Arrhythmias Support Group
Cardiac arrhythmia is a group of conditions in which the muscle contraction of the heart is irregular or is faster or slower than normal. Some arrhythmias are life-threatening medical emergencies that can cause cardiac arrest and sudden death. Others cause aggravating symptoms, such as an awareness of a different heart beat, or palpitation, which can be annoying.
First, I have to say how happy I am that I found this group. I have been to 4 different cardiologists (I don't trust anybody) and I got more comfort from the posts I read on here than from any of them. My adventure with irregular heartbeats started 3 yrs ago after a 5-day hospital stay for an intestinal blockage caused by scar tissue from gall bladder surgery I had 25 years previously (how come they never tell you these things??). Perhaps the withdrawl of food and water made my heart mad. Who knows? Anyhow, had afib the next day; two more episodes a few months later and then nothing for the next year, but then moved right along to PVC's with occasional afib. I have been on metoprolol from the start and have had no problems with it. In fact, it cured me from my 20 year bout with irritable bowel syndrome. Wish I knew about it sooner. I purchased a phone ecg thing from alivecor/Kardia after a recommendation from somebody on here and I'm very happy I did. Allows you to show the doc what you have experienced so they don't think you are nuts. Too many times everything is just fine when you go to the doc. The downside is that it gives you a lot of information that is all very nice, but you have no idea what to do with it. (ok, I'm having tachacardia and it's 1 am on Saturday night, now what? Should I do something?). I don't do anything and I'm still here.
After the afib reared it's ugly head again, the doc put me on flecinaide and reading about it scared me too and hearing from people on here that had been on it for years, calmed me down. I was on it for 9 months and had no problems with it. Now, after changing docs to a rhythm specialist, he wants me to take it "as needed" which I prefer and doesn't seem to make a difference. Guess the most important thing I have learned from the folks on here is that even if I am having PVC's for 2 weeks, I'm not going to die. It's still scary and I hate it but am glad I found this site.
I volunteer with a group called Mended Hearts and meet with hundreds of heart patients and their families. One pattern becomes evident pretty quickly, when people are monitored constantly it makes them crazy and worry more. My Cardio is PO at me for stopping checking my blood pressure daily, why because it drove me nuts and as you said, so what.
Look, I have a CRT-D which is a defibrillator. My heart is paced in both ventricles 100% and if/when it gets out of line, I get the ole Jesus Jolt to reset things. When the Cardio does a check once every 3 months he gets a readout of all the irregular heart beats that have occurred. If I knew what was going on real time, I'd probably have gone nuts by now. So what my heart beats fast sometimes, everybody's does. Point is I think monitors like the one you are using cause more problems than they help. You don't need no stinking monitor to tell you when things are wrong I suggest you sell that thing to someone else and forget about it