posted
I woke up at a little before 2:00 am with my heart racing so fast I couldn't get an accurate pulse. I told myself, okay, tachycardia, been down this road before, it will stop in a few minutes.
When it didn't, I tried all the tricks my husband tried last time this happened - which was when I was pregnant with the twins. Wes was at the station, so I had to do it all myself. Nothing worked, and after 30 minutes I was getting concerned. So I resulted to the ice water - apparently a rapid heartrate can sometimes be re-set to a normal rhythm by dunking your head in ice water and holding it there as long as you can. Scoff if you like, but it was my obstetrician who told us to do this last time, and it worked, saving me a trip to the hospital. But this time it didn't work.
After an hour of the rapid beating, I broke down and called the fire station to talk to my husband. He wasn't there, out on an emergency call, so I left a message with the guy on night watch.
Then, I woke my mom. She and I sat up together for a while, then I sent her back to bed. I told her there was no sense in everyone losing sleep, and I would wait for Wes to call and see if he thought I needed to go to the hospital. I should mention that I was not in any distress- I could breathe normally and carry on a conversation, it just felt like my heart was going to leap out of chest at any moment.
Finally, at about 3:45, I felt a thump in my chest and the rate started receding. When I could get a pulse, it was 110 or therabouts. Five minutes later it was in the high 80's. That was good enough for me so I went back to sleep.
Wes never called. If you have a spare moment today, sent an encouraging thought toward the fire fighter on night watch who failed to give him the message. I would not want to be on the other end of my husband's anger right now. You don't forget to write down an emergency message in the middle of the night for a fellow fire-fighter. You especially don't forget to write down an emergency message from your lieutenant's wife. And yes, I did say - "This is an emergency, I need him to call me as soon as he gets back."
At any rate, all worked out. We think we know what happened, turns out it was most likely caffeine to blame. The chemo has adjusted my taste buds, and I got to where I couldn't stand drinking carbonated sodas at all. I've been living off Gatorade, lemonade, and orange juice. I never have been a coffee drinker, so all the caffeine in my diet came from sodas, and I hadn't had any in more than a month. But yesterday at gymnastics I had a splitting headache, so I got a coke out of the vending machine to wash down some Tylenol with. It actually tasted good to me, so when I went by the store I got a 12 pack. Drank one with dinner, one more before bed.
Three caffeinated drinks after I'd been off it for a while appears to have set off the tachycardia. Wes said even if I went to the ER, they probably wouldn't have treated me with cardiac drugs since I had no other symptoms and no sign of distress, so staying home and letting it self-resolve was not a huge error on my part. I just couldn't see loading up all the kids and having my mother drive me to the ER at 3 in the morning when I felt perfectly fine except for that stupid heart rate.
So, kids - remember caffeine is a drug! It has more effect on us than we probably realize. I had built up a tolerance over all those years of drinking caffeinated sodas, and lost it when I quit.
At any rate, I feel fine today, just a little tired. Now the interesting thing will be when Wes goes back to work and confronts the firefighter. Poor guy.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
Definitely doesn't sound like you had a good night. I'm glad everything is ok and that the tachycardia stopped on its own.
(and yes, caffeine is a drug - I use caffeinated sodas when I have a headache and do not have medication with me)
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
Oh man, Belle! I'm so glad you handled everything appropriately and didn't let yourself panic. (yes, caffeine sometimes does that to me too, but not for such a long period of time).
That poor firefighter! Maybe Wes will have cooled slightly by the time he sees him... Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I hope he chews the guy out, and good. That's a lesson he needs to learn -- not forgetting to give emergency messages is a big screwup.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Oh I agree that the guy was very wrong and needs to be taught a lesson.
It is just scary to think of how mad Wes probably is about this. Makes me feel sympathy for the other guy even though he deserves the chewing.
Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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He might actually be formally reprimanded - taking messages is one of the duties of whoever is on watch, so he actually was derelict in performing a job function. But I doubt it, probably instead he'll get a good chewing out and be forced to stand watch several shifts in a row as punishment or something.
It's something firefighters take seriously - because they're away from their families, and if a family member needs them, they need to have confidence that they can get through.
I did have another option, which was to call the 911 dispatch and have them contact him via radio, but that would mean pulling him off the emergency call he was on, and I didn't think my life was actually in any danger - the person he was going to might well have been.
It all worked out, but it's definitely a lesson that firefighter needs to learn. Next time it might be his wife calling.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
I had to look up tachycardia, since I'd never heard of it before.
quote:Tachycardia is an abnormally rapid beating of the heart, defined as a resting heart rate of over 100 beats per minute in an average adult.
Yikes. When I was hyper-thyroid, my heart rate almost never went below 100 beats in a minute. Even when I was in bed resting it was usually somewhere around 100-110. I sometimes had pulses of over 125 at rest.
Makes me wonder how much damage my heart took over the time this was the case.
I remember what it was like to have my heart beat so fast and so strong that it kept you up at night. So I can certainly sympathize with you Belle.
Here's to hoping it doesn't happen again.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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posted
That sounds really rough! I'm sorry you had to go through that alone in the middle of the night. Caffeine makes me really jittery as well, which is why I limit my intake to no more than a few cups per day except when I have studently obligations which might require zero sleep.
It sounds then like I have a fast heart beat, around 90-100 resting. I also have ridiculously low blood pressure (100/65) so I...have no idea what any of that means.
I also admire how calm you were and how well you know your body: I would have marched myself, worried sick, right to the hospital (which granted, is only a few blocks away).
Posts: 484 | Registered: Feb 2006
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I'm gonna have to try that cold-water-head-dunking-thing sometime.
I'm sorry that man didn't pass on the message like he was supposed to, but applause for handling the situation so well.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Belle, I'm glad you're okay and it all worked out. Having nights like that sucks.
I only consume cola drinks when I have a very bad headache or migraine myself - I'm hypersensitive to caffeine and cannot consume it otherwise without losing a lot of sleep and having *cough* other nasty symptoms that shall remain unnamed in polite company. Yep.
Thanks for the tip on the head in ice water thing. Knowing me, I'll remember it. Hopefully, no one I know, including me, will ever need to use it. Hmm. On the other hand, it could work its way into a story somewhere...
posted
I'm fine now. Called the doctor's office, spoke to a nurse and relayed all the info - she told me that she pretty much agreed with hubby it was probably the caffeine. She did say that there were cases where the catheter of a port slipped, or even broke off, and it can cause big problems, but usually one of the first symptoms is shortness of breath.
At any rate, everything is okay at the moment. Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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A few other ways to deal with tachychardia:
1. Rub your eyelids; 2. Hold your breath and bear down.
I usually try those two before I try the "face into cold water" trick, which does indeed work - by way of engaging your body's drowning reflex. I find that rather unpleasant.
(I've suffered from paroxysmal atrial tachicardia since about the age of 15.)
Sounds like quite a scare. Glad you're feeling better.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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Definitely doesn't sound like you had a good night. I'm glad everything is ok and that the tachycardia stopped on its own.![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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