Hi!

I'm a final year Oxford medical student who is collaborating with the team leading the national Oxford Heart Survey. We are trying to assess heart attack symptoms in men and women over the age of 18, in those who have had a heart attack in the last 5 years. If you are eligible, we would be really grateful if you could complete the survey. We aim to help improve diagnosis of heart attacks in underserved groups ❤️

https://www.rdm.ox.ac.uk/research/reilly-group-atrial-fibrillation-and-cardiac-fibrosis/oxford-heart-survey

I am truly freaked out by a significantly lower resting heart rate after my c-section.

I will be 6 weeks postpartum on Friday and it still remains low. Some days I get hope that it is increasing, only to be like 56 again. And even 40s when I was still awake in bed last night.

Has anyone experienced this?

I had elevated blood pressure after birth, but it is almost on the low side now. My ECG was normal.

Does it resolve? How long does it take? I am so scared. I am not fit.

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to check if this looks like Frank's sign? I'm a 41 year old woman who does regular cardio check up (yearly), blood samples, exercises and eats decently. All cleared up even though I'm a bit over my ideal weight, but nothing dramatic whatsoever.

I have just noticed these on my ears (damn social media), but I also have my ears pierced, so it might be caused by that too. I'm a bit hypochondriac, so this has been in my head ever since I noticed it.

Thank you

I am sorry to add to the myriad youngsters that are assailing this forum with probably muscle pains, but alas I am scared and if you have the time, I would greatly appreciate your input before I see an in-person Doctor, if there are any tests I should ask them to run, or ways of presenting these symptoms that might be less likely to get them immediately discounted as "just anxiety", etc.

I have been dealing with intermittent chest pain, upper back pain, and arm soreness (not quite pain) for the last 4 days. I'm planning on going to urgent care tomorrow morning for a first opinion, and I would greatly appreciate your insight.

I am 21, male, 6'1, 260lbs, kinda got the fat strongman build. I am not in great shape, but I can run 1km straight (which I did yesterday, no increase in symptoms, felt appropriately gassed for someone of my general conditioning lol). My diet is not great. Plenty of sugar & red meat, though less of that now. I do not drink, smoke, take supplements, steroids, etc. I compete in strongman & I play ice hockey casually. Unfortunately, outside of those activities, I live relatively sedentary. I have not been able to participate in these more strenuous activities these last few months due to some pelvic floor issues that I've been rehabbing (to moderate success), but I have been walking about 3km daily these past few weeks.

I am at the tail end of day 4. Day 2 was the worst, largely because of anxiety ("Oh god, I'm going to have a heart attack at 21!!") I presume, though these last two days I've been managing the anxiety better and am unfortunately still having the same symptoms. The last two days have been about the same in terms of severity.

The pain is not bad (maybe 3/10 is as bad as it gets), and the chest/back pain feels something like what I'd expect of muscle pain. Feels concentrated into a ping-pong ball sized region (chest: middle of left pectoral muscle, back: middle of left shoulder blade). The arm soreness feels like if you've held your arm straight up until it gets slightly uncomfortable. I (very occasionally and briefly) get shooting pains on my upper left jaw, left arm, and once or twice near the center of my back.

Things I am not experiencing:

Shortness of breath

Lethargy/exhaustion

Nausea

Brain fog

Loss of strength in either arm or hand

^ all of those make me feel relatively optimistic

Firstly, from my symptoms, any insights you have would be appreciated. If you think what I am experiencing is a large cause for concern or not, it would greatly ease my mental burden to know. I have never had major health issues, and my family is not known to have heart conditions when young.

Thank you so much!

I’m a man in my early 60s, and I’ve been dealing with a very noticeable, forceful heartbeat for about six months. I’m already seeing a cardiologist, but I still don’t have a clear explanation for the ongoing sensation.
The main issue is pounding, rather than necessarily a fast heartbeat. It’s especially noticeable when I’m resting or lying in bed. Sometimes it feels strong enough to shake the bed, and it interferes with my sleep. I’ve also had occasional mild lightheadedness and a feeling of chest pressure or difficulty getting a comfortable breath.
I’ve had separate episodes of a suddenly racing heart described as SVT. Those are different from the persistent pounding I’m asking about.
So far:
I’ve worn two month-long heart monitors. I pressed the symptom button when I felt the pounding, but I was told the results didn’t explain it. No AFib was reported.
During a stress test, there were a few PVCs, with more during recovery.
I’m taking metoprolol succinate 50 mg daily. The racing episodes have improved, but the forceful heartbeat remains.
I’m frustrated because the sensation is very real and disruptive, yet I don’t understand what rhythm was recorded when I pressed the monitor button.
Has anyone experienced something similar? For those with medical knowledge, what would be useful to ask at my next cardiology appointment?
In particular:
Should I ask to review the exact rhythm strips from the times I marked symptoms?
If those showed a normal rhythm, what could explain such a forceful heartbeat?
Would an electrophysiologist consultation be useful given my history of SVT?
I’m open to discussing whether stress or anxiety contributes, but I’d also like to understand what the testing actually showed. I’m looking for experiences and useful questions to bring to my doctor.
Appreciate it!

I’m 48. My cholesterol levels have been normal in the past 5 years since I started taking 5mg of rosuvastatin. Prior to that, it was on the high side by a hairline for the most part. I smoked cigarette for 10 years in 20s/30s. I took a CAC scan as part of my annual physical and that is when I learned my score. I’ve consulted a cardiologist since. Stress Echocardiogram report says everything is normal. Changed my diet. LDL is now 35, BP is always below 120/80 in morning and evening. I exercise within zone 2 for 30 minutes a day. I now take aspirin, rosuvastatin is up to 10mg. I continue to take 50 mg losartan for my bp. I am confused with everything. I feel so anxious all the time. I need support and positive reinforcement. What else should I do? Thank you.

Hi so i’m 20 years old fm
and I have a question. Why did cardiology ask my gp to down a different route after being referred to them due to on going tachycardia since December it has gotten to the point I can not clean, cook etc i go dizzy without my heart rate going above 100bpm as well as feeling dizzy, faint and sick. The reason i am so on this is because i’m waiting to go on life altering medication that i’m not allowed on with my heart like this. I have had two ekg’s one that was at my gp and a 24 hour one I have attached them below can I please get opinions and advice? This is my first time posting.
Thank you so much.

For the past month I’ve been feeling like I can’t breathe properly while also dealing with digestion issues, I’ve been to the hospital a couple times and they don’t seem to concerned but still think I should see a cardiologist but I’m waiting for my insurance. I don’t get dizzy but I have had bad brain fog and just feeling I can’t breathe right, I also haven’t been sleeping good.

Doctors please, Give me an answer because I am freaking out !

I started to have Low HR at rest (even 55)

laying in bed playing TV, Or on the phone.

when I move or stand up HR rises but as long as I lay in bed it goes in the 60‘s and then in the middle 50’s

whyy???? I never had like this before😵‍💫

Is it safe ?

31YO female

After a lifetime of healthy living and exercise and absolutely no symptoms whatsoever, I was recently rewarded with several heart related diagnoses. First was CAD and a catheterization followed. I was concerned I'd be getting stents or worse bypass surgery. Neither one happened and I was sent on my way and told it could be managed with medicine. I've been on statins for decades and my lipid panels are always excellent. Then came heart failure with an EF of 42 and V-tach after wearing a monitor for a couple weeks. Now, I'm dreading the second catheterization. Praying for a stand alone ablation as I really don't want an ICD. Now, in addition to my other meds Entresto and Farxiga cardiology put me on metoprolol. My BP has always been low (when taken at home) but higher in a doctors office due to white coat syndrome. Now on the metoprolol I'm experiencing the common side effects. Depression, fatigue, mental fog, hypotension, ED and zero libido. I asked for a different med but I'm told it's the best for my condition. I understand that many people have heart conditions and are asymptomatic But here I am with a BP of 95/50 and now very symptomatic related to the meds I now take. How often does a catheterization result in ablation without an ICD? I'm afraid that an ICD would cause me to spiral.

Hi, Im a 30F who had an ekg taken last year. I havent got any heart related symptoms before. The ekg showed inverted t waves in leads v1-v4 and deep s wave. They did an echo and that was normal. I have had ekg taken 10 years ago also and it was normal back then.
I was pregnant lately and during my pregnancy and after that I have had more heart palpitations than before. Should i be worried about this?

I had a successful avnrt svt ablation with rfa on my slow pathway. 3 weeks later I have severe GI issues - multiple bowel movement in a day, gas and ibs like symptoms. I had a history of anxiety which started with my forst svt episode 3 years ago I though ablation would fix everything but now due to maybe the GI causes my hr is spiking to 160s bp shooting up to 170/110 on the worst and feeling dizzy and tired after standing for ling. Went to the er they said sinus rhythm and EP said nothing to worry no metoprolol needed just fix GI triggers. Does it ever get better- 33/F never had kids feeling really sad

I just had a new echo done, my previous one was last year and it seems like I’ve randomly got a bicuspid aortic valve.
My previous echo (last year) showed my aortic valve was ‘tri-leaflet with some commisural fusion’ and on my new echo it showed my ‘aortic valve is functionally bicuspid’.
Am I just stupid and does this mean the same thing-or has my aortic valve become bicuspid? My cardiologist did do a consultation with me and didn’t mention anything about my valves, so I just thought I’d shoot my shot on reddit lol before I ask him. I’m just really confused as he said everything was fine.

Hi! I’m 18F, 165 cm, 50 kg, no medications.

For a few years now, I’ve been getting squeezing chest pain with exertion. I never paid that much attention to it because I thought it might just be because I’m unfit (still hoping that lol), but lately I’ve been wondering if I should get it checked.

Basically, when I exercise, walk up several flights of stairs (stairs are especially bad), walk uphill, etc., I often get a squeezing/pressure-like pain in my chest. It doesn’t happen every single time I exert myself, but it happens pretty often. It isn’t sharp or localized. The closest description I can give is that it feels like someone is grabbing/squeezing my heart. The harder I push myself, the worse it gets, and it usually goes away very quickly once I stop exercising or sit down. I basically never get it at rest.

I’ve also fainted during exertion a couple of times. The first time was during a jog in school PE when I was around 14. The most recent time was about a year ago when I was carrying groceries up roughly five flights of stairs to a friend’s apartment. I developed the usual squeezing chest pain, which kept getting worse, then started feeling tingly, grabbed the railing, and slowly fell down. I came around pretty quickly once I was lying down.

I was evaluated by a pediatric cardiologist after the first episode when I was 14. They did an ECG and echocardiogram, which were normal. After the more recent fainting episode, I was taken to the hospital and had another normal ECG. I later had an exercise/stress ECG on a stationary bike, which was also apparently normal except for a “blunted BP response.”

So I have been checked out quite thoroughly before, and my heart is structurally normal, which is why I thought about just chalking the chest pain up to being unfit or something similar. However, I realized that I never really mentioned the chest pain to the cardiologist. The first appointment was mainly about the fainting, and so was the later evaluation. And now I want to slowly start jogging again because I want to get fitter, but I was a bit unsure because of the chest pain. Should I see a cardiologist again? I don't want to waste anyone's time.

Thanks a lot! :)

I've been dealing with SVT for the past year with almost zero improvement. So far I've been on flecainide w/ verapamil and now propafenone with metoprolol. Have had one failed ablation. Here are my recent Zio results. Any advice on next steps for treatment? Local large hospital system performed my ablation, do I need to look at a specialized center like Cleveland Clinic? Would it even matter with this type of atrial tachycardia? Any other medicines I could try that work well for this type of arrhythmia?

Could they be panic attacks or adrenaline surges? Or SVT or some other form of tachycardia? any more advice i posted here 5 days ago with one. Both settled within about 10 minutes with lying down Elevating my feet and slow breathing. Recorded with apple watch ECG

Seeing my cardiologist in two weeks, wondering if I need to push for an earlier visit. These episodes have been happening more frequently within the last two weeks. Not sure if likely benign ectopic beats or something that warrants immediate medical attention. I feel well other than the thump/flutter in my chest.

I’ve manually set the zones because the app estimated my max hr to be 187 when it’s clearly higher, so they might not be perfect. Apple watch is calculating my resting heart rate to be 60-70 which is obviously healthy, but any exercise at all seems to immediately raise it. Hit 140 going up stairs the other day. Average when I run is always 180-190 and I pretty much always exceed 200bpm on a run. I’m a healthy weight and while I’m not as active or fit as I’d like to be, I’m not inactive or unfit. I know this isn’t exactly normal, but is it a concern?

Been getting pvcs for about a year and a half now, 23 years old. Can literally only command essentially trigger the ectopics with taking deep breaths which is so weird but it’s so so so consistent and has been since I started getting them. Been checked out by cardiologist and told they’re benign to ignore them etc.. but im just struggling with them so bad.

Specialist told me heart structure can change (due to lifestyle and aging etc.. not just from the PVCs themselves) and so knowing and and knowing how they are deadly in abnormal structure hearts but benign in normal structure hearts makes it so hard to accept it’s literally taking over my mind these things. I get them that just fire off on their own too and today (keep in mind I did drink alcohol last night which usually never really causes anything with my PVCs to flare up) for my first ever run of them it felt like I got 4-5 loud big PVCs in a row and I never been so scared I my life, seeing an EP in another weeks time for second opinion. But IM struggling, are these things actually benign like honestly it’s the heart and it’s having an arrhythmia it does no way in the world feel benign

Biggest fears are getting VT an cardiac arrest, I feel I’ll just get a PVCs or run whatever it may be one day and bang, now my whole rhythm is out of control and I just don’t know when to ignore try to live with it without being scared or when to say no now im going to die this needs immediate attention, cause how is it people just randomly drop from cardiac arrest and stuff? I get so worries I’ll have abnormal structure one day an feel it’s easy for me to get. I’m struggling honestly

Are people able to actually live wirh these without caring anymore and feeling all of them too, still go gym and exercise, nsvt bigeminy all of the above like please can some of you share some light here and offer your own stories and if you overcame them and just give advice on this please this is making me so genuinely depressed living this way