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Cardiomyopathy at age 22?
I'm looking for some advice, I went to a cardiologist about a month ago for fluttering of my heart. They did a stress test and a holster monitor. The holster monitor showed one run of SVT and 800 PAC's which my doctor didn't seem worried about. The stress test wasn't great but not bad. I hit 198 beats after 10 minutes while running. I couldn't afford the echo at the time so I didn't do that but I wish I had.
Lately I have had slightly swollen ankles and have been waking up in the middle of the night dreaming about drowning and I wake up gasping for air feeling like I need more oxygen. I do have high anxiety so I was wondering if that was why. I'm worried that I may have a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. I've been seen by a cardiologist who found no murmurs, my labs were all perfect, and he didn't seem concerned that I didn't have the echo but I'm wondering if I should go back and get one to be safe.
Lately I have had slightly swollen ankles and have been waking up in the middle of the night dreaming about drowning and I wake up gasping for air feeling like I need more oxygen. I do have high anxiety so I was wondering if that was why. I'm worried that I may have a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. I've been seen by a cardiologist who found no murmurs, my labs were all perfect, and he didn't seem concerned that I didn't have the echo but I'm wondering if I should go back and get one to be safe.
Have you had an echocardiogram? Thats the test that would show cardiomyopathy!
Well, you're young and female, which right off the bat puts you at very little risk for heart disease (assuming your family history is normal).
Your Holter monitor (named after Norman Holter, the inventor) seems to have been OK, too.
Your stress test is, as you say, pretty darn good. Chances are that you wouldn't have been able to perform anywhere near that well if you had any kind of cardiomyopathy, which really limits what you can do physically.
However, since you do have some swelling of the ankles and some nighttime shortness of breath, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get an echo just for a more accurate picture.
You do mention that you have anxiety, and it's worth noting that nocturnal panic attacks can have very dramatic effects, more severe than those that happen during the day. You can google this. If your ticker is OK, something like nocturnal panic might might be contributing to your dreams and drowning sensations.
Sleep apnea can also be a factor.
Your Holter monitor (named after Norman Holter, the inventor) seems to have been OK, too.
Your stress test is, as you say, pretty darn good. Chances are that you wouldn't have been able to perform anywhere near that well if you had any kind of cardiomyopathy, which really limits what you can do physically.
However, since you do have some swelling of the ankles and some nighttime shortness of breath, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get an echo just for a more accurate picture.
You do mention that you have anxiety, and it's worth noting that nocturnal panic attacks can have very dramatic effects, more severe than those that happen during the day. You can google this. If your ticker is OK, something like nocturnal panic might might be contributing to your dreams and drowning sensations.
Sleep apnea can also be a factor.
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