd have been life savers.
Thanks once again to the doctors too. You do a wonderful job of keeping us calm till we see the doctor or get the test results.
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Avatar universal
I had 3 abnormal EKG's within 2 months.  One said "previous heart attack" (don't remember the exact terminology), the second one said "brady cardia", the third one said "none-specific ST segment abnormality".  To make a long story short,  I never had a heart attack, and the cardiologist told me that so many computerized EKG's come back with false readings of a "prior heart attack" that he doesn't even take them all that serious anymore, but it needs to be further investigated.  My BP was severely elevated (my first EKG was done in the ER) and I had PVC's.  Second EKG did not mention a "prior heart attack" but mentioned the brady cardia which was caused from the beta blockers I was on (I'm now off of them).  The third EKG again showed no "prior heart attack" but showed only the "none specific ST segments" my cardiologist told me "there are none-specific, don't worry about them". I had an echo gram done which showed "severe mitral valve regurgiation" (don't know if I spelled that right, its a backflow of the blood into the lungs) A second test was done which was a TEE test (transesophogicalechogram) I think it is, I had a probe inserted in my esophogus so the cardiologist could see how severe my leakage of the mitral valve was.  It turned out NO SEVERE leakage at all as the echocardiogram previously had stated, but only a mild mitral valve leakage.  So mild that my cardiologist said I don't even have to have follow ups or have to be pre-medicated when going to the dentist.
So you see folks, if you get a test which is "abnormal" please DON'T freak out right away as I did, I worried so much you have no idea.  WAIT until you get the next more accurate test.
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Avatar universal
I went thru almost the same thing you are going thru, and my heart turned out to be fine.

First off, the previous post is right, the machines are often wrong in what they say is going on.

Secondly, that nonspecific t wave thing I get a lot - even hyperventilating slightly from nervousness at being in the doc's office can cause it.

Apparently a lot of non-harmful transient things can make an ekg look funny in various ways.

After going thru a misery of anxiety (not helped at all by a bad new cardiologist who looked at the ekg and announced that I might have had a heart attack) everything turned out okay (with a different cardiologist! who took the time to ask me about any symptoms and then did the tests.)

If you feel fine, you probably are fine.

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Avatar universal
thank you Tina
My abnormal EKGs have led me to have an echo, an echo stress and Cardiolite stress test. The Dr said I did very well on the stress tests. Was able to complete all. The echo showed good heart function too. I am waiting to hear from him after he gets the film of my radiolite stress test. I am very anxious and nervous and hope to have some news soon.
It is so frustrating to think I may have heart disease when I have been doing all the right things, not smoking eating well and exercising.
No risk factors, no family history, normal weight BP and cholesterol.
I dont know what else I can be doing.
Thanks for your reassurance about the ekgs.
The abnormal ekgs were the only sign that something may be wrong.
Waiting to hear on the last test.
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Avatar universal
Dear Tomnya:

Like you I am an active lady who just recently had an abnormal ecg.  I was also told about 4 years ago I had a heart murmur.

In trying to educate myself on what is going on, I have read some things that gave me a little relief about possible causes of abnormal readings of ecg's.

One is called and "athletic heart" where people who exercise vigorously and actually have healthy hearts can have abnormal ecg readings that mimic infarction.    

This could be one possibility of an abnormal ecg.

Good luck!

Tina
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Avatar universal
Thank you so much for your prompt reply. It has made me feel better about the wait to see the cardiologist. I forgot to mention that my doctor also detected a heart murmur for the first time.
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239757 tn?1213809582
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
tomnya,

The technology that interprets the ECGs from the machines is less than perfect. Changes in lead position, or normal variants could easily explain the ECGs. Unfortunatley, without eyeballing them myself, I cannot tell you if this is the case.

If you are not having any symptoms, I wouldn't worry and wait till you see your cardiologist.

good luck
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