35 yrs. & heart attack...update p.14

[maplesky7]

Mornin neighbor!!!

hugs,
g

 

[ruth]

Dear Gretchen - I haven't been on BYC much lately with Spring and gardens, work, etc. and only recently came across this thread. I'm so glad you survived and are feeling better and getting the treament you need. I hadn't heard from you in awhile and just "assumed" you were doing better and things had lightened up for you - wow, talk about never assume.

Take it easy and follow the doctors advice.

By the way, we share the same birthday.

 

[texasgal]

From the original post:
Quote:
AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGG!

I work in the Cardiac Cath Lab in our local hospital .. we have a GREAT cardiovascular program.

You are NEVER too young to have heart problems. We see them all the time .. I just want to SMACK physicians sometimes..

There is family history *genetics*, lifestyle, and sometimes just a plain old heart defects. People of all ages have heart issues.

When in doubt .. say CHEST PAIN .. at least you'll get an EKG.

I'm so glad things turned out good for you .. The left main is no heart vessel to mess around with .. hope you're feeling stronger every day!!

 

[ODS-n-ENS FARM]

Just checkin in on you. I am hoping you are regaining strength daily. So glad your mom is still with you. Don't listen to Brian....you'll be back to full strength and stronger before you now it!! Tammy

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Robin'sBrood :

I have WHAT in my yard? :

So here I am today at 45 and I am certain that I have a cardiac arrythmia that is beyond the normal occasional skipped beat. But, my doc poo poos at my telling him about the pain. I think I need to get a backbone and stop falling for the you're a hypochondriac, you're too young and too thin to have heart problems.

I suspect doctors still don't recognize heart issues in women because the pain is not always like it is in men.....

I have kids. I need to stand up for them.

Both grandfathers were dead by 47......

Not to poo poo you too, I have What, but another thing you might want to consider having checked is your hormone levels to see if you're near menopause...

Heart menopause: Heart symptoms associated with menopause. One of the most prevalent premenopausal symptoms is heart palpitations. Menopause relief, for perimenopause symptoms like heart palpitations, is difficult to find. Although actual relief is hard to come by, there are many natural and medical medicines that can be tried.

Heart palpitations are not usually a sign of pain, but they are a sign of a hot flash, which is one of the early menopausal symptoms. Heart palpitations are an irregular heartbeat that can occur anytime but often occur in women going through menopause or about to go through menopause. They are not painful but can be felt.

Sometimes heart palpitations are also felt as the sensation that the heart is skipping a beat or it is beating too many times. They may increase the heart rate up to 200 beats per minute when accompanying a hot flash.

The causes of heart palpitations during menopause are the fluctuation hormones in the woman's body. These constantly changing levels of estrogen and other hormones can cause the heart to try to adjust and are also associated with the cause of hot flashes.
more... http://ezinearticles.com/?Heart-Menopause-Related-Symptoms&id=270505
​

Thanks for the article. But aren't palpitations like tachycardia where you get rapid heartbeat? I have always gotten a very rapid heartbeat to any stimulant such as caffeine or any ephedrine type of cold or allergy med so I do not use any of them and don't touch caffeine.

This is very painful irregular heart beats like having some one reach into your chest and grab your heart kind of pain. But, I am nearing menopause, so would hormones do that??​

 

[maplesky7]

Ruth...I wondered where you'd been actually. I found your post on weeds...and thought...there she is and how wonderfully relaxing to walk and enjoy God's splendor. My little girls have been busily collecting the only flower mommy allows them to pick on our property...dandelions. There's something so sweet about a little girl holding a fistful of buttercup bright and cheery dandelions and telling you, "These are for you, mommy."

Too bad they don't keep in a glass full of water.


Today another round of cardiac rehab...did the same routine about...upped the pace and incline slightly on the treadmill...did 20 min. And 30 min. on the cross trainer bike at about the same speed as before...a met of 3.4....and something like 120 steps per minute. Then stretched. It's weird but my blood pressure seems to stay the same before and during and after the work out...there was maybe a slight increase. I would think working out would make it go up? It was something like 84/52 and then 86/56. They did have me up my coumadin though? That's the blood thinner. At any rate...it's comforting to be watched so thoroughly while I recoup and especially inside the hospital, is comforting as well.

The nurses saw my camera pics today of some of my chicks and the ducks and thought it was really cute seeing two lil girls taking a bath with 2 lil ducks. They said, most kids have rubber ducks in the tub and your girls have real baby ducks...what kid wouldn't like that? and they ooohed and aaahed over them.

I'll have to talk to my friend to see when we will see each other again so I can give my camera to her so her dh can upload the pics for me. I was seeing her at least once a week but now since the heart attack, I haven't gone to the playdates the mom group does on tues. Now that I'm feeling a little better, I should be able to go and take my little girl again.

Thanks all for checkin in.

Love in Christ,
Gretch

 

[debilorrah]

G I'd love to be your neighbor too!!!!

 

[Biddieacres]

Maplesky I just came across this link and am shocked that you had a heart attack at such a young age. This post is a real wake-up call for me and DH. It is such a hard job being a parent and so stressful. Keep your head high! So glad you are doing better. Thank you for sharing and best of luck to you in recovery.

 

[maplesky7]

ok...update:

Ok... so April 6th was the cardiac event.
I was feeling very tired at first and then feeling better than during cardiac rehab in May my blood pressure spiked and I had to stop physical activity and have a nuclear stress test.
At that time it showed my heart which was functioning at 40% (65% infraction being normal) when I left the hospital and showed it improved to 50%. Not real clear on why my blood pressure spiked but went back to physical activity and cardiac rehab.

Last Mon. I had an EKG which showed my infraction again at 50%. I started to complain of extreme fatigue and muscle fatigue. Like my arms felt like jello at the slightest bit of activity and burned. My jaw even burned and was tired chewing raisin bran. So they told me to stop the Zocor for now (cholesterol meds).

I am also feeling my heart do weird things...like feels like a flutter. Today was just to be a normal check up that was scheduled months ago but was to go over with him about the fatigue and muscle fatigue. When I got there my blood pressure was really low and they asked me if I was feeling faint? I said, I don't know, I'm just so tired. Then the nurse took my heart beat count and said it was low and irregular. When the dr. came in he gave a listen and excused himself promptly and went and got the EKG tech.

Then he came back in and talked to me about several things and mentioned a defibulator. My mind went kind of blank after that.

At any rate... after my EKG he told me I had PVC~ Premature Ventricle Contractions~ meaning my heart is doing this... at the weak tip below where my scar is and the heart damage is from my heart attack...it squeezes a weak beat...goes up the chamber and skips a beat...and then exits with a regular beat. so weak beat, skip beat, regular beat. And that's what I'm feeling.

This he will treat with upping my beta blocker med. But he has to eliminate another med he'd like to keep me on because it will help strengthen my heart but since my blood pressure is so low he can't up the beta blocker AND keep me on this other one. So he has to choose and the beta blocker will help with the irregular heart beat.

He said at first I may be more tired...great...like how I feel currently isn't tired enough... I can have a 3 hour nap and still feel tired...I can sleep 10 hours at night and still feel tired... sigh. But hopefully in a month when I see him again it will be helping.

I will contact him in a week about the cholesterol med. and see if my muscle fatigue isn't better.

Please help me find the strength with this and my family issues that I am having and offer us up in prayer I so humbly ask of you my friends.

I know the Lord will carry me through but I can't help be frightened sometimes...especially when my heart feels funny.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

hugs,
gretch

 

[Imp]

That's rough. Sorry you have to go through this. Here's best wishes that your health improves.
Imp/Russ