Fast heartbeat and odd rhythms

[lacemaker]

Hello, I'm hoping you can give me some advice please.  My daughter has a faster-than-normal heartbeat - it is sometimes 120bpm at rest and often over 90bpm at rest.  She tends to feel sick and dizzy when this happens which is quite often.  She's had this for a while but it didn't seem to get picked up.  The only symptom that was noticed in the past was that she often felt sick.

My daughter is in her early 20s now and her doc has prescribed beta-blockers for her.  She had a brief ECG at the surgery and that's it.  She still often feels unwell and I have been urging her to go back but she says the doc has said treatment will still be the same.  I feel she should have been sent for tests at the hospital by a specialist.  The checks she's had don't seem adequate to me.

I am concerned when I talk to her and she says she feels dizzy or she can't concentrate because her heart is behaving oddly.  This doesn't seem right to me.  What do you think?  Should she press to be referred to the hospital for further tests?  What tests would be a good idea?  We are in the UK so wouldn't have to pay, but the doc will only order tests that are indicated.

I am worried about my daughter and I'm not sure this heart problem has been investigated properly or it it's being treated properly.  Surely she shouldn't be feeling unwell and jittery like this so often?

[CCFHeartMD16]

If she has ongoing symptoms, this can be concerning. Beta blockers, which slow the heart, can be useful, but do not always help.

It may be advisable to have a Holter monitor, which will evaluate her heart rhythm, rate, and runs of arrhythmia if they occur, over a 24-48 hour period. This is done as an outpatient. Further, evaluation for a structural disease of the heart can be performed on top of that with a echocardiogram.

Based on those evaluations (along with the prior ECG she has had), a more definitive diagnosis can be made, and therapy (if necessary) can be implemented.

[lacemaker]

Thanks very much for your comments.  I know the holter test was the next possible option.  I am concerned her doctor has not suggested it.  I fear my daughter may be minimising this to her doc as she's worried what it might mean.  I will talk with her and see if we can't get this holter test done.

Would you mind explaining what could be causing these type of symptoms please and if it's advisable to have further tests?  I did not realise that the beta-blockers might not be working in her case.  I think she could take a higher dose if it still bothered her but she prefers not to - is this why the symptoms aren't going?  I can't understand why doc has not recommended the holter test.  How can the doc know what's wrong by just an ECG - is it possible?