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First of all, I *do* have an appt. w/my PCP for Tuesday, so I am getting checked out...
But coming home from work Thursday I suddenly felt very hot and my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest...I came home, took off a layer (I was a bit over-dressed) and laid down. It seemed to slow a bit (temporarily), but started to race again, and stayed that way until I went to bed - around 160 BPM.
We have had a complete "twilight zone" kind of week - I seriously think it is stress - is that possible? My husband is on our HOA board and had to help make an unpopular decision to restrict the swim team this year because of insurance and legal liabilities (unfortunately people blame the messenger in these situations!) many of the parents are irate and he was personally threatened this week...we also *almost* had to escalate an issue w/our school district to a legal battle to assess my son for a learning disability...I went over the principal's head, met with the district director of special ed, and found out Friday he consented to our request, now the principal hates me and I have to hope there are no repercussions for my kids...
Oh yeah, my in-laws winter in Florida and were supposed to head home this weekend. Instead FIL is in the hospital facing open heart surgery on Monday (bypass + valve replacement) Mike is very concerned, and I'm trying to be calm and supportive. His sister also dropped the bomb that she is leaving her husband (nice timing - while her dad is in the hospital for cardiac issues!) my in-laws are more Catholic than the Pope and are *very* upset - no one had a clue...
I did take some Benadryl at bedtime Thursday night - figuring it couldn't hurt, and if it was a stress/cortisol response, it might actually help. I woke up Friday morning with a normal heart rate. I thought I felt it starting to happen Friday am (I met a friend for coffee - she had me do some relaxation breathing she was taught - she has elevated BP) I felt the warmth again, but I was able to keep it from happening.
I guess I'm hoping it is some kind of stress/anxiety thing - don't think this family can take any more health crises right now!
Any thoughts?
Mary
What can you all tell me about tachycardia?
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Dear Mary,
So sorry that you are facing all this at once ("when sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions"). I am no expert but I would think that stress could well be the trigger for your BP. Your friend's relaxing breathing sounds good. I hope your FIL's operation goes well. Both my mother (when aged 75) and my brother have had very successful triple heart bypass operations.
Wishing you better weeks ahead, love ant
So sorry that you are facing all this at once ("when sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions"). I am no expert but I would think that stress could well be the trigger for your BP. Your friend's relaxing breathing sounds good. I hope your FIL's operation goes well. Both my mother (when aged 75) and my brother have had very successful triple heart bypass operations.
Wishing you better weeks ahead, love ant
Mary,
Stress is almost certainly involved, and hopefully, it's not a sign of a serious problem. That said, though, if I were in your shoes, I would have probably had it checked out, just to be on the safe side. There are at least 7 or 8 different types of tachycardia. As you know, I'm just an ignorant old country boy, and not a doctor, but IMO, the next time that happens, you should at least have an electrocardiogram done, to determine which type of tachycardia you are experiencing, just in case it might happen to be ventricular tachycardia, which can turn into ventricular fibrillation. Ventricular tachycardia is also a common, and often lethal, complication of a myocardial infarction, (heart attack). If that were the case though, surely you would have noticed other symptoms, so the chances are, it's more of a nuisance than anything else.
If it happens again, though, I believe that I would have it checked out, in order to rule out anything that might be serious. Peace of mind can be priceless sometimes.
Love,
Tex
Stress is almost certainly involved, and hopefully, it's not a sign of a serious problem. That said, though, if I were in your shoes, I would have probably had it checked out, just to be on the safe side. There are at least 7 or 8 different types of tachycardia. As you know, I'm just an ignorant old country boy, and not a doctor, but IMO, the next time that happens, you should at least have an electrocardiogram done, to determine which type of tachycardia you are experiencing, just in case it might happen to be ventricular tachycardia, which can turn into ventricular fibrillation. Ventricular tachycardia is also a common, and often lethal, complication of a myocardial infarction, (heart attack). If that were the case though, surely you would have noticed other symptoms, so the chances are, it's more of a nuisance than anything else.
If it happens again, though, I believe that I would have it checked out, in order to rule out anything that might be serious. Peace of mind can be priceless sometimes.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Mary,
So sorry all this is getting dumped on you and your family. FWIW, I agree with the others that stress is probably playing a big part in your symptoms. However, you really should get it checked out. I hope the stress levels abate soon but that you'll still look into the problem.
Love, Shirley
So sorry all this is getting dumped on you and your family. FWIW, I agree with the others that stress is probably playing a big part in your symptoms. However, you really should get it checked out. I hope the stress levels abate soon but that you'll still look into the problem.
Love, Shirley
When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber"
-- Winston Churchill
-- Winston Churchill
Hi CA Mary,
I definitely think it could be stress-related, especially gievn that huge truckload of stress you have been dealing with. They might ask you to carry a 24 hr. heart monitor to see the patterns over time. But it may never happen again . Let's hope.
Love,
Polly
I definitely think it could be stress-related, especially gievn that huge truckload of stress you have been dealing with. They might ask you to carry a 24 hr. heart monitor to see the patterns over time. But it may never happen again . Let's hope.
Love,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
Hi Mary,
Boy, that's quite a lot going on! By any chance did you increase your caffeine to keep up with everything? I know several people who drank coffee and soda all the time and then one day started having tachycardia every day they had something with caffeine in it. The tachycardia wasn't always during or right after ingesting the caffeine either - it sometimes occured hours later. For these folks, stress and worrying about the tachycardia seemed to trigger more tachycardia events. Hopefully your doctor will be able to shed light on the cause and it's nothing serious.
Best,
Karen
Boy, that's quite a lot going on! By any chance did you increase your caffeine to keep up with everything? I know several people who drank coffee and soda all the time and then one day started having tachycardia every day they had something with caffeine in it. The tachycardia wasn't always during or right after ingesting the caffeine either - it sometimes occured hours later. For these folks, stress and worrying about the tachycardia seemed to trigger more tachycardia events. Hopefully your doctor will be able to shed light on the cause and it's nothing serious.
Best,
Karen
Thanks for the input, everyone! I saw my primary today (I hadn't seen him in awhile - I've been busy seeing "specialists" for this and that - so it was actually good to reconnect with a "big picture" person 
) He was a bit more concerned it is more than stress since he felt HR was "significantly elevated" as opposed to "mildly elevated, which he feels is more indicative of stress. Of course I am self-reporting the numbers, which may not have been totally accurate, anyways...both my pulse and BP were a little higher than normal (for me), but I figured that was a little "white coat syndrome"...
In any case, he feels I should be seen by a cardiologist to look into it. I guess it is better safe than sorry. I have an appt. scheduled for Monday. He did an EKG in the office, which was normal, so that's a good start...if it happens again in the meantime, during office hours, he wants me to just "show up" on their doorstep so they can pop a monitor on me while it is happening.
And my FIL came through his surgery with flying colors this morning, so that's one huge relief!
I shall keep you posted!
Mary
) He was a bit more concerned it is more than stress since he felt HR was "significantly elevated" as opposed to "mildly elevated, which he feels is more indicative of stress. Of course I am self-reporting the numbers, which may not have been totally accurate, anyways...both my pulse and BP were a little higher than normal (for me), but I figured that was a little "white coat syndrome"...In any case, he feels I should be seen by a cardiologist to look into it. I guess it is better safe than sorry. I have an appt. scheduled for Monday. He did an EKG in the office, which was normal, so that's a good start...if it happens again in the meantime, during office hours, he wants me to just "show up" on their doorstep so they can pop a monitor on me while it is happening.
And my FIL came through his surgery with flying colors this morning, so that's one huge relief!
I shall keep you posted!
Mary
Very good point. I thought the doctor might order one, if he's concerned, but this may well be a "pecking order" issue, so I can understand how he might feel the obligation to leave that to the cardiologist.Shirley wrote:Have they talked about doing an echocardiogram on you? That can sometimes be a helpful test.
Mary, I'm glad your FIL's sugery went so well.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.