I decided I am going to open up and talk about this here. It is more personal than I usually get. I had an abnormal heart test this week. And I am really scared. In the past, my heart tests have always shown me to have very good heart health. But not now. It is great when modern society lets you access test results via online records. What ISN"T so good is when you see a test result that is scary and you doctor doesn't talk to you for days. My "BNP-Pro" test came out high. Online medical resources call it "chronic heart failure." But further research shows it is a poor choice of terms. It makes you sound like you are about to keel over, but apparently, it means your heart simply isn't working the best it can. That, in and of itself is frightening. My sister said the American Heart Association says that 1 in 5 people have this issue. My blood pressure tests have always been good. Extensive heart tests about a year and a half ago all came out good. I was in the hospital overnight for chest pain, but it was tied to my Acid Reflux issues. I don't know how serious it is. I am not happy about my Dr not getting back to me yet. It doesn't help that I have OCD and am trying to keep it balanced and in check whenever dealing with health issues. I am worried that the medication I am taking for Acid Reflux is a cause or contributing factor, yet I can't just stop taking it. What I NEED to do is get serious about losing weight. My knee pain, acid reflux AND this would all greatly benefit from that. But I have been overweight most of my life. It isn't easy for me. Right now, I am on the fear diet. Fear isn't always bad. It is a warning sign to pay attention to a danger. I need to lose about 70 pounds or so. I am starting with seriously trying to eat less sugar. Starting with not eating it every day. And I started a food log today. I know I should just be able to not do so, and I can normally be very disciplined in may parts of my life. But I have not succeeded in this particular thing in the past. Exercise is NOT a problem. I get plenty of that. Except right now I get scared when breathing hard. "Is that a normal rate of hard breathing for this workout? Or is it my heart?" This is where my OCD does not help. Anyways, I am not sure what I hope to get writing this. But since heart health is a common problem, maybe it is good to have a thread about people's experiences with it? Anyways, If I suddenly stop posting and moderating, I guess you will know the heart problem is more serious.
Sorry to hear this, wait until you can speak to your doctor on line self diagnose just scares you without helping, if it had been serious I'm sure they would have spoken to you about it asap, the fact they didn't is probably a good sign, I know you exercise a lot but make sure it's good exercise which is helping you with improved heart health and fat loss, if your not doing sustained low impact aerobic exercise start doing it,
Hi Aaradia, sorry to hear you have had this diagnosis but not the detailed follow up from your doctor yet. I have a natural arrhythmia and I also had quite a serious condition called atrial fibrillation. The particularly worrying thing was that I was susceptible to bouts of very rapid heartbeat and had one major episode out of the blue and I was hospitalised for 10 days. The thing is they fixed me and that was 7 years ago. I think it is important to talk to your doctor rather than reading too much online. He/she will be able to be much more precise about whether you need more tests and what the implications are for your specific diagnosis. It’s natural to be concerned after such news but do try not too drive yourself mad with worry. In the UK, I often feel you are in more trouble if your doc asks to see you urgently. Not sure if the US system is the same - it may simply be more efficient On things that make a difference, hydration is really the big one for me. Particularly when training. If I am low on fluid intake, I am more prone to palpitations which I find stressful, given my previous health issues. Do take care and don’t worry too much. Regards Brigid x
sorry to read about this. Do you have any appointments booked with your doctor? Losing weight may help if you're overweight, most doctors will likely say that as default, but you want the professional advice as it may not be the only thing required to help. I hope it all works out, and definitely avoid online diagnosis; it will always lead to the worst result.
You should, as already suggested wait to talk to your doctor before getting to concerned.. here's a quote from WebMD Heart Failure and the BNP Blood Test ''The level of BNP tends to increase as heart failure gets worse. But it can also increase with age. Testing BNP levels is one of the most sensitive ways to show how well you're doing on heart failure treatment. Ask your doctor to explain the results of your BNP tests.'' Hope you are ok. I do know that this stuff can be very stressful. Best of luck. LFD
Not that I could add something useful, but: Sorry to hear that and best of luck. I tend to agree with something that was written already though: If it were something too serious, certainly your doctor would have called you himself, wouldn't it? Only a shallow example, but: Due to my medication I have to have my blood tested four times a year. Once I forgot to get the results and now I am waiting for two more, but he already told me, that if there would be something off -let alone bad- he'd call right away. So essentially I'm glad that he didn't call. And that would, at the moment, would only be about my thyroid and a number that's a bit too high, nothing life threatening. Also a question, even though I'm sure you have that in mind anyway: Maybe there is some medication that you can switch over too with some time for a transition? Because that would be something, that could happen to me, if my blood results would hint that way. (I could get off the medication in worst case though, if it were too severe, since it's only "mind-stuff" in my case; I would have to find other ways to cope, but that might not be possible in your case)
As others have said, stop googling and speak to your doctor. I can sympathise with your issues. I went to casualty twice last year with really bad chest pain, dizziness, pins and needles and a racing heart beat. Like you, it was put down to acid reflux/gastritis. I had a number of tests and my GP put me on a 7 day heart monitor to check things out and the results all came back as fine. I'm still suffering from the gastritis and am taking Omaprazole and Buscopan, which are very gradually reducing the symptoms. I think I mad things worse with anxiety caused by googling the symptoms before a full diagnosis.
Sorry to hear you having this, but yeah (easier said than done) but try and not stress yourself out yet till there's an actual sit down and chat.
Aaradia, I am very sorry to hear this. I hope you will be well and hopefully it is (as much as it can be) only a bad interpretation of the results. Also, I hope you won't necessarily have to do it, but as it is the only thing you can do now, I wish you good luck with losing weight. I am sure it can impove not just your health, but how you feel in general, too. I sympathize with it, I can't get rid of the sugar in my diet, too, but an occassional sweet shouldn't be a terrible problem if you eat healthy in general. From my personal experience, food log definitely helps! As for the hearn troble as others said, if it was serious, your doctor would have contacted you already. Also, did you have any feeling like your heart might have any trouble? I guess it is hard to tell just by feeling, but if you had no trouble lately, chances are there really isn't a problem. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Please let us know when you have the results.
I hope it works out well for you Aardia. Would a heart rate monitor help lower anxiety when exercise gets you breathing hard?
