Good Cardiologist Reference?

[KestrelBike]

Anyone know of any good cardiologists around Denver/metro?

I've only been to a general practitioner once in CO in late 2012, and honestly wasn't that impressed with him. Wondering if I'll need a referal to go see a cardiologist or if I can just go straight to that doctor.

Thanks!

[Big Wall]

Pm sent

[Lurch]

Usually you will need a referral from your general doc. You should be able to call your insurance and get a list of cardiologist that they cover. Then you can decide which one you want to see and tell your doc to make a referral for them. Unfortunately this procedure can take sometime so if you feel things are getting worse just go to the ER. That is what I ended up having to do and it's a good thing I did as 3 months later I ended up with a new liver.

[KestrelBike]

Usually you will need a referral from your general doc. You should be able to call your insurance and get a list of cardiologist that they cover. Then you can decide which one you want to see and tell your doc to make a referral for them. Unfortunately this procedure can take sometime so if you feel things are getting worse just go to the ER. That is what I ended up having to do and it's a good thing I did as 3 months later I ended up with a new liver.

Ok thanks for the info!

[kawiracer14]

If you have a PPO plan you can see whoever you like without a referral. If you have an HMO you need a referral. There are some other types of plans like POS that sometimes require and sometimes don't. A call to your insurance company with be your best bet.

5280 just came out with their list of Best Docs - might be a decent place to start.

[Batteriesnare]

Prevedel (spelling withstanding) from Aurora Denver Cardiologists in Aurora is a good guy.

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Anyone know of any good cardiologists around Denver/metro?

I've only been to a general practitioner once in CO in late 2012, and honestly wasn't that impressed with him. Wondering if I'll need a referal to go see a cardiologist or if I can just go straight to that doctor.

Thanks!

If I may ask.... do you have a heart history? Or a recent event?
What makes you think you need a cardiology referral if you haven't seen a physician in > 6 months?

[Gman]

Dr. Barry Molk - http://www.adca.bz/Bios/Molk.htm

[KestrelBike]

If I may ask.... do you have a heart history? Or a recent event?
What makes you think you need a cardiology referral if you haven't seen a physician in > 6 months?

Hey no worries... Alright so back in March of 2009 (age 27, slightly pudgy/overweight but still capable of running 3 miles easily) I noticed that when I took my pulse, about every 3-7 beats, it'd have a sort of hiccup. It'd skip a beat, then catch up with 2 quick ones. I went and got a referral and saw a cardiologist just to be on the safe side (back then my insurance through work was awesome). They ran an ECG, saw the hiccups, told me it was fine for now.

Fast forward to this week, and I have been working out pretty decently for the past month. I go on strenuous road-bike rides (1hr-1.5hr over 18-25mi, so figure 17-18mph averages) and for fun, I threw on a heart rate monitor on saturday. I went on a good ride for 25mi/1hr30min, was pushing it but still mostly breathing through my nose, and my pulse was 170bpm within 20min and by 30min was 180bpm and by the 45min mark, for the rest of the next 45min I was riding at 19mph avg at 195bpm and feeling good. I ended the ride feeling absolutely fine, like I got a good workout. Zero difficulties breathing, etc. Yesterday, I went on another ride with the goal of keeping my heart rate down, purposely breathed through my mouth instead of my nose incase that was doing any harm, and to make sure it wasn't the equipment, I used another heart rate monitor I have. My resting heart rate just packing my stuff into the car was 90-100bpm (not good). On the ride, going as slow as I could (ie it felt frustratingly slow, like I was riding with my lazy unathletic ex-girlfriend), my heart rate was still 175 for an hour during the 1.5hr ride at 14-15mph averages.

I just turned 31, I'm 5'10 and weigh about 180lbs. I can do 40 *good* pushups in one set, and ride ok for a non-serious biker on a road bike (I could also easily jog for 30min if it weren't for a bum calf-muscle). I took my resting heart rate today at work and it was 90 (my work has me primarily sitting in a chair staring at a screen). My coworker/friend had me calm down and do relaxation techniques, which brought it down to 82. (we both took my pulse). Yesterday when I was getting ready for the ride, I tried taking my pulse with my fingers and actually had a hard time counting it, because it was doing some serious hiccuping. While I was relaxed today when my friend took my pulse, he barely noticed the hiccup.

All of this along with extraeneous life issues of course has me stressed, which naturally does not help my BP/heart-rate. If I went to a doctor and he said "Oh don't worry about it ride your ass off" I'd be 100% happy. It's the unknown of whether or not I could be doing damage that has me worried. At 30yrs+, 190bpm is supposed to be maximum heart rate. I was going for 45min straight at 195bpm. [Note: I ran cross country in college, and our coach often had us take our pulse inbetween intervals. For instance, we'd run a mile loop around a park in 5:45, take our pulse, then run another mile, repeat. I was just as fast as anyone else doing the intervals and we ran it at the same time staying in a tight pack, and when we took our pulse, they were about 190-200. I was 220bpm at age 20, so I guess I've always had a higher than average heart rate].

Thanks for reading sports fans.



Dr. Barry Molk - http://www.adca.bz/Bios/Molk.htm Cool thanks will check him out