Tachybrady Syndrome

[cpro9877]

I found this discussion and found it very interesting how someone else who is a young adult is dealing with something similar to what I am dealing with.

I have been seeing a cardiologist for the past few months due to some severe pain in my chest and passing out multiple times. I had an ultrasound of my heart done which showed no abnormalities, a stress test which also did not show anything amiss, Thyroid tests that came back normal and a Holter monitor test. The holter test was what actually showed the problem. My heart rates can be incredibly abnormal and will range from beating very slowly to extremely fast. The problem is, these abnormalities occur without a rhyme or reason, which is why it has been so incredibly hard to persuade doctors to even listen to me. My current doctor actually has been listening to me (FINALLY, a doctor who doesn't blow me off!) and he is very adamant that an EP test will get to the bottom of my problem.

The other night I passed out and was sent to the emergency room. Everybody there attributed my "episode" to being a panic attack, which is completely and utterly false (I teach yoga/meditation and also have a job at a medical clinic where I deal with emergencies daily and the word "panicking" is not even if my dictionary). Are people just afraid to diagnose someone as young as me with a heart condition? I feel like I am such a lost hope because everybody is just attributing my issue to something else. When I saw another doctor (mind you, this was not my doctor I normally see) today regarding a follow-up about my hospitalization, she didn't even focus on the chest pain that I felt and only focused on the fact that I passed out. She scheduled a table-tilt test for me and that was that. I know for a fact that this test will show absolutely nothing because I was a cheerleader and I used to do flips upside down, backwards, whatever without any problem. Therefore, I do not believe that this test is even remotely applicable to me.

I am incredibly active and am a pre-professional dancer (which I have learned to push through all of my symptoms I have, also another reason why doctors don't believe me). I have an incredibly healthy diet and no other health issues. Yes, I work hard and go to school but I never over-work myself and make sure I get 7-8 hours of sleep, stay hydrated and always make time for myself to relax.

I know this sounds like I am just complaining, but I really need help with figuring out how to make these "responsible adults" actually LISTEN to me. I myself work in the medical field and in drug development research and I know a fair amount of things about all of these tests, yet I still immediately am treated like an ignorant child. I really feel like I know what the problem is: tachybradycardia, yet everyone keeps saying it is something else. All of these other doctors are trying so hard to give me medications that will help syndromes that I do not have, and I refuse to take any of them until my real diagnosis is finalized.

I am beginning to feel hopeless myself about this entire situation...


This discussion is related to what is supraventricular ectopy?.

[cpro9877]

Thank you everyone for your insight. I have been going to the doctor and I found out that my condition is called Meniere's disease, which has caused nausea, dizziness, fainting, abnormal heart rhythms and chest pain. The disease actually deals with the inner ear, very interesting how something to do with the ear can cause so many problems!!!

[Bromley]

BTW, sorry to hear you are having these problems. I do still know what it feels like to get wrapped up in heart rhythm issue and to start losing hope.  My suggestion is to not allow yourself to start feeling sorry or unable to help yourself with this.  You need your positive thinking, can do attitude to take with you while you are solving this problem.  Also, I suggest getting a second opinion if doctors want to ablate near the SA node.

[Bromley]

I think  tachybrady is one of those things that is not that easy to diagnose and treat, whether you are old or young.  I think if you look into it, you may find that the diagnosis would normally involve drawing conclusions by way of process of elimination (i.e. eliminating other possibilities such as drug use, anxiety, hormone imbalance, etc, etc., before one can begin to say that it must be tachybrady). This might explain why you feel like  people aren't listening to you, if they are probing to determine what potential causes are possible or can be ruled out.

The main thing that an ep study gives is the ability to measure voltage potentials at different points in the heart as a function of time. This is done by placing one or more probes at different places inside one or more of the chambers.  With tachybrady, I thought everything was happening at one point: the SA node.  If your doc is able to ascertain it is tachbrady in an ep study, I assume that would be because there have to be subtle voltage time history variations you can see when the probe is right next to the SA.

[merileegal]

I hear you! I've decided that even though there is so much they know about the electrical system of our heart, there is a lot more they don't know that is why you're not getting answers. I've gone to doctors for over 20 years now with off and on problems. I decided that if I had a heart attack I wouldn't know it because of all the other heart stuff going on. And I finally stopped going to doctors unless things got really bad and I got really scared again. I finally found an ep who taught at a university. He told me my problem could be fixed (hard to believe after all this time) and wondered why no one had ever sent me to an ep before.  This is a very difficult and misunderstood thing to have.

[DeltaDawn23]

Is there a university teaching hospital near you?  Sometimes if it's a really difficult problem you need someone to take a fresh look.  I was told I was "panicking" and depressed, when I knew that was not the problem.  Keep looking for someone to listen to you.