"Air goes in and out, blood goes round and round, any variation on this is a bad thing." -House

Friday, June 15, 2007

Decisions

I had an "emergency" trip to the cardiologist today. It took me arguing with him (in a polite way, of course) for him to understand just what it was that had me worried. I've got random PVCs (premature ventricular contractions) that cause a feeling like my heart stops then the next beat is more like a thud. It's very disconcerting. But also TOTALLY HARMLESS. I was told (in no uncertain terms this time) that these PVCs while annoying are not symptomatic of anything serious and that they're perfectly normal for me. This is a huge relief for me. Also the fact that the thing that was worrying me is NOT the thing that he wanted to put me on medication for. He suspects that I have exercise induced tachycardia. No kidding :O) I knew that. He just doesn't know if it's the result of an arrythmia or just my hearts personal style. So I'm going in for a stress test, run on the treadmill like a hampster, to see what it does to my heart rate.
I am writing this down because it's GOOD news and finally my brain can start to believe it. I also discovered something that I never knew before. WHen you stretch your arms up over your head (big stretch) and then bring them back down, this causes a drop in blood volume, which causes your heart to pause because a smaller blood volume means it takes longer for the heart to fill in order to pump all those teeny blood cells around. Crisis averted. I'm very glad that this time I was proactive with the doctor and (even though it meant being a little argumentative) got across the point I was trying to make. Now I can calm down. *sigh*
Seacrest out.

2 comments:

Leila V. said...

I did not need that little fact about the heart stopping. I find it difficult to believe that that is normal. I'll never lift my arms over my head again.

Anyway, congrats on putting your doctor in check! Can you come with me on my next appointment? ;)

Addie said...

Leila,
I just refused to allow him to change the subject until my question had been answered. And try not to worry, it really is totally normal. Now if I could just get my GP to reassure me on a weekly basis :O)
Addie