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Question about heart ryhthms

I am a 26 yr old male.  No significant medical history.   No family history of heart disease really, but anxiety runs in the family.  
      this is my sensation.  I feel a weird feeling in my chest, like gas, or a spasm type feeling.  No pain nothing severe, just a feeling.  Then sometimes there is a pause and then a hard heartbeat/thud.  I only have gotten nervous over these when i got a few in a row, about a few mins apart from one another.  Sometimes I dont get any for days, or months.  What do you believe these sound like?  PVCS?  
  
I have gotten blood tests, including thyroid.  EKG, and a 24 hour holter monitor.  all my doctor said about the holter was "very good".  Unfortunately I dont think I felt those skipped beats on it. Even a 30 day monitor might not be good enough because the last time I felt anything was 3 months ago.  
    
In short i have heard everyone gets PVCS and PVCS you feel are the same as the ones you dont feel? Ironically the ones who do feel them undergo a barrage of tests when the general public doesnt have to.  Is it in my best interest to get an echocardiogram?  What diseases or problems can cause skipped beats that can only be diagnosed thru event monitors?  and what else can these sensations be besides regular pvcs or pacs.  Thanks in advance.  

  
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Avatar universal
Actually, i do have some insight on how they work.. Im in medical school, and i work part time in a large cardiology/electrophysiology practice as a patient liaison.. This does not make me anymore qualified than a normal individual just yet, but i do have a little more knowledge than the "average joe", from my experiences so far...

Im sorry but again im not really quite understanding your post again? I wasnt trying to insult you when i asked about your personal knowledge of ekg machines, just wanted to help clarify because you seemed a little confused, and you shouldnt be afraid to get an ekg because they spit out false positives for certain things.. those are just words, the actual machine gives the same strip readings as any other ekg would..Its great you trust your doctor, many people dont! But i dont go to school so i can argue with a cardiologist, i go so i can learn about how to make people healthy and keep them healthy.
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Avatar universal
You ask "how much do I know about EKG's" I'm not a doctor or a nurse. Are You?  

I go by what a CARDIOLOGIST tells me/told me.  I have to trust him.  If he tells me my heart is o.k., the EKG showed a false heart attack then I believe him.  I don't worry about "what if" he doesn't tell me the truth because he just loves to get a malpractice suit from one of the ambulance chasers.  I'm not going to school to learn about EKG's so I can look at mine and argue with a real Cardiologist unless I go to Medical School, and become a Cardiologist. I know you didn't suggest that.  

They should more concentrate on how the new EKG's do NOT come up with a false heart attack from now on instead of running a bunch of tests to prove otherwise.  

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Avatar universal
  what can an event recorder or monitor show differently then an echocardio gram for someone who has an occassional skipped beat.
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Avatar universal
The EKG records the PVC's (skipped heartbeats) among other things.  An echo shows on a screen like when you get an ultrasound, an echo shows your heart valves, shows your heart, tells at what # your EF is, tells if your heart is enlarged and other abnormalities.  It detected on me that I have mild mitro valve reg.  
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Avatar universal
You said, "an EKG will only show an abnormality if you get one during the event".  What I meant was it ALSO shows up what happened to your heart in the past as in a heart attack, as it did for me and my husband, the only thing it was FALSE.

As for not mentioning the "false positive" to the patient is also wrong.  Yes, it causes great anxiety, but if an EKG shows a previous heart attack that should be checked into and not kept from the patient.  As the Cardiologist said "lots of these results are false" but there are cases where people really had "silent heart attacks" in the past which showed up on the EKG.  Not all of them are false.  And it would not be right or very professional for the Cardiologist to "guess" whether the false MI was for real or just the computerized EKG machine spitting out another previous false MI.

Had the Cardiologist not told us that the now computerized EKG's spit out lots of "previous false heart attacks" I would continue to have routine EKG's, but I have no more faith in them unless I get the EKG the old fashioned way, they way they used to give them. As for the "previous MI" which showed up on our EKG's I myself would want to know whether I had a real heart attack or not.  It was my choice to agree to have all the tests and procedures done because I as well as my husband wanted to know, just like it is my choice from now on to refuse these inaccurate devises as in a computerized EKG who manages to spit out false heart attacks and scaring the hell out of people.  

Cardiologist cannot ignore "a prvious MI" on an EKG,  and have no choice to tell their patients just in case a REAL prvious heart attack DID take place.  
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Avatar universal
Im not understandign what you're trying to say.. The only thing i said about EKG's is that they will only diagnose you with say, svt or palps, if you are having svt or palps while on the monitor... i never made a statement about the accuracy of ekg's in diagnosing structrual abnormalities... Ekg's give out false positives all the time, but fortunatly for patients, many times doctors can just look at the print out and see whats actually going on, in which case, i wouldnt even mention to the patient the false positive result as it wouldnt be accurate and would just cause more anxiety.... For the most part, ekg's are a valuable diagnostic tool and the first line of tests and treatment, along with echo's and stress tests.
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Avatar universal
In our cases a "Cardiologist" looked at the EKG printout not some doctor.  

We are glad that the Cardiologist did not just automatically brush it off as a mulfunction of the EKG machine, and ordered other tests starting with an echo and the list went on.

Or maybe he did see it, and just wanted to order tests to rake in some money.  Of course that all could be possible, but if you are not a Cardiologist and therefore can't argue with him/her over the print out of the EKG you have to trust him/her and follow his/her suggestions as in tests.  Or go on message boards and ask if anybody ever had the same experience, but that still don't tell you what is/was wrong with YOUR heart.

We would not want to continue life wondering "did we have a real previous heart attack or did the machine spit out a false one".  We want clarity plus we both had our hearts checked out to the max with all the tests possible, that is why I worry a LOT less about my PVC's.
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Avatar universal
Barbarella

I was not referring specifically to a previous MI finding.. This cannot be ruled as a false positive without further testing, obviously..  So it would need to be addressed.. I would never withold that kind of information from a patient.

What im talking about is false positives on things that can be ruled on just by looking at the strip itself.. I dont know what you know about ekg's, or if they've ever been explained to you, but yes, they do spit out false positives, on many other things other than previous MI as well.. Ekg's are the first line of defense in detecting electrical issues, There are many other tests that are much more appropriate for diagnosing something as you are describing....Like i said before, i have no idea what you personally know about ekg's, but Many things that are false positives on EKG can be ruled out by merely looking at the strip.. If it prints out the word vtach, but theres no vtach on the strip, well then its not vtach... Doctors dont look at the printed out words to make a diagnosis, i dont know why they even bother with making ekg's that try and diagnose.. They always look at the strip, so you shouldnt have any reservationg about getting any kind of ekg..

In medicine there is what is called "theraputic privelege" And it gives doctors the right to withhold certain information for an amount of time if they feel it may harm the patients health or well being..

If an ekg prints out that someone is in vtach, and i can CLEARLY see on the strip that its not vtach, what good would come from telling the patient about the false positive? It falls under theraputic privelidge..
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Avatar universal
   Yes my blood pressure is ok. I think when they took it it was something like 117/70 .  Something like that.  The problem with the palps is that they are random. I can get one now and then get another in 2 mins, 2 hours, a day or 3 months.  So monitor testing probably wont work for me, and I do not have insurance right now.  Im thinking that the next best test for me to get is an echocardiogram just to show the structure of the heart.   It appears that any problems with the heart that can cause pvcs or palps are things like MVP, or an enlarged heart all of which I believe can be detected on the holter.  

    Are there any diseases or problems that can only be detected on a heart rythm monitor?  I would imagine some kind of eletrical problem with the heart.  But then again, if I had an electrical problem that was significant enough, wouldnt a 24 hour holter monitor pick it up?  

   The way the medical field is set up right now doctors are very quick to give tests and prescribe medication.  a friend of mine is only 19 with chest pains.  Anytime he moved a certain angle he would have exterior chest pain, externally, on the outside.  Meaning that he could pinch the muscle with his fingers and know exactly where the pain was coming from right underneath the skin.  The doctors still gave hime about 100 heart tests until he went to an honest doctor and he said they were using his anxiety to make a killing.  I really want to avoid the 9000 tests and risk a false positive.  I just want the most logical and practical test. and im thinking its the echo.
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Avatar universal
I hear you. I like "Dog's Breath."
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Avatar universal
What I call these things is not suitable for a "family" website!  ;)
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Avatar universal
You have to trust your doctor.  They would not take heart issues lightly just to get a malpractice suit with all the ambulance chasers out there waiting in the wings.

You said that you had blood tests done.  A blood test would show if you are low on Potassium which can cause PVC's, it would show if you are low on blood sugar which can cause PVC's, you didn't mention your blood pressure so I'm assuming that your BP is normal, high BP can cause PVC's, your blood test would've shown if you have a Thyroid problem which can cause PVC's.

Your blood test came out o.k. your doctor told you not to worry.  Relax!  I know they are VERY uncomfortable but they wont kill you.
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Avatar universal
Too funny and too wise to call them "buggers." I like that. Puts them in a place they deserve. "PVC" sounds too formal, too scientific, too official. Its only a word but it carries meaning. We should have a name-calling contest for the best name for you-know-what.
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61536 tn?1340698163
I'm no doctor, mind, but I can't really think of anything seriously dangerous that would only cause an occasional skip with months of symptom-free time in between and normal EKG and Holter testing.  Chances are highly likely these are just your run of the mill PVC, they definitely sound like many others describe them.  My husband describes an empty "dropping" sensation before his compensatory THUD, and I have to agree with another poster who described it as a sucking sensation in the chest before the thud.  Unpleasant at it's best!  

If you really want to catch these buggers, wait until you're symptomatic, call your doctor right away and explain that you want to catch them on Holter, and your doc will probably be amenable.

It is quite common for anxious people to be aware of extra beats too.
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Avatar universal
holter and event monitors are most effective in diagnosing (or un-diagnosing) sporatic pvc's, and ahrrythmia's.. An ekg will only show an electrical abnormality if you are getting one during the event.. An echo would be a good test for you to consider having, to rule out any structural abnormality.
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Avatar universal
About the EKG its not 100% correct.  I and my husband both had EKG's which showed a "prvious heart attack", none of us ever had a heart attack.  Since you can have a"silent heart attack without pain" we had to go through all kind of tests and procedures just to prove to us that we NEVER had a heart attack.  Even though every EKG after the one who showed the so called MI did NOT show a previous heart attack.

The Cardiologists explanation?  Since the computerized EKG's I get so many "false" heart attacks I'm really getting tired of it".

What we said:  "then they need to figure out "why" these computerized EKG's show so many false heart attacks as you stated or go back to the old ways of doing EKG's".

As for m, I refuse all EKG's from now on unless it is an emergency situation at the ER, but as for routine EKG's no thank you.  I don't need to get scared because some stupid EKG machine is spitting out false heart attacks. Having to go through numerous tests and procedures because they cannot figure out why these EKG's spit out "false heart attacks".
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Avatar universal
sorry i thought i actually got thru to the other forum rofl. i should have known
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