What is a holter test?

Wikipedia might know…
According to wikipedia, a holter electrocardiogram is a portable device that records the heart’s rythm for an extended period of time(over 24 hours). It makes it easier to see of there is an arrithmia not noticable on a shorter term EKG.

Holter monitors are used for the purpose of detecting arrhythmias (in lay terms, palpitations) over an extended period of time. The reason is that sometimes people complain of palpitations, but not while they are in the doctor’s office. Holter monitors frequently don’t give useful results, because they record continuously for 24 hours. An alternative is something called an event monitor, where the wearer presses a button to record their heart rhythm when he/she experiences the palpitations.

I wore one for a couple of days…big flop. I couldn’t tell a palpitation from a burp and kept pressing that button. Breathing exercises worked much better, I found. My issue was panic attacks.

I once had to wear a Holter bloodpressure thingy for 24hrs. Most inconvenient and findings were inconclusive (mind you, so were the results of all the tests they did, so that doesn’t say anything bad about the Holter)