Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.  
Male, 36
Wilmington - NC

Specialties: atrial fibrillation, Pacemakers, Defibrillators, Arrhythmias (SVT, VT), PVC/PAC, Ablation


Wilmington Health Associates
910-341-3301
1202 Medical Center Drive
Wilmington - NC
Jul 25, 2008 09:17PM in the Heart Rhythm Expert Forum
Unfortunately that is not the type of question I can answer online -- knowing how to interpret test still requires face to face contact and interactive questions. Whether you should see specialist is up to you and your doctor. It looks like all your tests were negative. It is often difficult to determine why people have chest pains after their cardiac work...
Jul 24, 2008 09:53PM in the Heart Rhythm Expert Forum
Jarrod, Good luck with your exam. I know from experience that exams like that can cause significant stress. Your symptoms are not typical of cardiac symptoms. When I see people like yourself in clinic, it is almost always impossible to tell them why they are having these pains -- it is usually not possible to pin point the cause of fleeting sharp chest pa...
Jul 24, 2008 07:29PM in the Heart Rhythm Expert Forum
1. Flecainide is a relatively safe medications. I use it when symptoms are significantly affecting their quality of life. I am not used it for ectopic beats in the past but if I had a patient that was very symptomatic with pacs, I would use it. I would tell them that if they have a normal heart, the risk are very low but never zero. In the end it is you...
Jul 23, 2008 08:59PM in the Heart Rhythm Expert Forum
Sorry to hear about your experience but I understand it can be frightening when it happens. The numbness and tingling is probably not related to the SVT. Probably best to talk to your primary care doctor about that. SVT that breaks suddenly with medications can often be cured with an ablation procedure. Medications are sometimes successful at suppress...
Jul 22, 2008 08:09PM in the Heart Rhythm Expert Forum
I am not really sure what to say. If they have done a full cardiac work up and can't find a cardiac cause, I am at a lose to explain this. To work this up I would probably check a 30 day event monitor, stress test, and echocardiogram. If they are all normal, I would suggest it is non cardiac chest pain. I am not sure what the cause is though.
Jul 21, 2008 09:09PM in the Heart Rhythm Expert Forum
I would need more information to really have a good idea what this -- age, cardiac history, medications, etc. Assuming you are a relatively young healthy person with no heart disease, it is likely an arrhythmia from the upper chamber of your heart. You should see a doctor, possibly a heart rhythm doctor. The best first step is to try and capture the rhyt...