hi, please correct me if i’m wrong here, but i’m a 22yo female. i’ve been dealing with heart issues since i was about 7-8yo, which make my chest feel heavy and it feels like my heart is pumping sludge instead of blood. it’s caused me to pass out on multiple occasions. my paternal grandfather & great grandfather both passed away due to heart failure, and recently my maternal grandmother as well. my mom and aunt both have heart issues as well, but that’s beside the point.
i moved to a different state almost 2 years ago and had my first cardiologist appointment about 2 months ago. i ended up using a holter monitor for two weeks in the beginning of april, during which i only had one very minor “episode” of this issue. i just got my notes back, and this is what it said;
“Holter monitor length was 14 days long.
Findings:
The predominant rhythm was sinus rhythm.
The patient's baseline heart rate ranged from 24 BPM to 167 BPM with the average being 86 BPM.
Pauses:
No significant pauses were noted.
AV-Conduction:
AV-block was noted.
AV-block type 2nd degree.
1 episodes of AV-block were noted.
The lowest heart rate caused by 2nd degree AV-block was 24 BPM.
Supraventricular Ectopy (SVE):
Rare SVE, atrial couplets and atrial triplets were noted.
The patient had 134 (Rare) isolated supraventricular ectopic beats 17 (Rare) supraventricular couplets and 9 (Rare) supraventricular triplets.
Ventricular Ectopy (VE):
Rare VE, ventricular couplets and ventricular triplets were noted.
The patient had 116 (Rare) isolated ventricular ectopic beats 14 (Rare) ventricular couplets 1 (Rare) ventricular triplets.”
maybe i’m completely tripping, and this is normal (??) to feel this way somewhat regularly, and often feel chest pressure and light headed. my aunt is a registered nurse and has been for 20 some years, she said 24 bpm is pretty low and not normal, but i just feel crazy to seek another opinion from a doctor, i don’t want them to think that i WANT something to be wrong with me, i just don’t want to feel like a dumpster fire daily.
i try to stay hydrated, i don’t eat fast food often, im not doing drugs or drinking aside from the occasional drink or two. my cardiologist is an old white man who barely let me voice my concerns, blamed most of my issues on ‘anxiety’ or weight (im 157lbs at 5’7, even as much as i dislike the BMI calculator im still considered healthy weight) and it took some convincing to even get testing done. i’ve been dealing with heart issues for the majority of my life, and was desperately hoping to be taken seriously now as it’s affecting my day to day activities. i have a 5yo and a 10 month old to chase after 24/7 and its hard because im genuinely EXHAUSTED or faint 90% of the time. maybe im making everything up?? at this point im tired of trying to get doctors to take me seriously 🙃
TLDR- nobody listens to my heart issues, gaslighting myself into thinking im a hypochondriac. should i seek another opinion?