QuestIon in 30 day event monitor

[spade22]

Hi,  

I am current wearing a 30 day event monitor to try and capture some irregular heart rhythms I feel once in a while.   The event monitor captures events and records them on it's own and I can also push the record button if I feel something.

Today I  felt several minutes of continuous  palpitations and recorded them and sent in the information - i did this on 2 separate occasions.  Each time, I was asked to do a live recording and send in the information (was not experiencing palps at that time) and was then told I could reset the monitor and end the call.  My questions are: if the representative asked to do a live recording, does this mean something abnormal was caught and if so, why didn't the monitor capture it on it's own?  Also, approximately how many recordable "events" would a monitor capture in a 24h period for someone without heart disease?  I've searched the Internet for answers to these questions but haven't had much luck.

Thanks!

[CrohnieToo]

I've had the e-Cardio and the CardioNet event monitors. Both had a toll-free number I could call to ask questions or whatever. Makes no difference if it is a "curiosity" question about how the monitor works or if it a question about an event you are experiencing. Call and ask, the only dumb question is the one that didn't get asked.

And by the way: Medicare and my secondary insurance paid the total e-Cardio bill. My secondary insurance refused to pay my copay for the CardioNet claiming that it is a "experimental device".

[tom_h]

Even after my ablation for SVT, I still get occasional clusters of PVC's.  Like you, I also get them when I haven't eated for a while and am hunger.  I don't know if it's electrolyte imbalance or just what.  But eating makes them vanish.

Remember that you can have a robust heart muscle, and still have electrical issues within it.  This was something I experienced quite literally nearly all my life, and a paradox that I personally had to come to grips with.

[spade22]

Ok, thanks.

I felt the pause every 5 to 10 seconds and it was only 1-2 s long.

I have started noticing a pattern to when these occur (going for awhile without eating, after eating, and usually when lying or sitting down).  Journaling is a great idea.

I am very fit and don't  think anything serious is wrong but it will be nice to get that confirmation from this test especially since my last dr told me I should head to the er if his happens for more than an hour (which it has numerous times) and I have had no follow up since then.    Will find out in about  5 weeks!

[MichelleP_3811]

Do you mean it would pause for 5 - 10 seconds long or that every 5 to 10 seconds you would feel a pause?  50bpm is kind of low but not overly concerning in a healthy heart especially in someone who is physically fit.  Are you feeling any other symptoms besides the beat skipping like shortness of breath, dizziness or fainting?  It sounds like you likely have some pacs/pvcs that are isolated enough to not be anything to worry about though the cardiologist will be the one to assess that.  But if you are not having any of the other symptoms it is very likely you are fine beside for the errant beats.  That said, the errant beats can be a bit disconcerting and if you get a lot of them in a day they can make you feel quite ill.  I had a bout of them in Oct probably around 15,000 a day for about a week and I felt really bad, now I get maybe 100 in a day and they are tolerable.  I don't get sick or dizzy or short of breath from them.  That said, if you are having 5-10 second full pauses then that is another issue with some sort of blockage that needs to be addressed but I would think you would experience other symptoms with such long pauses?  

Anyways, GPs seem to get a little more worked up about heart issues then a cardiologist will.  They are very unfazed by most heart problems that just terrify us but they know enough to be aware that most heart rhythm issues are not life threatening which is probably why your new doctor was a bit put off by the first doctor scaring you about your condition though I am not clear on what that condition is so I can't say for certain whether or not you will need to take further steps to correct your issue or if your issues are like most of us and just something we have to learn to deal with.  But it sounds like you should have some answers soon so that is good.  

Finally, if you do have pac/pvcs for me stomach issues are a big trigger.  I really seem to get the most of them after I eat and stress as well can get them going so I would say start taking a journal of what is happening when you get them and what you were doing before they started to see if you can find a pattern that you may be able to correct to get rid of the irregular beat, that is if it turns out to be pacs/pvcs.  Well good luck and let us know what the diagnosis is when you find out.

[tom_h]

The lab contracted to monitor you is responsible for your well being and safety.  When you phone in an anomalous recording, they want you to send a live recording in order to see if you're still experiencing the arrhythmia.

This happened to me when I phoned in an SVT event.  The monitor auto-triggered when the event started.  It took perhaps 5 minutes for me to convert it (mine didn't convert on their own).  After I converted it, I hit the button so they could see what it looked like as I returned to sinus rhythm.  Despite that, the lab asked to see a live recording.  When I balked at doing one, the tech told me firmly to send a live recording, or she was sending the paramedics.  I sent a live recording......

[spade22]

Thanks for your help.

In the first case I felt an irregular heart beat (it felt like it would pause every 5-10s) and my heart rate was close to 50 bpm, the second time I just felt the irregular beating (again, with pauses).  I am wearing the monitor because I saw my regular dr for a check up a week ago and told her I get an irregular HB once in awhile (sometimes lasts for hours at a time) and my old dr old me about 8 years ago that she could detect this (when feeling my palse) and if it went on for over 1h I should go to the ER because it could led to a more s arrhythmia that could cause stroke if not corrected.  I haven't followed up on this until last week with my new dr who said the old dr handled the situation inappropriately.  

The monitor  I have records 6 events and when it does will record 1 min before the event  and 30s after it.  Today was the first time I have recorded my own events (intentionally lol) and I'm hoping something was detected so we can find out what is going on.

[MichelleP_3811]

To be honest I can't tell you how your monitor works because I think there might be different kinds out there that work differently.  I had a monitor that only recorded 2 events before I had to phone them in.  It was loop recording which means it was constantly recording so when I hit the button it would know what my heart was doing a few seconds before I hit it but it didn't keep a 24 hour recording permanantly so I really only transferred the ones I recorded for 10 seconds or whatever the time length was.  It also did not record on its own.  I had to hit a button if I felt something.  But like you, when I did have something caught and phoned it in they also asked me to record another event while I was on the phone with them.  My tachycardia had stopped by then, it was one of the more short ones, but I am sure they wanted to make sure I was ok before they let me off the phone which is possibly the protocol for all calls that catch something so I would think that something was possibly caught on your monitor.  I am sure your cardiologist will inform you if it was anything of importance.  What did you feel when you recorded the event?