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Comment on How do I know if a medical issue should be addressed by a Clinic Visit, Urgent Care, or the Emergency Room?

You got the right idea. Heart problems are a bit of a mystery until you can get an EKG done. Urgent cares aren’t usually equipped to do more that that. If it’s ongoing, maybe look for a cardiologist. But if you’re having any sudden shortness of breath then you might need to head to the ER.

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ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Urgent care 8snt typically a good place to go to for possible heart issues at all, actually. Some d9nt even keep an ekg machine on hand.

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- jewbacca117@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  That’s why I said usually. EKGs are common where I’m located, might not be the same in your area. It’s not that hard to read an EKG, even I could tell you whats normal and what’s fucked.
  
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  - ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    But you can’t just go off an ekg. You also need blood work done to see if you had an mi that resolved itself, so going to urgent care is useless. Beyond that it’s stupid and dangerous, because if you are having or get an mi there, the facility isn’t equipped to run a code.
    
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Fosheze@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
It’s just the palpitations and I’m willing to bet that it’s going to just wind up being something stupid like a potasium deficiency or something. But thats a good point, I could just go get an EKG done and rule out an impending heart attack then make a clinic appointment for this issue. It just sucks having to pay for two visits.

Also it’s just anoying because this isn’t the first time I’ve been stuck in the department decision paralysis. The last time I wound up going to urgent care and then immediatly having to go to the ER for a damn gall stone that had aparently been an issue for months by that point. Once again having to pay for 2 visits when I could have just gone directly to the ER.

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- Reyali@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Do you have a primary care physician? I think this going on for 2 weeks warrants talking to them about it. If it’s not changing, then the urgent/emergency need isn’t there. Getting to a specialist could be months or over a year though (took me 10 months for first-available appointment with a cardiologist who specializes in dysautonomia issues like I have; someone I met in the waiting room waited closer to a year and a half).
  
  Alternatively, if you have insurance many of them have a nurses line you can call and get input. Like you mentioned you would do as an EMR, they’re likely going to recommend you go to the most extreme care (ER) because they don’t want to risk being wrong. But they might be able to talk you through your doubts. And hey, if it’s insurance they have motivation to get you to the cheapest care possible, so maybe they wouldn’t recommend ER after all, lol.
  
  Lastly, since you’re stuck in decision paralysis, it might be worth taking some actions on your own to see if you can improve the situation. Obviously this isn’t the smartest option, but I know I’m stubborn, cheap, and have white coat anxieties after being dismissed for my health issues my entire childhood, so I tend to go this route often. (Heck, I waited until my mid-30s to seek care that ended me with a cardiologist despite having the symptoms literally as long as I can remember.) You mentioned potassium deficiency and my immediate thought when reading “palpitations” was electrolytes as well. If you have a history of high blood pressure ignore this, but if not, eating salt and getting magnesium/potassium can help a ton. My cardiologist insists I eat 7-10 grams of salt a day. It’s a fuckton, but hell if it doesn’t make me feel worlds better.
  
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