|
I had to go to the university hospital yesterday afternoon to be fitted with a Holter Monitor for a 24 hour ECG test of my heart.
7 electrodes attached to my chest, long wires leading a single unit that was then attached to a tiny monitor by a long lead. I had to wear it until about 12:30 pm today, then detach it all, and return the apparatus to the hospital.
It was not really uncomfortable, as long as I sat still and didn't try to move my arms around, but when sitting, the leads dangled down into my lap.
Trying to sleep in it was a bit of a problem ........ I was given a bag that I could put the monitor in and then tie it around my neck, but then there were all the other wires dangling around.
I could only lie on my back ............ think I got about 4 hours sleep.
Now I have 7 red rings on my chest and abdomen as a reminder, and need to make an appointment to see my doctor for the results in about 2 weeks.
|
|
That sounds a bit of a performance, but I hope the results are good and helpful.
Great that nowadays this 'at home' option is available.
A better night's sleep tonight, maybe.
|
|
I don't know how they expect people to sleep.
I once had a BP 24 hour monitor which was faulty and didn't switch off in the night for a few hours. Can't remember now what that sleepness night did to my BP.
|
|
I hope the results are Ok when you get them
|
|
Sylvia, when I had my heart surgery, i was attached to that monitor 24 hours a day for 2 weeks!!! I never slept a wink and it was heavy too when doing my daily walking exercises.
I too had red circles because i was allergic to the plasters. Last time i had a heart monitor for 7 days from my local hospital, they had new sensitive plasters which didnt rip my skin apart like the previous one.
Did you have to press the button everytime you felt your heart do a double beat or flutter?
Hopefully, the results wont show anything untoward.
Good Luck
Florence in the hebrides
|
|
Not having a good nights sleep wouldn't have helped your heart! I suppose this does give them the worse case maybe....
|
|
Hope the results are ok Sylvia. <3
|
|
Thanks for all the good wishes.
Caroline ...... apparently your BP is higher at night and morning, so it may be hard to tell!
names .... I had a 24 hour BP monitor some years ago. It beeped at 10 minute intervals all night as it was not to be turned off. You can guess how much sleep I got that night!
Florence ............. I didn't have a button to press, they gave me an 8 x 11 sheet of paper with instructions plus a table to fill in, folded into 4.
I got confused .......... the instructions said I had to fill it in with physical activity plus with heart reaction if any. The technician told me to only enter activity when there was a reaction. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to read the instruction leaflet before I left the room ..... I was in there barely 5 minutes!
OH came into the room with me, and he didn't understand either!
I only had 1 reaction, and that was my heart starting to beat more rapidly yesterday morning when I reached up over the kitchen sink to open the curtains, after moving around the house to turn on the heating, open the living room and dining room curtains, bring in the newspaper, and then filling and putting on the kettle before the curtains.
I think I moved a bit too fast as I did that :-D
So I entered that, plus about 3 other activities each day that hadn't resulted in a reaction.
We wait and see!
I don't seem able to get my BP down into at least the low 130s or 120s any more. But equally the doctor has said a couple of times that they are happy when I can get it into the 140s instead of the 170s (or higher) that shows in his office (white coat syndrome) .......... he even said last time that they don't have many worries about me (heart problems on both sides of the family) because I've lived so much longer than the rest of my immediate parental and grandparental guys. I'm out of the danger zone! :-D
My generation does in general seem to have lived longer, my cousins have generally lived into their late 80s and 90s. The major exception was my brother who was only 62 wen he died, but he had had heart problems since his teens and then angina. He was actually due to go into hospital about 2 days later for tests to determine the next stage of treatment ....... stents, bypasses, pacemaker, or ????
|
|
I have an appointment with my doctor a week tomorrow, the 27th.
Hope he has received the results by then!
He should ............ the Family Practice Office is in a building 2 away from the hospital :-D
|
|
UPDATE
I saw the doctor last Friday.
The results were "basically good". The cardiologist had spotted that there were sometimes halts when a heart beat started, but they were all very short, none were lengthy. This "halt" happens in a lot of people, and so the specialist thought there was no problem for me, as they were short.
But now they are playing around with my medications again! One of them I now have to take in the morning, and the other is doubled and has to be taken at night. Take bp regularly, and have a phone interview on Feb 14.
I haven't had a bone density scan for about 15-20 years, so one is now scheduled for March 2. It's a 7-8 month wait to go to the main hospital for it, so I have been booked into a private clinic that does the scans for Medicare ......... an attempt to cut down on long waits. Medicare pays for it all.
I also have to increase Vitamin D to between 1200 and 2000 IUs per day, and Calcium to 1000 mg every day as these higher doses are now recommended..
|
