nervous about apt. wed.

I have an apt. Wed. for a cardiologist consult. I am nervous because the dr. office will not tell me this is an ok thing, when I ask them they say (you should be concerned) and this freaks me out. I have 2 questions-My holter report says impression:sinus rhythm, sinus bradycardia, sinus tachycardia
                                                                frequent pvcs, at times in bigeminal rhythm
                                                                symptos noted sinus rhythm, sinus tachycardia, pvcs,
                                                                                                                             rates 86-116.
                                                                 Bradycardia 53 and tachycardia 138
1. does this sound serious? Could the tachycardia be when I was walking and tripped scaring me?
2. People talk about knowing how many runs and beats and so forth they have during the day, and all I know is I feel the pvs constantly and it has been weeks and feels like so much.

[deedle1976]

I would say that in and of itself the holter result doesn't sound serious. It all depends on the context. If you have a structurally normal heart these finding are generally of no consequence. However the cardiologist will most likely want to do more tests (probably an echocardiogram) to rule out any underlying structural problems.  In most people with frequent PVCs on holter the rest of the tests come back normal.  
If the time of the tachycardia correlates with when you were exercising or tripped and fell then it is ok and not inappropriate sinus tachy.
The bradycardia doesn't sound that low. Plenty of people's heart rates drop into the 50s or even lower during sleep.
They might offer you something like a betablocker if you are very symptomatic, which it sounds like you are. I hope your appt goes well and you can relax after wednesday.

[Artaud]

Hi,

sinus rhythm= Normal Rhythm
sinus bradycardia=Slow but consistent heart beat.
sinus tachycardia=Fast but consistent heart beat.

frequent pvcs, at times in bigeminal rhythm.

I find this odd that they generalized about the term Frequent. Usually they specify the number of PVCs. Bigeminy and Trigeminy are fairly common. My heart seems to prefer trigeminy anymore. Two normal beats and a PVC, etc. Although not exclusively trigeminy, as occasionally it will treat me to 4 or 5 beats without the PVC. This is more and more common for me anymore :-(
My wife's coworker claims she is in bigeminy most of the time, and was, in fact, for the duration of her stress test, which she passed, bigeminy and all.

Bradycardia is a rhythm below 60 Beats per minute. I take Beta Blockers and at rest, while awake and in a chair, my rate is 54 Beats per minute. This is bradycardia. My Doctor has no concern about this, and I am sure, while asleep, it goes even slower (slightly).

I had gone for various MRIs over the years for my head. After completing the MRI, the technician would shake my hand and say "good luck". They never found any problems. I always worried about the "Good luck thing". Eventually I had another MRI, it was late and I guess the technician was a little more talkative than normal. He said that he did not see anything wrong. Incredibly, this was the only test that I have had that they did find something (not of significance). Same with a recent MRI and MRA. The Doctor said that he had an area of concern. I made the mistake and read the order for the test. It read that the area was the Circle of Willis. I went to the internet and studied. I worried myself sick about it after that, and my wife phoned his office. His assistant explained that he was very careful in diagnosing things, and has been known to err on the side of safety. After receiving the results, it was negative.

Moral of the story? It seems that the times when they made me nervous with the “Good Luck” parting, I was nervous and yet they did not find anything. The one time that they told me not to worry, there was in fact something in the results. You can’t predict your health by the response of the staff at your Doctor’s office. They are caught between a rock and a hard place, they need to be careful with the public. If they reassure too much, the patient may not follow up. If they make the problem seem to severe, the patient may worry unnecessarily.

Best of health to you. I hope this helped somewhat.

[jennyfi2]

thanks guys, but how do I know if the tachycardia was from tripping or from walking fast or what?

[dolfnlvr]

I hate to say this, because it will sound as though I'm being sarcastic, but I'm not.  The only way you will know the answer to your question is to see the doctor, which you are doing on Wednesday.  I agree with both of the above posts.  While scary sounding, and not all that comfortable of a feeling, your stats don't look all that troubling.  But, none of us ever knows, therefore we go to the doctors who run their tests and in some cases provide high tech biopsychology for us by giving us much piece of mind.  You are doing the right things by giong to the Dr. and following up with a cardiologist.  Try to stay calm, you'll know more Wednesday.

Good luck to you