How to not hit the panic button after this hospital appointment?

[ohbloodyhellsteeth]

I’m being daft I think .

Four-five yearly screening programme for inherited heart condition that can cause arrhythmia, and other very scary things . One relative currently has a diagnosis .

I get palpitations every day, and have had a few funny episodes of suddenly feeling very faint/heart racing that was put down to panic attacks .

The condition can be difficult to diagnose and a lot of tests normally needed seemingly .

ECG this morning and then a holter monitor for 24 hours . ECG tech runs ECG through, then said ‘ooh, I’ll maybe move your leads a bit, sometimes that’s lead positioning’

Changes them and whatever he was seeing is still there and they’ll get the doctor to review it . He said not to panic, fine to go and no panic .

I’m panicking . They wouldn’t have let me go home if it was indicating something serious would they?

No, they wouldn’t have let you go home if it was something alarming. Try not to worry-easier said than done I know.

Okay so you're having heart symptoms, and they caught it on the ecg. If they hadn't seen it on the ecg you would have needed more tests. A dr who's job it is, is going to review every inch of your ecg tape and will let you know if you need further treatment. I'd see it as a positive personally.

ECGs can also report really odd things, that when reviewed by an expert can be deemed nonsense. I've had them come up with all sorts of scary things, that actually were total rubbish.

No, they wouldn’t have let you go home if there was anything to be concerned about. Right now there is nothing to worry about, you’re in the right hands to investigate if there is a problem. There’s all sorts of reasons that can cause those symptoms, low vitamin D, hormones, stress, anxiety and more.

Take a deep breath, do some grounding exercises to get out of panic mode. I know it’s difficult though, completely empathise. 💐

I was taken to hospital with a suspected appendicitis a few years ago (turned out not to be in the end) but they did some kind of heart trace while they were considering surgery. Exactly the same thing happened to me. A nurse did it, and didn't seem happy, so repositioned things then tried again and still didn't seem happy. I think he gave up then and made some comments about the machine. From memory, I think he said they'd try again before surgery with different kit if a doctor wanted an accurate trace, although this thankfully didn't happen in the end. Nothing further came of it. Please try not to worry as it could be as simple as that.

Thank you, that makes sense . I vaguely remember my GP telling me years ago that they throw up all sorts of weird things and it’s usually nothing . Low vitamin d wouldn’t surprise me at all. Funny thing now that I’ve got the monitor on symptoms have all quietened down again !!