3rd doc, still no answers, talking Wolff-P-White now

[NikaMom]

Ok, lots of information, but bear with me please.  (chest pain, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, flushed cheeks, uncontrolable sweating, dizzy spells, weakness)

I am 31 yr old mother of 3.  My most recent pregnancy was free of complications and she was born this past Dec.  I lost 40 pounds of my baby weight in 3 months (as with the other pregnancies), but had chest pains randomly for the last 10 months.  These were multiple times daily to once daily.  After 8 months, I found out that during my workouts my hr was around 190+.  Since my husband is overseas, and I am a full time student and mom, the obvious thing was anxiety causing chest pains and high heart rates.  My 10 second EKG was clean and under 90 bpm.  I have been taking anti-stress meds for the past two months and still having the same symptoms.  I was told to stop my workouts and did.  About a month ago, the second doctor did a 24-hour monitor and found an average of 89 bpm and highs in the 170's plus 14.9% of "incidences?"  Third doctor ran another EKG for 30 seconds and said he sees evidence of Wolff-Parkerson(?)-White on the 24-hour monitor and his EKG.  I bought a sports heart monitor with the chest strap (hoping it's slightly accurate) as #3 suggested and have been watching my heartrate during my daily activites.  Sitting on the couch, I'm in the high 80s.  Standing up from the couch and walking 20 feet to answer the door  runs my hr into the 120s.  Getting ready (I don't consider stressful) leads me up into the 170s.  Sitting down results in 80-90 beats a minute.  I'm 5' 7", 180 lbs (still heavy for me), and with perfect blood pressure.  I take daily vitamins, I don't drink, I don't smoke... I miss running and can't without going dizzy after 1 minute 30 seconds.  Doctor #4 is seeing me next Friday and I am starting to get scared.  Any ideas?

[ItsMeBeck]

The surgery you're talking about, are you referring to an ablation?? If so, I've two of them! Mine were for PVCs, but I would think they would be the same recovery time etc. My first one was the worst one, and even that one wasn't too bad. I developed a large hematoma in my groin after the first ablation so my right leg was sore for a good week. They also made lots and lots of burns the first time, so I was pretty tired for about 2 days, I wanted to do nothing but sleep. After that I felt pretty much back to normal, except for the hematoma. Like I said, that was pretty big, it felt like there was an orange under my skin so it was really uncomfortable to walk because of all the tightness and my leg was also a bit lame. By the next week though I would say I was pretty much back to 100%. The bruise didn't completly go away for about a month though..

That ablation didn't work though. They weren't able to reach the spot that they needed to ablate so a month later they went in again. This time through my neck. They made just two burns and were successful in getting rid of the spot they needed to. That time there really was no recovery at all. It was done on a Thursday, I was released on Friday, and Saturday I was at the mall shopping. I really didn't have any recovery time, I felt back to normal immediately. The worst thing that happened that time was a bladder infection from the foley catheter.

I definitely don't think it'll take you four weeks to recover. I was only put on restrictions for a week I think, maybe 10 days. (No lifting more than 10lbs, light house work etc.) Even with the way it went the first time, with the complications, it wasn't that bad, obviously not bad enough for me to say no a second time. ;-) Like I said, mine wasn't for Wolf-Parkinsons White, it was for PVCs, but I'm pretty sure it would be about the same recovery. It's the same surgery, just done for different reasons. Good luck!! I'm so sorry they won't send your hubby for your recovery. =( ~Beck

[NikaMom]

Thanks for the feedback, Ladies!  

Yeah, we're Army ( :) ), thus the reasoning for all the waiting and referrals, etc.  The cardiologist is sending me to the EP specialist for his opinion on Friday.  I did look up the POPS condition... sounds like more fun...  But, I am going to ask if a table-test is possible before they start "frying" muscles in my heart.  And, no... my blood sugar, cholestorol, iron, hormone, thyroid... all those tests were good, including the retests on thyroid and glucose.  From what I read, this "surgery" is going to knock me out for 3 to 4 weeks... can anyone confirm that?   The chain of command is not going to send him home for my recovery time, so a real-world estimate would be nice.  Will it take that long to recover, or will I need to move someone in with the kids for a month?

Thanks again for the thoughts, support and advice!!!

Nika

[FayV]

You sure youre not diabetic type 2? Pregnancy can cause this, and the sugar/insulin levels may be causing these symptoms
Get them to give you a blood test and then another in 4 days, see if any levels of iron/sugar have changed.
Stop panicking, you will only make your heart go faster, if I panic I go so dizzy.
When your heart is racing, make sure someone is with you and breathe into a paper bag for less than a minute.

[ItsMeBeck]

Just thought I'd update you on my situation. I saw my doc today.. He said my holter monitor showed no episodes of arrhythmia. He did see lots of tachycardia. My resting heart rate was between 87-97 bpm. When I was up doing things my average was around 130+. So my official diagnosis is inappropriate sinus tachycardia. He said he could put me back on Atenolol but after much discussion I decided to just try and live with it. I think alot of my problem is that once I feel my heart start to race I get nervous and that just increases the tachycardia and prolongs it. I think (hopefully) knowing that it's not going to kill me, that I'll be fine, I won't get scared and the tachycardia won't get as bad as it has been. That's the plan anyway. ;-) He did say he sees this alot and he predicts that I will at some point pass out from it.. He said when that happens to come back and we'll reevaluate it. ~Beck

[ItsMeBeck]

I'm a 28 y/o mother of two.. And Wow!! Your symptoms sound soooo much like mine!! I could have written much of your post!! The high resting heart rate, the fast jumps in h/r when standing or doing mundane activities!! I have posted my "story" on a couple different message boards and have had two ladies tell me it sounds like what they have, POTS. Do a quick google on POTS and see what you think. I have an appointment with my EP on Monday to discuss this and I'm very eager to hear what he has to say. I actually just ended up in the ER on Thursday because my h/r jumped to about 165 while I was at the playground with my son, and it wouldn't go away, it stayed there for about 2 hours until I finally gave in and went to the hospital. They couldn't tell me what caused it, but said definitely follow up with my cardiologist. Have you seen an EP yet, or just a general cardiologist?? (EP is electrophysiologist, they specialize in the electrical system of the heart.) If you haven't I would definitely think that should be your next step.

And just one other question for my own curiosity. You said your husband is over seas. Is he in the military?? My husband is in the Army. ;-) Good luck with your appointment. If you wouldn't mind, I'd love to hear what your next doc has to say, and I'll definitely update you on how my appointment goes on Monday!! ~Beck