What a birthday present! I turned 34 today, but last week I started feeling really funny. I got lightheaded on Tuesday morning as I was getting my daughter ready for daycare, but not like I was going to pass out. It was more like. . . wow, something is not right. When I got to work, I went to the medical suite and they took my blood pressure. I am on medicine for my hypertension. A little low she said, call your doc. He may have you cut your BP med dose for a day.
I was not in any pain, but I was keenly aware of my heartbeat. It felt like Max Roach was doing a drum solo in my chest. I called my doc and he told me to come in. I get there, he does an exam and then listens to my symptoms. He hooks me up to the EKG machine, the nurse runs the test, low and behold, he says a I have a case of atrial fibrillation (AFib). He is not alarmed, but concerned and gives me a script/referral to see a cardiologist. Sooner rather than later were his exact words. He also said to be be concerned, but not worried. Easier said than done, as I am a worrier.
I informed him that I have family members with Afib. He said that genetics could be catching up to me, but he really doesn't know what caused it since I had been asymptomatic until this first episode, hence the reason to see the cardiologist. I went to work the next day, but felt like crap all day.
Meanwhile, I have been at home for the last week. I can go to work, but I have a very stressful job and any stress kicks up my heart rate, which increases the discomfort. One of my best friends is a doctor in the Army and he has reassured me that this is treatable/controllable. He helped to ease some of my concern and stopped me from freaking out. He said he has seen patients that return to active duty with AFib. I see the cardiologist tomorrow afternoon.
My wife had a great birthday weekend planned for me, and it was still spectacular. However, I felt bad because she had to scale it back. I felt bad ,not in a greedy way because I wanted more, but because I know she really went out of her way to make it a great birthday only to have this issue rain on the parade so to speak.
Anyway, I feel a little better after getting this info off of my chest. While appreciated, I am not looking for medical advice, as I see the cardiologist tomorrow.
However, I wanted to know if anyone else has this problem and depending on the cause of it and the severity in their own situations, if they have been able to establish normalcy again in their lives and daily routines?
I was not in any pain, but I was keenly aware of my heartbeat. It felt like Max Roach was doing a drum solo in my chest. I called my doc and he told me to come in. I get there, he does an exam and then listens to my symptoms. He hooks me up to the EKG machine, the nurse runs the test, low and behold, he says a I have a case of atrial fibrillation (AFib). He is not alarmed, but concerned and gives me a script/referral to see a cardiologist. Sooner rather than later were his exact words. He also said to be be concerned, but not worried. Easier said than done, as I am a worrier.
I informed him that I have family members with Afib. He said that genetics could be catching up to me, but he really doesn't know what caused it since I had been asymptomatic until this first episode, hence the reason to see the cardiologist. I went to work the next day, but felt like crap all day.
Meanwhile, I have been at home for the last week. I can go to work, but I have a very stressful job and any stress kicks up my heart rate, which increases the discomfort. One of my best friends is a doctor in the Army and he has reassured me that this is treatable/controllable. He helped to ease some of my concern and stopped me from freaking out. He said he has seen patients that return to active duty with AFib. I see the cardiologist tomorrow afternoon.
My wife had a great birthday weekend planned for me, and it was still spectacular. However, I felt bad because she had to scale it back. I felt bad ,not in a greedy way because I wanted more, but because I know she really went out of her way to make it a great birthday only to have this issue rain on the parade so to speak.
Anyway, I feel a little better after getting this info off of my chest. While appreciated, I am not looking for medical advice, as I see the cardiologist tomorrow.
However, I wanted to know if anyone else has this problem and depending on the cause of it and the severity in their own situations, if they have been able to establish normalcy again in their lives and daily routines?
