Doctors, Nurses, etc. I have an irregular heart beat. Is this life and death?
Question:
now i have an irregular heartbeat.
my heart skips beats.
i am going in for an EKG tomorrow morning, as soon as i can
my doc said there are even medicines to possibly treat this, but surgery is an option if it is serious. i dont have the results yet, so we cant say anything yet.
but is this situation life and death?
its probably not, but i am scared.
i want a normal life.
i want to play soccer, and football, and run around with my friends.
i dont want to have something that keeps me from this.
docs, nurses, how serious is this situation?
i will add additional details when i get the info tomorrow afternoon
Answers:
Relax!! Worry when you have something to worry about! 15 y/o don't normally have lethal arrhytmias (irregular heart beats). Do you use nicotine or caffiene? They can cause it. Young people frequently have rate changes that are normal and connected to breathing and intrathoracic pressures called sinus arrhythmia, but sounds more like your feeling a skipped beat which is usually a premature contraction from somewhere in the heart and at 15 I would worry.
I doubt it's life or death. If you smoke or drink, stop. The drugs to regulate the heart beat are usually fairly effective.
Please don't stress yourself worrying "what if". Years ago my heart would skip a beat and beat fast it was tachycardia,they said it was not serious it just meant I had a fast irregular heart beat. The doctor put me on lenoxcin to make the beat normal for a couple of years and it stabilized it and went away.
Good luck, you will be fine!
I have a regular irregularity in my heartbeat. My heart skips every 8Th beat and Then pumps hard on the 9th one. It is more noticeable if I am dehydrated and not taking care of myself. They have not treated it. I keep freaking out but they keep telling me I am OK. So now I get panic attacks when it happens, and then talk myself out of it. They had me wear a heart monitor for 4 days to test my status..
I have gone through most of my adult life with an irregular heart beat. Lots of people have. I now take a medicine for my heart. But I am 71 years old.They will be able to fix you up well. Your young enough to lead a good healthy life.Worry and stress are what you don't need .Trust your medics.
So much depends on the type of arrythmia that you are experiencing. You'll find out a lot more about it following your studies. While you're there, having your tests,etc., please ask any questions that you have in regards to your heart and treatment options. If you or your parents are not satisified in any or every way, you can get other opinions from other medical centers specializing in cardiac medicine. Since you've done well up to this point, it dosen't sound like it may be an immediate life or death situation. Hopefully you'll receive good news tomorrow.
ok....if you have been drinking a lot of coffee and smoking in the past few days, id probably not worry about it since it may be related
but given the following points: 1) you had a history of heart murmur when you were a baby 2) im supposing that your feeling the skip beats quite regularly these past few days since you described it quite definitively
i would suggest you proceed with the ECG to document any electrical abnormality and probably do a CXR and possibly a 2D-echo
i would rather not ignore what you're feeling because the consequences of underdiagnosis is graver and your complaints are justified with your previous history
No, it's not life or death. Irregular rhythms are very, very, rarely serious. And usually, if they are they are accompanied by symptoms.
The only surgical interventions of heart rhythm irregularities that I know of is what is called an ablasion, where they snake something up the artery in your leg to your heart and burn some electrical pathways, or they may put in a pacemaker.
Neither operation requires cracking open your chest, both can be done with minimal pain and scarring. Hospital stays, if there are any, are usually overnight.
I know pacemakers seem like they're for old people, and truth be told, usually they are, a lot of people have them and if you get one it shouldn't stop you from doing anything. My assumption is IF you do get one it will be what is called an 'on demand' pacemaker, which only fires if your heart skips a beat, but seriously, I doubt they'll give you one if your heat beat isn't causing you to be ill.
If you want to talk more about it, e-mail me.
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