To think I don't need to go to A & E ?

[DreamCloud99]

DH thinks I need to go to the emergency room .

I think my symptoms don't warrant a trip to a & e , plus I can't be arsed to sit and wait for hours on end .

I've been having heart palpitations pretty much constantly for two days. It settles but then starts up again when I move about or stand / walk .

My heart rate when measured periodically has been anywhere between 90 to 125 bpm at rest or when standing / walking .

I only had a few hours sleep last night as the constant palpitations kept me awake and I also felt dizzy lying down .

I feel slightly unwell because of the regular shortness of breath and heart Palps but not actually poorly if that makes sense .

Knowing me , I'll rock up at a & e and I'll be totally fine

Who is right ?

Please go to A and E. My neighbour felt unwell one evening with something similar and decided to send his kids to their aunt's and sleep it off. He never woke up.

Sounds like A fib I agree you need to go to acc/em asap good luck

I also have ME- it is so easy to just blame any illness or symptoms on that, but if this is new to you/worse than usual then you really need to go and get checked. Always better to be safe than sorry

Why are you still posting?
Off you go to A&E - post tomorrow to let us know how you are. Take care.

He's right. But you know that really

Nobody here can diagnose you - not even you!

Get thee to A+E. Now.

DH and I are both A&E nurses (approx 25yrs experience between us). Yes you should go to A&E. A&E staff want to see patients who have problems like this before they get worse.

You shouldn't need to wait around for hours to know if you need to stay. The triage nurse should arrange an ECG to be done to see what heart rhythm you're in.
It sounds like you could be getting some AF (atrial fibrillation), it can come and go. The shortness of breath indicates that you are compromised and should be checked out. It could be something else, or nothing, but shouldn't be ignored.

Good luck and hope you feel better soon.

Better safe than sorry a& e im afraid dh is right!

Put the shoe on the other foot. Would you want your dh to go to A and E if he had those symptoms?

You know what you need to do.

Good luck and hope you get seen quickly.

Have you consumed any caffeine as that can affect heart rate. Are you anxious at the moment? Try really hard to relax and regulate your breathing see if that helps at all. Personally I couldn't face sitting in A&E for hours. I also suffer with ME and get bad palpitations periodically. I would definitely see the doctor first thing in the morning who will probably send you for an EGC.

The triage nurse will do an ECG and go from there. It is so much better to have the ECG when you are actually having the symptoms.

id go to a&e too,
better to be safe than sorry , i have to go a few times due to arrhythmia ,mine goes back to normal quickly but its best to check with an ecg.

What did you decide to do, DC99? Hope you're feeling better now. x

If you are having frequent or constant palpitations then your heart may not be pumping as effectively and blood may be pooling in the chambers of the heart. This is actually a stroke risk as pooled blood becomes more viscous and likely to form clots. I am a 'don't go to A&E unless you are actually dying/limbs hanging off' person - but this is an emergency situation.

Dreams that resting heart rate is far too high. Normal is between 60 and 80 I believe. Go to ED. Especially as you're not feeling great, why take the risk?

Definitely a trip to A&E needed. I hope you've been or are there now & getting properly checked out X

I had palpitations a couple of years ago. I phoned 111 & they said to go straight to A&E & get someone else to drive me there. They gave me an ECG & loads of different tests. I would definitely go.

Sounds very much like Atrial fibrillation which does increase your risk of a CVA without medication, go and get checked out.

are you ok OP?

Op give us an update. Hope you're ok

Sorry for the delay in updating . DH called the out of hours doctor after I felt very sick and my heart rate went to 160 after going upstairs .

The Dr came out and did an ECG - my rhythm was normal and when I had been sitting for a while , my heart rate had dropped to 85 - 97.

I tried to explain it is when I stand up or walk that is when I feel unwell .

He was very dismissive and asked about my mood , whether I feel low etc and how it must be hard coping with twins patronising as hell .

I kept trying to explain that I really don't feel well when my heart rate shoots up when I stand or walk .

He took a few more readings of me sitting down and he basically said it was normal and left!

I feel like shit - I'm so out of breath even standing up but he made me feel like a paranoid liar :(

OP as a nurse retired due to M.E who also suffered with these symptoms I would offer you the following advice

Go to A&E to get checked out, it may be an unrelated condition like atrial fibrillation

Secondly see your go and ask for a full vitamin screen. In my case I had multiple vitamin deficiencies vit d, B12, folate, calcium, zinc and magnesium which were at the root of my palpitations

Even now 5 years on if my levels drop the palpitations come back and this is quite common with M.E sufferers

like this?

Keep a record, dates times etc, do keep an eye on caffeine intake (has an impact on palpitations), consider the impact of stress/mood, and when you have evidence the trigger is standing/moving and nothing else then go back to the GP.

Quite surprised you got an OOH doctor and not an ambulance, with chest weirdness + nausea.

Yes it sounds exactly like POTS!

I did mention it to the doctor and he just shrugged it off and said my heart rate was normal

POTS is hard to diagnose, it's sort of a "everything else has been excluded" diagnosis. I am convinced that many past cases of ME were actually POTS, POTS is relatively newly recognised. The symptoms overlap a lot.

Could you afford to get a good quality HRM (chest strap one) that would allow you to download data afterwards. Keep an activity log, too. Then you could take lots of summary data to GP & others to show what's going on.