cltulip
12-19-2005, 07:28 PM
Hi, I posted twice about my son...abnormal ekg, cardiologist worried about bradycardia. Well this past week he has been complaining of chest pain, it happens atleast once a day some days twice. He grabs where his heart is and says that the pain beats like his heart...and is right where his heart is. His pediatrician says maybe anxiety or reflux. This has happened while playing, while sitting and during his sleep. He went today for his stress test and his heart rate was a healthy 90 standing up but dropped to 75 when he sat down and stays in the 50's when laying down. They did get his rate up to 160 then he couldn't do it anymore....looked dizzy and started to cry. So they ordered a 24hr holter....but are not doing it until the 28th. I'm very concerned and feel that between now and the time we actually get results may be too long. I also looked in his chart the other day( I work at his pediatricians) and his heart rate has always been in the high 80's and 90's. I don't understand why a child that had a normal heart in June would now have one so low. If anyone has any help to offer I really could use it...thanx
Crystal
Crystal
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cynder
12-20-2005, 02:04 AM
Crystal,
I cant really offer any help but I wanted to tell you I feel for you . I know how you must be worried for your son. Guess I just wanted to reach out to you and offer some support. Good luck and God Bless
I cant really offer any help but I wanted to tell you I feel for you . I know how you must be worried for your son. Guess I just wanted to reach out to you and offer some support. Good luck and God Bless
cltulip
12-20-2005, 04:33 PM
Hi, thanx for your replies. Last night I wanted to see how low his resting heart rate actually was so I took his heart rate 10x's. 5- using a whole minute to time and 5x's using 10seconds then times it times 6. All 10 times his heart rate was between 46 and 54. This really scares me...it is a scary thing hearing a heart rate so low. What would cause a persons heart rate to be different with different positions? Also, I did get them to move his holter to this friday...so that is good news. Anyone know how long the results take? So, I guess I have a few more sleepless nights....I'm afraid to go to sleep without him next to me. Am I just being a worry wart or should I be concerned? I'm no expert but a heart rate that low...even when sleeping worries me.
hayleigh
12-22-2005, 03:01 PM
Hi, I live in the U.k and have a 4 yr old son. He also had the similar heart beats etc. At night he actually stopped breathing, but his brain would kick in and make him jump in his sleep. Apparently the jumping was making his heart rythm back to normal again. He then started displaying other symptoms of wanting to sleep in the afternoon or going to bed very early, blue lips after playing and very mottled skin. I took him to my doctor who referred him to the hospital children clinic (paediatrician). It took a while but finally they gave him an ecg and a few other tests and found he had Right Ventricular Hypotrophy. I was told this was because when he stops breathing at night or becomes very relaxed and has shallow breathing it is Sleep Apnea, the sleep apnea then puts a strain on the right side of his heart causing this side to work harder. I know this sounds confusing but finally it all stemmed from his Tonsils. The tonsils were becoming very relaxed at night or when resting lying down, they flopped back in his throuat causing the sleep apnea and loss of breathing, this then causes right ventricular hypotrophy. This is apparently not a very well known problem. But the good news is that it is easily trerated with the removal of tonsils. My son was given an appointment for this, only worry then was he had been given a high dependency bed because he was at risk of not breathing after surgery, this then panicked me, but what choice did i have, well anyway on the pre-op date we went for a check up and ecg, to my surprise his ecg had become normal after 6/7 months . Last week we went for another ecg and had the all clear then as well and finally we have been discharged from clinic. This was the best xmas present ever for me. I know how you are feeling and i also slept with my 4 yr old son to check he was still breathing. You can ask for an oxygen/ heart rate monitor from your local community nurse at the hospital. It is simple to use and at night or during the day you fit the probe over there finger and the little machine monitors the heart rate and oxygen levels. if they drop to a certain level the alarm will sound very loudly to let you know, i found this to be of some comfort also. I hope reading this has helped a little and may have given some comfort to you. As for test results i received them back after 2 days. Goodluck with your results and i hope all is o.k. If not ask to be tested for Right ventricular hypotrophy.
cltulip
12-22-2005, 06:21 PM
Okay, well. Let me start by saying what tests he has had done....EKG x2, echo, stress test, full blood workup including TSH,T3 and T4. Everything came back fine besides the bradycardia. The only results I have not gotten back are the stress test results. Like I said before, he was 3/4 of the way done with that with his heart rate at 160 and he started crying and he looked like he was going to colapse. Not out of breath but like he was dizzy. He has no other symptoms at all. The doctor(pediatrician) looked him over and pressed on his belly and such and said that he was fine. I thought that maybe it was reflux but the pain happens at no particular time. The other day it had been about 5hrs from the time he ate when the pain happened. Sometimes he is playing video games, sometimes running around, it has even happened when he was in bed. Sometimes he says it hurts in his heart then sometimes its in the middle of his chest...once he said his shoulder hurt too. He said the other day to me that it felt like someone was pushing on his heart. He also said that the pain beats like like his heart. He has cried from the pain, and most of the time will grasp where his heart is and cry that it hurts. It lasts for about a minute then goes away. He has been eating and sleeping okay. Its hard to tell about activity levels because of his asperger's he prefers to be alone and usually sits in the computer room all day playing video games. Once in awhile he will get up and run around with the kids but not often. the pain has happened at all times of the day. It happens about once a day but some days does not happen at all. For the past 3days I have kept track of his heart rate and it seems to stay between 50-54 during sleep and sometimes will drop into the high 40's. I know that too much information can be bad but I have read on several web sites that chest pain can be caused from bradycardia...is this true? Anyway, so that is what is going on. Thanx for any responses as they all help.
Crystal
Crystal
cltulip
12-22-2005, 06:47 PM
So..I just asked him if he had any pain today. He said he was playing chess in school and his heart hurt. He said it feels like someone keeps kicking or hitting him in the heart. He said it didn't last long. No dizziness or shortness of breath when it happens. It happened before lunch. He said that it just goes away on its own.
cltulip
12-22-2005, 10:30 PM
Well, it just happened again. I was upstairs bathing the baby and I heard my son scream for me. I told him to come upstairs...then my other son came up to the bathroom and said "mom Austin is holding his heart". I ran downstairs and he was leaning on the stairs and he looked like he was in alot of pain. I sat him down in the chair and his heart rate was about 60. My thought is when you are in great pain your heart rate usually speeds up right? We had eaten about an hour before and when it happened he was sitting down watching a hockey game. He said the pain was in his heart and a little further down and into his armpit. this is sooooo crazy I can't believe I have to go through the holiday not knowing. Atleast I get to talk to the cardiologist tomorrow...that makes me feel good. Right now his rate is 78...which is good
hayleigh
12-23-2005, 03:54 AM
Hi, This could be panic attacks he is getting. This often causes chest pain, Dizzyness, tiredness, Does he also go hot and cold. The symptoms of panic attacks are also very similar to those of heart symptoms. (I know because im having panic attacks. sometimes 1 a day sometime 3 or 4. And on another day I have none what so ever). But they are scary at the time and can last anything from 2 mins to around 10 mins. So he could have this. The other thing is to mention the right ventricular hypotrophy as my son was also holding his chest over the heart area saying it hurts here mummy and he also had the pains in his head, so this maybe worth mentioning also. I hope you receive some professional answers soon.
Other than this the only other advice I can give is do not give up. A mothers instinct is always right.(well most of the time anyway) If you feel you are not happy with the diagnosis then pursue it. I had to pursue my sons for sometime before we were diagnosed. And there were times when I thought the hospital, doctors etc thought I was an over-reacting mother.
Well good luck and keep pursueing the matter.
Other than this the only other advice I can give is do not give up. A mothers instinct is always right.(well most of the time anyway) If you feel you are not happy with the diagnosis then pursue it. I had to pursue my sons for sometime before we were diagnosed. And there were times when I thought the hospital, doctors etc thought I was an over-reacting mother.
Well good luck and keep pursueing the matter.
cltulip
12-23-2005, 06:04 PM
Hi, John thanks so much for all your help. We went to the cardiologist today and they gave us the 24 hour holter and when the cardiologist heard about the chest pain they ordered the event monitor also. I think it is definately a great thing because I can call the transmission in and know right away if it is something bad or not. As far as my family goes all the men in my dads side have died of heart problems. My grandfather has a pacemaker, my father died 3yrs ago at the age of 44 of a heart attack, my 23yr old sister was just diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse, and my 21yr old sister had a "stress induced" mild heart attack. So it definately runs in the family. My dad had a stress test and seen the cardiologist one week before he died and they said he was fine....he had been having what he thought was bad indigestion every night for 3 months. so, here we are just jotting down everything he does for his holter and keeping the event monitor close. I'll let you know when I get something. Thanks again you have been alot of help. I also don't believe it is reflux and panic attacks would leave him short of breath and/or dizzy. I am very happy with the way the cardio is handling all this. I'll let you know when I know something.
Crystal
Crystal
nancy wanguku
12-24-2005, 04:24 AM
Nothing much I can offer about heart condition I just want you to know Iam praying for your son and with faith I know all will be okey. Trust in God and surely He will not abandon you.
Nancy
Nancy
FrontierDriver2
12-25-2005, 09:46 PM
I am so sorry to hear about the pain your son is in. With that amount of discomfort, it's obvious that something isnt quite right. If your cardiologist cant give you any answers, I would find a new one who might be able to help. Your son is too young to be experiencing such problems. Good luck!