Robert’s Heart

My Nuclear Stress Test (earlier post) was prompted by an emergency room visit where I appeared (by my own account) to have short runs of ventricular tachycardia (VTAC). It had been my understanding that any VTAC was dangerous.

On Wednesday (7/16/08) I had been having some rather strong arrhythmias some felt like Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVTs). In the mid afternoon I had a few of these which caused me to have a light headed feeling. This has happened before when I’ve had SVTs. So, I hooked up my little 3 lead ECG and monitored my heart for a few minutes when I had a run of PVCs. At first it was 3 in a row every couple of minutes and occasionally it was 4 in a row. I ran these past my mom who is a retired cardiac care nurse. She confirmed that these were technically VTAC. She also indicated that I should be concerned. Moderately concerned I attempted to contact my doctor for an opinion (yeah right… just try to get a doctor on the line at 4:50 pm). A few minutes later I had a run of 9 beats of VTAC (3 seconds) (Click Here For The ECG). Now I’m concerned. If it can run for 3 then 4 then 9 beats… it can continue. “I’m going to the ER.” So I printed a copy of the ECG and headed there in earnest.

When I arrived in the ER the triage nurse took a look at my ECG and said “looks like VTAC.”

…skip a few hours of being hooked up and monitored plus blood tests…

ER Dr. says we want you to stay over night for monitoring. Ok… they agree this is concerning. I usually get “Benign Palpitations. Have a nice day.” With the tone: “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.”

…skip being awakened every two hours for blood tests DOH!…

The next day my Cardiologist eventually came by to see me (about 1:30pm, and yes that’s an annoyed tone in my typing). He indicated these too were benign, but that I should probably be on a higher dose beta blocker and we should do a few more tests. Specifically a Nuclear Stress Test and a Cardiac MRI. He did confirm that technically this is VTAC. But it isn’t dangerous unless it becomes prolonged (i.e. I pass out). So if I pass out I should dial 911. Yeah right

I’m not so certain about the beta blocker thing. About 2 weeks ago I started a daily extended release beta blocker and this is the first time I’ve seen runs of PVCs. I monitor my heart whenever I have strong feelings of the arrhythmias. I would know if I had seen these before, and I haven’t. The cardiologist wants to basically double that dosage. I’ll discuss the beta blocker thing next time we talk.

Yesterday (7/25/08), at the doctor’s recommendation I had a Nuclear Stress Test. It’s a fairly strait forward process. They inject you with a radio isotope, Thallium or Sestamibi, then wait a few minutes for the isotope to settle in the heart cells. Then a gamma camera is used to take a bunch of images of the heart from different angles which are combined into a 3D model. The model represents how much blood flow makes it to the muscle cells of the heart.

After the first set of pictures are taken you are stressed, typically on a treadmill (like a rat in a mad science experiment ). Hooked up to a 12 lead ECG you run until your heart rate reaches 160 bpm. At that time you are injected with a second dose of the radio isotope and run for 2 more minutes. After a cool down period and snack more images are taken with the gamma camera.

When I get the results from the Doctor next week I’ll post more information.

I’m also scheduled to have a Cardiac MRI in the next two weeks.

Had several SVT’s yesterday (7/23/08) so I hooked up the homemade 3 Lead ECG to see what was up (I know I’m a freak). Monitoring Lead II for a short period of time I had an SVT and noticed something new today: Inverted P waves after the SVT converted to a sinus rhythm. I’m not certain what that means… but it’s new. I’ll have to print that one for my cardiologist.

At between 16 and 17 seconds on the ECG (Click Here For The ECG) the P wave inverts.

Come to think of it the SVT in this strip doesn’t really follow the normal pattern I’ve seen in the past. Hmm.

Greetings!

My heart arrhythmias really started about 20 years ago. But only about 2 years ago did they become annoying… or better described as concerning. You know what I mean. The kind of “concerning” that you are willing to head for the hospital ER and describe a tickle in your chest to which you get the response “Benign Palpitations. Have a nice day.”

Well, I’ve been in the ER now 4 times in the last 2 years with “benign” arrhythmias. Each time I learned something new; not always about my heart or health, but sometimes about doctors and people and myself.

Anyway, this blog is about my ongoing concerns about my heart arrhythmias (I couldn’t spell that word until I started this blog ).

Over the next few days, maybe week or two, I hope to describe my experiences to date.   I really want this to be my archive of symptoms and ECG strips that I take.