My Little Heart Attack …

February is heart health month, and believe it or not, I have some experience with that too! (I should really write a book). There were a few indications over the years that I may have some irregularities. After a couple of decades, it became very real.

This weekend is the 16th anniversary of what I like to call, my little heart attack.

My Heart History

I would have heart palpitations in my teens that my mother thought were anxiety attacks. On some of those occasions, I would go outside and get some air. Other times, my mom had me breathe into a paper bag.

There was a time that I started at a gym and my resting heart rate was 94. Apparently, this isn’t a good thing and they suggested I see my doctor. I did and he had me wear a heart monitor. There was another time I had some kind of illness and my heart rate was high, so I wore one again. Nothing was detected either time.

I had problems after the birth of four of the kids. They were all c-sections, but with Christine, I was knocked out because it was an emergency. With the others, as soon as the baby came out, my heart rate would start to climb and they would put me to sleep. Nobody ever questioned it, just attributed it to nerves.

Near the end of 2004, my heart palpitations were becoming too regular. The kids were 19, 16, 14, 4 and 2. I had my hands full; Artie was getting into trouble, Roberta was a busy teen with dance and sports, I had a preschooler, and a toddler with Down syndrome always in tow.

It was reasonable to think it was stress.

They started off lasting for a few minutes and progressively got worse. As the episodes lengthened, I started taking Xanax every night. Some of the attacks were so bad, that it would start in my heart and make its way through my body. I could feel myself shaking uncontrollably, but you couldn’t see it. It was a very strange, overwhelming feeling. I did tell my doctor, and again, I wore a heart monitor but was told nothing showed up … I was young and in good shape, it must be stress.

One time, during an episode, I drove myself to church and prayed for it to go away. I was getting to the point where I was afraid to drive anywhere in case the palpitations came on. I remember being in Stamford, CT because my daughter was in a dance show and I had to leave to call my husband so he could talk me down. Again, I was treating it like anxiety and panic attacks. There were many a night where I would wake Freddy up and tell him he may have to call an ambulance or take me to the ER. He would stay up and hold me until the Xanax would kick in and I could rest.

Truthfully, some of the attacks probably were anxiety. I don’t know. I was so stressed about having an episode, I was probably giving myself anxiety attacks.

February 2005, I took myself to the doctor unannounced and told him that something was wrong with me. Again, I was blown off because the heart monitor hadn’t shown anything. It didn’t take much for me to second guess myself.

Two days later, February 22, I was in the shower and another episode started. I drove myself to the Phelps Hospital emergency room because that was the hospital associated with my doctor. It sounds crazy, but I knew the only way anyone would believe me was catching it while it happened. I should have never driven. I even had Artie in the car with me just in case something happened. Clearly, I wasn’t thinking straight.

They checked me in and hooked me up to monitors. Unfortunately, by the time that happened, the episode was over. I was there for three hours when the nurse came in and said nothing was happening so they were going to send me home. She and the doctor made comments about me being young and in good shape, so it couldn’t be my heart. They blamed peri-menopause.

The nurse left my curtained area and then I felt it coming … I yelled for her to come back that I wasn’t feeling good again. She said ok but didn’t come. I yelled to her that it was coming now. She walked in, looked at the monitor, threw me back on the bed, and yelled for the doctor. The monitors went crazy and she thought I was having a heart attack.

My heart rate was upwards of 190 and stayed up there for a few minutes before the long descent down. The nurse said it was great that my heart sustained the high rate the way it did and then said, “It’s a good thing that happened while you were here or nobody would have ever believed you.”

I told her, there were others that were worse. God heard that nurse say they were sending me home, and he said, no you aren’t.

I was admitted for one day.

I was in the cardiology unit, given medication, and monitored overnight. For the first time in a while, I felt safe! The cardiologist on call in the hospital said he couldn’t understand why I was never diagnosed with anything because my heart rate was so irregular. The diagnosis was Supraventricular Tachycardia with an irregular heartbeat. They sent me home the next day with a low dose of a beta-blocker. I didn’t want to go home.

The day after I checked out, I had an appt to see a program for Joe. Freddy and I went, I had another episode at the school and had to leave. When I called the cardiologist I was supposed to see the next week, they said to go home, rest and wait for the appointment. The doctor I was supposed to see was the top doctor in our area. Why am I still getting blown off? It was very disheartening and I was so fearful that I would have a heart attack.

I never made that appointment and had a friend who got me in to see her father-in-law, a well-known cardiologist, the next day. It didn’t take long before I failed the stress test and he stopped it. The doctor quadrupled my dose of the beta-blocker. Again, he could not understand how I had gone this long without a doctor picking up on a problem.

I took my heart medication for 15 years.

It took me a year to come to terms with the diagnosis and not be afraid to go back to a fully normal life. For months, I took the medication and Xanax afraid to have an episode. I saw three different cardiologists in a quest to get a true diagnosis and it never happened. One doctor said I was born with it. SVTs are a condition that usually shows up in the teens and progresses as you get older.

When I look back, it makes sense with it starting in my teens when I thought I was having anxiety attacks. All those times my heart rate went up during my surgeries and the time in the gym, it all came together. One of those doctors recommended an ablation, one said no and another said there was only a 50/50 chance they could fix the problem, so I didn’t do it.

I took the medication for 15 years, lowering the dose as time went on. A year and a half ago, I asked to be taken off the medication. I was tired of taking it. One of the side effects is memory loss, which I don’t need any help with. The only time I had any problem was if I had any alcohol – but it was controllable. My life is not as crazy and I now pass all my stress tests, so I saw no reason why not try and go off of it. My latest cardiologist agreed.

On a side note, I have had several cardiologists at this point due to health insurance issues. It shouldn’t be that way and doesn’t make somebody like me comfortable when I have to start all over with somebody new!

Good News!

Since I stopped, everything has been pretty good! At my last visit, the doctor informed me that it’s only a matter of time before the SVTs will return. So I guess I live my life and wait, but I won’t let it keep me from doing anything. I still can’t get on any roller coasters or jump out of any planes, but it’s ok.

My hope is the cardiologist is wrong. I truly believe God has the final answer and I will be ok! I wear my watch and can check my heart rate whenever. There are some irregularities when exercising, but it straightens itself out. This can happen to anyone and you wouldn’t know it.

My friends, if you think something is wrong with your health, don’t let anyone tell you that it’s all in your head. Nobody knows your body better than you. Who knows what could have happened if I didn’t take myself to the hospital that day.

Lastly, I do eat mostly healthy foods and exercise on a regular basis. I recently got my cholesterol down 40 points so I could avoid medication. Although none of these things contribute to SVTs or an irregular heartbeat, I don’t need anything else contributing to the problem. It can make for a more dangerous situation.

Much Love and wishing you all good health!

Sandy

#enlighten #empower #inspire #educate