Would you go on holiday in this situation?

[southdown19]

Have a wonderful holiday booked for early next week. Kiddies and I abroad for a week, first holiday in two years. Yesterday I had a situation whereby my heart rate hit 170bpm whilst resting and refused to come down. My 16 year old called 999 and by the time I was admitted into hospital it had dropped To around 120. Chest x Ray clear, bloods clear, there was a blip on one ecg which dr said could be an AF so was admitted last night. Overnight it dropped to a normal resting rate but would rise dramatically as soon as I moved. Dr did not look at overnight monitoring and said for it to have been done properly a nurse would've needed to check on it regularly. Also advised yesterday it could have been a severe anxiety attack, I do get anxiety but never to this degree. Still feel absolutely pants. Basically been told they don't know what it is and would need an active ecg during the episode. Going to see GP in morning. So my dilemma is do I just go and risk this potentially happening mid flight again (nervous flyer) or try and plead with Tui/go through travel insurance? As dr at hospital told me though the issue is that they have no diagnosis for me. Either that or I face losing 6k that I've saved hard for. If anyone has any bright ideas I'd really appreciate them....

I would get the Gp to confirm not fit to fly and then claim on insurance.

If you travel now then the new under investigation condition won’t be covered by your insurance so will risk being very expensive

Thank you, this is what I was thinking. However the hospital have discharged me with no further investigations planned and have advised me to purchase an app to see if I can catch it if it happens again 🤦‍♀️

If I go to the GP and ask for investigations then maybe this would count?

Hi do you use a vape ? I had an episode like this a couple of months back and it was my body reacting to the nicotine in the vape. Just a thought

I don't, wish it was that! I actually stopped smoking cigarettes nearly four months ago

If the hospital have discharged you saying it was most likely a panic attack, I would leave it at that until after the holiday. As going to the GP will potentially bring it "under investigation" and will mess up your insurance. Could it have been anxiety? You will know better than us.

That being said, will the fear and worry cause it to happen again? Let's say it was a panic attack, if you're nervous about a repeat then it's risky. So in that case might be better to go to the GP who can give you something to keep you calm on the flight.

I took a risk once, years ago. Flew long haul when I had an ectopic pregnancy. The hospital couldn't officially declare me fit to fly but unofficially did! But they actually said that the biggest risk was me having a panic attack on the plane but I had diazepam for the flight and they urged me to use it.

It's a tough one though, I'm under investigation for something currently and have had to postpone my holiday plans, but luckily wasn't actually booked yet.

I asked them to confirm this also and they said they couldn't. They told me they also cannot tell me there is nothing wrong with my heart. Maybe if I was going with another adult I'd not worry so much.

Same as you I worry that a panic attack may be the biggest risk, hard isn't it. And I am absolutely terrified of flying and normally end up hyperventilating.

In that case I'd go to the GP, explain about the holiday and your fear re having an anxiety attack while flying but that this is your and the DCs first holiday in a couple of years and hopefully they will be sympathetic to that. Propranolol is regularly prescribed for this type of thing and it slows your heart rate which sounds like it would help you.

It was a similar scenario when I had the ectopic, I had DC that i really didn't want to disappoint and the medics were very sympathetic to that.

How old are the DC? Is there an older one you could comfide in to help keep you calm?

Failing that, tell one of the cabin crew when you get on board that you're a nervous flyer and they will check in on you. Also be reassured they carry defibrillators on board and are trained to use them so absolute worst case scenario you would get medical assistance.

The way I looked at it, which helped me. Was that I could have a medical emergency in bed at night and no one would know until the morning. Whereas on a plane you're surrounded by people and could get instant help if required.

I do wonder if maybe, with the trip being so near, you subconsciously started getting anxious about the flight? The mind can be a funny thing sometimes. You also gave up smoking relatively recently so that may be a factor in the anxiety.

Thank you, super helpful! Well I spoke to the GP and they wouldn't even see me. New one at our surgery. Say they want to do another ECG in case but that everything was clear. Mentioned how anxious I was and that they mentioned it could be an anxiety attack and was I able to access any medications to help as scared about it happening in flight and she refused. Told me she doesn't want me out of it in charge of children, which is not what I asked for anyway! Anyway she says she deems me fit to fly so basically we are going... No idea if I need to speak to travel insurance...