AFIB?

Posted by bjhamblin @bjhamblin, Nov 23, 2022

I get out of breathe walking up the stairs, it also feels like my heart is racing. I have to lay on the bed and try to breathe slowly until the incident passes. I’ve been checked by several doctors that specialize in the respiratory system they say it’s not my lungs. My regular doctor says it’s not my lungs because imaging shows that my heart is ok. I was hospitalized in May for pneumonia and had a heart monitor attached to me. At one point the monitor went off and they couldn’t figure out why. I said I can feel my heart racing. The hospital said well we don’t know why your heart would be racing. Do you think this could be AFIB?

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@bjhamblin Welcome to connect we try to help people with like symptoms.My advice to you is strongly seek a cardiologist .Your heart racing isn't normal. Will you make an appointment to see a cardiologist

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A 12 -lead ECG will/should determine what electrical defects in your heart's rhythm are present. This is done certainly in an ER when people present with apparent heart problems, but it could also be done if one's GP asks for it and the local hospital, or an out-patient clinic, does it. Wearable devices, such as smart watches (of which there are literally dozens available currently), will accurately show AFib, but it's only from one lead...the one under your watch.
Also, many people are sensitive to heart rhythm abnormalities. They 'know' when something isn't right, and they're almost always correct. But determining what is going on requires the proper equipment. For example, atrial flutter (almost always in the right atrium) is not likely to be detected, at least not correctly, with wearable tech. It may show up as AF, but my own watch, a Samsung Galaxy 4, often reports 'Undetermined, consult your physician.' But, I give wearable tech full marks for reporting 'correct', or 'normal sinus rhythm'. That seems to be the easy part, the low-hanging fruit.
One last suggestion: how you feel cannot be dismissed if if affects your sleep, your sense of well-being, builds anxiety, or makes those who love you worry about you more than they ought to. So, find a facility that will deal with you sympathetically and that will determine definitively what the heck is going on with you. You need the peace-of-mind. You'd also like to commence treatment if the disorder is real and still treatable as a 'young' condition. You DO NOT want to go long days in arrhythmia because the heart begins to 'remodel' itself electrophysiologically to sustain the improper rhythm. Get this looked at in at most a couple of weeks.

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