cardionet heart monitors?/New EP doc visit/pacemaker

[dizzygirl]

Hi i was wondering. I am going to be hooked up to a cardionet heart monitor here this week.. my cardio said that its a really nice/good monitor to wear.. that it will record 24 hours straight.. and then its downloadable everyday..( not sure how i do that yet.. though).. and that they will be ale to monitor my heart thru the docs office on a monitor and at the cardio place in Pittsburgh.. I think that that is really cool.. and reasuring too(I at point thru the day feel like I'm checking out.. and my pulse is unfindable..) they said that it they or the docs office see's my heart getting to high or iratic or too low that they will call me.. I' was thinking to my self shoot they are going to be calling me alot..

But apparetnly this monitor if i recall correctly I was kinda loppy yesterday morning.. is a newer monitor??.. and it can record for a long eriod of time.. we are shooting for about 30 days.. to try and capture my syncope spells.. and see if they cant see what my heart is doing when I pass out and have paralysis episodes.. the doc said that if my heart rate is dropping to low that it can cause some of the problems that i am having in regards to bladder/bowel stuff..

the doc also talked w/ me about a possabilty of a pace maker..depending on what the monitor shows.. that if my heart rate is dropping.. even if it is only like a few seconds that it can casue me to passout..(i though NCS).. and that some of my syncope spells might be related to that.. and that pacemaker wont help my tachy and what not.. but if i got a pacer that i might feel abit better...

but that they are careful w/ placing pacemakers in people who are so young.. I am confident that this cardio is not going to be all gungo -ho and be like Oh I can "fix"you..(when truthfull I dont think anybody can or has the power to do that) but is being truth full and honest.. and willing to look at all options available.. makes me feel better about things in general.. so I think I may have found a cardio to work with me locally and work with dr.grubb too.. whci is great!!

so wanted to share my news and ask about this monitor.. it has a screen on it.. that if i am having symptoms.. that i touch the screen.. and it will plug that into the monitor too.. soo that is cool..

I ampraying that my syncope doesnt take a vacation during this time.. ( that sounds bad.. not that i want to passout ..) but I want them to catch an epsiode and see what I doing before during and after this stuff happens... I feel abit of hope finally in over a month!!

a hopefull(but realistic)dizzygirl

[Dizzy Dame]

Linda,

That sounds like good news. Hopefully the monitor will give your doc's some good info. If you need a pacemaker, it might really help with your syncope spells. Good luck and I'll be thinking of you

Lauren

[Sunfish]

heya linda -

sounds like you have a doc who is at least willing to explore things & takes you seriously and that's great. i'm not familiar with the monitor your talking about but it sounds like it's noninvasive? or does it have to be implanted? i may look it up later but haven't done so yet regardless, i hope it helps provide some much needed answers/info.

keep on hangin in there...

melissa

[dizzygirl]

nope its not invasive.. you just change the sticky things everyday.. it suppose to be a "smart" monitor..i too hope that it provides some good info to help me..!! i'll willing to do anyhting at this point to get better...

the brochure they gave me to look at.. its ratehr high tech looking compared to other monitors that I have wore in the past..

they are going to send me hypo allergenic leads..(though a doc told me recently even though they are suppose to be hypoallergenic there not!!..what a comforting thought! bet you cant guess who told me that! LOL

[gdomaracki]

I used cardionet last month and they are absolutely amazing!! They actually send someone to your home to set it up and show you how to use it. The monitor is like a cell phone, so if its not on the base it can still transmit information. And like you said, they will call you if your heart is acting up like mine was doing. It gives you a piece of mind to know that someone is constantly watching over you. I definately slept better, and its a great way for your eps to see what your heart is doing everyday. You wanna make sure to record each time your feeling bad, so they can make sure it correlates with the times your heart is abnormally beating. (tachy, brachy, etc) Let me know how everything goes, i know personally that they were great!

Nicole

[Sophia3]

Dizzygirl

That sounds exciting to wear something that so many folks can be aware of what's going on with your heart. Good!

Are you allowed to push yourself to trigger an episode? back in 1992, before we knew my stuff was ANS related, I wore some 24 hour monitor. Well, I still worked out 3 days a week back then and went to the gym. Normally I used the treadmill because the stairclimber WORE ME OUT (any my knees)

Well, my HR was high but the read out only caused concerned when I got to the time I was at the gym!! LOL. So I fessed up and said what I had done.

Course now, I can increase HR that much just getting out of bed in the morning and doing normal stuff. Now I could not do much at all. My O.I. was more intermittent and mild in those earlier years.

But since you faint that would not be wise to push yousefl unless surrounded by mattresses on floor and a friend to help!

I hope you get some REAL VALID answers with this. It sounds great.

Let me know if you get free HBO if you stand next to the TV...J/kidding!

Take care and I will look for updates about this gizmo. I am glad others have been helped with such modern technology.

p.s. Oh, can you handle childrens liquid benadryl ?...in case you get itchy from the pads? I use it sometimes when i have had reactions. The Kroger generic works...but ask your doctor.

Sophia

[dizzygirl]

blondie-- yeah they told me to wear it as close to the leads? as I can b/c if i dont and get to far away from the thingy you wear tht it will beep at me.. i then asked if it will beep when my heart goes nuts-so.. they said no.. (WHEWW!). and yes it is comforting to know tht ppl will be 'watching my ticker" and if I'm like having a screwed up epsiode I hope that it will show something that gives them a clue as to what is going on with me!!

SOphia--I've got some bendryl dye free capsule here at home.. i keep stocked up on benadryl in this house ( --i blame it on the pots..lol)..iactually did not know until recently that there was a liquid form of benadyl.. does it work quicker then the capsules?? most likely more easy to swallow.. hmm thats is a MAJOR plus in my book!! Um i'm kinda wondering about the whole reaction to the leads.. as the last time I wear an monitor for an exstended period of time (event monitor) I was suppose to wear it for 1 month.. and ended up only being able to wear it for 2 weeks.. as I had some pretty high rates and my doc had seen enough..(he admitted me to the hospital for 6 days.. what trip that was!).. and also my skin welted up so badly it was unreal.. they could not believe the reaction i had to the leads..

so I made sure to mention that i'm sensitve to the sticky things.. they said to get hypoallergenic ones.. I'm thinking maybe pedicatric ones maybe if they have them available..

as far as i know they want me to keep going with normal activity the doc gave me no restrictions.. i think that they want to correlate a trigger (what ever that trigger may be).. w/ symptoms and go about a normal day..

technology amazes me too.. my brother shows me the high tech "toys' elctronics that he buys.. and I'm like HUH?? what wrong with the old way of doing things!! i get way confused with some things!! LOL.

though the last 24 hours monitor i wore in october.. it was a digital one.. was pretty darn cool..

[cmtaylor5]

Linda,

I'm hoping all this good new is from your appt. with Kelly Hayes. The monitoring system hopefully will catch what's causing you problems. I think it's great that you'll be monitored in real time. It's got to feel good to know that a doc is really concerned for your well being.

I'm wearing an event monitor right now and I am seriously allergic to the pads. I have both the regular and pediatric ones. The pediatric don't bother my skin at all, but they don't stay on that well, either. I went to my doc and got a prescription for a steroid called Diprolene. It is a topical steroid that I have used in the past for severe eczema and allergic dermatitis. My doc thought my reaction was bad enough for a round of steroids, but I prefer not take them. This stuff worked immediately.

I use a thin film of it on the allergic area, and move the pads to a new location each day. I have been able to go back and forth like that, alternating the Diprolene and pad placement and it has worked well. I don't know about you, but if I let a skin reaction go for a few days, I end up having allergic dermatitis over 90% of my body. Then I have no choice but to end up having to take a dose pack of predinisone.

Good Luck!

Carolyn

[gdomaracki]

Definately go with the hypoallergic patches. I tried the ones that come with the monitor and boy did i get a bad rash! And the thing does beep ALOT, so be ready! Its so worth it though.

Best of luck!

Nicole

[dizzygirl]

carolyn--yes the app. was w/hayes.. she is pretty good! thanks for giving me her name!! ---last time I wore a monitor for exstented time period.. the skin was so bad.. I think it will be that way regardless of what patches I use.. dr.g thinks that I'm having laytex allergies.. so we'll see..

blnodie--I'm ready for the beeping!! i hope that al the nosie will be worh it!!.. if I leave the house will it go nuts?? or do I have to carry that base thingy with me?? stupid question i know!! but I havent heard from the monitor place yet.. and am wondering how tht works...

[Sophia3]

carolyn,

WOW ..that must have been a drag to have such a reaction but I had the same thing years ago from only 24 hours.

Dizzygirl the liquid does work quicker. however the generic I use does have dye in it..I think there is a benadryl fee clear of color but twice the price...a small bottle lasts me forever.

Good luck, kiddo and walk a flight of stairs or too to trigger an episode...just have somebody walking next to you!!! Carry some heavy dumb bells, too!

Just kidding..be careful and I hope they get some great info and the stuff doesn't itch you too badly.

[gdomaracki]

If you leave your house or walk out of the room with the base in it, you have to take the monitor with you. The cardionet person who will come to your house, will try and put the two bases that they give you in rooms that you are most in. (bedroom being one) Just a hint~ you can't go real far without the monitor, maybe a room down and then it will go off. BEEP!

Like you said before, you will have 4 leads on at all times unless you are going to take a shower, then you have to turn the monitor off and remove them. They tell you that you should change the patches every other day, but I did it every day cause they end up falling off.

Any other questions, just let me know. Like i said before they were great! I spent the month before cardionet, wearing an event monitor. It was a nightmare! My old cardio gave me a broken one and didn't know it, I had to order a new one which still didn't work half the time. And it didn't monitor me 24/7, only when I would push the button. (and that was only for 30 seconds) It was a total waste.

You are definately in good hands!

Toodles,

Nicole

[janineerrn]

Hi,

I have a small cadiac event monitor, I did use it for 30 days 24 hours a day for diagnostics, I asked to keep it. I use it when I am having cardiac symptoms. I call an 800 number and download what the monitor just recorded. Just call get the right extention and then push a button and it transmits sound, then an RN looks at the transmitted strip and tells me if I need to go to the hospital. Its comforting to have since one of my issues has always been, how do I know if Im having a heart attadck or leathal rythm if I have constant chest pain etc...

I have good documented disrythmias, which helps with disability. B4 the monitor it was hit or miss to catch documentation by the time I got to the ER and was actually seen.

Janine

[dizzygirl]

exactly!! I'm so happy to have the oppertunity to wear this monitor (not that I like wearing the things.. just it would be nice for somebody to see what i'm doing during a spell.. be it whatever type I might be having!) i have several wacky different types of speels. the worst ones being the paralysis with fainting while allready laying down..(baffling to me) I would love to wear a thing that would monitor my Bp at all times too.. geesh that with this heart monitor would be wonderful! really give them a eye opener. would probably scare the hebbie jeebies out of folks too!..

i know I watched a look of worry come across the nurses face the other day..

but yah the paralysis bites.. and so does the epsiodes where my heart feels like it not beating.. UGH!! makes me feel so yucky.. half dead actually.. yuck

but I will let you know how it goes with this gadget...

Nicole.. Ok so I can take the monitor and the base with me when i leave the house?yes no? the moniotor downloads when you put it in the base?.. the nurse told me to wear it on a belt around my waist.. hmm.. cant wait to talk to these folks.. I dont know it they are going to come to my house.. the place is based out of pittsburgh which is about a 3 1/2-4 hours drive depending weather and traffic..(i used to travel there pretty regualr by bus and its such a LONG bus ride 4 + hours UGH!! and if your real potsy OMG it horrible!! last time I traveld there I was so sick w/ pots that loooking back I dont know how I managed it!)

so yeah i wonder if they will do that.. drive all the way up here.. I look forward to seeing this thing.. hopefully it will be her soon! and yes it will be a great comfort to have available.. reassuring..

[gdomaracki]

The base will stay at your house, hooked into your phone line. You have a small monitor that clips to a belt and then the monitor that allows you to send them symptoms.

I'm almost positive that they will come to you! The lady that came to set mine up had a long drive, she said she sets up about 3 a day.

And another thing, if you have any questions or problems they give you a number and the people on the other line are absolutely WONDERFUL! They will get you hooked up with whatever you need and in a timely fashion.

G-night dizzygirl~

Nicole