Aa
Could This Be......
Hi all!
My question isn't for me but rather my son. He is 20 years old, currently in the military and stationed overseas. Having said that, this is his story.
About a month after getting to his current duty station, he started experiencing the following symptoms at various times:
Chest pain
Irregular heartbeat
Trouble breathing and very fast breathing
Sweating (a few times)
Dizziness and sometimes shaky (a few times)
Sometimes hot flashes (depends on how sudden the pain came on, etc)
Light headed
He said some or all of those things happened during or after physical activity and sometimes while just sitting there doing nothing at all. He said he actually first noticed something wasn't right when he started getting short of breath just walking up the stairs. And, as you know, soldiers are usually physically fit and exercise is the norm for them every day.
Anyway, at first when it started happening during exercise he didn't think too much of it. After all, they have some pretty rigorous routines. He said it wasn't until the breathlessness going up the stairs that he started thinking something may be going on. Because there really isn't a reason for someone who is physically fit to be breathless after walking up some stairs. My husband and I told him to go to the doc and see what they said. He blew it off for a while because he said it didn't always happen (except it always did during PT).
Then, about two months later, he was at work just sitting there doing nothing and suddenly his heart went nuts. Beating really fast and irregular, he was dizzy and short of breath and feeling like he was gonna pass out. The SGT sent him right over to get checked out.
The doc hooked him up to the EKG and mention that it spiked irregular but said that usually that sort of spike is usually nothing to worry about. BUT, because my husband has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, he wanted to send my son over to the hospital to see a cardiologist to rule that out. He also took a chest x-ray and said it looked fine. And his BP was also normal.
So he met with the cardiologist who then sent him for the following tests:
EKG
ECHO
Stress Test
Blood test
Urine test
Chest X-Ray
24 Hour heart monitor
CT Scan of the heart and lungs
The results went as follows:
EKG - Again, some spikes
ECHO - Came back fine
Stress Test - During the test his heart started beating too fast after only like a minute on a slight jog and they had to take him off
Blood Test - Fine
Urine Test - Fine
Chest X-ray - Fine
CT Scans - Fine...shows no signs of any abnormalities/blockages/etc.
Now when it comes to the results for the 24 hour heart monitor, the doc said it showed his heart rate fluctuating from one extreme to the next. At one point it was 42 BPM and withing the next 5 minutes it was up to 179 BPM. He asked my son, who had written down any time he felt out of breath, strange, etc., what exactly happened during "x" time and my son responded saying that all he was doing was walking up a hill to get to work. Other times he asked about my son said he was just sitting there doing nothing. Doc said those extremes should NOT happen for during such things as walking up a hill and just sitting there.
The doc said clearly to him the heart and lungs look fine therefor they are not the issue. He said he thinks it may be an autonomic dysfunction. He also said maybe abnormal hormone spikes could be causing it. Either way, SOMETHING is causing it and since the heart and lungs are fine, he doesn't think it's them and they now must look into other areas, so he's sending him to a neurologist and cardiologist again on Dec. 8th. He's also due to start a fasting in a few weeks then said he has to take two pills and drink fluids and collect his urine over a certain period of time? Then the next day turn that in and get blood taken. I guess that's all for the hormone tests? Doc said he would have given him beta blockers to slow the heart down for when it gets so fast, BUT, because of it also getting so low, he was NOT gonna give it to him because he worries it will slow his heart even more to a dangerous, or even deadly, low.
After he told me this I of course started researching Autonomic Dysfunction and I have to say, some of the underlying reasons for it scare me. Especially when it comes to stuff like MS or Parkinson's.
So I guess my questions are:
1. Does it sound like he may have this Autonomic Dysfunction? If so I cannot imagine what an underlying cause could be? Wonder if one of the shots/vaccines he had to get for the military could have caused something to happen?
2. If it doesn't sound like that, what else could be causing this since the heart and lungs checked out fine and all those other tests came back as they did?
I really don't know what else to ask right now. I just worry, of course. I imagine one of the next tests they will do is the Table Tilt Test. But who knows.
It really ***** being so far away and not being able to be there for/with him while he's going through this. I wish I could be there to ask questions of my own. Ya know?
My question isn't for me but rather my son. He is 20 years old, currently in the military and stationed overseas. Having said that, this is his story.
About a month after getting to his current duty station, he started experiencing the following symptoms at various times:
Chest pain
Irregular heartbeat
Trouble breathing and very fast breathing
Sweating (a few times)
Dizziness and sometimes shaky (a few times)
Sometimes hot flashes (depends on how sudden the pain came on, etc)
Light headed
He said some or all of those things happened during or after physical activity and sometimes while just sitting there doing nothing at all. He said he actually first noticed something wasn't right when he started getting short of breath just walking up the stairs. And, as you know, soldiers are usually physically fit and exercise is the norm for them every day.
Anyway, at first when it started happening during exercise he didn't think too much of it. After all, they have some pretty rigorous routines. He said it wasn't until the breathlessness going up the stairs that he started thinking something may be going on. Because there really isn't a reason for someone who is physically fit to be breathless after walking up some stairs. My husband and I told him to go to the doc and see what they said. He blew it off for a while because he said it didn't always happen (except it always did during PT).
Then, about two months later, he was at work just sitting there doing nothing and suddenly his heart went nuts. Beating really fast and irregular, he was dizzy and short of breath and feeling like he was gonna pass out. The SGT sent him right over to get checked out.
The doc hooked him up to the EKG and mention that it spiked irregular but said that usually that sort of spike is usually nothing to worry about. BUT, because my husband has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, he wanted to send my son over to the hospital to see a cardiologist to rule that out. He also took a chest x-ray and said it looked fine. And his BP was also normal.
So he met with the cardiologist who then sent him for the following tests:
EKG
ECHO
Stress Test
Blood test
Urine test
Chest X-Ray
24 Hour heart monitor
CT Scan of the heart and lungs
The results went as follows:
EKG - Again, some spikes
ECHO - Came back fine
Stress Test - During the test his heart started beating too fast after only like a minute on a slight jog and they had to take him off
Blood Test - Fine
Urine Test - Fine
Chest X-ray - Fine
CT Scans - Fine...shows no signs of any abnormalities/blockages/etc.
Now when it comes to the results for the 24 hour heart monitor, the doc said it showed his heart rate fluctuating from one extreme to the next. At one point it was 42 BPM and withing the next 5 minutes it was up to 179 BPM. He asked my son, who had written down any time he felt out of breath, strange, etc., what exactly happened during "x" time and my son responded saying that all he was doing was walking up a hill to get to work. Other times he asked about my son said he was just sitting there doing nothing. Doc said those extremes should NOT happen for during such things as walking up a hill and just sitting there.
The doc said clearly to him the heart and lungs look fine therefor they are not the issue. He said he thinks it may be an autonomic dysfunction. He also said maybe abnormal hormone spikes could be causing it. Either way, SOMETHING is causing it and since the heart and lungs are fine, he doesn't think it's them and they now must look into other areas, so he's sending him to a neurologist and cardiologist again on Dec. 8th. He's also due to start a fasting in a few weeks then said he has to take two pills and drink fluids and collect his urine over a certain period of time? Then the next day turn that in and get blood taken. I guess that's all for the hormone tests? Doc said he would have given him beta blockers to slow the heart down for when it gets so fast, BUT, because of it also getting so low, he was NOT gonna give it to him because he worries it will slow his heart even more to a dangerous, or even deadly, low.
After he told me this I of course started researching Autonomic Dysfunction and I have to say, some of the underlying reasons for it scare me. Especially when it comes to stuff like MS or Parkinson's.
So I guess my questions are:
1. Does it sound like he may have this Autonomic Dysfunction? If so I cannot imagine what an underlying cause could be? Wonder if one of the shots/vaccines he had to get for the military could have caused something to happen?
2. If it doesn't sound like that, what else could be causing this since the heart and lungs checked out fine and all those other tests came back as they did?
I really don't know what else to ask right now. I just worry, of course. I imagine one of the next tests they will do is the Table Tilt Test. But who knows.
It really ***** being so far away and not being able to be there for/with him while he's going through this. I wish I could be there to ask questions of my own. Ya know?
It definitely sounds like the results of his testing are pointing to dysautonomia of some type. Finding the underlying cause can be a long process, I'm sorry to say. It can be something as simple as having had a virus (at the time of onset) that triggered it up to something complex like an autoimmune disease.
It sounds like they are doing all the necessary tests at this time. I'm so sorry you can't be near him while he's going through this, but it does sound like he's in capable hands!
Best,
-Heiferly
It sounds like they are doing all the necessary tests at this time. I'm so sorry you can't be near him while he's going through this, but it does sound like he's in capable hands!
Best,
-Heiferly
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