Heart palpitations / discomfort in arms etc...

Folks,

Firstly, please accept my apologies if Im going over old ground here :)
Oh, and secondly, when replying, please bear in mind I'm in the UK
here, so try to avoid any "country specific" advice (eg, what drugs to
take) unless of course its UK specific! Thanks :)

Anyway...

For about 3 months now my girlfriend has been having occasional (almost
daily) heart palpitations also, until recently this combined with
stomach / chest pain and a certain amount of back pain. The main GP at
her local surgery is worse than useless, and has done little other than
throw more tablets at her in what seems to be just an attempt to simply
"mask" the symptoms (ant-acid tablets, beta blockers, triazapan (excuse
spelling!) etc). Thankfully, trips to A&E, and visits to see other GP's
have netted slightly better results - in that she has had 101 blood
tests (for I dont know what!), urine tests (for over active adreno
function), electro-cardiograms, and (as of today) an echo-cardiogram
(for which we apparently now have to wait the results). All tests have
failed to show anything so far.

At this point it may or may not be worth mentioning that the past 12-18
months have seen her endure a lot of stress - family bereavement, and a
somewhat "nuisance" ex etc... - she has a habit of being one of those
strong silent types - getting her to talk about whats bothering her
isnt easy!

Thankfully over the last few days the attacks *seem* to be less
frequent and not so severe (not reducing her to tears every time), and
the stomach problems seem to have gone (or so she says!). However, when
she does have problems she now tells me she feels a certain...
"numbness" and discomfort around the armpits, arms and fingertips. When
she has an "attack", she finds the betablockers, together with aspirin
seem to help alleviate the symptoms.

As I mentioned she has just had an echo CG. She also apparently has to
repeat the 24hr urine test, and has had yet more blood taken. Other
than that she has been told she has to wait 3 months, unless the ECG
shows anything "wrong". However, given a somewhat typical night such as
last night, where the stress and discomfort is causing her to get
little more than 4 hrs sleep a night, I find this 3 month wait
unacceptable - and feel sure the NHS should be treating this more
urgently. Life threatening it may not be, but life ruining it certainly
is.

She is eating about 1/2 - 2/3 what she normally does (tho thankfully,
doesnt seem to be losing weight - she's tiny as it is!), and simply
isn't her usual cheerful self. Its getting her down, and its soooo
frustrating for those around her who simply cant help.

I read with interest earlier an old thread about a similar case that
was down to an enlarged left ventricle. I guess this could be a similar
thing - but any other thoughts / comments / suggestions welcomed.

Thanks indeed to all those far more knowledgeable than me, that reply!

Steve

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