A (35ish y/o) family friend died 2 months ago from a heart attack, suspected high cholesterol. He was seemingly healthy, active and not overweight.
Anyone else have experience with cholesterol in early 30's?
Anyone else have experience with cholesterol in early 30's?
The weird beating seems like my heart is either beating normally or weakly and then there's a "hiccup" every minute or so. When I lay down with my ear against the pillow when this happens, I can hear my blood flow, which seems weird, like my blood containing tubes/pump is wider than the amount of liquid in the chambers; like an echo-y water flow sound.
Part of me thinks this is the L-arginine I take (to get "swoll" as they say) combined with the amount of caffeine I take in? Another part of me thinks this is a valve issue from bacterial endocarditis, since I still have my wisdom teeth, though I brush 3+x/day, but I've had 2 splinter hemorrhages without trauma on my fingernails recently, though I like any signs of Osler nodes.
I'm 6'1", 184-ish, muscular build, so maybe it's all in my head and the above paragraphs are the result of hypochondria exacerbated by a lack of health insurance or the money to even pay for a routine doctor's visit. I mean, I eat all healthy homemade food; currently cooking black beans + garbonzo beans to make a hummus of sorts.
Hoping my anxiety stays tempered long enough for me to get back on my feet while finishing my current project.
EDIT: I forgot to mention a frequent shortness of breath, though like in Jason Scott's case, this doesn't seem to prevent me from physical activity, but it bothers me that I can't take deep breathes all the time.
(this is not medical advice - go see a doctor!)
Edit: replaced french word
I also went to a cardiologist about it, and he pretty much just said "your EKG is normal and you're fat, work out 7 days a week, have a low fat diet, and lose weight".
It stopped being anywhere near as frequent, along with a drop in resting heart rate, lower blood pressure, less back pain (probably due to less inflammation) once I went on a low carb diet (notice the low fat diet the cardiologist suggested didn't help much) last year. I also lost 45 lbs in four months, mostly just the diet. I certainly didn't work out 7 days a week.
I have periodically cheated since, and each time I get a reminder I shouldn't because I get skipped heart beats, tightness in the chest, and an elevated heart rate and blood pressure.
I'm not sure the mechanism behind this (anyone? local doctors have been completely unhelpful), and I almost wish there was another cause, because every once in awhile I really, really want to have those carbs, but I feel a lot better overall when I don't.
Something to consider.
I have a hietal hernia[0] that causes reflux and dyspepsia (trouble swallowing) and mimics these heart symptoms: shortness of breath, arrhythmia, chest pain, and tachycardia. A ketogenic diet helps, as does an OTC PPI[1] (e.g. Prilosec, Nexium). You might consider getting scoped to see if you have one as well (or just take a PPI for two weeks and see if it helps).
I've had arrhythmia since I was a teenager. Some of it is sinus (i.e. pressure on my vascular system caused by breathing) and some of it is not[2]. I've found that taking a daily multivitamin helps considerably, as does a diet rich in magnesium and potassium (occasionally supplemented), so I must have some deficiencies. I can't take too much pseudoephedrine (and try to avoid it completely after a particularly scary episode). Regular exercise helps as well. If I start to freak out about a particularly bad spell of arrhythmia and/or palpitations, I tell myself to eat an apple or a banana and go for a walk.
Alcohol and caffeine wreak havoc on all of the above, so I can't drink like I did in my 20s, and I try to limit myself to one pot of coffee per day. ;-)
> "your EKG is normal and you're fat"
If I had a nickel for every time I've heard that...
If you have bacterial endocarditis[3], that could explain why a low-carb diet is helpful: lower blood sugar -> less fuel for bacteria -> reduced heart valve inflammation. Maybe.
I have something else going on right now that I don't understand: waking up at night with back pain under my right shoulder blade, anxiety, and arrhythmia. I went to the hospital after the third incident and the EKG, blood work, chest X-ray, CT scan, etc. didn't reveal anything. I suspect it's stress-related and either an ulcer or bacterial endocarditis, so I need to get those looked at by specialists. I also had a clot in my leg last year for which I needed six months of blood thinners, so I wonder if that's related...
Getting old sucks.
0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiatus_hernia
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton-pump_inhibitor
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premature_ventricular_contract...
I also just got an MRI and an ultrasound for a hard lump on my leg to make sure it wasn't a clot (they thought it was cellulitis but antibiotics didn't make it go away, now they think it was cellulitis and the remnants just might just stick around for awhile).
Honestly I'm just tired of getting all this checked out all the time. I max out my rather high deductible pretty quick these past couple of years, mostly to get tests taken that (so far) have been negative, so I don't really know what's actually wrong (although apparently the doctors don't ever think it's too serious, but I'm worried they make some assumptions because of my weight and something more serious might be hiding).
I agree, getting old sucks. And I'm still considered too 'young' for half the things they're testing on me, from what they keep telling me.
Some more info:
Skipped beats are often normal (see PVCs, PACs).
A highly irregular rhythm, e.g. where your heart goes beat..beat..beatbeatbeat.beat...beat..beatbeat may be a sign you have Atrial Fibrillation, and you should definitely jump on that if you do.
I think based on Obamacare, this is actually copay free for most/all insurance plans. Cholesterol screening is included [1].
I strongly recommend everyone to take advantage of the free preventative care (until Trump/GOP kills it)
[1] http://obamacarefacts.com/questions/exactly-covered-preventa...
* Sitting a lot (Standing desk didn't help, regular breaks and walks did.)
* Diet (Carbohydrate heavy)
* Alcohol consumption
* Lack of intense exercise.
Of all of those, diet and alcohol consumption were the most important. No one really understands how these metabolic processes actually work, it seems.