mountainsoft
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
My wife and I were taking our blood pressures the other night with our home BP monitor. When it was my turn we noticed the "beep" it makes with each heart beat sounded really erratic. I waited a while and tried again, same thing. BP was fine, but the pulse was really off. It still worked fine for my wife, so we ruled out a faulty machine. Other than the irregular beeping I felt fine and didn't have any symptoms.
The next morning I called an advice nurse who sent me to urgent care. Always fun, hours of waiting. Eventually they sent me down for an EKG and I was able to see a doctor. They diagnosed me with PAC, or Premature Atrial Contractions. Basically, my heart beats too soon, then pauses to get back on rhythm. Instead of "beep, beep, beep, beep", mine goes "beep, beep, pause, beep, beep, pause".
Thankfully, the doctor said it's fairly common and as long as I am not having any symptoms it is nothing to worry about. She checked with a cardiologist who hinted it might be a side effect of the Losartin I take for BP.
Anyway, they sent me home, no treatment needed, but I've been a nervous wreck for two days, even after getting a green light (all the "What-If" scenarios playing in my head). I finally got a good night sleep last night after being so stressed out.
All the blood work came back perfectly normal, and I never did have any symptoms. Despite the healthy diagnosis, it still feels scary to have an abnormal heartbeat and wonder what that's all about or what it could potentially lead to later on. I'm not feeling very invincible anymore...
My wife had to get a pacemaker a few years ago, my aunt got one last month, and my mom just had to get a pacemaker last Monday. So I guess I'm a little jumpy that I was next in line...
The next morning I called an advice nurse who sent me to urgent care. Always fun, hours of waiting. Eventually they sent me down for an EKG and I was able to see a doctor. They diagnosed me with PAC, or Premature Atrial Contractions. Basically, my heart beats too soon, then pauses to get back on rhythm. Instead of "beep, beep, beep, beep", mine goes "beep, beep, pause, beep, beep, pause".
Thankfully, the doctor said it's fairly common and as long as I am not having any symptoms it is nothing to worry about. She checked with a cardiologist who hinted it might be a side effect of the Losartin I take for BP.
Anyway, they sent me home, no treatment needed, but I've been a nervous wreck for two days, even after getting a green light (all the "What-If" scenarios playing in my head). I finally got a good night sleep last night after being so stressed out.
All the blood work came back perfectly normal, and I never did have any symptoms. Despite the healthy diagnosis, it still feels scary to have an abnormal heartbeat and wonder what that's all about or what it could potentially lead to later on. I'm not feeling very invincible anymore...
My wife had to get a pacemaker a few years ago, my aunt got one last month, and my mom just had to get a pacemaker last Monday. So I guess I'm a little jumpy that I was next in line...