morgan617

In Nina's own words (almost) get thee to a monitor.....morgan

So sorry Deucy. I had a boss like that once too, projecting her junk onto me. It's hard enough in life without that. I'm not sure if you've gone to human resources? I may be dense here and you are saying that. You can also get a lawyer who deals in work discrimination, but not sure it's worth it. I am sending you hugs and lightning bolts from my eyes to her...morgan

Good job mary, even the thought of what you had to do makes ME light headed. I'm glad it went okay. morgan

I get it too. It can start in my chest and radiate into my shoulder. I've had it a long time, so don't worry about it much anymore. It might help to know that cardiac signs in women are very different than men. Women really don't typically have the shoulder pain type stuff (although you may) it's usually more jaw pain and indegestion as opposed to left shoulder and chest pressure. I will think about those things when a bit weirded out by what's going on, especially in the context of arrythmias going on at the same time. This is certainly not to say that you shouldn't get new things checked out! Just some talking to myself, I guess....you aren't alone! morgan

Just tell the truth sweetie and good luck..I will say a prayer that all goes in your favor! morgan

Not sure, but do know thyroid problems are one of the most common in the world, and POTS isn't, so I'm not sure you can tie them together, except that one may exacerbate the other. morgan

It's obviously some type of arrythmia Ernie, but unless seen, you just wouldn't know. I have pac's that can feel that way, but I also have pvc's that flip flop around. And then I'll have a holter and it will pick up a bunch of stuff I never felt. I have felt exactly what you describe, but I just can't tell you what it is. If it continues for awhile, that's a good time to go to an ER and at least get it on a record somewhere. I think sometimes we have arrythmias we feel more sometimes due to more dehydration, higher bp, whatever. The circumstances cause us to feel it more. That's about as helpful as I can be, sorry. morgan p.s. I sure wish we could have little ekg machines at home and get our own strips, because they are infamous for only happening when you can't see them!

I know some places actually just email your labs and stuff, I would really like that. The one problem with electronic charting is, some doctors just push a button and the exact same info goes in every single visit. That's kind of scary when you think about it, and it's hard enough getting their attention, let alone when they have their back to you, and are typing furiously to get it all in the computer in that 15 minute visit. (the physical part is a one button push, the "talking" is the furious typing) I worked for a group that wanted it because they could charge for comprehensive visits when it allowed them to only have to spend 5 minutes with the patient. I didn't stay there long.... My primary doesn't have a system, so I still get eye contact and that's pretty nice, even when his eyes are blank... morgan

Sorry, I am just anti social....people I know now, know I'm just not up to that stuff anymore and the ones that don't, don't come around any more. It is very hard for me to talk on the phone or in person....and not worth how it makes me feel. morgan My only suggestion is, sit all the time.....

I don't think there is anyplace in this world where healthcare is optimal. I do know when I worked on the cardiac floor, we had many many people from Canada coming for care, (I live a couple hours from the border) because they needed open heart surgery and their appointment for it was 6 months away. Of course, these were the wealthy Canadians. When I see that Michael Moore's best friends are Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, I find it amazing that people think he's out for anything but Michael Moore. And the money people line his pockets with. I live in a land where I'm not going to lose my head if I don't like the government and I'd like to see it stay that way. I have never seen any of his movies, but I did see a speech he made at a university on C-Span. He rambled for 10 minutes not saying anything, then told them to cut the feed. If people wanted to hear him, they could d*** well pay him for it. Those were his words. I'd like to read anything about his humanitarian efforts, and thought Sicko was basically an autobiography on film. Someone please tell me why, in Cuba, they had aspirin, but no containers to put it in? If it's so great, why did they have to bring in doctors from Europe to save Fidel after his botched abdominal surgery. Do you really believe the poor in Cuba get better care??? I mean really. Why was Farenheit 911 removed from consideration as best documentary from the Academy awards? Because it was proven that the majority of his "claims" were only partially true or complete fabrication. It could only be classified as "entertainment" for profit. He is in the entertainment business, out to make a buck and boy does he. As proof, Farenheit 911 made more in profits than Haliburton during the first year of the war. We need a major reconstruction of our health care system, I totally agree. But the day I think a self righteous, narcissitic, sicko, who uses other people's misery for his gain, is the answer, (I could be talking about a few politicians here too I guess) is an eternity after my death....In ER's, it's always a mixed bag who your roomate will be. But I must say, when I am sick enough to be in a hospital, I prefer my own private room, let alone with a guy who pees everywhere but in the toilet....Michael Moore's films should be viewed like any other, for profit film, and taken with a large grain of salt. In paradise, we'd all be in agreement, and no one would suffer, but we are based in reality. Our health care "crisis" has existed since before I was a nurse, and that was a long time ago. it didn't happen in the last year or month or decade. And it's not just insurance companies that mess with us.....morgan

Good luck with your move Ernie, you never know, you may get better doctors moving where you are! That will be my hope for you! I've lived here for 24 years and can't ever see us moving, so can't really help you. But wish you luck on your journey. Ugh, moving is no fun. morgan

Are the people living in countries with socialized medicine happy with it? I am interested in the responses. Sorry, was going to put in my two cents, but don't want to start a flamer here....morgan

Tea, I guess maybe subconsciously, I was thinking about that. For some of us, this doesn't get better, just slowly worse. I have lost so many things I had just 4-5 years ago. I was working, babysitting grandkids, driving, walking with hubs in the evening, keeping my house clean...and it goes on. All that is gone. I was a nurse for a very long time, as many know, and I saw my gastro recently. I asked him for some stool hemocults and solution to take home and test, because I take so much potassium and wanted to make sure I wasn't bleeding. Sometimes you can bleed and it's not enough to see, but the slides and solution pick it up. I did those things for almost 30 years, and certainly know how. He flatly refused. I had to do the slides and mail them in. I said, look, this is one thing I know how to do, and there's so little left I can control. He gave me a song and dance about costs etc (A clue for you guys....the slides and solutions here are provided to the offices at NO cost from the area labs, I used to order them all the time, so he flat out lied, except they wanted to charge me for someone to test it with the drops, which takes 5 seconds) I told him no and he told me I needed to pick my battles on more important things. What he didn't get is, I have lost so much, it was a HUGE battle to me. And he will never get that. He will also never get a stool sample from me. The license was just another slap in the face of the realities of my life. But, I guess I just don't have the energy to stay sad or mad anymore. I actually made myself take that ID photo out and look at it and then I just burst out laughing. I thought, if they are going to rip a piece of my heart out, they could have at least had the picture not look like I was a convict in liver failure.....sometimes you just gotta laugh or you'll cry yourself to death.... I've heard that saying and have used it many a time, but my words are a bit different anyway, another glass of spilt milk and no use crying over it....after a certain amount of crying....morgan

Tearose, A bundle branch block is an electrical problem. You can have a right BBB or a left BBB. Sometimes they are just a normal variance in someone. (For instance, I have a Q wave, which is usually indicative of having had a heart attack, but I haven't, so it's a normal variant for me) The right and left ventricle usually squeeze at the same time, although they have very different jobs. When you have a BBB, it means they are not squeezing together, for a variety of reasons. It can be "normal" or no problem, to serious. RBBB's tend to be more benign than LBBB's, although left ones can also be very benign. They can be a sign of certain types of lung or heart problems. There is quite a bit of variability there and you have to know which type you have. It shows up on an EKG with that big pointy spike not being narrow like it's supposed to, and it will actually have a "notch" in it. We used to call them "rabbit ears" but I'm not sure if they still do. They are very common however. It's important to find out why you have a BBB and what kind you have. Hope that helps. btw, my pacer was one of the very few things I have absolutely no regrets about getting. It does what it's supposed to and does relieve one significant symptom for me. Only that one thing (I don't get big drops in heart rate and rates of 30 and fall on my face any more from it) but I knew that was the only thing it was going to help. Now I fall from other things, but I know my heart rate is not going to bottom out anymore. Pacer over broken ribs any day! morgan

grarduh, Irregular heart beats can be anything from just an annoyance to something not pleasant at all. When you think of how many times the heart beats in your life, you have to expect there will be a few irregularities occasionally. Everyone has them, but not everyone feels them. It depends on the type of arrythmias, as to whether they are cause for concern or not. If you have no symptoms except for feeling one once in awhile, personally, I don't worry about it. But if it causes you to feel faint, grey, sick, short of breath, or doesn't stop, it needs to be checked out. Sinus tachycardia, in and of itself, is normal, under certain circumstances, but having it constantly is not and can cause significant fatigue, etc. When you heart "skips" a beat, it typically means that a beat popped in there too early. You don't usually feel that beat. There is a tiny pause while the heart resets itself after that early beat, but it's a long enough pause for it to "overfill" so when that next beat happens, the heart is pushing out more blood than normal and that's when you feel it. Premature beats can originate in many different areas of the heart, and that can determine whether it's serious or not. The only way to know is to go on a monitor and find out exactly what is going on. That's very simplistic, but hope it helps a bit. btw, bp monitors won't really tell you much, except for your bp. Mine won't even do that if I'm having a lot of arrythmias, and I paid a lot for it... morgan

Sorry you are feeling so crummy. Just reading about your day wore me out! Sometimes there is just no choice and we have to push beyond our limits and pay for it. Hopefully your body will settle down soon and you can at least be at your baseline again....morgan

Rachel, even if there aren't any real treatments, just the validation must be a relief. It's sad when we are relieved something is wrong, but that is the way it goes with us. Hoping they find something that, at least, helps. I'm glad you had a good visit with Dr. Grubb. morgan

Hi MaryJo, I am so sorry that happened! A similar incident happened to my sister. Unfortunately meds errors are so common. Atropine is a very short lived drug as a rule. I don't know, but it sounds like it may have kicked in your POTS and now you are stuck there. Things we put in our ears, eyes and places like that do not typically cause systemic type reactions, but then we are not typical people. I wish I could help you. I do hope you get to feeling better soon, and am glad it appears you got your eye sight back! morgan

Carmen, my doctor did the opposite...he said over and over, it wasn't going to "fix" anything but my brady. I was told to have NO illusions it would help any of my other problems. Mine also tracks fast rates, but they had it set so high, it wasn't. They lowered it a bit the last time I was in. Or said they did...I don't really trust them. morgan How ever out of all the times I had an event monitor, there was only one time it indicated the need for a pacer, but it was very significant need. The others showed my tachy rythyms, and no brady ever. I was wondering about these medical people too, except I think you are having big drops in your rate, right? Sorry, brain fog. There are two people on the board right now with low heart rates. If it was you, that's probably why they assume it's for a pacer. I'm so sorry, I'm confused between the two people. redfacedmorgan

Thanks all....the support is always a boost, to know people "get it" Sophia, I have always loved that picture and you'd think they wouldn't have a big problem with me driving one of those would you, it's not like rush hour in the east...LOL, thanks for that....morgan

No, it's not just for a pace maker. It's to look for any kind of arrythmias that people feel, or make them symptomatic. It could show the need for a pacer, but it could a zillion other things too. There are lots of irregular heart beats that could mean anything from nothing to life threatening and everything in between. Until you catch whatever is bothering you, no assumptions should be made. I do have a pacer and got it because of what they caught on an event monitor, but I've had event monitors multiple times in the last 15 years and have only had the pacer 1 year. Hope that helps. Just make sure you push it when you feel something, even if it just seems minor, because then you have a record.....morgan

My birthday is this month and my license was set to expire. I haven't driven in almost 3 years, but I still had it in my purse, just in case, you know? Today, we went in and they refused to renew it. I had to get a photo ID instead. I know I can't and won't drive, I would never endanger another person by being stubborn and silly (like my dad, M-I-L, and my friend's mom with dementia) but they are all in their 80's! For some reason it just hit me when they handed me that "ID photo" as opposed to a license, I had just lost another hugh part of my life. It didn't seem to matter that I hadn't used it...it was just another big loss because of this stupid body. I burst into tears and every one was looking at me, (of course the place was jammed) but I couldn't help it. Here I am in the middle of an SSDI re eval and I am giving up my license and another part of my life and independence. Hubs wheeled me out as fast as he could and tried to comfort me. I have been very cranky about going in to do this, and now of course, I know why. You think this disease has already taken everything, and bam, it rips away something else....what a bummer. Anyway, just needed to vent. I'm better now, but am tired of the fact that I get resigned to stuff so easily anymore. I annoy myself.... morgan

Ernie, 8 years can feel like a minute or a lifetime. With this illness, it's a lifetime. The only decent thing is that you have made progress in getting some answers, but that doesn't cure you and is often cold comfort. Sending you hugs and good thoughts. Keep fighting and tell mr munchausen he needs to go to a school of psychiatry if he wants to make those kinds of proclamations! morgan

Mark, when I was in nursing school, around 1862 or so , I happened on an article I found very interesting. A week or so later, I went to see my sister and she was telling me all about how her fingers turned all blue and red and white.....oh my gosh. A week earlier, I had read this little bitty article about Raynaud's. I immediately diagnosed her and she thought I was the smartest person on earth, as she had been to 3 doctors for it. She was subsequently diagnosed with Sclera Derma, but your words just reminded me of that that little article in some arcane obtuse magazine I happened upon. Of course, reading about it and fixing it just aren't the same are they!!!! I used to send my doctor every up to date and spot on article I could find, and it hasn't helped me yet, so I stopped. It IS all about feeling better, not just knowing the mechanisms. I don't care what causes it, just get me over it.....my brain used to be a sponge, now it's a swiss cheese factory, so just make it better....

Can't remember the last time I had a day when I didn't hit my toe on something, or trip over a foot stool, or crack my funny bone on something. My periperal vision has become non existant, and I don't seem to see anything below my nose any more. Falling down is always fun too..... morgan