Well, today was interesting, alarming, stressful, and I still have no concrete answers to what is going on with my heart or what is causing it. I had a stress test done today along with an echocardiogram. I was able to make it nearly all the way through level 5 of the test. There are 6 levels. With about 20 seconds left to go in level 5 my heart rate hit 173 bpm and then went crazy. It immediately spiked up to 218 and felt like it was going to explode out of my chest. It took what seemed to be about 2 minutes for the episode to stop and for me to catch my breathe. Then several more minutes for my heart rate to reach an acceptable level. The Dr. and technician both said it appeared to be an episode of ventricular tachycardia. Apparently this is better than atrial fibrillation, which can increase the risk of stroke, but at the same time potentially dangerous. I won't know for sure until I meet with a cardiologist tomorrow. Hopefully then I will obtain the answers I want and we can start treating this condition.
Other concerns I have are my blood pressure. It's running high. My resting and normal heart rates are also running high. I still feel like I have this viral infection. Either the virus or my heart condition is causing me to feel weak, shaky, and light headed. Or possibly the combination of the virus and all the working out is causing undue stress on my heart.
Some things that may also contribute to this condition are...
caffeine
alcohol
high blood pressure
anxiety
Caffeine will be hard to give up along with my love for a good pale ale.
I'm hoping tomorrow will be bring some answers along with some relief. I have not been resting very well due to the amount of anxiety I've been experiencing.
My hope and prayer is to get this resolved and treated so I can move on and possibly start riding and running again some time soon. Also, I need to get back to work. I miss my students and colleagues a great deal. We shall soon see......I hope.
Nigity - "Always keep a smile in your heart."
No comments:
Post a Comment