Was I an A&E time waster?

[ConstableConstance]

Last week I went to our local minor injuries because I'd been feeling unwell for a few days with feelings of a fast heart rate and being out of breath . I then felt very sick and dizzy so thought I would get checked out .

My heart rate was 130 and my blood pressure was a little bit high so they sent me to hospital .

In hospital they performed an ECG and my blood pressure was ok by that point .

I tried to explain that my heart races when I'm just walking normally - it's usually ok when I'm resting - they weren't really interested.

This was all in the wee hours of the morning . At 3am they came to discharge me but by this point I felt sick and dizzy and a wee bit teary because I felt rubbish and hadn't slept .

The dr admitted me .

The next day another doctor came told me my heart rate was fine (it was as I was resting) .I again tried to explain it only rises and leaves me breathless when I'm standing or walking .

He told me categorically it was anxiety , I must be worried about things and was a wee bit patronising.

I was calm and I know I'm not anxious .

I was monitored for a further 2 days and spent most of it in bed other than trips to the loo - where my heart would again race and I'd be out of breath .

I was discharged with no diagnosis other than probable anxiety hypochondriac .

The doctor did say my heart rate is fast but regular .

A week later and I still feel rubbish , breathless and with a racing heart.

Did I waste their time?

It's really annoying as I didn't feel listened to and he just kept repeating "things must be difficult at the moment" - he knows nothing about me!

Luckily there is only me and the dog here so I can rest and work from home .

I feel rubbish and a wee bit peeved that the random doctor who I will probably never see again feels I've wasted his time !

bloods 'were fine'
do you know the numbers behind the 'fine'?

My DH was fobbed off, time and time again.

He then had a seperate condition, that wasn't connected to his palpitations, dizziness etc. Finally a Consultant, at his appointment did a resting and standing up heart/pulse test, which got him a proper diagnosis and treatment.

He could then return to a near normal lifestyle.

The difference in my resting and active Stats is big, because of very low blood pressure.

I have a FitBit and I've just put it on to measure .

I'm just pottering around (bungalow but with some steps!) .

My readings so far :

113
106
137 (up the steps)
111

I'm a bit wary of bugging my GP with this after the way the doctor has made me feel .

No you didn't but go back to gp..

The diagnosis of anxiety may be due to Drs training when I was doing my nurses training they gave us a scienario similar to yours, the mental health nurses said anxiety whereas the general nurses were looking for more physical causes, if the dr specialises in mental health that's what he's used to.

Hope you get the answers from your gp

I was dx with atrial fibrillation a few years ago
Heart rate 270 st one point
Blue lighted into resus
They were about to do a cardio version when I went back into sinus rhythm spontaneously
I was tested and told it may never happen again but I have pills at home Just in case
I was also told it can cause stroke
But yours sounds more like pots to me....very hard to find a dr who knows about it tbh

Why didn't you ring the on-call service - ring the usual number for your GP out-of-hours and it should have the information on how to access the out of hours service. Minor injuries wasn't the right place, no.

But do contact your GP. There is no point in just watching your FitBit! That does sound a bit like anxiety, so go to the GP who can sort out the necessary investigations, which is something that the minor injuries clinic can't do. Good luck!

Sounds like you need a stress test I.e where they monitor you on a treadmill

I don't feel anxious at all

And surely if it was anxiety , then it would be all the time not just when I'm moving about - unless I'm anxious about the masses of house work that needs doing

To be fair the hospital doctors did take you seriously and monitored you for 3 days. As others have said, it's not the emergency doctors' place to do more than treat the emergency condition as seen. Your GP is the one to take this forward.

However, please don't dismiss anxiety as a possible cause for these unpleasant symptoms. If everything comes back normal then it may be the cause. When we get an unpleasant sensation it feeds back into a cycle of anxious feelings and increased symptoms. This does not equate to being a weak person or a time waster but very few people like to be told their illness is actually due to anxiety.

See your GP and get thoroughly checked.

Overactive thyroid can cause all those symptoms.

If I were you I would go back to your go and ask them to refer you for a 24 hour monitor. They set them up in the hospital and then you go home and do as normal the things that would cause you to feel unwell. They cannot say it is just anxiety from checking your heart when you're laying in bed!

'Anxiety' is more complex than 'I feel anxious' - and is absolutely NOT hypochondria (that is quite insulting to all the people whose conditions are exacerbated by anxiety - and most conditions are). My son has/had atrial fibrillation and numerous admissions to hospital via A&E - if the heart is not pumping efficiently and blood is pooling in heart chambers then it is considered a stroke risk. My son has had oodles of treatment but he considers the most effective to be developing insight into his condition, what triggers palpitations/fast heart rate and how to slow it down. He can now head off an attack at the earliest signs and hasn't had a hospital admission for some years.

Please check if your b12 has been tested, it's not done routinely in a full blood count. Palpitations, racing heart rate and breathlessness were my major symptoms and I was diagnosed with pernicious anaemia which causes b12 deficiency last year. A lot of people with b12 def get told it is anxiety as most blood tests come back 'fine'.

Its a difficult one how old are you op? there could be an underlying issue.

My Dm was experiencing breathlessness, heart racing, pains in her chest, went to hospital and got told it was anxiety/panic attacks.

a couple of days later she had a heart attack and reluctantly went back. I would advise to trust you instincts. my DM was lucky it wasn't fatal

Sorry if my post comes across dismissing anxiety - that wasn't my intention.

I was trying to say that as the doctor couldn't even say it was an anxiety attack, then he obviously thought I was a hypochondriac!

My mum has an over active thyroid so I'll see my GP.

You definitely need to see a GP there are lots of common things like Thyroid, Iron levels etc which would need ruled out before POTS would be considered.

From my pp with my Fitbit readings - do they look ok or high ?

I'm not liking this thread, if the OP has been monitored for 3 days in hospital and the medical staff have ruled out other causes and diagnosed her with anxiety then I don't think people finding lots of helpful 'alternatives' to that diagnosis is particularly helpful, neither is encouraging her to question her doctors interpretation of 'all is fine'

OP, I had something very similar, like you I was baffled as I didn't feel anxious, the only thing making me anxious was the breathlessness and palpitations, it was awful and went on for days, my GP prescribed me some Beta Blockers which really helped break the cycle (which I didn't even realise I was in) , if I had come on here looking for alternative diagnoses then it would have actually made me worse!!

In hindsight mine was probably brought on by some unresolved issues that I hadn't dealt with at the time as I am naturally a pretty laid back person - Obviously not as 'laid back' as I thought!!

I suffer with anxiety. I got myself into a horrid cycle where every time I go up the stairs my heart rate goes quite high and I can't breathe as well as I should.

I figured it out in the end that I had a panic attack walking up the stairs once and now every time I do it I remember and panic again. The fact that I can go on a bike ride up hills and feel ok, and sometimes when I go up the stairs I forget about it and I'm fine leads me to know in my case it is 'just' anxiety.

It is quite common for anxiety sufferers to get into cycles like that, however too many things are often passed off as anxiety as well so if you really don't think that is your problem then yes, you need to get this investigated.

I would be asking for the 'treadmill test' and a possible 24 hour holter.

It's quite standard for doctors to dismiss female patients with fast heart rates as anxious, believe me I've been there.

In the long run I turned out to have POTS plus irregular heartbeat and bouts of SVT. My resting pulse is around 110, BP normally 90 over 60. My pulse goes very fast when doing activities. Your heartrate readings aren't that fast in the general scheme of things, so don't worry about that. But at the same time, you know when you're heart is faster than normal, and there must be something causing it.

I'd ask your GP for a 24 hour ECG, in which case make sure you do plenty of different activities in that time.

If necessary they may refer you to a cardiologist in which case you can do a 7 day ECG.

Your heart not you're

YWNBU to attend A+E with your symptoms

YwouldBU if you did not have this further investigated via your GP and ?cardiology.

Acute admission often only lead to 'acute' stuff i.e. heart attach etc being ruled out, rather than a firm diagnosis being made, so follow up as an outpatient is the way forward.

There are all sorts of reasons for a poor exercise tolerance and pronounced reaction of your pulse going up at minimal exertion: overactive thyroid, yes, anxiety/stress, poor fitness, POTS, weird and wonderful adrenaline related problems etc etc.

You've had a number of things ruled out while in hospital, your symptoms persist: now the detective work begins.

See your GP.

I'm not liking this thread, if the OP has been monitored for 3 days in hospital and the medical staff have ruled out other causes and diagnosed her with anxiety then I don't think people finding lots of helpful 'alternatives' to that diagnosis is particularly helpful, neither is encouraging her to question her doctors interpretation of 'all is fine'

I think it would be more worrying if people didn't advise the OP to go back to her GP.

I work in A&E and a lot of things are put down to anxiety. Sometimes they are probably right, other times there might actually be more going on.

Her symptoms remain, she says she isn't anxious and I think it is a bit patronising not to believe her. If she isn't happy with her care she should be encouraged to go back to the GP for further testing or just a chat at least.

Anxiety/stress is very real and causes very real biochemical changes AND physical symptoms.
It is an important differential diagnosis and IME more often overlooked than used as a means of 'dismissing' somebody.

I simply think that the OP has not arrived at a diagnosis yet and that if there was more understanding about how medicine is often a jigsaw and a process of exclusion that takes time, repeated examinations and investigations and perseverance there would be less of a feeling of being 'fobbed off'. Acute medical hospital admission are there to rule out acute issues. There are NOT the best way to investigate and ongoing problem once the acute stuff has been ruled out.

Of course the OP should go back to her OP.
She has stated that she is not anxious or stressed. She's likely right.

Your GP may book you in to a hospital to receive 24 / 48 hr monitoring. I had this. Your heart rate is monitored as you go about your normal day. You note down what you are doing at different times.