I'm new here. Warm greetings to all! I'm a thirty-something mom, twenty pounds overweight, no drugs, alcohol and am on no prescriptions. I don't even drink coffee or take aspirin.
I went to the ER for the second time in my life, when I thought I was going to have a heart attack. It turns out I had a really bad tachycardia presyncope episode. They suggested a panic attack, because the chest x-ray and MRI came back negative. I have no history of panic attacks. I answered that a panic attack makes the heart race. My heart raced first, with no help from me! After the ER, I went to a family doctor, who gave me a Holter monitor test (negative), and a cardio, who gave me an exercise stress test (positive for tachycardia) and an ultrasound (no structural abnormalities of the heart). He also found an "innocent" murmur and lots of PACs/PVCs (extra heart beats). Another doctor said it's possible I have a connective tissue disorder, such as Ehlers Danlos, but I would need more tests. I don't often go to a doctor, so I haven't had the tests yet. On the Beighton score for hypermobility, I score 5/9. Also, I have subluxable shoulders, varicose veins since I was a teenager (early onset varicose veins), easy bruising, and wound healing with thin, wide "papyraceous" scars.
This morning, before rising, I had a heart rate of 80 bpm. Immediately upon standing, my heart rate rose to 133 bpm. After 2 minutes of standing, my heart rate rose to 140. Taking my heart rate again at 5 minutes and ten minutes it was still 140 bpm. So, my heart rate rose a total of 60 bpm within 2 minutes of standing upright. This is how I always have been.
When I stand, I will often "gray out" and feel faint, but not actually faint (presyncope). My legs are cold to touch, and have a red-blue discoloration when I stand up after lying down (acrocyanosis). I had more severe presyncope when pregnant. I've had exercise intolerance ever since I can remember. As a kid, I was active and a newspaper carrier always on a bike, but I couldn't keep up with the other kids when running in PE class. When running for just a little while I have graying out, presyncope, tachycardia, nausea, shakiness. I have the same symptoms when biking uphill or biking fast. When I walk up the stairs, I often feel lightheaded and gray out. I almost fainted once while driving. I had to pull over by the side of the road and bow my head until the feeling went away. My blood pressure tends to be around 110/70. I haven't measured my supine vs. standing bp, but I ought to do that too.
What do these symptoms sound like? Thanks in advance for your thoughts, everyone.