1. < Heart Rhythm Conditions

Has anyone had an insertable Cardiac Monitor?

Posted by jigglejaws94 @jigglejaws94, Oct 12, 2016

Just curious if anyone else has a Reveal LINQ implant ?? I had one inserted in July of this year to monitor my palpitations. I have had palpitations for years but earlier this year they changed (at least for a while) and I experienced shortness of breath and pain with the palpitations.

I just think this is really cool technology.

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cwitton1 | @cwitton1 | Jan 6 7:56am

Ive had a loop recorder since 9/21.

REPLY
cwitton1 | @cwitton1 | Jan 6 8:11am
In reply to @jigglejaws94 "Larry -- I feel for your situation. It can be so frustrating sometimes. Back in 2013,..." + (show)
@jigglejaws94

Larry -- I feel for your situation. It can be so frustrating sometimes. Back in 2013, I went to a Christmas sing and by the fifth song I was gasping for air. My heart started doing some really strong palpitations and I couldn't catch my breath. There were some EKG abnormalities and my doctor ordered a pretty thorough cardiac work-up. The Holter revealed lots of PVCs, PACs and some ventricular tachycardia which was probably the most concerning to them. I had an echocardiogram which was essentially normal. Also a stress test which had ST wave abnormalities but which was apparently a false positive (happens 50% of the time for women). I was sent onto a cardiologist who did a nuclear stress test which came out beautifully. At the cardiology follow-up, the cardiologist told me that I just have a "special" heart. Aw, ain't that sweet....several thousand dollars later. I'm a medical mystery on many accounts and so hey, just add it to the pile. It wasn't until spring of 2016 when I saw the cardiologist again that he tried an event monitor because the palpitations I was having were different, more fluttery, higher up and took my breath away. Of course, the event monitor showed basically nothing besides the usual PVCs, PACs. So he decided to have the Reveal LINQ placed. I wish it had been explained to me a little better though. I thought for around $2,000 my cost that that was a pretty good price to have 24/7 heart monitoring. But what he didn't tell me is that it doesn't really monitor all the PACs, PVCs but is programmed to catch atrial fibrillation, tachycardia or bradycardia. I guess if I hit my Patient Assistant, it will mark the read-out, if I am having symptoms -- and then would show an arrhythmia. So I just find that I'm a little disappointed in what this Reveal LINQ cannot do. I haven't had that weird rhythm return either. Not that I want it to return because it was terribly uncomfortable but I certainly hope that it does while I have this thing in so that maybe it can all be figured out.

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I have the loop recorder because I pass out randomly with no warning at all. I do feel symptoms, (fluttery pounding, racing) but every time I reported them, they seemed annoyed. Finally they straight up told me, we only want to know if you pass out. So I would patient activate when that happened, and it showed nothing. We recently decided to have it removed, and while I’m waiting for them to set that up, I’ve begun getting red alerts in my chart. I get an automated response, but they’ve stopped answering my messages. So I guess I don’t know what’s going on, if I’m still having it removed? Or if I should go back on metoprolol. Communication would be great.

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1 reply
ruby2020 | @ruby2020 | Jan 8 8:58am

My son has had one for about 7 months. It is a Linq II. This specific one was implanted because his A. Fib is asymptomatic. It records 24/7 without him pushing any buttons. At first, I was frustrated that we couldn't access the data. But, now I am more glad than not, because we would probably be checking it ALOT. Knowing every beat of his heart is recorded is great peace of mind.

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ruby2020 | @ruby2020 | Jan 8 9:00am
In reply to @cwitton1 "I have the loop recorder because I pass out randomly with no warning at all. I..." + (show)
@cwitton1

I have the loop recorder because I pass out randomly with no warning at all. I do feel symptoms, (fluttery pounding, racing) but every time I reported them, they seemed annoyed. Finally they straight up told me, we only want to know if you pass out. So I would patient activate when that happened, and it showed nothing. We recently decided to have it removed, and while I’m waiting for them to set that up, I’ve begun getting red alerts in my chart. I get an automated response, but they’ve stopped answering my messages. So I guess I don’t know what’s going on, if I’m still having it removed? Or if I should go back on metoprolol. Communication would be great.

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cwitton1- Has your cardiologist ever mention the possibility of Cardiogenic Syncope? I have family member that has these same symptoms. It was finally determined that Cardiogenic Syncope was his diagnosis. Is there any chance you can go to a different Cardiologist? For your safety and well-being- it sounds like this may be a good option to explore.

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kelton | @kellycross | Feb 18 1:14pm
In reply to @dcummings1631 "I read your story with some interest because I found this sight because I too have..." + (show)
@dcummings1631

I read your story with some interest because I found this sight because I too have the same implant as you have, mine put in July 2019, after I suffered a stroke in June and my cardiologist suggested I wear a halter monitor. My daughter’s friend, who is a cardiologist suggested the Linc monitor because of its effectiveness and with it being in the summer and I am more active, my family was afraid that the halter monitor wouldn’t pick up as much as this device. I actually was put under anesthesia, in a hospital setting with an overnight stay (possibly due to the prior stroke) ? No problem with my monitor in my case except for a year in, I had to send away for a replacement, since it just stopped sending transmissions!!!! I kept getting error messages! It turned out I had a hole in my heart which was repaired with more surgery. My question now is…as I am going into my 3rd year with my monitor, has anyone chosen to have theirs removed? I understand the battery life is done after that right? Do we run any risks keeping it in? And I’m assuming it’s another surgical procedure coming out!
Thanks for any information on this..

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I had my monitor in for 3 years. I was diagnosed with Supraventricular Tachycardia. I am lean and the monitor poked through so I had it removed. It wasn't providing any additional data and was at the 3 year mark. It was a simple procedure, in part because it was so close to the surface. A small hole and they kind of "squeezed" it out.

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yab | @yab | Feb 21 8:17am

I had my loop recorder (Linq) inserted about a month ago. I just started with a new cardiologist EP. That was a first thing he suggested. It already caught one AFIB episode and the cardiologist office called me in the morning telling me that the doctor wanted to see me to discuss further treatment.

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sabost1289 | @sabost1289 | Jul 23 1:43pm

I got one inserted June 27, 2024. It hurt like a m f'er. For 2 weeks it felt like someone had shoved a brick into my left breast and left an elephant to hold it in place. For one week it felt like I was being kicked by a horse with rusty shoes. 3 weeks post insertion, the bruising is finally gone, it looks like something took a chunk out of me, and it still "pinches" every once in a while. Most annoying is that the transmitter machine beeps in the middle of the night 3 times), last night @ 1:30 am waking me and the puppy. I have contacted Medtronic's and the providers office for how to turn the volume off or down with no response. It is very frustrating overall. Still too early to tell if it is doing me one lick of good.

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carotc | @carotc | Sep 18 5:57pm

I had a Medtronic Reveal Linc inserted in 2020 in New Zealand where it would have cost $35,000 NZ if I had had to pay to have it inserted privately. I was very lucky to have it inserted in the public hospital and the cost was covered by our national health system.
At the time of insertion I was taking Diltiazem 120 mg daily. At the time I asked a variety of questions of the staff but was only told to read the booklet when I got home. At that time no one here knew anything about them including my cardiologist.
I had several "events" or episodes during the next 18 months until I was prescribed Rivaroxaban and the episodes dropped to one a year since.
After I had had the device for three years I received a call from the clinic to let me know that the device was about to stop working because the battery was at the end of it's life. I was told that I would not be getting another one and asked when I could have it removed but was told patients just left them in.
That's when the fun started. I had begun to feel lumps around the device so my doctor arranged an ultrasound. Strangely the radiographer could feel the lumps but they didn't show up on the ultrasound screen.
My cardiologist said it should be removed but the surgery is risky because of infection.
I'm interested in knowing if anyone else has had this happen and would be very pleased to receive any comments to this post. Thanks in advance.

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