Ok, so I'm not trying to be super dramatic or whiny and complain but I have been having a few health issues lately that ended up leading me to the Dr. For quite some time now I have had chest pain. I basically have just ignored it because it only lasts for a little while and then it leaves and its like it never happened. (Really responsible, I know.) I didn't even tell David half the time it happened. THEN, as I tried to go to the gym to improve my overall health I realized that instead of making me feel better, it made me feel really really tired and just not good. I then realized that every time that I went on the elliptical my heart would just go CRAZY. After about 2 minutes on level one, my heart rate would jump to 180 and sometimes higher. Considering that a cardio heart rate for me is between 150 and 160, that is way too high. It took me a few weeks before coming to terms with the fact that something must be wrong. (I try to just ignore things as long as I can) Then it took me another 2 weeks before I actually made an appointment with the Dr.
During this 'waiting' period, I tried to think of all the things it could be. After giving birth to Kadence, my blood pressure sky rocketed. (I had postpartum toxemia.) While I was at U of U, they determined that it had damaged my heart valve. So when I have chest pains my first thought goes to that. Maybe it is getting worse faster than they thought, etc. My second thought was about my thyroid. After giving birth to Shelby I developed postpartum hyperthyroidism. This usually only lasts about 12-18 months. I had blood work done a few times and it showed that after 18 months my thyroid did indeed figure itself out so we figured I was in the clear. With hyperthyroidism, your entire body basically is in overdrive. Everything works harder and faster than normal. So knowing both of these facts I figured that it for sure had to deal with one of these two things.
While I was at the Dr telling her all my symptoms and explaining everything she seemed to think that it was all because of anxiety. I have anxiety which can be quite severe at times and I personally KNEW that it wasn't because of anxiety. She wanted to be sure because, well....we're dealing with chest pains. She did an EKG in the office which came back looking great. Side note...Shelby was with me and started getting really concerned as they hooked me up to the machine. She said "I sure hope you are ok mommy." It just about broke my heart. I then went to get a chest xray to see if my heart was enlarged. While I did, another xray tech had to 'babysit' Shelby since they don't allow any extra bodies in their xray rooms. (I was a tad stressed at this point) Then I went and got a full set of labs done. Again, Shelby was pretty freaked out watching them do tests on her mommy. My xray came back and looked great. They scheduled an echo cardiogram for 3 days later and sent me home to wait for my lab results.
My lab results came back 2 days later and showed that I definitely have hyperthyroidism again. I asked what my TSH level was and the lady said, "Well, it came back as a zero." WHAT?! Last time when it was .07ish they were freaked because it was so low but to know that it was at zero made me panic a little. (Normal range is .3 to 3) After the Dr saw that she wanted me to immediately have a thyroid ultrasound to see if there was an underlying problem. So the following day I had a thyroid ultrasound and my echo cardiogram. I won't know the results until tomorrow or Wednesday, but I'm hoping everything else turns out great. I can't meet with the endocrinologist until April 19th which has me a little concerned. As it is, my heart is constantly racing and is over the 'resting heart rate' threshold pretty constantly while I rest. Having such a low TSH for a long time can ultimately cause heart failure due to the heart having to work so hard. I'm going to be calling the Dr and seeing if they can put me on meds before the 19th considering that is a month and a half away. I am pretty constantly nauseous from my constant increased heart rate and heart palpitations, I get dizzy, I'm exhausted constantly, I have chest pain, and I am really restless. I'm hoping to get it all figured out soon so I can go back to being a better mom and wife. (This all has me pretty cranky and down right bitchy!)
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