Heart block nothing to worry about????

hello! ive posted before about what happened this weekend but i saw my doc yesterday and the more i think about what he said, the more confused i am.
i was in the er over last weekend and the ekg's they did said that i had right bundle branch blocks. they did 3 ekg's with all of them saying that. the er doc said that was a type of heart block and that my pacer wasn't working.
yesterday i had my pacer checked and they said it was working 'perfectly.' my ep doc said that the ekg's over the weekend were 'not conerning' to him, and the extreme chest pain and shortness of breath i had was most likely due to my body healing.
Does this sound right? every time i think it through or explain it to someone who asks it sounds really contradictory. so i don't know if i'm really ok or if the chest pain that continues is something i need to be worrying about. please help!!!
kristin

4 Comments

Heart Problemsw

by SMITTY - 2009-05-06 11:05:23

Hi Kristen,

Sounds like you could be getting some contradicting information alright. Of course I can't say which is right or which is wrong. As for your shortness of breath and chest pain, that in itself is reason for you ask for a second opinion. That is something that should never be ignored by the patient or the doctor. I do not agree that this pain is just from your body healing. Chest pain due to healing is possible, but SOB, I can't buy that. Combine the two and to me (of course I'm not a doctor) and that just doesn't sound reasonable.

So, if at all possible get another opinion, And if I could make a suggestion just tell that doctor what your symptoms are and not mention what you have been told by another doctor. While it doesn't happen often doctors have been know to slant their reports to favor the patient previous doctor. Especially if the diagnosis is not crystal clear.

Good luck to you,

Smitty

oh yeah...

by newbiegal5 - 2009-05-06 11:05:52

after the first ekg, they put me on a nitro drip and a heprin drip. the er doc came in and said that i was going to have to be ambulanced to the heart hospital in the twin cities, but later they let my parents drive me after taking the ivs out hours later. the er doc was telling us that we needed to get to a cardio doc asap. but then obviously yesterday, i got a completly different story. just thought i'd add this...
Thanks again everyone!
kristin

ditto what Smitty said

by Tracey_E - 2009-05-07 06:05:03

I think another opinion is in order also. ER's are always overly cautious and they don't see many young people with pacemakers, so it doesn't surprise me they might have overreacted. As for your regular doctgor, chest pain is never anything to ignore and, as Smitty said, getting SOB isn't part of healing. Have they adjusted your settings? I'm no doctor, but it sounds to me like they just need to tweak your settings.

I still don't understand how they are saying you might not have the right type of pacemaker. There are slight differences in them but they all basically work the same way. Maybe Frank can shed some light on it. Blocks are not the most challenging thing to fix, they're one of the easiest.

There are different types of blocks and they can be intermittent so it's not always easy to pinpoint what kind you have, but now that you have a pm I don't see that it matters much- you already have the cure for all of it.

Sounds like they are guessing

by ElectricFrank - 2009-05-08 12:05:01

Double ditto to Smitty and Tracey's comments. Shortness of breath is not something that needs time to heal'

My take is that they are just guessing and putting you off. I was looking at your profile and you say you are a Direct Care Professional. My experience is that anyone in the medical field tends to extend "professional courtesy" to the docs and is timid about challenging them. You may have to get up the nerve to tell them that something is happening that is not normal nor good and that you expect them to address it.

One final suggestion: ask for a copy of you pre and post programming report. Some of us here can spot common areas where they have made errors.

best wishes,

frank

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