Tachy-, bradycardias & other complaints, would rly appreciate some advice!

Hello people,

I had a 24-hour tape (Holter monitor) because of my massive breathing problems. Am having them while being active AND when am lying down at night and they keep getting worse.
I got asthma, but my inhalers have always helped me pretty well so far, but they don't seem to do a lot against those complaints am having recently.
I also have an extremely irregular heartbeat which is either too fast (> 120 bpm when resting) with nausea or too slow (about 40ish beats) with dizziness.
In both cases I am very exhausting and breathing usually is very hard.
My pulse can go from racing to slow in a minute.
At night I more and more frequently wake up gasping for breath if I manage to sleep at all due to the breathing problems, in the mornings I feel dead.
Some nights I have to go for a pee quite a lot, but by far not every night.
Going for a short walk is unbelievably exhausting and I usually have to sit or lie down after.  
They even appear when just resting, today even with dizziness.
I hope, the EKG can finally help me receiving treatment, but I'll have to wait a bit for the results still.
About me: I am 20, about 5.7 tall, 57 kg, played soccer and went jogging for years, am defo not an athlete, but neither am I unfit, I'd say about average.
I don't smoke (never have!), hardly ever drink alcohol and eat relatively healthy (hardly any fast food, I cook a lot).
I don't have any allergies, had quite a few of allergy tests in the past.
I know you're probably not doctors, but does somebody have a tip what that could be and/or what I could do in the meantime while am waiting on the results?
It is really getting to a stage where I gets really really annoying, I almost have to sit in bed at night trying to get some sleep coz of the chest complaints..
Oh, and btw, two docs said I had a heart murmur during auscultating my chest..

Thank you very much!

[Jerry_NJ]

Right, I am not a doctor.... but I think you should discuss sleep problems with a doctor.  You may have something like (Not a Diagnosis) sleep apnea.  You may gain some insight going to that forum here on MedHelp
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Sleep-Disorders/show/108
and search on the web.  

The breathing problem could cause the high heart rate, that is when you lungs are not delivering a high enough oxygen content to the blood the heart speeds up to try to compensate.   I have not idea what makes it slow down to the 40s.

Your description of your physical history and data do not raise any alarms in my mind, in fact they sound pretty good.  Translate 5.7 to 5 feet 7 inches and 57 KG to about 125 pounds (USA).  

[macca61]

Hi
you have just described exactly my sons [15yrs] symptoms, but without the breathing problems you have,,, he has had 2 blackouts and many pre-syncopes, when  his HR  is around 40 also he has spikes of  120+  He was implanted with a loop recorder in July.  On tuesday he will have his 'box'  read for the first time.. I really hope we will have some  anwsers to his problem...  Good luck for your holter results...

[BadGalRiri]

Thank you both very much to your replies!

@Jerry_NJ I know the symptoms at night sound a lot like sleep apnea, I just really don't know what to think about the slowing and I do really hope I will get some help for all that stuff soon coz it made me lose my job and it's hard to find another if it's like that, thank you for your tips!

@macca61

Thank you too for your nice reply & wishes!
1st of all, I hope that your son is (kinda) ok even tho he has those complaints aswell & that loop recorder will give the docs some hints on what to do next.
I got 3 questions if you don't mind me asking!

1. How long did your son have those complaints for before he got the recorder and did they stay constant or get worse over time?

2. How many tests did he have (and which) before he got that loop recorder implanted and did they show anything?

3. Does he still have a lot of those complaints now or/and does he have a history of heart/lung disease(s)?

I thank you already for your reply if it's not too private!

[macca61]

Hello again
His first  blackout  was in March this year, they started a work up for epilepsy, then 6 weeks   later he had a second blackout, investigations showed a HR of 40 + Early Repolarization Syndrome [ still under debate if this is significant]
He went on to have a drugs challenge in June, which was  negative, but it did aggravate the ERS..  
July he was implanted with a REVEAL  recorder.
His low HR and sometimes fast,  comes and goes, but when it happens it is very obvious he becomes pale  sudden fatigue and feels he will fall down, twice it happened at school, and each time he was taken to the  local hospital ER.  If he is more active than usual, it tends to happen..
There is a history of sudden death in my family, my 2 older boys have the same low HR  and ERS but not symptomatic.  
I hope that helps you, and I didn't ramble too much...

[BadGalRiri]

Hello again and thank you so much, that means really a lot to me!!!

Indeed the symptoms are really similar, apart from the blackouts, I only ever feel really close to one, but then get to the next chair to sit down before I can fall anywhere.
I feel those slow HRs about 40ish mainly when I have those episodes at night and sometimes when I do exercise, it's like my heart can't speed up at times, a very weird feeling.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any of those 'slowing episodes' while wearing the holter, so . :(
I still hope it will show something coz it makes it really hard getting a job again and I already get pressured enough..

My dad lost 2 brothers to heart problems when they were still children..

[BadGalRiri]

Does anybody maybe have some more tips for me? I don't have my next appt till the 3rd ..

[BadGalRiri]

No tips anymore?:(