@Beth Gallagher I didn't see this yesterday. I'm glad to hear you are for a lack of better wording 'in good spirits' about this. So many good responses for you as well.
Thanks so much, Von. I think a big plus of participating on forums is that "misery loves company" and it helps hearing that I'm not the only person with this issue. I appreciate everyone's good wishes and sharing their experience.
@Beth Gallagher It took me several nights to learn to sleep elevated, but it was either that or stay on that damn torture forced breathing device they call a BIPAP! It is waterboarding without the water. Yes, I get fluttering, shortness of breath, and light-headed. What the doctors put together is it only happens when I do repetition work with my shoulders and bend down pulling weeds, etc. They can find nothing wrong with my heart other than the murmur that only happens if I lie flat. Sometimes the fluttering turns into pounding which is why I quit doing anything that causes it. My cardiologist says it is very common with women my age that still have higher than normal estrogen, which I do. I take an 80mg aspirin before bed, drink water, and that is what they recommend. But wait! The Pulmanllogist says I am getting up too much at night because I have sleep apnea. I say no I am getting up because I have to pee! If you drink water before bed to prevent a heart attack, then you can either get up or wet the bed. He tested me for sleep apnea and found none. I was in an elevated bed. Then he had me back for a second test, lying flat, and guess what? He found I had sleep apnea. After jaw surgery, no apnea in any position, but I get dizzy lying flat due to the inner ear, so elevated it is. Your oxygen levels have a lot to do with your heart health.
That's the first I have heard of a BIPAP machine, Faye. Doesn't sound like something I'd want to do, either! Glad to hear that sleeping with head elevated means you don't need that any longer. This thread has turned into an interesting discussion and I've learned a lot from it. So far my oxygen levels are good (98-99%) so I'm not concerned with that at this point. Thanks for the info.
Holly--I thought of you while watching Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Youtube; he is a cardiologist in York UK. He has some interesting comments about hiatus hernia and heart palpitations.
Day 3 of heart monitor. So far, so good. I keep forgetting I have it on so I suppose it's not as big a deal as I feared. As is my usual M.O. with health concerns, I have been scouring the internet like a detective, trying to learn everything about "PVCs". One thing that seems constant is that other people who have them always seem to report the same symptoms... a scary "fluttering" in the chest, sometimes followed by hard "thumps" that can sometimes go on for days. Most people report being terrified by the physical feelings. So this makes me wonder... why don't I FEEL anything?? Even when my primary doc said my heart was "galloping" in her office and the EKG plainly showed (to her) that a PVC was happening, I didn't feel anything. Not even a fast pulse. I'm mystified.
@Beth Gallagher It is certainly interesting. You don't feel anything, but ekg shows you have it. My ekg is great, but a stress test will bring it on. Thanks for this thread because I have learned to just ignore it. That was till last night I woke up from a bad dream and my heart was pounding. This thread came to mind. It settled down once I took a few deep breaths. It happened again cleaning a toilet this morning. I have a hiatus hernia and am aware of how heartburn and acid reflux are connected, but I had none of that last night or I wasn't aware of it. This thread reminds me to make a note to write down these episodes so I can remember them for my next doctor visit. The last visit I was put on one omeprazole before breakfast and it sure helps me sleep better the following night. With your family history of heart problems, I can understand your concern.
All this is interesting to me, Faye. I also take omeprazole for heartburn and I recently read that PPI's can block the absorption of magnesium in the body... and the magnesium "deficit" can cause PVC! So I dug out my "Mo Maggy" cream last night and slathered some on my legs; I figure it can't hurt. I also ordered a Magnesium Taurate supplement and some epsom salts for my bath. (So at long last I will join the supplement takers, lol.) Supposedly the topical magnesium is better absorbed by the body than oral, and doesn't cause "bathroom emergencies." I will be really interested to see what this monitor results are after a week, and also the echo-cardiogram. The cardiologist did not hear any PVC when I was in his office so obviously it isn't a constant thing. I got on my treadmill earlier and stayed on it for 10 minutes. My heart rate got in the high 150's but I still didn't notice anything feeling out of the ordinary. Oh, and I don't have family history of heart problems; those I referred to earlier are my brother-in-law and his son. Their heart problems have been passed down from BIL's father and grand-father, so not my blood relatives.
This is my last night with the heart monitor...hooray! I'm looking forward to taking this thing off tomorrow morning at 11:30 a.m. I don't know why the exact time is specified unless the device will start "over writing" data or something. Then I'm going to spend the rest of the day soaking in the bathtub.
I can totally relate, Beth ! I only had to wear mine for 3 days, and I was so glad to take it off and be able to take a real shower. What they told me , was that it has a timer, and when the time runs out, the device stops transmitting information, and as soon as it stops doing that you can take it off. Was 11:30 around the time that they put it on you and started it working ? There is a patient portal for our Heart Center here, so I was able to sign into that and see some of what the doctor said after he looked at my monitor. That is how I discovered that I had the Sick Sinus Syndrome, and then I looked it up to see what that even was. If you are not already signed up for your patient portal, you might want to check with the office when you turn in your monitor and see if they have one for you to use.
Thanks, Yvonne. Wearing the monitor hasn't been too bad; just annoying. It will be nice to take a bath or shower and get that icky adhesive residue off. Also can't wait to sleep on my stomach again!! Yes, it was put on and started around 11:30 a.m. last Thursday. I don't have to go in for removal; they gave me a prepaid mailer so I just take it off, attach it to the special box, and drop it at the post office. (The PA told me the monitor is $900 if I don't return it!!! Though I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't.) Yes, I have a patient portal account that is quite useful for test results and communicating with my doctor. I have not messaged the cardiologist, but my PCP is excellent about returning emails via that portal. She usually responds to my messages within a couple of hours. (Back when I had shingles break out on a Saturday, I sent her a picture of the rash on my arm and she called in the prescriptions without me ever going into the office.) I'm anxious to hear the results from this and see what happens next. I have the echo-cardiogram and the stress test scheduled later this month. Now that the monitor is coming off, I will be on the treadmill every day to get ready for the stress test!
When I was wearing my heart monitor, they said to do everything that I would normally do, @Beth Gallagher . What was the reason that you were not allowed to walk on the treadmill while you were wearing the monitor ? The only thing that they told me was not to swim, because of not getting the monitor wet, but any other exercise was fine. When I asked about the stress test, my doctor said that my heart was not able to do that, so they have to do the PET stress instead. Since that will be taking pictures of my heart during the test, I think that it should show everything even better than a regular stress test.
I agree, Yvonne, I prefer the tread mill test as well, but they will not permit it. I don't care for the PET test at all. I always felt like a million dollars after the tread mill.
The instructions with the monitor said to keep exercise to a minimum, so that perspiration wouldn't loosen the adhesive. (Which was weird because I was allowed to shower as long as I didn't let the water stream hit it directly.) I tried walking on the treadmill a couple of days but when I began to perspire I got off. Honestly, I don't think there's anything seriously wrong with my heart. I don't have any symptoms and I'm wondering if all this is a waste of time and money. I'm curious about the echo-cardiogram since I've never had one, though.