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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

The doctor refused to help ..aibu here?

210 replies

sallybally335 · 04/01/2019 15:31

I've been having a irregular heartbeat since may.
I was getting around 50 extra heartbeats a day (PVCs) a day
Doctor sent me to cardiologist and they did a monitor (this only picked up 3 that day ) and heart scan which was normal.
Since then I'm now getting thousands a day and back and rib pain with them.
I went to doctors today and she said she wouldn't refer me back to cardio as I was only there July.
Aibu to complain to practice?

OP posts:
sallybally335 · 04/01/2019 16:15

@PookieDo I'm sorry for what you are going through.
I hope your ok and it turns out to be nothing serious

OP posts:
howardmoonseyebrow · 04/01/2019 16:17

This does sound like anxiety but we don’t know your medical history- your GP does. I would try the sertaline. Otherwise if you’re not keen on medications you could try relaxation, there are loads of downloads available on the internet or ask your GP to refer you for CBT.

sallybally335 · 04/01/2019 16:18

@Bufferingkisses I'm really not sure I do suffer severe anxiety.
If my heart was beating normally I would be ok.
You know what tho I'm so confused and upset lately I have no idea what's wrong with me anymore.

OP posts:
Bombardier25966 · 04/01/2019 16:19

Have you sought any support for your family situation OP, such as a carers assessment?

sallybally335 · 04/01/2019 16:19

I've also been having tightness In my throat..like I'm being strangled and when I get lots of PVCs my ribs go really tight and feel like they have someone squeezing my ribs.

OP posts:
sallybally335 · 04/01/2019 16:19

@Bombardier25966 I haven't no not yet

OP posts:
howardmoonseyebrow · 04/01/2019 16:21

web.ntw.nhs.uk/selfhelp/

PookieDo · 04/01/2019 16:21

You seem to find the concept of anxiety patronising or irrelevant? People are not being mean to you to suggest it, nor is your GP. It’s shouldn’t be seen as something ‘bad’ because how I justify it to myself is that anxiety is acrually the BEST outcome it could be

ShadyLady53 · 04/01/2019 16:22

Re the neck/strangling sensation, do you have a goitre/visible thickness in the neck area?

howardmoonseyebrow · 04/01/2019 16:22

I hope that link works Smile there is a booklet about anxiety which you might find helpful.

SaturdayNext · 04/01/2019 16:24

Why not try the sertraline? It might make all the difference to you.

PookieDo · 04/01/2019 16:25

The anxiety I see here when you post is the fear of missing out on something serious by focusing on anxiety. But you are already in limbo land as doing nothing isn’t helping either

You need to take the step of one of the options to address it as the alternative is spending the rest of your days counting heart beats which sounds really miserable

VanGoghsDog · 04/01/2019 16:25

Most people on here are not doctors, so go back to your doctor. There's no need to 'complain', just go again and say you feel really unwell and list the symptoms.

Stop counting your heart beats, that's never going to set your mind at rest and your GP will be cynical about you counting your heart beats and the cardiogram not showing the same - so just go with the actual symptoms, the pain, the tight throat etc.

If the GP prescribed anti-depressants though it's probably as well to take them before going back, as that was what they thought would help, and therefore it might!

Bombardier25966 · 04/01/2019 16:26

This has been going on for many many months and I can't see that you've done anything to help yourself.

How about making a list of things that you need to do? For a start:

  1. Start taking medication
  2. Refer yourself for CBT
  3. Request a carer's assessment

Then come back in a few days and let us know how you're getting on.

I'd also suggest yoga. You need to learn to control your breathing, and that could really help. Look up Yoga with Adriene Dedicate on YouTube, it's a new program just started this month.

Bombardier25966 · 04/01/2019 16:28
  • could really help your palpitations.
DragonMamma · 04/01/2019 16:28

OP, I think you can underestimate what anxiety can do to you.

I am the least anxious person I know. I don’t stress out about anything at all and am quite laid back on the whole (except for some postnatal anxiety after my DC were born).

However, before Christmas I was due to go for an operation (day surgery so nothing life threatening) and I was busy in work and dealing with other Christmas things.

I certainly didn’t feel stressed or anxious i.e. fretting or ruminating about things but my body was doing all sorts of weird things - I had a constant upset stomach, sweating a lot, palpitations etc.

Since my operation, I now realise that I was stressed/anxious, even subconsciously, even though I wasn’t sitting there and actively feeling any of those things.

I would definitely recommend taking Sertraline to try. I used it after my DC were born for some PNA.

PerverseConverse · 04/01/2019 16:29

In my head I have a serous heart condition that is going to ruin my life and eventually kill me

You've been seen by a cardiologist and anything serious has been ruled out so as the majority of others have said, this is just anxiety. Sertraljne made my palpitations worse so I don't recommend that SSRI. Prozac may be better.

I used to be a cardiac nurse and so many patients came in time and time again with what were essentially anxiety issues. It's dreadful that MH services aren't better as these are the services you need.

BollocksToBrexit · 04/01/2019 16:30

OP I've been having similar symptoms, palpitations, tightness in my throat and being woken by it in the night. I've been referred to a sleep clinic as my doctor thinks it's sleep apnea. Could it be this?

BlancheM · 04/01/2019 16:31

I'd bet my house its anxiety. I posted on one of your other threads about my experience with it so won't bore on again.
You don't have to be anxious to have anxiety. It does have a habit of striking whilst you're asleep and waking you up. You poor thing. I wouldn't wish what you're going through on anyone.

Lovemusic33 · 04/01/2019 16:31

I get this too and keep being given beta blockers. I do get anxiety but the fast heart beat doesn’t necessarily happen when I’m anxious, often happens when I’m quite relaxed.

mrkaykay · 04/01/2019 16:36

I think you need to listen when people suggest anxiety and not just think the worst.

Fairylea · 04/01/2019 16:36

You know if you DO have some serious underlying issue (and it doesn’t sound like you do) taking the antidepressants won’t have any effect on it, so you might as well take them and IF it is anxiety (as it probably is) then it might just help.
So why not give them a go?

MrsFrankDrebin · 04/01/2019 16:38

Fully aware this might not be relevant to the OP, but I have a friend who had issues with random/rogue heart beats and varying pulse/bp that came on suddenly at the age of 40. Dismissed for years as 'panic attacks' or 'you're imagining it'.

Only now, several years later, and luckily with the support of a friend of a friend who is a consultant in the field, has my friend been diagnosed with a problem with the vagus nerve. Hardly anyone has heard of the vagus nerve - the cardiac specialist my friend was seeing certainly hadn't; it isn't a 'cardiac' problem', and yet it can cause drastic problems with the heart/pulse/beats/bp etc. And it often only manifests after the age of 40.

But it's very rare - my friend is now aware of exactly how rare - so it is probably not the OP's problem. However, my friend experienced the same dismissive attitudes for years - she was dismissed as 'making it up', 'imagining it', 'having panic attacks' and more. The fact that my friend is also profoundly deaf with other associated physical issues also clouded everyone's judgement - basically it was too easy to write them off as 'making a fuss about nothing' (I went to many of the appointments because I have some BSL experience) until at last someone listened and now a very specialised consultant has taken over my friend's case.

Obviously that is a rare condition, and highly unlikely to be the reason why the OP is experiencing her odd symptoms. But it does go to show that sometimes things are underlying that are missed because people see the obvious, rather than delving deeper, and no one is more of an expert on how they feel than the person themselves.

On the other hand, if the OP has been advised to try antidepressants (I'm not aware of the OP's previous posting history, but obviously others here are) and hasn't yet done so, and/or given them several weeks to work, then obviously she should follow the advice she already has, and then go from there if there is no improvement.

Best of luck.

Walkingthroughawall · 04/01/2019 16:38

Ectopics on their own don't cause back or rib pain (I can't think of a mechanism by which they could). The pause and big thud you get after an ectopic beat is normal physiology not your heart 'stopping' (the extra beat means the heart's electrical conducting system is in a refractory or unexcitable state for a bit longer than usual and this means that the heart fills with blood for longer before the next beat and the next beat therefore feels massive).

sallybally335 · 04/01/2019 16:39

It happens all day not just when I'm asleep.
It's changed it used to only happen when I stepped foot outside ..then it was 10 mins before I went out and when I was out then it's anytime.
It's changing all the time

OP posts:
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