cresta57

My folks are due to leave in a couple of weeks having sold the house, finally. Dad has been working 18 hr days on the boat getting things ready for ocean cruising again.
Problem is he started feeling a bit light headed a few days ago, he put it down to stress and carried on working. Yesterday he ended up at the doctors after feeling unwell, he had an ECG and is now wired up to a personal monitor for the next day or so. He has an irregular heartbeat i.e it's beating at a steady 34 beats a minute. As you can imagine I'm a little worried about him setting sail to go home.
Could any of you nurses/medicos explain?
He's just dismissing it and saying he'll be o.k but that's what Dad's do they're always indestructible aren't they

Wendy

Have'nt got a clue re: medical stuff, but just wanted to say that I hope he is feeling better soon

Gill C

Hi Sean & Deb. Sorry to hear about your Dad why don't you give Ann a call I'm sure she will be able to put your mind at rest. - isn't that condition what Tony Blair had some time back and they shocked his heart to get it back into a normal rate? Good luck anyway our thoughts are with you Gill & Simon

madsad

Tell your pop to chill & get his health sorted out before even thinking of setting off for home,make him listen & make sure he knows just how much its worrying you,maybe the guilt of knowing how you feel will slow him down a bit?

Hope your dads feeling better soon x

Donna.

TRF

My mum suffers with irregular heartbeat...She takes Wharferin (spell check) to help regulate it by thinning the blood and has been given a special diet as she is overweight/unfit and age 65 aswell, ....But initially she was having light headed days and would just rest up and palm it off as Headache or Over activity! Until dad and her were out for a meal one day and she collapsed and blacked out in the middle of it, falling onto the floor in a heap..Dad nearly had a heart attack himself when this happened, but an ambulance was called and she was whipped off to the hospital for ECG and some injections straight into the stomach. She was in hospital for 4 days before being sent home on some form of medication (dont know what it was) while having regular visits to the Dr and Heart consultants to try to diagnose the problem, It took 4 mths to work out exactly what she had. "irregular heartbeat and a loose Valve" She only takes pills at the moment, but if the condition gets worse they say they will fit a Pace Maker:
I would advise that your Dad get expert advice before jetting off in his boat, especially if he's manning it alone!

annqldau

Rather than ramble on if you look at this site from good old BUPA in the UK.

If you go down the page you will find Bradycardia which in English is a slow heart beat and also the irregular bit... http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/arrhythmia.html

With a heart beat of 34 I would def encourage him not to go anywhere they call a pre-emptive arrest code in hospital for people with a rate of less than 40 as he is on very dodgey ground with that rate.

Also see these two for extra reading
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1997/397_hart.html
Not sure if they would consider Pacemaker for him
http://www.heartpoint.com/pacerintro.html due to the irregular beats etc.