| Author | Message | ||
     Jbuck Username: Jbuck Registered: 06-2008 |
Mike, The symptoms you are decribing are exactly the same as the ones I have been experiencing almost to the beat. I too am a 43 year old triathlete. The only difference is I have been dignosed with LQTS. It was picked up on a 24hr Holter monitor in March. I have since had a stress test. My stress test has puzzled the doctor. At rest the lqt is very pronounced but as I exercised the interval shortened to a point were it was not noticable. They have advised me against racing. I was supposed to be doing IM Lake Placid in July. I have another follow up appointment today to discuss FAMILION testing and the Epinephrine injection. I plan to discuss the odd reading I am getting on my heart rate monitor with my doctor. I will keep you posted. John | ||
| Bionic Roadrunner Username: Bionic_roadrunner Registered: 08-2006 |
Great, Mike! Let us know what you find out, it could help others. Good luck! | ||
| MSchimpf Username: Mschimpf Registered: 04-2008 |
Thank you! I'll contact the team in Italy to see if they can help determine my risk by looking at the test results from my 24-hour Holter and stress tests and/or suggesting further diagnostic routes. | ||
| Bionic Roadrunner Username: Bionic_roadrunner Registered: 08-2006 |
Hi Mike, Here are the name and contacts of 2 doctors you could consult. These were copied from this website, under the headline "Find help" on the home page. The are both very helpful. I wish you the best! University of Pavia, Italia Prof. Silvia Priori, Associate Professor of Cardiology, Director of Molecular Cardiology Fondazione "S. Maugeri" Via Ferrata, 8 27100 Pavia, Italy Phone: ++39(0)-382-592-051 Fax: ++39(0)-382-592-094 E-mail: spriori@fsm.it Prof. Priori and her team are available to reply to patients' requests, to evalulate ECGs that are sent by email or fax and to perform genetic analysis. Molecular Cardiology Laboratory, Italia IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico S. Matteo V.le Golgi, 19 27100 Pavia, Italy Director: Prof. Peter J. Schwartz (pjqt@compuserve.com) Physician in charge: Dr. Lia Crotti (l.crotti@smatteo.pv.it) | ||
| MSchimpf Username: Mschimpf Registered: 04-2008 |
Thank you for responding to my questions. The article you referenced on athletic heart syndrome is very interesting, and may be significant in my case. My resting heart rate is quite low (mid 30s when I was in peak fitness, now in low 40s), but the thing that concerned me and caused me to see a cardiologist was discomfort I was experiencing in my heart. My fitness has dropped off considerably in the last five months, and the discomfort has also dropped off The tests I had performed at Stanford Medical under Dr. Paul Wang (24-hour Holter and stress test) were deemed inconclusive as far as diagnosing me with LQTS. But, before I compete again, I want to ensure it really is safe for me to do so. I contacted Dr. Ackerman's office at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. They suggested I get the genetic testing done before further engagement. So, that's where I am currently. I hope to resolve the issue and resume triathlon competition, but I'll wait till a more confident diagnosis (one way or the other) is made. | ||
| Bionic Roadrunner Username: Bionic_roadrunner Registered: 08-2006 |
Hello Mike, This site has been extremely quiet lately. I do not know where every body went  but I will try to help you with the last question. I think that only Familion does the genetic test for LQTS in the USA. It is very costly, but some insurance companies are reimbursing it. You say you are a triathlon athlete. . you may be interested in this article about "athlete heart syndrome". http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/ahs It seems that what would be abnormal in a non athlete person would be normal in an athlete like you. Have you ever seen a cardiologist? If not and since you seem concerned about your heart behavior, for reassurance you may want to go and consult an electrophysiologist. Most of the time, a genetic test is not necessary to discover that a person has LQTS, but a simple ECG is not always enough. The best test would be a stress test, especially in your case. The doctor could see what is going on when you start running and why your heart rate does not go any higher. I hope this helps. Take care and stay well. | ||
| MSchimpf Username: Mschimpf Registered: 04-2008 |
1. As an avid triathlete for the last 10 years, I (a 43-year-old man) have been in the habit of wearing a heart rate monitor for almost all of my running and biking training and races. One thing I've frequently noticed is that the first 5-10 minutes often show erratically high heart rates. For example, I've seen values of 160-200 bpm during the first 5-10 minutes, despite the fact that I cannot generally get my heart rate above 152 no matter how hard I push (and I've pushed extremely hard during many workouts). I've thought this was a characteristic of the HR monitor itself, that is that maybe the contact with my skin was not "smoothed" so that erratic readings had nothing to do with my heart. Can any of you comment on this? Is there a chance that those unusual readings from the beginning of the workouts were actually my heart behaving oddly during the early part of the workout? 2. Is a low maximum heart rate a characteristic of LQTS? As I said in my first question, I cannot get my HR above 152 despite being only 43-years-old. The same is true of my identical twin brother. It makes sense to me that if my heart is slow to reset, there is a limit to how fast it can beat. 3. Can anyone recommend a more economical facility for LQTS genetic testing than FAMILION's test which costs $5400? http://www.pgxhealth.com/genetictests/order.cfm Thanks for any information you can offer. Mike Schimpf |