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If its any consolation the same thing happened to me about the possible passed heart attack. It happened when I went for a routine physical. The doctor asked me at least 3 times if I felt ok. Then he said my EKG was not normal. It, too, showed signs of a possible past heart attack. I was shocked I was in my mid 50s. The doctor had sent me for the same tests you describe. All came back fine. So now when i go for an ekg i tell them it wont be normal. So far so good. Im now 66 and doing well.
But my heartbeat has been irrigular for I cant tell you how long. Im thinking early 30s. At that time I also had tests. My third pregnancy was the worst with the palpations and skipping, I wore a HM while pregnant. It must have been hormonal because everything showed no problems as well. Still scary, though.
Even now, my heart skips beats but Im no longer afraid. There isnt any change in them and if they havent killed me yet Im thinking they wont any time soon. The skips are benign I was told.
The bottom line is please try not to be scared. I know its hard but certainly not beneficial at all. Just wait and see. Everything can and probably is fine. Now youll have the proof. You are young. So you are already ahead of the game.
I wish you peace. calm and a great outcome. Keep us posted.
Thanks to those who are encouraging me! Have to remember there are possible reasons that won’t suddenly kill me(which is what I am most scared of right now).
Yukon - thanks for the ideas. my hydration the week prior was poor yes, I even commented the day before this started to my husband that I had only drank one glass of water the entire day. I can be bad about this but it never caused issue in the past. I did start drinking a lot more water once this started but it has been a week now so not sure if it could still be that.
Vector - thanks for all the info! Once this is all sorted out I will discuss the higher cholesterol increase(could maybe be from pregnancy as I seen others reporting higher numbers after) and will see what he thinks about it. I like being pro active with health, so want to get those in a better range and not ignore that. Thanks also for the reminder that the doctor wouldn’t send me home if he really thought it was dire and serious. I do swim 2-3x a week and try to walk daily for 30min. Won’t add in anything extra until testing is done.
Marble cake - thank you for the reassurance! Good to hear someone else had it show up and not be true. Yes it is scary when feeling things that are off and involving the chest/heart area but trying to remember that like you, it doesn’t have to mean something awful.
Background: 31 female, gave birth to first baby 5 months ago(no complications). Not overweight. Don't smoke or drink. Some Family history of heart attack. 2 years ago for unrelated issue has a CT with contrast of heart. Doc said looked great.
3 weeks ago I got bad cold. Took Wal-Mart brand cold meds with decongestant for first time ever. Usually take musinex. Horrible constant chest palpitations for 12 hours. Doc said probably the meds. It stopped and all normal Again.
2.5 weeks later palps back but stronger and more chaotic feeling. Very irregular. Heart rate is normal tho. Go to doc again today and orders full blood workup. EKG says I had a previous heart attack. Doc thinks could be flaw but refers me to cardiologist appt.
Wondering if anyone has ever found a heart issue after taking cold meds? Or developed arrhythmia after. Pretty scared right now.
Doc wants cardiologist to do full testing. Thing is.. Waiting is scaring me even more. Just curious if anyone had this experience or those with heart issues think cold meds could find a heart problem. 2 years ago I was told my heart was great tho.. Could it be heart disease that fast. I cannot sleep.. Its driving me nuts.
Also bloodwork shows high cholesterol(wasn't like that last checked) and slightly low sodium. Thyriod and magnesium, iron and all fine.
Waiting is awful. Would think if EKG shows u had a heart attack(not at that moment tho) they would do something faster.
YES.
Stay AWAY from Dextromethorphan. Which is the cough suppressant in that med.
I can't have it either, and it causes Serotonin Syndrome in me, and I have those symptoms and MORE. It can be very dangerous for people with heart issues (mine is fine) because Serotonin Syndrome causes super high blood pressure, among other things.
P.S. Sorry to say this part: IF the DM caused this in you (I think it DID), you are now overly sensitive to getting it again. Read all the triggers on that page above, and be very careful what you eat and take for a while. Especially if you are on an tricyclic anti-depressant, which mixed with white grapes and old cheese can also become a trigger for Serotonin Syndrome to us sensitives.
Yukon - thanks for the ideas. my hydration the week prior was poor yes, I even commented the day before this started to my husband that I had only drank one glass of water the entire day. I can be bad about this but it never caused issue in the past. I did start drinking a lot more water once this started but it has been a week now so not sure if it could still be that.
.
Add an electolyte drink to your liquid list for a day or two. When you get dehydrated, your sodium, potassium and other levels get out of whack and drinking just water doesn't replenish them. I learned this the hard way a few weeks back with my afib attack. The doc suggested keeping the drinks on hand for times when dehydration is possible (ie. illness with vomiting and/or diarrea).
When you hear hoof beats coming down the road, it's probably a horse and not a zebra.
Phenylephrine is a drug that imitates adrenalin and well known to cause a rapid, regular heart beat, but it can also enable irregular rhythms in those already prone to them. Subtle difference.
Not cold meds, but I now have an irregular heart beat with palpitations thanks to being on that rheumatoid/ malarial drug that our Dear Leader is encouraging people to take. Just a couple weeks on it, and I probably have this permanently. An irresponsible doctor prescribed it for arthritis.
I had awful shortness of breath too but beta blockers fixed that, thanks to the house-call doctor here.
Guido gave me good advice a couple weeks ago and we appreciate his presence here.
Not cold meds, but I now have an irregular heart beat with palpitations thanks to being on that rheumatoid/ malarial drug that our Dear Leader is encouraging people to take. Just a couple weeks on it, and I probably have this permanently. An irresponsible doctor prescribed it for arthritis.
I had awful shortness of breath too but beta blockers fixed that, thanks to the house-call doctor here.
Guido gave me good advice a couple weeks ago and we appreciate his presence here.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, S&S.
I understand your bitterness over developing a sever side effect, but consider this: very few side effects can be predicted with any degree of certainty. Plaquenil is a legitimate 2nd choice for RA if NSAIDS haven't worked before you're advanced to steroids or methotrexate, both of which have a much higher incidence of nasty side effects...It's always a matter of evaluating risk vs benefit for any med.
.Assuming you really needed a more powerful drug, it was a good choice. It's just unavoidable dumb luck that you got a side effect.... Plaquenil is not known to affect cardiac rhythm. It can cause cardiomyopathy, which has a propensity to show PVCs or a fib...But cardiomyopathy could be made worse by beta-blockers, so there's some details about your case we're missing....Maybe your new tachy-dysrhythmia is just a coincidence and not caused by the treatment? https://www.drugs.com/sfx/plaquenil-side-effects.html
Thank you all for the advice and ideas! I have finished the tests(monitor, echo and nuclear stress test). My follow up is in 3 days.
I did notice a pattern and routine to the palps and chest discomfort. To the point I could time when I would feel it and when it would go away again. Seemed about 12 hours with it, 12 hours without it and keep rotating that pattern. All together it lasted about 6 days in this pattern. Intense pounding palps, chest pressure off and on. Then it gradually lessened over a few days and gone. Almost 2 weeks later it is back! Few days ago began having chest pressure and discomfort then yesterday the palps were back. It is just awful, the feeling it gives is uncomfortable and of course scary to. I am worried the cold meds trigggered an arrhythmia but most worried that it could be a dangerous type.
Guido - wondering if you know if dangerous Arrhythmias can be triggered from cold meds? This I am most worried about as there isn’t a good way to check for this. Also, would following such a strict pattern(one that I can time) make sense with this or any other possible condition? It’s just strange how it’s more routine then random. I am hoping for a more benign cause and ones you mentioned earlier would not be the end of the world. I guess a deadly Arrhythmia from the meds is my biggest fear.
Also to note, exercise seems to have no effect to it. I walked a brisk 50 minute walk the other day and although worn out I had no concerning symptoms from it. The chest pain(though more just pressure) often is just below collarbone (upper chest area) but I also can feel it left, right side and center. Usually just one spot at a time, rarely my entire chest feels it. No issues with shortness of breath, sometimes the pressure gives a feeling of unable to get a deep breath but no gasping for air or feeling I just sprinted a mile.
Last edited by Icemodeled; 04-06-2020 at 10:34 AM..
RE: chest pressure-- because you had a normal stress test, we can say with 90% confidence that it's not your heart (coronary arteries). The variable location & nature of the pain suggests it's more your imagination (assuming so can be a diagnostic pitfall). Once a "real" symptom appears, you can start imagining all sorts of other things. It can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.---Unless your echo showed Prolapsing Mitral Valve. People with that complain of all sorts of unusual chest discomforts.
RE: exercise & palpitations-- irregularities in heart rhythm can be difficult to discern-- the beats are so close together that the irregularity is masked. Kinda like turning up the car radio so you can't hear that new funny sound the engine is making
RE: cold meds & palpitations- best advice is if you have them, don't take those meds-- although very unlikely the irregularities would lead to sudden death. The pattern you notice is most likely a pseudo-cycle, often seen in chaotic dynamical systems. (see that reference I gave about the math of cardiac rhythm on the other thread here.)
What did the cardiac monitor & echo show?
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