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Skipped beats and event monitor
I'm a 23 yr old male, 6ft and weight 205lbs. I have been experiencing this left side chest pain for over 2 years now. The past year and a half, I have been in the charity system and had multiple test including, echo's, blood work, stress test, holter monitors, ekgs. I recently just got insurance and got established with a family Doc, been seeing hime about 3 months. I've had an ekg, holter monitor, and blood work done through him. He referred me to a cardiologist and he did an ekg and then just pushed it off and said I'm fine. Everyday I have the left side chest pain that is like right over my heart and it's like an intermittent pinching pain. It feels like its coming from my heart. What could be causing this??? Today I had it really bad and my left arm started to ache, which it does sometimes with the chest pain, so I checked my b/p at wal-mart on one of those machines and it said 187/97!!!!! I immediately went to my Doc and they checked it and it was 164/92. Doc listened to my heart and did a physical exam and said don't sound heart related, sounds muscular, just pushed it off, and before I left checked my bp and it was 147/84. How could this be muscular for so long, over 2 years is a long time. And when I feel the pain I can feel my heartbeat get really hard and feels weird. Also my cholestrol was total (245), triglycrides (182), HDL (48) and LDL (160). Please tell me what you think about all the info I gave you and what do you think could be causing all my symptoms and the everyday left side chest pain, with skipped heartbeat sensations. Thanks you so much!!"
I'm betting the freak out factor is pretty high for you right now.
As for the event monitor people - they are not cardiologists, but they are pretty well trained; their job is to notice any arrhythmia that may potentially be dangerous. Their protocol is to then get the rhythm strips to a cardiologist for a quick review, and if there is cause to bring you in right away, you're told to go to the ER. That that hasn't happened is good news for you.
They like knowing the circumstances of the events so they can better determine if the cause is dangerous or not, and if it's characteristic of something specific. For example, if your heart was skipping beats and you had a hard time breathing and chest pain just after you ran up three flights of stairs, that may indicate a blockage, slowing blood flow to the heart. They don't want to suggest a cause like that, because 1) it's not appropriate, and 2) it's funny how once a symptom is explained to a patient, they may begin to have that symptom.
At 6' 205#, you are overweight. That's a BMI of almost 28. A healthy weight would be about 180 pounds for you. I'm 6'2" and 203 - I could stand to lose another 10 or so. So your weight is probably one issue worth addressing. And by addressing it through proper diet and exercise, your cholesterol and triglycerides will also likely come into line, too.
As for the source of the pains - it could easily be a gastrointestinal issue. Gastritis, esophageal spasms, heartburn, all kinds of things in the digestion system can cause those same pains.
The skipped beat sounds like exactly that - a skipped beat. PVC, PAC. Almost always harmless.
Hope that helps.
As for the event monitor people - they are not cardiologists, but they are pretty well trained; their job is to notice any arrhythmia that may potentially be dangerous. Their protocol is to then get the rhythm strips to a cardiologist for a quick review, and if there is cause to bring you in right away, you're told to go to the ER. That that hasn't happened is good news for you.
They like knowing the circumstances of the events so they can better determine if the cause is dangerous or not, and if it's characteristic of something specific. For example, if your heart was skipping beats and you had a hard time breathing and chest pain just after you ran up three flights of stairs, that may indicate a blockage, slowing blood flow to the heart. They don't want to suggest a cause like that, because 1) it's not appropriate, and 2) it's funny how once a symptom is explained to a patient, they may begin to have that symptom.
At 6' 205#, you are overweight. That's a BMI of almost 28. A healthy weight would be about 180 pounds for you. I'm 6'2" and 203 - I could stand to lose another 10 or so. So your weight is probably one issue worth addressing. And by addressing it through proper diet and exercise, your cholesterol and triglycerides will also likely come into line, too.
As for the source of the pains - it could easily be a gastrointestinal issue. Gastritis, esophageal spasms, heartburn, all kinds of things in the digestion system can cause those same pains.
The skipped beat sounds like exactly that - a skipped beat. PVC, PAC. Almost always harmless.
Hope that helps.
The company that did my event monitor told me if there was anything life threatening, they would immediately page my doctor. Why don't you call them and ask them? They can't give you many details, but they will be able to tell you the protocol...such as "yes, if it is life threatening we will tell you." I am sure it is the same with all of them. You could call them now.
I have now been wearing this event monitor for about a 2 weeks now and I've had a few episodes where it felt like my heart would skip a beat and go in my throat, I pressed the button and they would call and ask about my symptoms. Never called and said anything was wrong though, I guess they would know if something is wrong???? I dunno, I think they are just event loggers. Does a Dr. look at them also, before they send the final report when you turn your monitor in to them and then they send my Dr. the report??? Does anyone else get these skipped beat feeling in your throat also, what could it be??? Thanks
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