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kfay

kfay

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 4, 2007
Messages
1,906
Location
North Carolina
Ok...here is my situation. I have a 15 year old daughter who has been complaining for a couple of months now that she feels short of breath several times a week. Today, when it happened again, I finally had the bright idea to take her pulse while it was happening. It was 140. I know some people may think this is high (?) but when I was tachy mine could reach over 300 beats a minute for hours at a time so I'm having a really hard time deciding what to do here! I have already asked my cardio about her mentioning having "missed beats" and he said he sees many, many teenagers a year who have benign pvc's. Having me as her mother, with Ebstein's and WPW, would you persue calling my cardio (who is a pediatric cardio) and asking him to see her or would you just let it go? Do those of you who have had teenagers ever experienced this? I have asked her pediatrician before if she heard anything unusual in her heart and she said no. However, when I went to Mayo last year, they were very persistant that my children's hearts should be screened.

Thanks for your thoughts

Kim
 
I would not ignore a pulse of 140.....has she started any new meds for allergies, sinus troubles, or asthma?
My daughter suffered with asthma meds causing hyperness and anxiety.
 
Is she having any other issues....new friends, new school....age 15 can be very stressful.
Some teens start to suffer panic attacks.
Either way, she would do best to see a doc.
 
Kim, I'm surprised and concerned at the number of young people who drink various "energy" drinks that can dramatically increase heart rates. Do you know if she avoids these types of things?

Also, I would imagine the experts at Mayo gave you good advice.
 
If Mayo was persistent about you having your children's hearts screened, that is what I would do. The doctors/staff at Mayo certainly had their reasons for making that recommendation.

What a relief it will be for you to hear she's fine and if not, (Heaven forbid), you will get her whatever help is approrpriate.

Hope all goes well.
 
She is the most easy going, happy go lucky girl at this point (I'm not kidding myself that this is probably going to come to a halt sometime in the near future). She doesn't drink any energy drinks and usually prefers water to coke or tea. This happens very frequently when she has been doing nothing but watching tv or hanging out in her room.
 
kfay said:
...This happens very frequently when she has been doing nothing but watching tv or hanging out in her room.
Click to expand...
Do you think her physical position at these times may inhibit her oxygen levels?
And I humbly apologize if that is a really idiotic question.
 
Susan,I don't know what position that would be? I don't think so, sometimes she maybe walking down the stairs when she first feels it, sometimes sitting on the couch, etc.

Kim
 
Hi there Kfay, I just had my 3 and 6 year olds' echos done the other day. They dont have any symptoms, and despite their well check up ped doc saying their hearts sounded murmer free, she still gave me a referral to the U of M specialty clinic to do the echos, based soley on MY history.
My point, even without symptoms, it would be a good idea to get your daughter an echo. It was very reassuring to me to see functioning valves on their echos! Since she is reporting symptoms- it is even more important to rule everything out- and an echo is an easy, pain free test, as you know.
best of luck- keep us updated!
Ingrid
 
Kim,
If she's having them that often it would be in her's and your best interests to get it checked out. I would make the appt. with the mayo clinic. I think they know what they are talking about. Keep us updated on what you decide and my prayers are with you and your daughter.
Crystal
 
Kim,

I think you ought to make an appointment for your daughter to see the cardio. Why take chances or wait until things get worse.

Wishing you all the best & please keep us posted.

Take care.
 
njean said:
Kim,

I think you ought to make an appointment for your daughter to see the cardio. Why take chances or wait until things get worse.

Wishing you all the best & please keep us posted.

Take care.
Click to expand...
I ditto njean here. It could be panic attacks too but it is not something one wants to guess about.
In regards to your 300 tachy--WOW!I have had high tachycardias also(up to
240) and can't even conceive enduring 300 for over an hour.
Hoping all is well with you-Dina:)
 
"When in Doubt, Check It Out"

Also, did you Listen to her Heartbeat
for signs of Irregular or Missed Beats?

With repeated events, it certainly begs for an explanation.
 
my thoughts

my thoughts

kfay said:
Having me as her mother, with Ebstein's and WPW, would you persue calling my cardio (who is a pediatric cardio) and asking him to see her or would you just let it go? Do those of you who have had teenagers ever experienced this? I have asked her pediatrician before if she heard anything unusual in her heart and she said no. However, when I went to Mayo last year, they were very persistant that my children's hearts should be screened.

Thanks for your thoughts

Kim
Click to expand...

Kim, I personally think your history along with her symptoms definitely warrant more studies. I think she at least needs a holter monitor study for an extended period of time. Being that she's 15, she might not like wearing the sticky pads and wires around, but again your history is serious stuff and her symptoms suggest SVT.

That being said, 140ish bpm is not supposed to be "life threatening" as far as tachycardia goes. That's what I've been clocked at during SVT episodes. But that's also not to say it can't degrade in to a more serious arrhythmia. WPW syndrome is deadly stuff, and with that even being a legitimate potential for your daughter, I would not mess around with it.
 
Kim, my son Thomas had very similar symptoms, though he also complained of chest pain, when he was 15 (now 17). I took him to our GP but they said, ''he is fine, too young to have heart problems etc''. Anyway, looong story short, he passed out in our kitchen in front of me because his heart was beating sooo fast. His echo showed some heart enlargement, probably due to his heart working so hard for god knows how long.

He has been taking a beta blocker since. But even so, his heart does act up under 'ANY' kind of stress.

We are waiting for results from an ehco he had done a few weeks ago....sigh!!!!

*I would definitely get your daughter checked out.*

Best wishes.
 
Thanks everyone for your responses. When I told my husband about it, he immediately told me to call my cardio and get him to look at her. I just always hate it when you persue something like this and it turns out to be nothing and I look like a hypochondriac mother. My cardio is kind of a crusty, old school sort (even though I love him dearly) and he'll pretty much do anything I ask him to, but he tends to be dismissive of things. I'll call Monday and get her in.

Thanks again.

Kim
 
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