What do you think I should do

I'm a 29 yo male. I've been having palpitations for a year now. A few months ago,  I woke up with pressure on my left side of my chest, I walked around and immediately my heart began beating rapidly and I felt a tightness in the left side of my throat. I called 911 and they did an EKG and said I was not having a cardiac event. I talked to my PCP who did their own ekg and found I had bradycardia. Due to being overweight (259 lbs at 5'9) he thought it could be OSA. He gave me a holter monitor and Zoll monitor which revealed my heart rate drops into the 20's and the zoll showed its stopped for around 2 seconds twice over the course of three weeks. The Bradycardia is only happening during sleep. During the day it is 60-80. I feel pressure during the day on the left side of my chest and light headedness that comes and goes. During a sleep test with A CPAP my heart rate did not drop. But due to the results of the Holter and Zoll my PCP recommends a pacemaker. I am looking for a second opinion before making that decision seeing as I'm still 29. What should I do?


5 Comments

It Would be a No-Brainer for Me

by Shaun - 2017-09-15 14:41:19

Heart stops twice in three weeks, heart rate drops to 20's at night plus all the other symptoms, I'm not sure why you would want a second opinion. With those symptoms, a pacemaker that steps in to stop the heart rate dropping below a specific threshold is the only thing that would enable me to enjoy a good night's sleep.

do it

by Tracey_E - 2017-09-15 16:31:39

Another vote for No Brainer. Get another opinion if it makes you feel better, but your rate is 1/3 to 1/2 what it should be at night which means your organs are getting 1/3 to half the oxygen they need during those hours. That's a lot of stress on the body and it takes a toll. 

Weight and physical condition are unrelated to electrical heart problems. Slow rates do not cure themselves, they either stay the same or get worse. The idea is to fix it before it gets worse. We've had members wait then pass out and be seriously hurt. 

Two second pauses actually aren't a big deal. They don't get concerned until they are more than 5-6 seconds. But 20's? 60 is normal. Do the math. 

I was 27 when I got my first one, I'm 50 now,healthy and active. We have members here who are in their 20's but have been paced since birth. Yeah, we're younger than average but that has nothing to do with need. We have a slow heart, a pacer will fix it. I should have been paced several years before I finally got it but my doctor didn't want to do one on someone so young. I didn't want it so I was happy to follow his advice and procrastinate. Then one day my rate tanked and I almost died, ended up in emergency surgery and freaked out my family. Not the easy way to do it, in case you are considering this choice. You have a clear diagnosis. There is a fix. Just do it. 

one more thought

by Tracey_E - 2017-09-15 16:33:41

80 is not very high for a high rate. Low rate at rest (bradycardia) is fixed with the pacer, but it can also help get our rate up appropriately on exertion when the sinus node gets lazy and doesn't go up on its own (chronotropic incompetence). 

CPAP

by BillH - 2017-09-15 18:30:52

You said that you did not have the night HR drop during a sleep test with the CPAP. Do you have one and using it regular.

If so how long? Try that for a period and see if it helps with your daytime symptoms.

Cpap

by Ashmarie8353 - 2017-09-16 10:42:22

If you have been diagnosed with OSA and have a cpap then I would see if that works because one of the symptoms of OSA is bradycardia. I work in an ENT office and we see a lot of sleep apnea patients i would try the cpap like bill said and see if that helps ur daytime symptoms as you stated during the sleep study with the cpap your HR did not drop which shows that this all may just be a sleep apnea problem I would still stay in close contact with ur cardiologist or EP just in case this isnt from sleep apnea. 

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