What Is Wrong With My Body?

[Angelika_23]

Hello,

I was at work, eating lunch in the cafe when I started to feel a bit "off". So I went back to my desk, and by the time I got there my HR was 164 and climbing. I laid my head down on my desk but it didn't help. It just kept climbing. So a co worker took me to the ER. They gave me 5 mg Lopressor by IV, and that got me down to the 120's. I got an IV, and they finally let me leave when my HR was hovering around 102. I feel like someone has beaten me, my chest hurts and I'm afraid it will happen again. I haven't had anything like this happen for a while. I don't know what brought it on. I haven't forgotten any meds, I wasn't upset or anything.

Sorry, just venting.

Angela

[pat57]

I'm sorry.

The ER didn't offer you any kind of opinion on what might have brought it on?

[BEE]

all in all I hope you feel better at least...sounds like it was an odd thing for you ..no?

[Angelika_23]

No, the ER doc did not offer any explanations. And now that I am home, my HR has decided to mess with me again.

This was something that happened quite a bit for a while, then the Midodrine and Florinef kept it somewhat controlled as long as I didn't get sick, start my period, climb stairs, vaccuum, do laundry or exert myself too much. Even then, just lying down would bring my HR back down somewhat.

That's what I don't understand. I haven't skipped my meds. The only thing that is different is that I have had a headache since Friday that I can't get rid of. Could the headache be doing this?

My husband is a wreck, he is threatening to start calling doctor offices tomorrow morning and yelling at people. I'm afraid he will do it. I understand he is stressed, but yelling at the medical people will be counter-productive.

I get my lumbar puncture and bloodwork results next week. (Unless my husband makes the neuro mad and she drops me) Don't get me wrong, he is a wonderful guy. He's very stressed and worried about me, and thinks the doctors are giving me the run-around. Like the ER, they wouldn't give me a reason why it happened, they just told me to follow up with the EP doc.

Angela

[Sophia3]

Angelika

Pain "Can" be a trigger for sure...I am sorry you are still in limbo wandering what is happening.

I can imagine your husbands frustrations.

Also I found out my ANS doc I mentioned is NOT taking any new pts. I hope you can get somebody to help you get to Vanderbilt or SOMEPLACE. You deserve an answer sooner rather than later.

And sometimes meds can help for awhile and who knows what throw things off for us...too many carbs (but it sounds like you were just sitting down to lunch or did you have a heavy meal?)

Are you in PMS mode? So many things can aggravate this but guessing is not helping you at all.

I hope your spinal results are ok.

Good luck

[Maxine]

Maybe the spinal tap you had done stirred up your ANS symptoms. It may take your body a little while to calm down.

Give it a few more days, and see if your body calms down on it's own.

If you have another bad spell, you may need to go to ER again--- You want to be on the safe side--

I know this must be very frustrating for you, as you meds don't seem to be helping you either.

I hope this passes for you very soon. Try to avoid stress if at all possible. You have to think about taking care of yourself, as you have just had a LP procedure done, and for people with ANS dysfuntion, it may take a while for your body to calm down.

Keep in touch with your doctor to help you through this.

Maxine :0)

[kmpower]

Hi. I am sorry this happened to you. It is scary.

The only time I have a tachy episode is after eating. I have learned to eat less at a time, not bend over after eating, loosen all waist clothing during and after a meal, and not lie down too soon. I also try to eat slower and not swallow air with food (bad habits, hard for me to break). If I obey my rules, I rarely have episodes.

Maybe your meal triggered the episode somehow. When I had xrays after an auto accident, there was food and air in my stomach -- very, very, very close to my heart. I got an extra copy of the most demonstrative film and show doctors the effect of the meal size on the heart. If there isn't direct cardiac pressure, the pressure may be on the inferior vena cava as it carries blood to the heart. If flow is reduced, the heart rate must speed up (that is one of the pooling mechanisms). You might be pooling in your digestive tract, too.

The doctors used to call it anxiety, even though it happened only in certain positions after eating. Now they see the structural connection.

Anyway, I hope it doesn't happen again to you.

OLL

[Angelika_23]

Hello,

Still having issues, but no more 170 HR's. I almost feel like I'm back where I started in April. I don't understand. My chest is tight, Can't walk very far, still tachy but only in 120's or so.

Neuro says it's not their issue, so I called my cardio. I see him tomorrow. I get my LP and blood test results next week at my neuro appt.

Angela

[flop]

Hi Angela,

sorry to hear that you are having such a rough time.

I'm glad that the ER treatment helped at the time. I wouldn't be too suprised that the ER doctor couldn't explain why your HR went so high. So many docs know nothing about POTS, and even the ones who do know about it don't know why / how it happens. Sometimes there are obvious triggers for tachy episodes, but sometimes it seems to just be ANS craziness without any identifiable reason.

Even Dr Grubb's book (The fainting phenomenon) says that they don't know the why/how of POTS yet - a lot more research is needed.

I think a lot of doctors seem to avoid us, but really it is because they feel bad that they don't understand our condition and don't know how to help us. It must be pretty frustrating / embarrassing for them to not know what to do when they are used to having answers for patients and treatments to offer. I wonder if that might explain why we seem to get treated so badly sometimes??

Just my thoughts,

Flop