Holter Monitor?

[DisDance]

I've been having heart palpitations lately and feeling light headed, my doctor wants me to wear a holter monitor. Who has worn one before? Any tips? How annoying is it at night?

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

how long are you wearing it for?

i've had the 24 hour one and they also tried getting me to wear one for a week, but the stickies on them gave me a reaction and even the sensitive ones they tried gave me a bad reaction, too. so i only got a few days out of it.

they apparently also do one that you have for a month but they implant it in you, i opted out of that one lol

it's actually not too bad at night if it's just the 24 hour one, you won't really have an issue with it.

the only thing i didn't like was writing down EVERYTHING i had to do thru out the day. i had to remember every little thing i did lol

good luck tho i hope they find out what's going on! i'm sure you're ok tho but i know it can be scary when you feel like that!

 

[aprilgail2]

I have done it a few times- if its just one day it is not bad- the one I had to wear for 7 days was a pain, only because under the pads my skin was getting so irritated.

 

[DisneyWalle]

I wore one for several days when I was sixteen. I don't remember it being a nuisance or anything. You just wear it and go about your normal routine.

 

[Hrhpd]

I've been having heart palpitations lately and feeling light headed, my doctor wants me to wear a holter monitor. Who has worn one before? Any tips? How annoying is it at night?

Just did the 24 hour one last week.

The box was small enough to fit in my pocket during the day. No problems at night.

Make sure you shower before you have it put on because you cannot shower with it on, so have to go 24 hours without one.

A few of my leads did come off after I did my Zumba class due to perspiration, but the tech anticipated that and gave me a whole sheet of extra stickers and a map of where they went in case some did fall off.

 

[pls5286]

I wore one. I either kept it tucked un my pocket or on the neck cord under my shirt. I did not have to keep a log. At night, I wore it on the neck holder. I ended up being admitted to the hospital during the testing so I kept one for an extra long time.

 

[DisDance]

Thanks everyone, didn't realize they were so common! I'm not sure how long I have to wear mine yet, the kicker is I'm away at school right now so it's going to be a lot of back and forth from school to home

Hope it cools down when I wear it if I'm not going to be able to shower, I'll scare away my classmates!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I've been having heart palpitations lately and feeling light headed, my doctor wants me to wear a holter monitor. Who has worn one before? Any tips? How annoying is it at night?

It is fine. My dd has to do it frequently, she has a corrected heart defect. Her last stint was 30 days.

 

[aprilgail2]

Thanks everyone, didn't realize they were so common! I'm not sure how long I have to wear mine yet, the kicker is I'm away at school right now so it's going to be a lot of back and forth from school to home

Hope it cools down when I wear it if I'm not going to be able to shower, I'll scare away my classmates!

I had it on for a week you can be darn sure that I showered LOL! The wires come off the little pads and you just replace them after you shower!!

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I wore one for three weeks recently. They're not uncomfortable, the little monitor is about the size of a cigarette pack and has a holder so you can clip it to your belt or waistband. Like PP have said, you take it off to shower and replace the sticky pads when you're done. Just, and this is important, make sure to place the pads in slightly different areas each time you replace, or you'll rip your skin. It's in the directions. When you feel palpitations you press a button on the monitor and when the palpitations are over you press the button again. It monitors you all the time, but this is just their way of knowing when you actually felt them.

The only time it was a hassle was when I was wearing it in Michael's Craft store and it began beeping because the signal was lost. I had to leave the store and all was fine and that's the only time it happened. Sleeping was okay so long as I remembered to take the wires with me when I rolled over.

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to send me a message.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

DS12 is wearing one now for 30 days, it is not implanted though. He has 2 leads and the little box.
We change the pads to the leads every day, and hook him back up.
The little box sits in a holster that clips to his pants.
He said the first night sleeping with it was a little weird but now he's used to it after only 3 days.

When he has an event, he pushes a button and it will record the minute before we push the button, until it beeps again. Then we call a number on the box, they ask a few questions and then send the info on the box to the people who monitor it. I push a send button and lay the telephone receiver on the box. The only thing that didn't work was using a cell phone, we had to use the land line to get a good transmission.
Once the reading is over, we get back on the phone and they give me the bpms and any thing else I need, I push the reset button and hook DS back up to it.

It's pretty easy to use. And after 30 days, I just have to put it in a package and mail it back via UPS.

 

[indygirl99]

I ended up with the implanted one after having 3 different episodes in an 18 month period that sent me to the hospital. The cardiologist knew I was having some type of heart arrhythmia but could not replicate it even in the cath lab.

It is much like a pacemaker. They only do the implanted one in my area if they can't find the problem with the 30 day holter.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I ended up with the implanted one after having 3 different episodes in an 18 month period that sent me to the hospital. The cardiologist knew I was having some type of heart arrhythmia but could not replicate it even in the cath lab.

It is much like a pacemaker. They only do the implanted one in my area if they can't find the problem with the 30 day holter.

How long did you have to wear the implanted one?

 

[Enchanted23]

I've done 30 day loop monitor and I work as a manager at a fast paced restaurant. Doable. Not an implant. You change out stickies after shower.
My 3 kids have 24 holters yearly. No problem.
Lori

 

[JakeJenna]

I had a 24 hour once, had a pacemaker before they even read it. The pacemaker keeps the record of any episodes now. I had no problem sleeping with it, it was only one night though.

 

[indygirl99]

How long did you have to wear the implanted one?

3 1/2 years and still not finding what caused my problems even with me taking up running. I have run 3 half marathons, 3 10K's and multiple long training runs and no problems.

My cardiac doc says I'm the first person who has actually had one long enough to outlive the battery. Most of his patients find the problem within 6 months of getting it implanted.

I have another half marathon this month and one in October. If no problems I get this recorder out in November.

We may never know what the original problem was but I don't have it now that we can find so I am okay with that.

 

[aprilgail2]

\Then we call a number on the box, they ask a few questions and then send the info on the box to the people who monitor it. I push a send button and lay the telephone receiver on the box. The only thing that didn't work was using a cell phone, we had to use the land line to get a good transmission.
.

The one I had came with a cell phone to use that sent the data. My mom had the same one and one night a lead must have came off her and the next thing I know the phone is ringing and its the company asking if everything is ok- scared the crap out of me at 3am - she was in bed sleeping so I had to go in there and make sure she was still breathing and hook her back up (she takes sleeping pills so she didn't wake up for anything!)

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

3 1/2 years and still not finding what caused my problems even with me taking up running. I have run 3 half marathons, 3 10K's and multiple long training runs and no problems.

My cardiac doc says I'm the first person who has actually had one long enough to outlive the battery. Most of his patients find the problem within 6 months of getting it implanted.

I have another half marathon this month and one in October. If no problems I get this recorder out in November.

We may never know what the original problem was but I don't have it now that we can find so I am okay with that.

Holy cow, 3 1/2 years! Knock on wood, you can get it taken out.

DS12 took his off last night, the pads are making his skin sore so we opted to take a break for the night. Need to chase him off to the shower now so we can get it back on.