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Cardiovascular Disease Prevention (Expert Forum)
Dizzyness/lightheaded/pannick
Questions in the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention forum are answered by Dr. Lee Kirksey, associate professor at The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
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Dizzyness/lightheaded/pannick
by jared12, Oct 02, 2008 08:00AM
Hi-
I am 41 years old, exercise frequently, I went running last week in 95 degree weather, got my heart rate up to 195. the next day I became extremely dizzy and experienced chest pressure. it felt like a panick attack and I thought i was having a heart attack. Started to hyperventilate and went to the emergency room, had stress test and echocardiogram with doppler. Doctor said I was fine, all negative test results. I experienced 3 more dizzy, panick, tightness in the chest episodes so i had a 64 slice ct scan. results showed no calcium/ no blockage but my left ventricle had increased substantially since me my last 64 CT of 2 years ago and my lv ejection fract had gone from 58% to 88% since last ct. wall thickening had increased to 145% in some areas. further, resting systol had gone down to 12%. The radiologist was concerned and believed that I had signs of IHSS. its worth mentioning that at the hospital my Ejection fraction in the echo showed 58% but study read "technically difficult study". Based on the radiologist's comments, I went to a cardiologist and was told "your heart is fine, dont worry, your LV has enlarged because you exercise and the lv ejection of 88% is a good sign. you dont have IHSS because everything else looks fine -measurements, and assymetrical enlargement". yesterday, after 40 minutes on treadmill the symptoms occured again. i.e. dizzyness, chest pressure, pallor and slight shaking. Today at my office, i had several minor episodes of dizzyness/foggyness tightness.
Am I having panick attacks or is something going on with my heart that I should look into? I have never had a pannick attack before in my life and have no added stress now that would explain pannick disorder.
why would my lv enlarge substantially in 2 years?, why the difference in EF? is the CT as relaible as the echo for ej fraction?
By the way, BP ranges from morning of 117/78 to evening of 140/95 and HR is 58 in morning, 74 in the evening.
I am 41 years old, exercise frequently, I went running last week in 95 degree weather, got my heart rate up to 195. the next day I became extremely dizzy and experienced chest pressure. it felt like a panick attack and I thought i was having a heart attack. Started to hyperventilate and went to the emergency room, had stress test and echocardiogram with doppler. Doctor said I was fine, all negative test results. I experienced 3 more dizzy, panick, tightness in the chest episodes so i had a 64 slice ct scan. results showed no calcium/ no blockage but my left ventricle had increased substantially since me my last 64 CT of 2 years ago and my lv ejection fract had gone from 58% to 88% since last ct. wall thickening had increased to 145% in some areas. further, resting systol had gone down to 12%. The radiologist was concerned and believed that I had signs of IHSS. its worth mentioning that at the hospital my Ejection fraction in the echo showed 58% but study read "technically difficult study". Based on the radiologist's comments, I went to a cardiologist and was told "your heart is fine, dont worry, your LV has enlarged because you exercise and the lv ejection of 88% is a good sign. you dont have IHSS because everything else looks fine -measurements, and assymetrical enlargement". yesterday, after 40 minutes on treadmill the symptoms occured again. i.e. dizzyness, chest pressure, pallor and slight shaking. Today at my office, i had several minor episodes of dizzyness/foggyness tightness.
Am I having panick attacks or is something going on with my heart that I should look into? I have never had a pannick attack before in my life and have no added stress now that would explain pannick disorder.
why would my lv enlarge substantially in 2 years?, why the difference in EF? is the CT as relaible as the echo for ej fraction?
By the way, BP ranges from morning of 117/78 to evening of 140/95 and HR is 58 in morning, 74 in the evening.
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It sounds like you have had a very complete evaluation to date with relatively little significant findings. And your cardiologist, who has the most intimate knowledge of your cardiovascular condition feels comfortable that nothing has changed. It seems like much of this started after your run in the extreme heat. No symptoms prior to that. Its relatively unlikely that one extreme exercise session injured your heart when all subsequent studies showed a normal EF.
Other tests that might be helpful, depending on your cardiologist's recommendations include holter test to monitor your heart rhythm for an extended period or a stress echo to evaluate heart activity in a dynamic state.
If everthing thing is negative, perhaps you will determine that its anxiety. Good luck