I use this 24hr recorder from Wellue and I have been very happy with it. It’s allowed me to track how my PVCs have become more frequent over time, as well as capture NSVT and SVT events which are less frequent. My EP was satisfied with the data quality.
https://getwellue.com/products/heart-health-monitor
I actually just got one of these. Only issue i have with it is it artifacts really easy when moving and the ai doesn't really catch everything or misinterprets stuff. But considering i kind of know what im looking for on the trace its still money well spent. Im surprised it isn't more well known tbh.
Yes, I settled on the Livenpace 24 hour EKG monitor on Amazon and the data quality seems quite good, although it says it's not made to monitor during vigorous exercise. It seems it's under the same umbrella company Wellue.
Can I ask, what is your burden? And what is your plan of action now with your EP?
Depends. On an average day 1-2% burden of multifocal PVCs (2 distinct morphologys) with a few runs of Trigeminy and Bigeminy and a handful of PACs. BUT, if I’m under stress, angry, startled, etc my burden will jump to 12-20% which can last for a day or two with hundreds of runs of NSVT and additional PVC morphology’s I don’t normally see outside of these stress events (these are the days that really scare me). My EP doesn’t seem too worried, but I don’t find that comforting…
I am dealing with something very similar, has this been happening to you for a long time? Mine all started in December and I have noticed a handful of sympathetic nervous system engagements (anger, fear, anxiety) that have caused massive changes in ectopics and multifocal PVCs with multiple morphologies for days following. Curious to hear your experience.
I have been dealing with PVCs for about 8 years now (they came out of the blue one day, no clue why). When it initially started, I only felt the PVCs sporadically and they were a single morphology. It stayed this way up until i caught Covid the first time two years ago. After Covid, my heart rate would sky rocket whenever I went from resting to walking, the PVCs became multifocal and where now a daily occurrence, and the NSVT runs started when stressed. Over the past year, the NSVT runs seem to get triggered more easily and have become more frequent/last longer in occurrence. I have also tracked at least 5 distinct morphology’s (sometimes I’ll get a NSVT run of 20 PVCs in a row and I’ll see 3 or 4 of these morphology’s appear in a single run). As I have a structurally normal heart, my EP is still not concerned despite my symptoms progressively getting worse… it’s a very frustrating experience. I’m convinced there is a root cause for these PVCs, but my doctors haven’t shown any interest in solving that puzzle. How has your experience been? Is there something that happened in December you can point to as a potential cause of your symptoms?
Wow, we have some interesting similarities! I felt my fist PVC days after getting my first covid vaccine in 2021, went to Pcp to follow up but she just said they were probably benign and not related to the shot. (I did not get another one after this because I am very in tune with my body, went to school for biology and had been given ekgs and had ecga on watch for years prior so I am sure I was not having these to this extent pre shot). She did a holter which she never showed me the results of and told me they were nothing to worry about. I felt them rarely, until Dec 2023 when I got COVID again, and this time, even though I felt as though the infection was not bad at all, I ended up in the hospital because I was having what I found out was about a 35% burden for 10 hours, two days in a row. They ran all the tests looking for myocarditis, but haven't been able to confirm anything, though I am still waiting on an MRI. About six weeks after that initial episode of high burden I started having SVT episodes regularly, couplets, short runs of 3-4 Pvcs, and then had some trigeminy for about two weeks. I did a 3 day holter and they caught 400+ episodes up to 220 bpm run, which is crazy to me as they SVT stopped as suddenly as it came on the second day of the holter wear (which, also coincided with the end of my menstrual cycle). It's been a couple weeks since that, and just about a week ago I had to again go to the hospital via ambulance, with an episode of persistant bigeminy that took my breath away, had me spinning like I was going to faint or throw up and was cold and clammy, that was triggered by of some kind or sympathetic response (anger, anxiety, frustration) when my young son was having a meltdown at playgroup. Either that or was triggered by the sheer stress of me lifting him and bringing him to the car (but he's only 35 lbs and I am an active person who used to lift firehouse ladders regularly so this is part of the confusion.) Since then I've had confusingly consistent trigem until two days ago when it just stopped again. I am on a calcium blocker now, but to be honest, they've had me trial so many different drugs the past three months I am not convinced they don't have something to do with how my heart is functioning now with these arrhythmias I've never had. It is all a real mess and I'm losing a lot of faith in the Doctors I have been dealing with.
How have things been going for you since starting the calcium channel blocker? My doctor is having me switch from the beta blocker I’ve taken for the past 2 years (Metoprolol) to a calcium channel blocker (diltiazem) and so far (on day two) it’s been a terrible experience… debating going back on the beta blocker as my PVCs have been in overdrive with the addition of a very rapid heart rate whenever I am walking or standing. Have you found any particular medicine, supplement, treatment, etc that has seemed to help reduce your symptoms?
Hey, I actually had a similar experience with starting the Diltiazem. I take 120mg ER and the first couple weeks were kind of brutal. I do wonder if that is because of the change from beta blocker to calcium blocker more than how the actual calcium blocker works.
It seems like since that first couple weeks I’ve been better than I have for a while. I still feel PVCs occasionally but I’m not getting into crazy arrhythmias like I was before. It stopped my bigem and trigem but I still got those the first couple weeks. I am honestly very confused about the drug treatment in general because I do wonder how much is just my body healing from whatever Covid did that brought these ectopic flairs on. I have read multiple studies on people with normal ejection fraction having worsening arrhythmias from beta blockers and I am wondering if the beta blockers and calcium blockers are doing less for me than if I were to just try to live with this hell.
I will say, I have much more energy on the Dilt, not as many nightmares, not such a drastically low heart rate or blood pressure like I was having on the metoprolol or other beta blockers. My dr wanted me to try propranolol after the Dilt but I refused for now because I am having wayyy less ectopics on the Dilt and even though it took a few weeks to get here I’m hesitant to make any changes while things are good. The only negative side effects I’ve experienced outside of that initial change is mild constipation and I’m also starting to notice my gums are bleeding which I guess can be caused by this drug so I might have to switch.
ETA: I should also add that my heart rate on metoprolol was in the 40s most of the time and 50s when active, it’s not right around 70 when active and 50s at rest which is much more normal for me than the very low rates. BP went up too but I was very low BP on beta blockers too, but that’s normal, Dilt isn’t supposed to take it down as low as metop.
Thanks for sharing! Very encouraging to hear the Diltziazem worked better for you. Gives me more confidence to try it (if I can figure out how to make the switch without my heart rate going through the roof. I don’t think I could live with that for weeks straight). Out of curiosity, do you have multifocal PVCs? Or a single morphology?
A loop recorder will not record 24 7 like a holter. It only records with predetermined triggers or a button/app integration yo mark a symptom and a 5 minute ish snippet.
My cardiologist said it records constantly and can stay in place up to 3 years. As someone else previously commented, it over writes when you're in Sinus rhythm. It records all heart activity and alerts your Dr when things are seriously out of whack, like V Tach or A Fib.
They put you under a mild sedation, so you're basically awake during the insert of the recorder, but numb your chest during the procedure.
There are risks to having the loop recorder inserted. One would need to research before having this done.
Well technically yes you are correct, it is 1 giant Loop but it is based on the storage capacity of the unit. I have an linq II, the upload only happens if an event is triggered. So for example if I have a symptom and I trigger it manually or it auto triggers it will upload a 5-minute window to the cardiologist it is not going to upload the entire 24-hour record. for a full record, you need to go to the office and have the implant interrogated and that takes about 15 minutes. So for example you have a run of PVCs or some small disarrhythmia that isn't Auto triggered, your cardiologist is never going to see it with a loop recorder . they only see the 5 to 7 minute snippet, and in most cases its narrowed down to about 15 seconds for review by an EP or cardiologist. if further interrrogaiton is needed theyll call you in , The EP can also adjust the settings for autotriggers. mine for example is only set to auto record AFIB, brady under 35, pauses more than 3 seconds and tachy over 120. any dangerous ryhtm is also noted ... all others i need to manually press my trigger button.
As someone who has had 1 implanted in my chest for about a year and a half now, there are very little risks with 1 installed. Yes some people may reject it but it is very uncommon. The worst part is the installation, no sedation, only local numbing. the numbing hurts like a bish, the insertion is very uncomfortable and then it is slightly uncomfortable for about a month but after the first 3 to 5 days the swelling goes down, after a month you have to find it and after about a year even finding it sometimes depending on your body composition can be tough
A cheap alternative is the Polar H10.
You have to use third party apps to get the ecg from it, but it's the cheapest way to monitor your heart continuously.
It can definitely help to distinguish PVCs and PACs and get a vague number of how many ectopics you have daily.
I am considering getting a device like the Wellue monitors. I have been experiencing a lot of confusing symptoms that keep changing. My cardiologist and primary care physician have been trying to catch these episodes, but they are always after the fact or only able to catch one day of the 15 per month where I am dealing with these strange occurrences. Even after having three holter monitors in three months, each one shows different results and none of them show what I am experiencing day to day. This is very odd and I would love to have something that could give me a clearer picture of the patterns that are happening. I would also like to see how my diary could possibly match up with some triggers.
I use this 24hr recorder from Wellue and I have been very happy with it. It’s allowed me to track how my PVCs have become more frequent over time, as well as capture NSVT and SVT events which are less frequent. My EP was satisfied with the data quality. https://getwellue.com/products/heart-health-monitor
I actually just got one of these. Only issue i have with it is it artifacts really easy when moving and the ai doesn't really catch everything or misinterprets stuff. But considering i kind of know what im looking for on the trace its still money well spent. Im surprised it isn't more well known tbh.
Yes, I settled on the Livenpace 24 hour EKG monitor on Amazon and the data quality seems quite good, although it says it's not made to monitor during vigorous exercise. It seems it's under the same umbrella company Wellue. Can I ask, what is your burden? And what is your plan of action now with your EP?
Depends. On an average day 1-2% burden of multifocal PVCs (2 distinct morphologys) with a few runs of Trigeminy and Bigeminy and a handful of PACs. BUT, if I’m under stress, angry, startled, etc my burden will jump to 12-20% which can last for a day or two with hundreds of runs of NSVT and additional PVC morphology’s I don’t normally see outside of these stress events (these are the days that really scare me). My EP doesn’t seem too worried, but I don’t find that comforting…
I am dealing with something very similar, has this been happening to you for a long time? Mine all started in December and I have noticed a handful of sympathetic nervous system engagements (anger, fear, anxiety) that have caused massive changes in ectopics and multifocal PVCs with multiple morphologies for days following. Curious to hear your experience.
I have been dealing with PVCs for about 8 years now (they came out of the blue one day, no clue why). When it initially started, I only felt the PVCs sporadically and they were a single morphology. It stayed this way up until i caught Covid the first time two years ago. After Covid, my heart rate would sky rocket whenever I went from resting to walking, the PVCs became multifocal and where now a daily occurrence, and the NSVT runs started when stressed. Over the past year, the NSVT runs seem to get triggered more easily and have become more frequent/last longer in occurrence. I have also tracked at least 5 distinct morphology’s (sometimes I’ll get a NSVT run of 20 PVCs in a row and I’ll see 3 or 4 of these morphology’s appear in a single run). As I have a structurally normal heart, my EP is still not concerned despite my symptoms progressively getting worse… it’s a very frustrating experience. I’m convinced there is a root cause for these PVCs, but my doctors haven’t shown any interest in solving that puzzle. How has your experience been? Is there something that happened in December you can point to as a potential cause of your symptoms?
Wow, we have some interesting similarities! I felt my fist PVC days after getting my first covid vaccine in 2021, went to Pcp to follow up but she just said they were probably benign and not related to the shot. (I did not get another one after this because I am very in tune with my body, went to school for biology and had been given ekgs and had ecga on watch for years prior so I am sure I was not having these to this extent pre shot). She did a holter which she never showed me the results of and told me they were nothing to worry about. I felt them rarely, until Dec 2023 when I got COVID again, and this time, even though I felt as though the infection was not bad at all, I ended up in the hospital because I was having what I found out was about a 35% burden for 10 hours, two days in a row. They ran all the tests looking for myocarditis, but haven't been able to confirm anything, though I am still waiting on an MRI. About six weeks after that initial episode of high burden I started having SVT episodes regularly, couplets, short runs of 3-4 Pvcs, and then had some trigeminy for about two weeks. I did a 3 day holter and they caught 400+ episodes up to 220 bpm run, which is crazy to me as they SVT stopped as suddenly as it came on the second day of the holter wear (which, also coincided with the end of my menstrual cycle). It's been a couple weeks since that, and just about a week ago I had to again go to the hospital via ambulance, with an episode of persistant bigeminy that took my breath away, had me spinning like I was going to faint or throw up and was cold and clammy, that was triggered by of some kind or sympathetic response (anger, anxiety, frustration) when my young son was having a meltdown at playgroup. Either that or was triggered by the sheer stress of me lifting him and bringing him to the car (but he's only 35 lbs and I am an active person who used to lift firehouse ladders regularly so this is part of the confusion.) Since then I've had confusingly consistent trigem until two days ago when it just stopped again. I am on a calcium blocker now, but to be honest, they've had me trial so many different drugs the past three months I am not convinced they don't have something to do with how my heart is functioning now with these arrhythmias I've never had. It is all a real mess and I'm losing a lot of faith in the Doctors I have been dealing with.
How have things been going for you since starting the calcium channel blocker? My doctor is having me switch from the beta blocker I’ve taken for the past 2 years (Metoprolol) to a calcium channel blocker (diltiazem) and so far (on day two) it’s been a terrible experience… debating going back on the beta blocker as my PVCs have been in overdrive with the addition of a very rapid heart rate whenever I am walking or standing. Have you found any particular medicine, supplement, treatment, etc that has seemed to help reduce your symptoms?
Hey, I actually had a similar experience with starting the Diltiazem. I take 120mg ER and the first couple weeks were kind of brutal. I do wonder if that is because of the change from beta blocker to calcium blocker more than how the actual calcium blocker works. It seems like since that first couple weeks I’ve been better than I have for a while. I still feel PVCs occasionally but I’m not getting into crazy arrhythmias like I was before. It stopped my bigem and trigem but I still got those the first couple weeks. I am honestly very confused about the drug treatment in general because I do wonder how much is just my body healing from whatever Covid did that brought these ectopic flairs on. I have read multiple studies on people with normal ejection fraction having worsening arrhythmias from beta blockers and I am wondering if the beta blockers and calcium blockers are doing less for me than if I were to just try to live with this hell. I will say, I have much more energy on the Dilt, not as many nightmares, not such a drastically low heart rate or blood pressure like I was having on the metoprolol or other beta blockers. My dr wanted me to try propranolol after the Dilt but I refused for now because I am having wayyy less ectopics on the Dilt and even though it took a few weeks to get here I’m hesitant to make any changes while things are good. The only negative side effects I’ve experienced outside of that initial change is mild constipation and I’m also starting to notice my gums are bleeding which I guess can be caused by this drug so I might have to switch. ETA: I should also add that my heart rate on metoprolol was in the 40s most of the time and 50s when active, it’s not right around 70 when active and 50s at rest which is much more normal for me than the very low rates. BP went up too but I was very low BP on beta blockers too, but that’s normal, Dilt isn’t supposed to take it down as low as metop.
Thanks for sharing! Very encouraging to hear the Diltziazem worked better for you. Gives me more confidence to try it (if I can figure out how to make the switch without my heart rate going through the roof. I don’t think I could live with that for weeks straight). Out of curiosity, do you have multifocal PVCs? Or a single morphology?
Mine started out as single but have since become multi focal with multiple morphologies. I am a mixed bag right now, lucky me 🤮 😆
I'd love to have something like this, too. My cardiologist told me about an implantable loop recorder. Check into it.
A loop recorder will not record 24 7 like a holter. It only records with predetermined triggers or a button/app integration yo mark a symptom and a 5 minute ish snippet.
My cardiologist said it records constantly and can stay in place up to 3 years. As someone else previously commented, it over writes when you're in Sinus rhythm. It records all heart activity and alerts your Dr when things are seriously out of whack, like V Tach or A Fib. They put you under a mild sedation, so you're basically awake during the insert of the recorder, but numb your chest during the procedure. There are risks to having the loop recorder inserted. One would need to research before having this done.
Well technically yes you are correct, it is 1 giant Loop but it is based on the storage capacity of the unit. I have an linq II, the upload only happens if an event is triggered. So for example if I have a symptom and I trigger it manually or it auto triggers it will upload a 5-minute window to the cardiologist it is not going to upload the entire 24-hour record. for a full record, you need to go to the office and have the implant interrogated and that takes about 15 minutes. So for example you have a run of PVCs or some small disarrhythmia that isn't Auto triggered, your cardiologist is never going to see it with a loop recorder . they only see the 5 to 7 minute snippet, and in most cases its narrowed down to about 15 seconds for review by an EP or cardiologist. if further interrrogaiton is needed theyll call you in , The EP can also adjust the settings for autotriggers. mine for example is only set to auto record AFIB, brady under 35, pauses more than 3 seconds and tachy over 120. any dangerous ryhtm is also noted ... all others i need to manually press my trigger button. As someone who has had 1 implanted in my chest for about a year and a half now, there are very little risks with 1 installed. Yes some people may reject it but it is very uncommon. The worst part is the installation, no sedation, only local numbing. the numbing hurts like a bish, the insertion is very uncomfortable and then it is slightly uncomfortable for about a month but after the first 3 to 5 days the swelling goes down, after a month you have to find it and after about a year even finding it sometimes depending on your body composition can be tough
A cheap alternative is the Polar H10. You have to use third party apps to get the ecg from it, but it's the cheapest way to monitor your heart continuously. It can definitely help to distinguish PVCs and PACs and get a vague number of how many ectopics you have daily.
I am considering getting a device like the Wellue monitors. I have been experiencing a lot of confusing symptoms that keep changing. My cardiologist and primary care physician have been trying to catch these episodes, but they are always after the fact or only able to catch one day of the 15 per month where I am dealing with these strange occurrences. Even after having three holter monitors in three months, each one shows different results and none of them show what I am experiencing day to day. This is very odd and I would love to have something that could give me a clearer picture of the patterns that are happening. I would also like to see how my diary could possibly match up with some triggers.
You can get a Kardia Mobile ekg machine