[bypeep]

So I've been wearing this loop recorder since Monday. Yesterday my heart was acting up and I sent in numerous single "normal" events. I wasn't worried about any of them because they were the run of the mill flip-flops.

At about 9:00pm tonight, after a day of no palps, I felt my heart start to go into one of the new scary, weird rhythms. I hit the recorder and it got all squelchy then a beat then I felt my heart do its trembling/quivering thing then came back into rhythm a second or two later. While my heart was doing its trembling, the monitor let out this steady squeal then paused then when my heart started pounding away I could hear it catching those signals. I immediately called it in and transmitted it.

Guess what she said.

And this is freaking me out more than anything because to me it's more significant than she is understanding.

Every time my heart does this weird thing it feels like it isn't beating as much as jiggling lightly in my chest.

The recording showed a normal rhythm then a palpitation (not sure which kind) a normal beat then flat-line. Then a second or two later the heartbeat came back.

Well, I tried explaining to her that this is exactly what I felt happening - that my sensations matched the recording.

She told me that during that long pause I felt, the monitor had just lost signal. Then she said that no matter what, she would have seen a p-wave so since it wasn't on the strip, it "had" to be lost signal. What is my heart doing?

How is this even possible? I could hear every heartbeat coming thru it just fine and it did the long steady squeal during the exact same time as I had my weird palpitation thing.

Anyone care to take a guess how it could have picked up before and after but mysteriously flatlined (lost signal) during the obnoxious palps I keep feeling?

I'm so frigging stressed it's unbelievable.

[poohbear2026]

So sorry it did that. That would scare me too. I know one time when I was worried with the answer they gave me from my monitoring company, I called back a little later and talked to another tech and they looked it up and were able to calm me down. If not call your dr tomorrow and tell them what happened and maybe they can look at it. Hope you can relax, I know it is hard.

[jkfrench]

I agree with poohbear, call back and speak to someone else. There is a logical reason and you need to understand it. After all, it is your heart and you are paying for this. By the way, as I already told you, that is exactly one type of episode that I get. The worst. But even if your heart didn't beat for a second or two that is still considered normal from what I understand. I remember someone saying how "sensitive" the monitors are so maybe it reallly didn't pick the entire thing up.
Try not to worry but CALL somebody for piece of mind.
Jodie

[COPD2]

I was provided w/an eVolution 30 day event monitor from eCardio in Houston, TX.

I, too, was curious about just how this little beastie worked. And I, too, ran into cautious techs providing vague answers when I would call to question its actions. I assumed it was a case of "techs" not being consider "medical persons" and therefore somewhat restricted in what they were able to tell me. But, of course, all that accomplished was to torque my jaws. FINALLY, on the last day of wearing the monitor I was fortunate to reach "Adam" at eCardio and he was WONDERFUL answering ALL my questions. If ONLY I had been able to talk to him BEFORE then!!!

IF there hadn't been such a mix-up at my local end w/the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing and no one on the local end keeping me in the loop I would NOT have lost my temper and terminated the monitor at 21 days instead of going the full 30 days.

I would happily go w/eCardio again anytime a 30 day event monitor is suggested as needed. And I would ride a whole lot tighter herd on the locals. It was a matter of my family doctor scripting the event monitor to our local hospital and our local hospital just switching from doing their own event monitoring to sub-contracting them to eCardio. So eCardio was scripted by the local hospital cardiologists but so far as I and my family doctor knew he was the scripting doctor. I had volunteered at this local hospital for years and these doctor were not on staff at that time so their names were unfamiliar to me. The two times it was necessary for them to call me I assumed they were eCardio cardiologists in Houston, TX.

I'm sure in time I will see the humor of the situation. I've gotten over being furious about it. But I'm still peeved about it.

[COPD2]

BiPeep, did you ever get a satisfactory explanation?

I know w/the eCardio the transmissions are done via wireless and we have very poor cell tower coverage in this rural area. I had several transmissons end w/artifact. I often got a "chirp" during or at the start of a transmission which I was told was the monitor having a short problem gaining access to the towers. When I transmitted via the telephone it was like listening to a FAX machine connection. Since THEY called me for that transmission and I wasn't feeling a thing and had NO IDEA anything was going on I can't say where the noisy transmission coincided w/what was going on or not.

[bypeep]

COPD2,

I never got an explanation, probably because of the rush for testing after they discovered my NSVT on 8/22. As far as that transmission, at this point I don't care because I'm too concerned about keeling over from v-tach, lol.

[COPD2]

Understood. (((hugs))) Do us a favor? Don't keel over. Hang around and keep sharing w/us.