I'm Home

It's been so long since I've posted. There have been different things going on, but the most recent was that on Thursday, evening I went to the emergency room experiencing heart palpitations that did not go away. I was diagnosed with aterial filibration. It's where you take spells where the top part of your heart quivers and the bottom part just beats however it wants to. These spells can last anywhere from a few seconds, to a few minutes, to a few hours. One of the major risks is risk of stroke because in the top part of your heart, if the blood pools and does not circulate, then you can form clots which can go to your brain and cause a stroke or they may go elsewhere in your body. The doctor's said I was a very low risk for stroke. They said being so young (bless them!) that my younger age was on my side. The risk for me is high blood pressure, but when I lose the weight they said bp would go down, cholesterol, glucose and all of it. They also said that losing weight will help this condition (aterial filabration) considerably.

So, once and for all, I'm losing weight. I have made up my mind and sweets and carbs just don't appeal to me anymore. Now after all this and the problems that Eddie's mom has had. This has been a real wakeup call for me. I'm just really aggravated that I haven't done it before now. I just kept thinking that I needed junk food because I was either bored, stressed, whatever. Now I know I don't need that junk. I'll just find another, healthier way to deal with boredom and stress because, believe me, nothing, and I mean nothing is more stressful than going to the emergency room with heart palpitations and not knowing what's going on.

I saw 3 different doctors while I was in there. Two of them (all of them work with my regular cardiologist) told me that I wasn't ready for cumidin (a blood thinner) yet, and my regular cardiologist said I was. The cumidin is to keep the blood flowing so that there is no risk of clots. Because I sometimes have nose bleeds because of dry nasal passage and sometime am a free bleeder anyway in that situation, I talked my regular cardiologist outof giving me cumidin at this time. He agreed to let me take a 325 mg aspirin a day and he raised the milligrams on by bp. My bp medication also helps lower my heartbeat, which will help. He said if I have another episode that I would have to go on the cumidin. I don't really want to go on cumidin unless I absolutely have to. The other doctors adopted a wait and see how it goes attitude. They advise not going on cumidin unless absolutely necessary. So, there you have it ... two different opinions. Now, I was getting depressed about this condition, sitting around, lying around listening to my heartbeat and wondering when the next episode is coming and what should I do if it does; wondering if I can return to my normal routine etc., walking, work, etc. I was beginning to be afraid of getting up and doing anything for fear of another one coming. The last doctor I talked to today, relieved some of my fears. He said that he could guarantee that I will have another one. He said there is no way to know when. It could be 5 days, 5 months, or 5 years. He said he has patients that come in for their regular checkup and tell him they had 2 a month and one lasted 3 hours and the other lasted 6 hours. He said you don't necessarily have to go the emergency room, when one comes along. He said you can wait it out and your heart will eventually return to it's normal rhythm, unless you have chest pains, shortness of breath and I had none of that. I had none of those symptoms. All of the doctors said my heart enzymes looked good, my heart channels and valves are fine and that I'm at low risk for stroke at this time. He said they don't like to put people on cumidin unless they are at high risk. So, I don't really understand why my regular cardiologist was adamant that I go on it. The first one who saw me said that it's powerful stuff and he also agreed that he didn't think I was ready for it yet. My regular cardiologist said we can try the aspirin a day for now, but if I have another episode he said I'll have to go on cumidin. I'm not sure how I feel about this "have to" stuff. I think I should have some choices about things. I'm hoping that with losing weight and all of my risk factors going down, that it will significantly reduce my risk of stroke with these things.

It's frustrating and depressing to get different opinions from 3 different doctors, all of whom supposedly work together. I guess they all have their own ideas of how to approach something, but it doesn't make things any easier for me.