Dangerous EKG?????

[yenny44]

I attend cardiac rehab and the last two times I was on the treadmill, my EKG showed heart block (2nd degree)
then normal rhythm, skipped beats, then normal rhythm, it shows some added beats, then back into normal rhythm and then heart block again and normal and so on.  The nurse said they could use my EKG for a training class because it had so much different things on it.   They sent the strips to my cardiologist and he said not to worry but he would keep an eye on it.   I am not real comfortable with the whole situation.  Dont know what to do from here.  I dont usually wear a monitor when I am exercising so how is he going to keep an eye on it.  I dont have any dizziness or lightheadedness....just get out of breath.

Thanks for any info.

[yenny44]

Thank you for your reply.  Our cardiac rehab has 4 phases.  Phase 1 and 2 are monitored and insurance paid and you are right, they are for people who have had heart attacks or heart surgery.  I am on phase 3 which is not monitored except when the nurses feel there may be a problem.  I also have a-fib and doctor felt it would be a good place for me to exercise because of my heart arrhythmias which I guess I have about all of them.  I guess they are just waiting for me to get worse so a pacemaker can be put in but that scares me.  I fear I will pass out when it gets bad and no one will be around to help me.  And I dont know what the chances are that I wont get any worse but I sort of doubt that.  Thanks again.

[Jerry_NJ]

What happened that put you on the cardiac rehab program?  It usually means a heart attack, bypass surgery, or other heart surgery.  Any of these, or something else happen before you went on rehab?

I suffer from Atrial Fibrillation, and it makes it hard for me to exercise because of a shortness of breath, caused in some part to the inefficient heart pumping due to pumping errors, or lack of coordination between the atrial and ventricle pump cycles.

When I was on rehab following valve surgery the nurses were concerned about my low blood pressure (due to meds) but not particularly troubled by my heart rhythm problem.  They did share heart monitoring (the three point monitor) with my cardiologist, who wasn't concerned.  

I continue to consider additional measures to "fix" the AFib problem mostly to get more physical endurance.