Stupid medical crap
Published on February 8, 2005 By Ziggystyles In Life Journals
About a year ago...I had some dinner and after a while...i got dizzy for a couple seconds and my heart rate just shot through the roof like crazy. After about a half hour or so...I told marcie we needed to go to the clinic. On the way there, we called, and they said to go to the Emergency room. So we did, turned around and headed right there. I felt like I was going to throw up...just felt weird.

I checked in and was surpirsed that I had to wait...but after a while...I went in and they checked me over, asking a couple of questions. Turns out I was dehyrdrated...and Ive never had that problem before. But I was dehyrdrated and had a diet coke with lime and that caffeine made my pulse shoot up.

later on, during the summmer, I ended up going to the clinic...forgot why I went there for in the first place...but my doc told me I needed to go on some meds, which I did. So he put me on Norvasc which widens my arteries. After a couple of weeks and the day before Marcie and I were going to ship out of town to head down to Las Vegas, my heart shot up at work. I ended up calling 911 and by the time they got there, I was fine. But I felt like I was goign to pass out ebfore they were there....freaked me out to feel my chest and feel my pulse just go like crazy. Well since I felt fine, I told them I was ok and didnt need any more attention ebcause I was going to the clinic in a little while anyways. I went to the clinic and he did a EKG on me and said I had Tachechardia (sp) which is just a medical phrase for fast heart rate. So he put me on Toprol XL as well to slow my heart down.

Since this fall, I ahve been having episodes where I feel dizzy for a couple seconds, feel afraid and scared and my pulse shoots up. Lately, Ive been havinga harder time breathing and Marcie and everyone I talk to says they are panic attacks. From what I read online, it sounds like thats what it is. I think, from as far as I can tell, that mine are brought on by lack of water. Tonight, I went to the gym for the first time after getting a membership there yesterday and about a hour and a half later, I had a panic attack where the same things popped up. I feel weird and scared and my pulse just races. I think I had this episode because I only had about 20oz of water there at the club and didnt really drink that much at school today or otherwise.

The thing that bothers me, is that I dont know what it is....I have a hard time explaining it to doctors, and I dont even know who to go to about this kind of stuff because it seems some doctors dont believe in panic attacks. I just hate the whole feeling I get when it happens and how it spazzes me out for quite some time. This has also never happened to me before either.

Ive had like 4 ekg's in the last year...all of which have been fine.

So because of this and my family history of heart problems (dad says "Ryan, in our family, either our heart explodes or our brain explodes), or more like cardiovascular issues and the fact that I am the most overweight person in our family...I am going into a cardiologist on Friday. Im hoping he has some answers because Id like to know what is happening, hoping its something small, and what I can do to fix or stop it.

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Comments
on Feb 08, 2005
I'm sure you'll find the answers from the cardiologist , based on the description of symptoms you gave. Sometimes the heart's normal rhythm gets disturbed and is caused by conduction disorders of the heart, which may sometimes be missed by a routine ECG tracing since these abnormal rhythm events are episodic. When they do come, the heart beats become more perceptible to the patient since they're out of the usual cadence and they're often described as "panic attacks". It's likely that one of the tests to be prescribed for you would have to do with monitoring your ECG for a longer period of time.
on Feb 08, 2005
hmm, Thanks for the reply Scatter. Not really the best news or ideas I wanted to hear, but I guess we will see what happens on Friday. One thing I have noticed is that these panic attacks or whatever they may be...seem to come only when I dont drink enough water. This hasnt been a problem for me before...but I try to drink at least 40oz of water at school a day, and more at home in the afternoon and evening. If I keep drinking water...then Im fine. But yesterday when I went to the athletic club...I didnt really drink much water at school, because I left my water bottle at home (and the LV water sucks!)...and I only drank about 20oz at the club during my 2 mile walk on the treadmill. So in the evening...when I got that panic attack or episode...I started chugging water and after about 40 minutes or so, I was fine.