Last night I was getting pretty fed up. I'd tried taking a 1/4 mg of Xanax, because that seemed to help before, but not anymore. (I think maybe it just helped ease the stress and anxiety I was feeling because of the palpitations not going away.)
Anyhow, I ended up taking some stuff I had around that I remembered was supposed to be good for the heart: Magnesium (supposed to help regulate rhythm) D-Ribose (shown in studies to help with all kinds of heart problems, including Atrial Fibrillation, a problem my father has that I had researched) Potassium, L-Carnitine, and I even found some COQ-10 leftover that I'd thought I'd used up.
WELL, half an hour later or so, my heart got back to normal! No more pounding, or erratic rhythms! Not positive that's what worked, but I'm totally taking it again today...
Showing posts with label heart palpitations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heart palpitations. Show all posts
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Another Tough Day
I'm so frustrated with these symptoms. Today, I slept until the phone ringing woke me up at 12:30! Even for me, that's a bit much. I must've been tired. And this is the one day I have nothing scheduled, so I wasn't worried about it.
I got up, made something quick to eat, came to check my e-mail & Facebook, checked out some new articles from the NFA, and that's about all the time I had, an hour or so, before I felt my body telling me I needed to get horizontal. It just seemed like too much though. After an hour? So I resisted the urge to lie down and kept doing stuff. My reward: a racing heart, more heart palpitations. After checking my BP & pulse and finding my pulse was 118, I decided to lie down. Besides, my shoulders were burning w/discomfort already too, calling for my heating pad, or massage pad (but that involved my sitting up, so I went w/the heat).
So frustrating. I put on a show, commercial free of course, because otherwise I'd zone out during the commercials and start thinking too much or thinking of things that needed to be done. But it didn't make a difference.
I got to thinking about Christmas. I feel so left out of it all...Yet another year with no Christmas tree, no Christmas shopping, no opening the presents at midnight Christmas Eve surrounded by family, seeing their faces when they see what you got them, or dancing until late in the night. Hell, I'd settle for watching people dance until late in the night. Just to be around that kind of happiness would be nice.
I start thinking what I could do, and problem solving mode tells me, Well throw your own party! Oh wait. Broke. Have hundreds of dollars of medical bills I need to pay, and can't even do that.
And THAT is the main problem. Money. I've tried as hard as I could to work around my illness, but I can't keep it up. This last week alone, I've spent every day either doing something; running crucial errands, going to appointments, or in bed, trying to rest this thing out. I keep thinking there has to be a way to fix it all. I'm already doing the best I can though.
I just keep encountering one roadblock after another, and my mind & my spirit are worn out, sometimes it feels like I can barely think straight anymore, and my emotions are bossing me around, I just don't have the strength to summon up to be strong and sensible and stop the negative thought patterns. Two years ago, I could manage to pull the silver linings out of anything...but they seem to be all used up.
I've just about used up all the hope I had in me it seems. I don't believe next year will be any better, that hasn't worked in too long.
Well, I got a good useful talking to and managed to stop thinking so much, and things didn't seem as bad. I'm still torn though. Part of me is half convinced I should get over not feeling well and do something to either make some money, or at least get out and spend some time in the outside world. If that makes it worse, then the bright side is, I may finally have proof convincing enough for the government to believe I'm ill enough for them to help me. But on the other hand, I don't like people seeing me ill.
I remember one of the last Christmases I had that was good, shortly before I had to quit working full-time, I'd been going downhill for weeks, but I'd met this guy, and was really into him. So when he asked me to go to the mall with him, and help him do his Christmas shopping, I totally said yes. I was exhausted, but I had been for weeks, so I just pushed myself, but I guess all the makeup and the cute clothes didn't hide it. I broke out in a sweat and I guess I was probably pretty pale, honestly, I think I was having trouble catching my breath too, but wasn't saying anything. He noticed though, and made me sit down, was very concerned. I just said maybe I needed to eat, and he got me some food, and I think took me home after that. It didn't end well.
Ha. Maybe that's why I'm not too excited about dating these days. And my answer about trying to push myself. So much guilt with these illnesses. It seems so ridiculous to get so tired so easily...Worse, when no one seems to see that you need a helping hand. It's like being in purgatory. So torn between what to do. Always second-guessing myself. I've gotten better, but it's still hard. I had someone tell me today I should try exercising. Right. My heart is all whacky, I keep getting tired for no reason am in pain and having an overwhelming urge to lie down and I should go jump on a treadmill? It's enough to make you want to do it, just to prove that it was a bad idea. But really, I'd be the main one to suffer from that.
So anyways, I had been doing better with the not thinking so much stuff, really!
This is so definitely a rant.
Maybe if I'm good, and rest, and stop thinking, I'll be well enough to celebrate New Year's. I think that will be my happy thought. Haven't been to a good party in awhile...
Off to watch yet another episode of Fringe. It's my answer to the demise of The 4400. Thank bro.
I got up, made something quick to eat, came to check my e-mail & Facebook, checked out some new articles from the NFA, and that's about all the time I had, an hour or so, before I felt my body telling me I needed to get horizontal. It just seemed like too much though. After an hour? So I resisted the urge to lie down and kept doing stuff. My reward: a racing heart, more heart palpitations. After checking my BP & pulse and finding my pulse was 118, I decided to lie down. Besides, my shoulders were burning w/discomfort already too, calling for my heating pad, or massage pad (but that involved my sitting up, so I went w/the heat).
So frustrating. I put on a show, commercial free of course, because otherwise I'd zone out during the commercials and start thinking too much or thinking of things that needed to be done. But it didn't make a difference.
I got to thinking about Christmas. I feel so left out of it all...Yet another year with no Christmas tree, no Christmas shopping, no opening the presents at midnight Christmas Eve surrounded by family, seeing their faces when they see what you got them, or dancing until late in the night. Hell, I'd settle for watching people dance until late in the night. Just to be around that kind of happiness would be nice.
I start thinking what I could do, and problem solving mode tells me, Well throw your own party! Oh wait. Broke. Have hundreds of dollars of medical bills I need to pay, and can't even do that.
And THAT is the main problem. Money. I've tried as hard as I could to work around my illness, but I can't keep it up. This last week alone, I've spent every day either doing something; running crucial errands, going to appointments, or in bed, trying to rest this thing out. I keep thinking there has to be a way to fix it all. I'm already doing the best I can though.
I just keep encountering one roadblock after another, and my mind & my spirit are worn out, sometimes it feels like I can barely think straight anymore, and my emotions are bossing me around, I just don't have the strength to summon up to be strong and sensible and stop the negative thought patterns. Two years ago, I could manage to pull the silver linings out of anything...but they seem to be all used up.
I've just about used up all the hope I had in me it seems. I don't believe next year will be any better, that hasn't worked in too long.
Well, I got a good useful talking to and managed to stop thinking so much, and things didn't seem as bad. I'm still torn though. Part of me is half convinced I should get over not feeling well and do something to either make some money, or at least get out and spend some time in the outside world. If that makes it worse, then the bright side is, I may finally have proof convincing enough for the government to believe I'm ill enough for them to help me. But on the other hand, I don't like people seeing me ill.
I remember one of the last Christmases I had that was good, shortly before I had to quit working full-time, I'd been going downhill for weeks, but I'd met this guy, and was really into him. So when he asked me to go to the mall with him, and help him do his Christmas shopping, I totally said yes. I was exhausted, but I had been for weeks, so I just pushed myself, but I guess all the makeup and the cute clothes didn't hide it. I broke out in a sweat and I guess I was probably pretty pale, honestly, I think I was having trouble catching my breath too, but wasn't saying anything. He noticed though, and made me sit down, was very concerned. I just said maybe I needed to eat, and he got me some food, and I think took me home after that. It didn't end well.
Ha. Maybe that's why I'm not too excited about dating these days. And my answer about trying to push myself. So much guilt with these illnesses. It seems so ridiculous to get so tired so easily...Worse, when no one seems to see that you need a helping hand. It's like being in purgatory. So torn between what to do. Always second-guessing myself. I've gotten better, but it's still hard. I had someone tell me today I should try exercising. Right. My heart is all whacky, I keep getting tired for no reason am in pain and having an overwhelming urge to lie down and I should go jump on a treadmill? It's enough to make you want to do it, just to prove that it was a bad idea. But really, I'd be the main one to suffer from that.
So anyways, I had been doing better with the not thinking so much stuff, really!
This is so definitely a rant.
Maybe if I'm good, and rest, and stop thinking, I'll be well enough to celebrate New Year's. I think that will be my happy thought. Haven't been to a good party in awhile...
Off to watch yet another episode of Fringe. It's my answer to the demise of The 4400. Thank bro.
Friday, December 12, 2008
A Bump in the Road
Warning: This will probably not be a cheery post.
I had a pretty good couple of weeks. My head was clearing, the fog was retreating, I had more and more hours were the invisible barriers that sometimes seem to plague my existence were gone. More energy. A life I could live with seemed right at my fingertips, I could touch it but not quite grab it, and I wanted to do as much as I could to make up for months of business not taken care of. I knew it wouldn't last, but that doesn't make it any easier.
That's the kicker with these illnesses. If I were forever miserable, or lost a limb, I think I could learn to cope with that, maybe even overcome it; it's a constant. But going from good to bad at any given week, day, hour, or moment, that is the challenge. And it messes with your head.
That's what's getting me down right now. I'm a problem solver by nature. But I can't seem to adjust and figure this one out. I so would love to be one of those inspirational chicks who lives well with chronic illness. Sometimes, I wonder if maybe they had it easier, in that they had their illness to contend with, but everything else wasn't falling down around them. If that was it, I think I could finally be happy. If I knew I was safe and ultimately would have people to count on to watch out for me if things got too bad. But I don't feel I have that. I'm still in survival mode. (Granted, one never knows what really goes on in other people's lives, we see what they want us to see much of the time, and I'm by no means trying to diminish their success.)
So days like this, it takes all the strength I have not to go unhinged.
I'm exhausted. I barely slept last night, was woken up by heart palpitations. One of my most feared symptoms, are the cardiac ones, because even though I have an idea what causes it, and I know I'm not alone, most doctors don't. Days like this I spend torn between going to the Emergency Room, and telling myself nothing bad has come of it yet and I should just ignore it. Until, like now, it's definitely time to sleep, but when I lie down there's nothing to drown out the pounding of my heart.
See, I've been to the hospital about 3 times for this type of thing. Once by the time they saw me, it was better (though it came back later, but I wasn't about to go back to wait in the ER again, I was exhausted, and the chairs at county, and sitting for long periods are not Fibro-friendly) another time, I went and they did tons of tests and found nothing much wrong. The one time they seemed alarmed and took me seriously, all they did was temporarily fix it by dripping a saline IV into me for a couple hours and refer me for a test that was done incorrectly and was pretty distressing. (Try hanging upright on a table for 45 minutes w/people staring at you waiting for you to faint, then pumping you w/some drug to try it again, having your heart wig out, next thing you know it seems the doctor is trying to choke you with his hands on your throat digging down into your clavicle so you don't know what will kill you first, your heart and the not being able to breathe, or the doctor who seems to have gone mad but is really performing carotid artery massage to get your heart pumping normally again...)
The idea that I might go and they won't find anything and I'll run into a doctor who still thinks FM & CFS aren't real and that I'm a nut helps keep me home. I'm still bruised from a recent emotional upheaval, and not up to attempting to educate doctors.
I took some medicine, not specifically for that, but meant to address the CFS in general, and it seemed to help, which was very heartening. But it didn't last, and my next dose isn't for hours. I contemplate calling the answering service of the doctor who prescribed it and seems to be able to connect all these symptoms, to get his opinion, but I'd feel bad waking him up, if they even do that...
I'm so exhausted, but if I lie down, it's harder to ignore and it's hard to keep it from freaking me out. It seems different, too. Usually my BP is really low, and my pulse is racing. This time it's just pounding and occasionally the rhythm feels off.
My soul just feels so weary of all of this. Tired of fighting one thing after another. One day to breathe, another to be upright, another the fatigue, or pain, my brain feeling like a pretzel, or just attempting to overcome all the problems that come with not being able to hold a regular job, and having a condition the SSA is extremely skeptical of.
And then come those blessed good days that I'm so grateful for and make me forget the bad ones; until they're over, and the change isn't always gradual, sometimes it just hits you like a pile of bricks and it's like,
"Wait! What happened?"
All I want is to be able to make a living, be reliable, feel like a responsible, dignified, halfway normal adult again, have confidence that I can take care of myself, and move forward with my life and be happy. It really doesn't take a lot to make me happy...I reach out and grab happiness when I can find it, usually, and hold on tight.
I've been considering, and a dear friend today reminded me that there is no shame in taking anti-depressants. But I've been fighting having to add another pill to my array of meds and supplements, especially one that if I run out of will leave me with little electric zap reminders to the brain, tingly lips, and slight episodes of vertigo and the sensation of being off somehow, in its wake. I haven't even been that depressed lately, it's just the emotional rollercoaster...I'm a pretty emotionally sensitive person, and I've been through hell these last couple of years...at times, it could be an asset to feel things so deeply, but right now it seems like just another thing exhausting me, and I wouldn't mind getting off that ride for a bit.
Alrighty folks, my heart seems to have settled down for the moment. Maybe I can sneak off and go to sleep before it realizes I know...Shhhh... ;)
Oh, and any tips from anyone with experience with ,these kinds of symptoms would be greatly appreciated. I know you must be out there, somewhere...
I had a pretty good couple of weeks. My head was clearing, the fog was retreating, I had more and more hours were the invisible barriers that sometimes seem to plague my existence were gone. More energy. A life I could live with seemed right at my fingertips, I could touch it but not quite grab it, and I wanted to do as much as I could to make up for months of business not taken care of. I knew it wouldn't last, but that doesn't make it any easier.
That's the kicker with these illnesses. If I were forever miserable, or lost a limb, I think I could learn to cope with that, maybe even overcome it; it's a constant. But going from good to bad at any given week, day, hour, or moment, that is the challenge. And it messes with your head.
That's what's getting me down right now. I'm a problem solver by nature. But I can't seem to adjust and figure this one out. I so would love to be one of those inspirational chicks who lives well with chronic illness. Sometimes, I wonder if maybe they had it easier, in that they had their illness to contend with, but everything else wasn't falling down around them. If that was it, I think I could finally be happy. If I knew I was safe and ultimately would have people to count on to watch out for me if things got too bad. But I don't feel I have that. I'm still in survival mode. (Granted, one never knows what really goes on in other people's lives, we see what they want us to see much of the time, and I'm by no means trying to diminish their success.)
So days like this, it takes all the strength I have not to go unhinged.
I'm exhausted. I barely slept last night, was woken up by heart palpitations. One of my most feared symptoms, are the cardiac ones, because even though I have an idea what causes it, and I know I'm not alone, most doctors don't. Days like this I spend torn between going to the Emergency Room, and telling myself nothing bad has come of it yet and I should just ignore it. Until, like now, it's definitely time to sleep, but when I lie down there's nothing to drown out the pounding of my heart.
See, I've been to the hospital about 3 times for this type of thing. Once by the time they saw me, it was better (though it came back later, but I wasn't about to go back to wait in the ER again, I was exhausted, and the chairs at county, and sitting for long periods are not Fibro-friendly) another time, I went and they did tons of tests and found nothing much wrong. The one time they seemed alarmed and took me seriously, all they did was temporarily fix it by dripping a saline IV into me for a couple hours and refer me for a test that was done incorrectly and was pretty distressing. (Try hanging upright on a table for 45 minutes w/people staring at you waiting for you to faint, then pumping you w/some drug to try it again, having your heart wig out, next thing you know it seems the doctor is trying to choke you with his hands on your throat digging down into your clavicle so you don't know what will kill you first, your heart and the not being able to breathe, or the doctor who seems to have gone mad but is really performing carotid artery massage to get your heart pumping normally again...)
The idea that I might go and they won't find anything and I'll run into a doctor who still thinks FM & CFS aren't real and that I'm a nut helps keep me home. I'm still bruised from a recent emotional upheaval, and not up to attempting to educate doctors.
I took some medicine, not specifically for that, but meant to address the CFS in general, and it seemed to help, which was very heartening. But it didn't last, and my next dose isn't for hours. I contemplate calling the answering service of the doctor who prescribed it and seems to be able to connect all these symptoms, to get his opinion, but I'd feel bad waking him up, if they even do that...
I'm so exhausted, but if I lie down, it's harder to ignore and it's hard to keep it from freaking me out. It seems different, too. Usually my BP is really low, and my pulse is racing. This time it's just pounding and occasionally the rhythm feels off.
My soul just feels so weary of all of this. Tired of fighting one thing after another. One day to breathe, another to be upright, another the fatigue, or pain, my brain feeling like a pretzel, or just attempting to overcome all the problems that come with not being able to hold a regular job, and having a condition the SSA is extremely skeptical of.
And then come those blessed good days that I'm so grateful for and make me forget the bad ones; until they're over, and the change isn't always gradual, sometimes it just hits you like a pile of bricks and it's like,
"Wait! What happened?"
All I want is to be able to make a living, be reliable, feel like a responsible, dignified, halfway normal adult again, have confidence that I can take care of myself, and move forward with my life and be happy. It really doesn't take a lot to make me happy...I reach out and grab happiness when I can find it, usually, and hold on tight.
I've been considering, and a dear friend today reminded me that there is no shame in taking anti-depressants. But I've been fighting having to add another pill to my array of meds and supplements, especially one that if I run out of will leave me with little electric zap reminders to the brain, tingly lips, and slight episodes of vertigo and the sensation of being off somehow, in its wake. I haven't even been that depressed lately, it's just the emotional rollercoaster...I'm a pretty emotionally sensitive person, and I've been through hell these last couple of years...at times, it could be an asset to feel things so deeply, but right now it seems like just another thing exhausting me, and I wouldn't mind getting off that ride for a bit.
Alrighty folks, my heart seems to have settled down for the moment. Maybe I can sneak off and go to sleep before it realizes I know...Shhhh... ;)
Oh, and any tips from anyone with experience with ,these kinds of symptoms would be greatly appreciated. I know you must be out there, somewhere...
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