Halter or Event Monitor - Heart Disorders Message Board

missy101 · 06-06-2006, 07:13 PM

My Dr wants me to take one of these to record my PVCs. Thing is..I never know when they are going to happen and usually they only happen once (not like in runs so I know to turn the thing on). Also, I have a 20 month old who is constantly grabbing and crawling on me. I can get 3 PVCs one day and then none for 3 weeks. I never know. Should I even bother with this? If I get the 30 day event monitor, can I just keep it on ALL of the time?? Can anyone who has had one tell me what it is like and how it works???? I had a halter a couple years ago, but I think that will be a waste of time since I go so long with no PVCs. She is only suggesting this because I mentioned that my PVCs feel different now that my meds were changed.

Thanks in advance!!

mimiof3 · 06-06-2006, 10:22 PM

I highly reccomend it! I have worn one 2 x in 5 yrs. Here is how it works. It is on you with 3 leads, like a holter monitor, but when you feel anything you don't think isn't "right" you press the button, and it "loops" back like 5 minutes, some 1 minute..so..it has a "Memory." I felt the same way when I wore my first one. I thought "how in the world can I press this thing fast enough to catch the PVC's etc?" But, it is ALWAYS recording..When you press the button, as I said, it loops back to the last few minutes so it absolutely catches what you felt. It's wonderful. You take it off when you take a shower or bath. Some even take it off to sleep, but I have always chosen to leave mine on, as I have a lot of PVC's at night,a nd they wake me up. The only thing that bothered me was the pads that you use to stick the leads on with. I happen to be allergic to them. So, I had redness, but nothing major. After you have 5 recordings, you call and 800 number and play it back to the tech. That's it!!!! Hope I helped you some.

missy101 · 06-08-2006, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mimiof3

I highly reccomend it! I have worn one 2 x in 5 yrs. Here is how it works. It is on you with 3 leads, like a holter monitor, but when you feel anything you don't think isn't "right" you press the button, and it "loops" back like 5 minutes, some 1 minute..so..it has a "Memory." I felt the same way when I wore my first one. I thought "how in the world can I press this thing fast enough to catch the PVC's etc?" But, it is ALWAYS recording..When you press the button, as I said, it loops back to the last few minutes so it absolutely catches what you felt. It's wonderful. You take it off when you take a shower or bath. Some even take it off to sleep, but I have always chosen to leave mine on, as I have a lot of PVC's at night,a nd they wake me up. The only thing that bothered me was the pads that you use to stick the leads on with. I happen to be allergic to them. So, I had redness, but nothing major. After you have 5 recordings, you call and 800 number and play it back to the tech. That's it!!!! Hope I helped you some.

Hey! Thanks for responding!! I am kinda annoyed right now. I went to get my event monitor this morning. And you are right that it is small and has 3 leads. But I asked about the 'memory' thing, and they acted like I was nuts. They said they never heard of such a thing. They said I just have to try to push it as fast as I can and HOPE that it gets caught. Which I know it won't because they happen so fast, ya know?? Why do they not know what I am talking about???? Anyone else have one of these????

PA2LA · 06-11-2006, 05:40 AM

I had an event monitor on leading to a diagnosis of IST. I don't know if it was office slang or the actual name, but they called it a King of Hearts monitor. I was told that when I pressed record it would record the past 10-15 seconds that occurred along with the event. My understanding is that all of these devices have to record some time before you press the button to catch the event. The symptoms usually come after the event. Hope this helps some.

missy101 · 06-11-2006, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PA2LA

I had an event monitor on leading to a diagnosis of IST. I don't know if it was office slang or the actual name, but they called it a King of Hearts monitor. I was told that when I pressed record it would record the past 10-15 seconds that occurred along with the event. My understanding is that all of these devices have to record some time before you press the button to catch the event. The symptoms usually come after the event. Hope this helps some.

Yep - it says King of Hearts right on the device, so it must be the same thing. I felt a couple flutters - like a minute apart..and I called to DL it it. She said I did catch them. So, it MUST go back sometime and those first techs I talked to obviously do not know anything about the equipment they work with. Sad!!

Thank you very much!!!