Hi,
First a bit of possibly relevant background.
I'm a type 2 diabetic (well controlled) and I suffer from high BP. I'm on three meds for the BP and have booked an appointment with my GP do discuss this as I find that 2 of the 3 meds are not recommended to be taken together and they also recommend that you don't take ibuprofen with them - which I'd like to take for arthritis. I've been on the meds for circa 4 years.
Yesterday I decided to splash out and buy a decent BP meter to replace my old one. I wanted one that stored results with date & time and also allowed history to be kept for 2 people (my wife has high BP to).
I bought an Omron purely based on the fact that most doctors I've ever visited seem to use Omron kit. The model I bought has additional functionality that includes detecting an irregular heartbeat. So far I've done 7 tests and 5 have shown this indicator. As a control, I've tested my wife the same number of times and her readings don't show the irregular heartbeat warning.
I have suffered from Bradycardia in the past and had a couple of ECGs as a result however, as far as I can recall, there were no comments about an irregular heartbeat from either the doctor or specialist.
I did once have my pulse taken by a nurse at my new practice (using her thumb!) which she did several times before saying it was irregular. My GP dismissed this after a quick in-surgery ECG.
So, just wondered if anyone else had this type of meter and similar issues? i.e. the meter indicates an erratic heartbeat but an ECG doesn't?
I don't "feel" any issues with my heartbeat but I know others in the family that did / do.
Cheers,
Stuart
Hi Stuart,
I bought a BP meter also and it shows the irregular heartbeat warning and is always correct. Just a suggestion when you see your nurse or GP take the meter with you and get them to use it to take your blood pressure, they normally do it the old way as you said using the thumb, please take it with you even if you don't feel any issues with your heartbeat and ask them why there is a difference and get it checked.
I had an Omron M4 that bleeped as it took the BP reading. The pips were often irregular or spaced out but I do have a slow heart rate in the 40's. There was never a comment when I had my BP taken elsewhere or had an ECG. Last year when I had AF I bought an Omron MIT Elite Plus that does not bleep but flashes up if heart beats are irregular.
After cardioversion I was told that I was back in Sinus Rhythm with bradcardia and Ectopic beats. I appears that I always hadectopic beats but no one thought to mention it.
Hi,
I have just tidied up my spreadsheet for the GP that I use to list all my BP readings / averages / minimums / maximums etc., and I've added a column to indicate if the "irregualr heartbeat" icon is "on" for each reading. So far 67% of tests with the new meter have it!. I think I will take my meter with me tomorrow just in case I need to demonstrate it, although I'm fairly sure it won't be anything new to the GP :-)
The ECG does confirm AF. They. Found I had it with specialist doing it
My monitor has a rogram with it to copy the results to a spreadsheet. Irregular heartbeats and any body movements have their own columns.
This is a paragraph from a very long instruction to GP's:
" Automated devices may not measure blood pressure accurately if the pulse is irregular
For all patients, palpate the radial or brachial pulse before checking the blood pressure. If the pulse is irregular, for example due to atrial fibrillation, an automated blood pressure device can give inaccurate readings due to beat-to-beat variation, so blood pressure should be measured manually with auscultation over the brachial artery"
Hi just curious what was the date of the very long instruction?
It is in this weeks Pulse the GP's magazine. I'll send you a link to it as the moderator may not let me post it.
Problem with any heart monitoring device is that it will only tell you what's happening at the time. I have PAF and every time I have ECG it shows my heart is normal. Interestingly your BP meter is not showing irrregular heartbeat every time so it's likely that the ECG won't pick it up. So unless you can get ECG over extended period I would rely on BP monitor. I have an Omron meter and it's easy to see when I have ectopic or AF.
But can you distinguish between them? I couldn't when I had AF pripr to my cardioversion.
Off one of my meds (Valsartan Hydrochlorothiazide) which is good..but my GP confirmed he detected an irregular heartbeat so I'm now waiting for ECG. Unfortunately the machine at the practice was temprarily out of action so it couldn't happen today.
Of 11 readings taken on the new Omron meter, 8 showed the irregular heartbeat symbol and GP said I was right to come in and get it checked.
Atrial fibrillation is a possibility but GP needs to see the ECG results obviously.
Absolutely no doubt. I can tell when a AF episode starts as heartbeat is no longer sinus but chaotic. I haven't had ectopic heartbeat since giving up Simvastatin but recently started a med for a condition not heart related and the ectopic heartbeat is back due I'm sure to this med. Again to me unmistakeable. Basically regular heartbeat with missing beats follwed by a heavy beats. Can be seen easily on a BP monitor.
Hi Derek
Out of interest, which meter do you have as I'd be interested in the copy to spreadsheet function?
Stuart
Oh well, I guess I should thank my new Omron monitor for detecting my irregular heartbeat :-(.
I had my ECG yesterday and the GP confirmed AF. She's put me on a 2.5mg dose of Bisoprolol immeadiately and I now have to do a battery of blood tests on Monday (too late yesterday) to see what condition my blood is in before the GP decides on which anticoagulant to prescribe.
Now wating for hospital appointment for echocardiogram and then to see the specialist. Looks like my future care program will be managed by the hospital rather than the GP Surgery.
All a bit depressing and I think the Bisoprolol has kicked in already, feel a bit "wooly" today like I did on Atenolol a few years back...
Hi Stuart,
Glad you took the blood pressure monitor to your GP's but sorry you feel a bit depressed I know how it feels, already had echocardiogram and two cardiac inversions, the only major problem I had was a total bad reaction to amiodorone that was worse than anything i have ever had, please check this medicine on the internet just in case they ever suggest you go on it. Hope you feel better soon. By the way I am still in AF.
If you are prescribed Amiodarone and Warfarin the Warfarin should initially be on a low dosage . Many doctors seem not to know this.
After the cardiac inversion I had to go to the Pharmacy to pick up prescription for the Amiodarone and it was the Pharmacy who printed out the page with the warning about this being used with Warfarin I had to ring the hospital to find out what to do and was then told to decrease the warfarin so that didn't cause the reaction it was the amiodarone itself and it has taken a long time to get it out of my system.
Cardiologist did not warn me nor did the practice nurse checking my INR. The Nurse did not understand why my INR had gone from 2.4 to 3.1 in a few days and 3.9 by the next week.
I did some research and found if on Warfarin and then prescribed Amiodarone that the Warfarin dosage should be halfed until the INR stabilises. I gave a print out to my GP who also said that he had not known that. He passed the paper on to the nurse.
The information with the two drugs does not spell out the danger. When I spoke to the phamacist she did know but assumed that I would have been told. A different cardiologist at my next appointment also did not know.
When I had previously been prescribed the drugs they were started together and the Warfarin dosage was lintitially low but that was at the hospital warfarin clinic.
We shouldn't have to do our own research, MedSafe NZ actually spells it out about Amiodorone and Warfarin but when I broached the specialist on this he just shrugged it off. The pharmacy I went to was on the way home from the hospital and I was very lucky that they printed the warning out and highlighted it when they gave me the precription. I am not absolutely certain but i think that I read that the Amiodarone is used as a chemical cardiac inversion.