Worried about DH - palpitations/other issues

[Bluelo]

I don't understand how we got here but approx two months ago, DH started suffering with lightheadedness and extreme fatigue. He is generally a fit person walked five/six miles a day regularly, always eating fruit and veg. He had some gastric issues but had not had day off work for three years. He started not sleeping well, waking up with palpitations, experiencing extreme fatigue. The palpitations happened at work with a feeling of fairness so was sent home.
He loves his job but it is safety-critical so has been off now for a couple of weeks. He has had an ECG but nothing showing, he was given indigestion tabs by GP to help sleep/gastric issues and because of nature of job has been referred to cardiologist.We are expect appt to come through this week.

Is it worth going private? To speed things up? I'm so worried in such a short space of time a fit and healthy man can barely make it down.the stairs without feeling exhausted. The exhaustion is physical as well as lack of sleep. He got lightheaded and ill after activities like washing up and swapping a tv over (we did this together). He has barely left the house, /let alone bedroom and loves his walks and fresh air. I'm beside myself with worry it doesn't seem right. He absolutely does not suffer work stress adores his job and hates being off.

Does anyone know if cardiology is one of those areas that has less attention at present because if covid?

I don't know what else to do, he is so.tired and has got in vicious cycle of not sleeping and waking up with palpitations.
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Faitness..not fairness although seems not even a word

Has he had blood tests?

I had the exact same symptoms with severe B12 and folate deficiency, never heard someone describe the waking up with palpitations in exactly the same way I had!
Every night I would wake up with a start and my heart would be racing for about half an hour before it calmed down.
Also had lightheadedness, mild stomach problems, and had to lie down after only walking for 10 minutes (usually extremely

Resolved after 2 of the 6 loading injections of B12.

Get bloods done (FBC, B12, folate, thyroid, LFTs, kidney function, vit D) either privately or on NHS. That should be the first thing the doctor does

Should say *usually extremely fit!

I second the B12 and get him to eat a lot more red meat and cut down on the veg for a while.

If he's had gastric issues I would guess that he hasn't been absorbing B12 properly.

Thank you @whatsbinhappnin he did have bloods after he was sent to the GP from the episode at work...it was a bit of an emergency appt and tbh he is not used to going to docs. He doesn't know what blood tests they did. Definitely looking for thyroid issues and blood counts etc. I'm going to have to ask them aren't I?

I'm sorry you had to deal with it too sounds rough but glad it was sorted for you. Will check with GP.

@LongPauseNoAnswer

I second the B12 and get him to eat a lot more red meat and cut down on the veg for a while.

If he's had gastric issues I would guess that he hasn't been absorbing B12 properly.

This is helpful as he actually cut down on red meat to see if would help with tummy issues after an episode he linked to trying to digest steak.

A gastric episode not pallpir

Was also going to say b12/folate deficiency.

Has he had coronavirus (even mildly), could be long covid.

@thalassoma - the thought had crossed my mind we both had a mystery virus late summer_ he was been working throughout lockdowns and I work at a Uni . The bupa hospital not 10mins from here were doing covid antibody tests before lockdown. problem is I couldn't get him there as he was so fatigued.

I'll look into again

None of the usual symptoms when we had the mystery virus so no testing done. it was around late summer before test /trace /second wave.

Yes, definitely worth asking. I think B12 isn't one of the tests most 'commonly' done, but should be easy to get from GP

Otherwise Thriva do home tests if you can afford it but I think it's generally better to go via GP for follow up

Was his ecg a short one and did he actually have any of the episodes if palpitations while he was having it?

@contraIndicated - yes it was a short one - done at the GP practice. he wasn't having any episodes at the time. It was about 6 hours after the episode at work and 111 sent him to GP on emergency appt. He hadn't been for six years before that apart from his over 50 health check.

@whatsbinhappnin I can't get through to GP at mo so may just order test if it all carries on thank you.

He does have ECG tests through his health checks for work - we always get a bit worried as he has been known to have weird results that require further ECGs as a result of his very hairy chest !

What gastric symptoms does he have?

@bloodywhitecat mainly issues he has attributed to self diagnosed IBS - i've been on at him to go to Docs about it for years but he just accepted as part of his life after eating rich food etc. Lately heartburn too and a bit of nausea.

My partner has the same thing- extreme fatigue, palpatations at random times alongside shortness of breath and insomnia.

Back in March he had a really bad chest and with COVID kicking off no doctor would see him in person so he was prescribed 3 different courses of antibiotics and steroids back to back which didn't touch it, it gradually eased off but he still wasn't 100%.

He was ok over the summer, then start of September the fatigue, palpatations etc started.

The out of hours doctor refered him to A&E where he had blood tests, a chest x-ray and ECG which all came back clear- they suggested it could be a panic attack and anxiety about his health/COVID in general.

All the symptoms continued so he kept on at his GP and he's being referred for more chest x-rays and a 24 hour ECG. Further blood tests came back he was low in folic acid and iron so he's on supplements for those, but they haven't made much of a difference.

The last GP app he had they said it could be long-COVID. But since he didn't get seen in person in March and got fobbed off with antibiotics, it's been too long for a COVID or antibodies test so there's no real way of knowing.

Just seen your latest post, since March he's also had random waves of nausea and heartburn which never bothered him before!

I was just going to say has he had corona virus or he might not even know he had it. I had it really mildly last month and since I have the exact symptoms you describe, I made a post about it last week.

It does sound like long covid. Check out some of the threads and see if anything sounds familiar.

I think he needs a 24 hour ecg. Those things he’s describing as gastro could also be heart related.

Thanks all - sorry to hear about those suffering and your loved ones suffering . I will checkout the long covid threads - looking into going private for the next step to speed things up.

[quote Bluelo]@bloodywhitecat mainly issues he has attributed to self diagnosed IBS - i've been on at him to go to Docs about it for years but he just accepted as part of his life after eating rich food etc. Lately heartburn too and a bit of nausea.[/quote]
DP had those symptoms, it was also attributed to IBS then the extreme fatigue set in. Then yellowness. DP has pancreatic cancer. I would push to get him seen and get some blood tests done, it most likely isn't cancer but it could be.

I would push for a 7 day Holter test. He will wear a sticky pad on his chest for a week and it will record all episodes.
I may well be Atrial Fibrillation / Atrial Flutter...and is often only picked up in this way...can be hard to spot on a random ecg.
I had the exact same symptoms..they were getting worse and worse and was fobbed off by my GP. Eventually another GP referred me to a cardiologist and it was sorted within a fortnight. Now take medication to control it and feel great again.