This morning was my follow-up visit with my GP (who, by the way, had totally forgotten why I was even there until he opened up my file to look at my test results).
Breaks down like this:
1. My heart is fine. Not busted. At least those are the preliminary results based on my tests from last week.
2. The doc now has no idea why my heart is acting like a maniac.
He said his first inclination would be to explain it as poor fitness, but I told him that I used to run pretty regularly and this heart palpitation thingee has been stymieing any attempt I make at exercising. Shoot, I can't get up the stairs in my house or walk up a hill without my heart pounding wildly.
My doctor took my resting pulse (about 80 bpm) and then had me run in place. It took less than a minute for my heart rate to shoot up to 144 bpm. I explained to him that I've had lulls in my running and struggled with being out of practice with exercise. But this condition is entirely different. I can't push through the palpitations like I can when I'm a little out of shape. Plus it's affected my every day activities, making it uncomfortable to carry my son, vacuum, rake leaves, even take a stroll around my neighborhood. Plus, the heart palpitations came suddenly upon me. One day I was fine; the next day I felt like my chest was going to explode. (My layman's opinion still places the blame on that frakkin' decongestant I took for a few weeks.)
So now I am off to see a cardiologist next Friday. Hopefully this will get me closer to figuring out a treatment, or at least what the hell is wrong with me. My GP advised me to find some manner of activity that I can do without causing an inordinate amount of strain yet maintain my fitness level. Yeah, good luck with that one. Basically the 10K next weekend is out of the picture.
I'm trying to be optimistic about the fact that the test results were positive, but it doesn't get me any closer to feeling better. My biggest fear is that I'll be passed around from doctor to doctor while my condition remains a mystery. The worst words I could hear from a physician right now is, "Well, I can't find anything wrong with you."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I'm glad to hear it was nothing that could be diagnosed by the preliminaries - I know that sounds kind of wrong but it means it's none of the big scary ones, right?
A friend of mine had very similar symptoms to yours last year, his doctors found nothing until he went to a specialist - he's now fit as the proverbial fiddle.. and still smoking, because he's an idiot.
Anyway, I'm doing that thing I do where I'm worried about someone so I tell an almost entirely unrelated and incredibly lame story to try and make them feel better so I'll stop.
Needless to say I'm wishing you all the best.
Maybe it's lymphangiectasia!
Hurray--I'm glad everything is initially well. And I understand your fear about them not finding anything wrong with you. At least you know they won't say you don't have anything there (paraphrase of what the nurse told me after looking at MRIs of head).
Arg. This is why I really hate our medical system.
I am hoping with all hope that this cardiologist will be the type of doctor to really try to find out what is going on with you, rather than what your GP did -- make you someone else's diagnosis. Obviously your body is saying that something is up.
My thought are with you. Just keep up a positive mind set. It is so true about the healing powers of the mind. SO TRUE. And you have a powerful mind in that cranium of yours, woman.
Post a Comment