been having bouts of dizziness, and at odd times felt like i am about to pass out, saw my Doctor on tuesday, who said my blood pressure is low, and wants me to have an E.C.G test, anyone else had this?

Yes, I’ve had one. I actually can’t remember why but it was relatively straightforward. Went into doctor’s surgery, was wired up and they sent the traces by modem (I think) for assessment which was done pretty much straightaway.

yes.
fancy hrm, you go on a treadmill and your heart rate is measured until you’ve had enough – mine turned out to be a stone.

cheers guys,

dont lke the sound of the treadmill, got a race on sunday……..
will have to ask some questions tomorrow when i go in..

Just make sure you dont go in the wrong room and get an ECT,

I’m guessing they mean a 24hr tape
They leave it running while you get on with yr life & records a full day of rhythm for analysis

nah, was only 15-20 mins. results there and then

Op, the wife had symptoms similar to those you mention, though was probably a lot worse, and has low blood pressure. She was passing out all the time, off work for 7 months as she was too dizzy to stand. She spent a couple of months in hospital over 3 stays. Docs couldn’t work out what what was wrong. Had MRI, a couple of ECGs, they thought it was cardio related, then they thought things like tumours, ms, etc etc. MRI obviously disregarded these. Turned out she has something called vasovagal syncope. I think that was just their way of saying they don’t know what it was. She has to take salt tablets and always keep well hydrated, though the salt tablets make her drink water like a fish anyway.

Obviously not what you have but I guess my point is it was nothing to be concerned about in the end and was easily remedied, though she does still get dizzy and now knows the warning signs which lead to her passing out.

A bit confusion going on here.

E.C.G. test will be taken usually in the surgery it’ll take about 5-10 minutes. They may give you answer pretty quickly if it’s straight forward, If it needs further investigation then it may take a wee while to get the results.

Lycralout is in about a treadmill test which they may want to do too. Scardeypants seems to be talking about a BP test which will be a 24 hour recording.

@drac – I think 24 hr holter monitoring ECGs are still done. Stickies on the chest, connected to the ‘walkman’ monitor. Back in the day the holter recorded the voltages and was then uploaded to computer. Perhaps these days it’s all wireless?

Yeah they’re still done over 24 hours too, if they think there needed but I’d say he’s just getting the initial test.

Definitely confirm the wife had 24hr ECGs

@Drac – thanks, back in my day we still used film & phosphor screens for radiographs so I’m never quite sure 😉

OP’s already been to his/her doc – wouldn’t they do an ECG at the time ? (I assume GP practices have that facility, surely)

I’m guessing this is next step, hence 24/48hr ambulant since it sounds recent & fairly frequent ?

OP’s already been to his/her doc – wouldn’t they do an ECG at the time ?

Not necessarily no.

I’m guessing this is next step, hence 24/48hr ambulant since it sounds recent & fairly frequent ?

No not really entirely depends what there trying to find out.

ooooh, look – fill yer boots (if you can be arsed) !

A lot of GPs will refer patients to an outpatients appointment in a hospital ECG department.
A basic ECG takes 5 minutes.
Treadmill ECG only if you have chest pain.
It could be the low BP making you dizzy.
The other thought is your heart is occasionally slowing down.
The basic ECG may not show anything, you may need on of these 24 hour things or a little box you put over your chest when feeling dizzy.

I’ve had 4! Two of the basic 5 minute ones where they wire you up and watch a few squiggles, look puzzled and then say “there’s nothing wrong with you”, and two with the full-on exercise bike and the breathing tubes and stuff (which are quite fun as a regular cyclist as they attempt to tire your legs which just doesn’t happen). After that they look at the squiggles, look puzzled and then say “You have an odd rhythm” which my mrs could have told them the first time she saw me on a dance floor.

The only downside is that they have to shave parts of your chest which leaves really odd marks. Piece of cake otherwise.

ECG = Painful. Nurse dry shaves chest with a Bic razor, more akin to ripping hair out than shaving.
Lie on the bed for 5-10 mins connected to the electrodes trying to relax as much as possible to get a seriously low bpm.
Get angry as blood, from aforementioned shaving experience, seeps onto white t-shirt.

Don are you a bit of a wimp, in over 20 years of taking ECGs I’ve never heard anyone say they were painful let alone complain about it.

Hair ripped out of chest = painful.
ECG a breeze. 😉

I’ve had:

1. standard ECG
2. exercise ECG (treadmill)
3. echo cardiogram

Why?

A one off high BP reading when I went to get my first Etape entry form signed by the GP made him all nervous. So, I had an ECG.

This showed an abnormal rhythm with the alarming words “right ventricular hypertrophy”. Do went a bit ashen and sent me to see a consultant. Googling suggested that I might be about to keel over….

Echocardiogram and exercise ECG followed, which showed that I do have an abnormal rhythm, but nothing so severe as RVH.

What I have is right bundle branch block, which isn’t that unusual I understand. Nothing wrong with me and I continue as before.

Now I’m over 50 I have an ECG every year as part of my annual “Nuclear Grade” medical, we also do a “Fitech” test where you have to ride an exercise bike at a ridiculously low cadence while they increase the resistance and monitor your heart rate.

Omitn – did you make it to the Etape that year then? 🙂

Omitn – did you make it to the Etape that year then?

Yep. GP signed off entry on basis that he didn’t understand the echo report and “if the consultant’s happy, so am I”.

Shame I hadn’t anticipated just how hard it would be for someone who’d taken up road riding only 9 months before. Didn’t finish.

Finished the next one, though, which was just as hard. 😀