So on Friday, I got out of court early. Came home, got some lunch and was calmly sitting at my computer when I started feeling like I had an "air bubble" in my chest. I had been burping a lot for a couple of days, and thought I was having a gas attack. I took some gasx and figured it would go away. Then a little later, I realized my heart was racing. I have a blood pressure cuff, (because my wife suffers from low blood pressure), so I put that on and found my pulse at 133 bpm. My normal resting pulse is 62 bpm. My blood pressure was 151 over 93 which is high for me. I got a little worried, but then it went away after about 15 to 20 minutes. Then later that night, the same thing happened, but then I also felt tight in my chest and my forearms started tingling. So I figured I couldn't just shine it on and my wife drove me to the hospital. By the time we got to the hospital, I was cold and clammy and really feeling unwell. They did a great job of getting me right in, but by the time they hooked me up to the ekg, I was back in rhythm. Everything looked great, but they ran a blood test that showed that my heart had been extremely "stressed" due to the enzymes my heart had released. So they transferred me by ambulance from the local hospital to the regional center where they have a full cardiac center.
Anyways, after 2 days of testing and monitoring, all they could tell me was that I had no blockages, no sign of coronary heart disease, and they could not get my heart to do anything "abnormal" even under stress tests. Now they are going to hook me up to a portable cardiac monitor and have me wear that for a couple of days to see if it shows anything. The cardiologist basically told me that they may never know what happened, as sometimes "palpitations" happen without explanation, and unless it repeats itself, I shouldn't worry about it.
That seems sort of crazy to me. Has anyone else have experience with something like this?
I've no experience with this sort of thing, but am very glad it turned out for the better.
Kinda scary, especially that the Docs can't tell you what caused it. :-\
Something you have ingested, like medication, unusual food or drink maybe? Just thinking of things like digitalis that has that effect on your heart. Neighbour lost several young calves one year because they ate foxglove plants, their heart rate went up too much, and they had heart attacks.
You asked if any experience here? Not that I am aware of.... ::)
But will watch for any signs such as you had...
Dave,
Wow, take care of yourself and be your own advocate. Do some internet research and anything you find, press the doctors. You should be hearing from the doctor of the FF soon ;)
Not to scare you, but my family history: My dad passed away at 53, like his father at 52 but they were a different generation - meat and potatoes, bacon and eggs. My next older brother (2½ years older) figured there was nothing he could do so he was "living well" and put on weight like our father. He was out weed wacking in his front yard (at about 48 years old) and felt a little beat so he sat down for a minute. Got up and worked some more and had to sit down. Did that several times until a neighbor came over who was watching. Got him to go to the hospital - he had two (IIRC) blockages on his heart that were about 90% or so. So they roto-rootered him and he was good for a year or two. Then he had another incident and I forget what they did to "fix" that. Did a lot of dieting and lost a fair amount of weight and changed his diet (lowered salt, etc) and finally gave up smoking cigars with the boys. Just last year, he had multiple bypass and the doctor made a comment - "you're good for a another 20 years". So my brother is thinking he can go back to his old ways ::)
My own personal odd experiences that the doctors had no explanation: I had an appendicitis attack that went away and a bought of viral meningitis both after being admitted to the ER running lots of tests. I can diagnose both of those now ;)
Not first hand experience, but reasonably close. I carpooled with a guy for a great many years. He was always very fit -- went for a run every day during his lunch hour, rain or shine. Proper weight, good diet, had a checkup every year.
25 years ago while working late, he started feeling a little faint. Then he noticed his pulse was slowing right down. It stopped for a couple of beats, then picked up, just as he felt he was going to pass out. Then the sequence repeated. He said he immediately knew he had a problem and it was pretty scary. Fortunately he was able to 'phone his boss, who was also working late -- in the next office.
By the time they got him to Emergency his pulse was back to normal. The tests showed nothing. The cardiac specialists couldn't explain it. And it never happened again. I often saw him after he retired, walking his dog past my mill. We'd chat a bit and I once asked him if he'd every got an answer. Nope, it was a complete mystery.
He died earlier this year at age 78 ... of cancer.
Yes, my wife has had similar problems with heart rhythms. It started as occasional events and then progressed to an irregular heart beat. The doctors tried two powerful medications and when they failed to correct her irregular rhythms they finally had to shock her back to a normal rhythm. She is currently holding a normal rhythm but has to take a number of medications along with the blood thinners to prevent strokes.
So yes heart rhythm problems are somewhat a mystery and yes having a home heart monitor is a normal next step. Good to hear they are monitoring the situation and this is a good time to review diet, exercise and weight and get ahead of any potential problems.
Sounds like "something" was going on. The heart is nothing to put off. Good luck to ya!! I want you to know that I am thinking of you and wishing the best outcome for you. ;D
In my opinion, a heart malfunction, blockage, etc. feels a lot like indigestion!
I had what they call a myocardio infarction back in March of 1995 and went to the hospital in Potsdam, then transferred to Burlington.
Seems there was a very small blood clot that got lodged in one of the blood vessle intersections on the face of my heart.
I was in-between bus runs and home for lunch (alone) and I just felt like I had to burp, but nothing would come up, so after a little time passed, I felt "not so good" and called in for the school to find a sub driver and had someone drive me to the hospital and by the time I got there, my right arm and my chest were really getting tight, but I walked in to admissions & treage and was admitted.
I was in for a week all together, on meds every since, with no issues.
If you EVER feel that way, go for help.
Couple of things.....
First, Chuck is correct. If you feel the way you did, don't write it off to indigestion. Get it checked acutely.
Second, I am assuming that, since you said you had "no blockages", you had a cardiac catheterization to demonstrate that. So, if this was not a bloodflow problem, then you have a circuitry (arrhythmia) problem. Sounds like you had a run of SVT (supraventricular tachycardia) - super fast heart beat. Also possible you had atrial fibrillation, which can also raise the pulse significantly.
The Holter monitor (24 hour cardiac monitor) may show some intermittent irregularities in your heart rhythm. If not, they will probably not place you on any meds to help with arrythmias until it happens again.
Monitor yourself closely, would be my suggestion.
When I had my "MI", they did an angioplasty in Burlington.
That was in March of 1995, in 2008, I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, so I now am on a regimin of coumadin (warfarin).
Quote from: doctorb on November 17, 2015, 07:42:26 AM
Second, I am assuming that, since you said you had "no blockages", you had a cardiac catheterization to demonstrate that. So, if this was not a bloodflow problem, then you have a circuitry (arrhythmia) problem. Sounds like you had a run of SVT (supraventricular tachycardia) - super fast heart beat. Also possible you had atrial fibrillation, which can also raise the pulse significantly.
No, I was expecting a catheterization, instead they did a nuclear medicine scan, (that I never did get the name of fixed in my head). They injected an isotope, then had me in a big medical scanner for about 10 minutes, watching blood flow through my heart and looking for any damage or blockages. Then they pulled me out, gave me a vaso-dialator that basically worked as a chemical stress test, (boy did that feel weird). Then put me back into the machine for another 10 minute scan looking for any blockages or other irregularities that might show up due to the increased heart rate/stress on the heart.
I was hooked up to 3 different ekg machines through this testing, (ok, well I think they were all similar, but one was a 5 lead, one was a 12 lead, and one was a wireless). Afterwards, the doctor said that they could find no issues, blockages, heart damage, or any indication other than my heart was in good condition with good blood flow.
That was part of my anger/fear. I have worked so hard to lose weight and get back in shape. I have actually gotten my resting heart rate back into the low 60s with a good blood pressure again, (like I had back in my 20s). All of the other blood tests came out good, blood sugar, cholesterol, thyroid, etc.
You nailed exactly what I was told. They don't know if it was Atrial Fib or tachycardia, but based on the enzymes my heart was giving out, they know something wasn't working right. My mother has had ongoing problems with Atrial Fib, but that is due to a bad heart valve. I had never heard of someone having a problem like this, but basically that they had no explanation and unless it shows up again, they probably never will.
Thanks for your input. At this point I am trying to focus on the positives that I now know I don't have any blockages, heart damage, or evidence of coronary heart disease. I have the cardiac monitor appointment on Thursday, so I guess that is the next step.
Dave,
Glad you are okay. Some times a near miss is the luckiest thing that can happen to us as it opens our eyes and makes us that corrective action before it is too late. I had always heard that it was hard to tell the difference between severe indigestion and a heart attack. Be careful and keep us informed. May help the rest of us be more careful too.
Glad your OK! When I got zapped by the micro dish on top of the mountain my heart went wacky. Now I 'm fine. Doing some research we found these waves affect people differently.
One example: a young girl with heart problem was scheduled for surgery. She went to Grandma's house and problem went away. Linked it to WiFi.