Pulmonary Embolism Support Group

By far the most common form of pulmonary embolism is a thromboembolism, which occurs when a blood clot, generally a venous thrombus, becomes dislodged from its site of formation and embolizes to the arterial blood supply of one of the lungs. Symptoms may include difficulty breathing, pain during breathing, and more rarely circulatory instability and death.

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heart monitor&lung function

ldmendoza
ldmendoza
I am 5 weeks home from the hospital with PEs in both lungs. I went to the pulmonary doctor yesterday. He asked how my breathing was and I mentioned SOB from time to time. He said that should be gone by now(but from what I've learned on this website from all the veteran PE survivors SOB can come and go for many months... hmmmmm) anyway he is ordering a lung function test and wants me to wear a harness heart monitor for 24 hours to see if my heart rate is causing some of the SOB.

Has anyone had to do this? I am anxious and not knowing what to expect. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.
lakotajo2
lakotajo2
Can't address the lung function tests, but I had to wear the Holter monitor for 24 hrs too. It is like having an ekg. Don't put lotion or oil on your body before the test, so they can stick the pads to you. They will give you a log to fill in as you are wearing the monitor. So if you have SOB, you put the time and what you are doing when it happens, so they can check what your heart was doing at the time. Not painful, you just can't take a shower while you are wearing it. I hope that helps!
Jo
TossNTurn
TossNTurn
I've done a stack of lung function tests recently. None of them was painful or invasive and hopefully it'll help us figure things out. I do think your doc is barking up the wrong tree, but maybe they'll find something in the testing that will help you recover.

I did see a cardiologist who wanted me to wear the monitor for 24 hours "just to see." I refused. I don't think my heart is the problem and it seemed like a waste of my time and my insurance money.

Good luck!
ldmendoza
ldmendoza
Thank you both for the info. Did either of you ever have any heart palpitations from time to time? I had an echo cardiogram done in the hospital and all was well.

In one way I'm glad the doc is being careful, but in another way, the anxiety level is so high I'm afraid I'm gonna distort my heart rate and really mess things up! Oh well, deep breath and lots of prayer.

Thanks for the advice.
deleted_user
deleted_user
LD,
Having shortness of breath at 5 weeks is not abnormal, so not sure what your DR. expects.
Glad to see you had an echo cardiogram. That should have picked up on any heart damage/problems. Not sure how much wearing a heart rate monitor is going to tell your doctor but its not going to hurt you. Might as well humor the Dr., but I doubt its going to reveal anything. Your heart rate is going to go up and down depending on your activity level and he/she has no baseline of data to compare it against (i.e., before you were sick).

I bicycle alot and wear a heart rate monitor when I ride. I primarily use it for my own information to gauge my level of exertion.

Best of luck!

Robert
lakotajo2
lakotajo2
Yeah, I have heart palpations from time to time. Most of the time those are pretty benign, but the monitor can help to tell whether or not they need to be more concerned. That would be one of the things you would note in the log with the time, so the cardiologist can figure it out. Good luck!
Jo