For the past month I have been feeling dizzy and mildly nauseous from time to time. I thought was it was an inner ear problem I.e. Labyrinthitis. Then on Monday I was sat on my settee when I had a feeling of severe nausea and a wave of hot flush swept my body leaving me sweating, disorientated and shaky.
Cut to the chase an ambulance was called and on the way to the hospital I had an other episode, I was hooked up to a monitor and the paramedic said I was bradycardial my heart rate dropped to 33bpm. Once I arrived at the hospital I had no further episodes. I told the doctor these episodes had happened before, the last one about two years ago and eighteen months before that, I thought they was panic attacks.
They took some blood which they said appeared to be fine, the doctor the explained to me that she thought I may have an arrhythmia and that the hospital would write to my GP and arrange for me to wear a monitor for 24 or 48 hours at home.
What I would like to know is I am still feeling dizzy and light headed. Can this bradycardia issue be causing this, even though I only had severe episodes on one day.
My GP said don't be surprised if nothing shows up on the readings as my issues are intermittent. What happens after I have worn the monitor, what happens next?
I have noticed I feel slightly breathless from time to time, not sure if this is anxiety or if it is related to what happened.
Finally have I caused this issue, I eat healthy, low fat, little meat and dairy, has this been caused by previous bad eating habits in the past.
Apologies for asking so many questions, it's a lot to take in at the moment.
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BryterLayter
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OK what you have described, and what appears to have been diagnosed is Brachycardia, (English spelling as opposed to the US Bradycardia) which is the heart slowing down and that will cause exactly what you expect very severe tiredness, sweaty disorientated and shaky, although the nausea maybe not so common, and of course if you heart is not supplying the oxygen to the rest of your body fast enough then it's going to complain a lot.
Yes the dizziness and lightheaded will be symptoms, you need to learn to take your own pulse and understand what your heart is doing, you'll find most of us are expert at it now and you need to really do a 15 second count to understand your resting heart rate.
The idea of wearing a monitor for a couple of days will tell the docs how often and how severe are the symptons and what they can do about them. There are a number of treatments, and whilst I understand that it can have a "vagal" cause (Food) I'm not sure it's a trigger for the condition, so don't beat yourself up too much about previous diets, you need to have some form of underlying propensity to the condition usually. But of course opinions differ here and I am not in any way medically qualified, so please read around a lot.
What happens next? honestly not sure, if it's too severe then some form of control mechanism probably, a low heatbeat is not good for you, so they may diagnose an implantable control to keep your heart rate up.
On this forum most of us have A Fib which is the opposite problem, a speeded up and very irregular heartbeat, so the treatments we get might not be appropiate, I would read the Arrythmia Alliance website from cover to cover bound to be some excellent stuff on there.
Be well and feel free to ask questions, if we can help we shall try
Than you for your quick reply. I will post on the Arrythmia Alliance as well. The dizziness is what gets me down at the moment , I find it very hard to concentrate.
I have read that a pacemaker is a possibility. If the conclusion is I should have one fitted, can you still lead an active life. Up until the last three weeks, I have been quite active, I cycled everyday and was running a couple of times a week. Once you have a pacemaker is that the end of an active lifestyle?
Naively I never thought this could happen at the age of 47,
Hi.the simple answer is no it isn,t the end of your active life,I,ve had a pacemaker for 8 months and had an ablation last august and although it does take a while after the procedures yes they are not really operations most people get back to a normal life,you just have to pace yourself for a time and build up your activities slowly,I hope every thing goes well for you
G'day BryterLayter,
Sorry to read of your dramas. I'm not really going to help but I have to say I can't really answer any of your questions - rather - present to you some thoughts to mull over. I've had this bloody thing now for a tad over 4 years. I have only ever been treated by medication - AND - diet ! My meds are Bisoprolol and Warfarin. Bisoprolol has always been a bugger for me but it works and we have learned to tolerate each other. However, from time to time something chucks a wobbly and my blood pressure soars and heart rate falls - the lowest it has got to is 46 bpm and I go cold, so cold I feel I've now had an eerie insight of what it'll be like to die ! This process lasts several hours BUT only occurs when I'm resting - never when I'm at work. Then suddenly back to normal as if nothing had happened. I have been known to go to bed on a hot summers day, with an electric blanket, socks, gloves and a hot water bottle. (That's on a bad day).
Now, I also developed an awareness that an AF event was or seemed to be triggered by digestive issues. Bloating, Burping, wind and intestinal gurgling - the latter quite audible to people sitting nearby ! My GP put me through tests for IBS and Coeliac Disease and all was well, although he expressed his own view that I could be marginal IBS. He offered me the opportunity to have more tests. I declined ! I did however consult a Nutrionist who put me on a FODMAPS diet (Google FODMAPS) now three years after starting this diet my AF is now almost non existent and I am able to return to some foods that I had to give up years ago. so - if you haven't already done it - while you are googling away google - Vagal Nerve. It is that little mystery which controls/influences both heart and digestive system. I mention this only to pick up on your comments on healthy eating !
The other issue with this digestive system issue is that rarely will you get a Cardio Consultant to acknowledge this connection - but - morely likely, a Gastro consultant will.
So now, No - I'm not cured, a combination of diet and meds has significantly improved my quality of life and i'm almost back to normal. But hey ! whats normal with this bloody condition.
Good luck
Aussie John
in reply to
Thanks for that info John, I'm going to google FODMAPS. And I had a bad attack of the wind just before my last episode, maybe not a coincidence then!
ps full minute pulse better sometimes changes after 15 secs
I just wanted to assure you that there is nothing you have done that 'caused' this.
Bradycardia is serious but easily overcome with a pacemaker, my husband is about to be fitted with one on Fri, we were told it is a 45min procedure under a local anaesthetic, a day case, no big deal. We have spoken to several people who have them and they all say they have felt much better, more energetic and able to do more, not less.
All this stuff because it is your heart, does make you anxious so yes, anxiety may play a part, but you know what, you can do something about that too. As does food for some people, but they are only triggers. There will be an underlying issue with the sinus node, which is what the pacemaker will treat.
All treatments for anxiety tend to focus on the breath, using the diaphragm to push air into your stomach and then out again in long, slow breath called 7/11 breathing - breath in for 7 and out for 11. It takes practice and if you can't go to 7/11 at first go to 5/7 and build up. The other key element is your thought patterns, you can increase or decrease your anxiety using nothing more than your mind. The easiest method is when you start to notice your anxious thoughts, breath 7/11 and think of an alternative to your anxious thought - such as calm (can be an image of a place you feel calm in). Repeat calm, calm, calm in your mind whilst doing the breathing and most people find that really helps.
The vagal stuff is very interesting and my chiro has induced AFib by adjusting the thoracic region where the nerve exits the spinal cord, AND the AFib stopped when he adjusted it on another occasion so I absolutely agree with what AussieJohn was saying, but I really don't think this may be a factor in YOUR case. Good luck and let us know hoe you get on.
I will keep you all posted, I am off to my doctors surgery on Wednesday to have my Holter monitor fitted. I do think I may have an inner ear infection as well (just my luck) as I feel mild pressure in my ears and I was dizzy and light headed before the Brachycardia last Monday. One issue at a time though , my heart is a far more important?
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