My doctor gave me the monitor a month or so ago and wants me to wear it for 14 days to help figure out why I have occasional bouts of high heart rate. That’s why I went to ER yesterday at the nurse’s recommendation, where they found nothing untoward. I had been procrastinating applying the monitor so I could continue exercising in the pool for my foot injury.
But now my foot is doing well and I am going to apply the monitor later today. I’ve read up on stuff like no immersing in pool, no sitting in the sun, no wearing my nice supportive bras because of the straps interfering, etc. Is there anything much more to know, or do I just grin and bear it? I’ve already taken a look at my wardrobe to see what might work best with it but I don’t have a lot of places to go so not a big issue.
My biggest issue was that I seemed to be allergic to whatever is in the adhesive. Oh wow I got the nastiest rash. It took a long time to go away after I was done and it itched!
I don’t think you’ll have this problem, but I still did my usual running//lifting routine and I sweat a lot. They (ER) gave me this clear adhesive tape to put on top of the electrodes. They made it 5 days? I wound up using giant band aids to cover them. That seemed to work better that the adhesive strips the ER gave me. But it would still fall off everyday in the shower.
I’ve been reading that spraying Flonase on the site and letting it completely dry before applying can help reduce the likelihood of reaction. So I think I will try that.
I am usually sensitive to adhesives and had no problems. H is usually not sensitive and was having a lot of itching so he took OTC antihistamines—Benedryl or Allegra which helped a little. He got a notebook but the PT suggested the phone app was a handier way to record any symptoms when you experienced them and pressed the button.
Good luck. Slow & easy when removing adhesive so you don’t tear skin. Use the swab they gave you to help make adhesive come off.
We didn’t perspire much and the Zio never fell off me nor H.
I have worn a monitor on two occasions. When I did it I went to the office and they put it on me. I get my arrhythmias when I play tennis so I sweat a lot and the last time it fell off do they just told me to tape it back on. I remember it being a pain, and itchy, but not awful.
My two weeks are up and I just removed the monitor; what a relief to be done! It came off with no problems. I used Flonase before adhering and had no allergic reactions at all. I had to get out our old shower seat (used by family members after various surgeries over the years) in order to be able to shower and wash my hair leaning back. I also had issues with straps rubbing and pulling on the recording thingie so ended up wrapping a light scarf around my bra strap as a cushion and it worked beautifully.
Now off to the post office to send it back and wait for hopefully nothing interesting re results. I’m hoping it’s a combination of morning dehydration and stress and age that gives me the palpitations but we shall see.
I’m glad you were allergy free! Just an fyi - mine took about 3 weeks to get results. I think you can get them faster if the doctor puts a rush on it, but mine didn’t. I guess that’s a good thing lol
I assume you checked H’s online test results? Mine hadn’t come through when I had my appointment 2.5 weeks after I turned it in, so he said he would check on it. I never heard anything, so I kept checking the portal and not long after, it was there. Nobody from the office called to tell me they were there or anything was bad. 6 weeks later I did the other tests at the hospital and then a nurse called me to say they were fine and to come back in 6 months.
I’ve got plenty of questions though for my checkup! My monitor results did show some weird things but AI said it wasn’t anything to be concerned about
Is “Zio” a brand name? I have worn a holter monitor twice and was able to get in the shower. I just took the wires off briefly while I showered and then put back. I also had a button I could push if I felt palpitations so they could see if they lined up with anything on the ECG.
Yesterday afternoon I messaged my doctor’s office asking if they had the results yet since the company had received the monitor two weeks ago. And lo and behold, the results showed up on MyChart this morning.
I think it says everything is essentially OK? Google AI summarized the results:
These Zio monitor results show a normal baseline heart rhythm with a normal average rate, along with a few brief, short bursts of a fast heart rate called supraventricular tachycardia (SVT)
And:
Longest/fastest run: Lasted only 12 beats, reaching a peak of 214 bpm and averaging 190 bpm for that short moment. Because these runs lasted only a few seconds, they are considered non-sustained.
And:
Interestingly, the 7 symptom-triggered events (the moments the patient pressed the button because they felt a symptom) actually correlated with normal sinus rhythm, not the SVT bursts.
So apparently the times I thought something was happening, nothing was actually happening. And I had already considered morning dehydration might have been a contributing factor (my water intake was normally in the afternoon). Not to mention stress and lack of sleep!
It will be interesting to see what my doctor recommends moving forward. It doesn’t seem like anything is actually wrong with my heart but there might be an “underlying electrical wiring issue”. Which sounds like something wrong with lights, not hearts.
Interesting! I looked back at mine. I had 21 episodes of brief fast whatever, but the longest was 15 beats with an average of 101bpm and a high of 167. My overall HR went from 41-167, but I did work out most days - moderate but nothing super hard. AI said it wasn’t anything concerning.
They tested mine at the initial visit. I go back in December - the 11th I think. It was the only slot for months when I called, but it is a 30 min visit. I plan to talk his ear off