Heart Problems???????????? Please help

I'm not concerned about the rapid heart rate based on the cardio machines- I'm very skeptical about how accurate they are. Do you check your pulse yourself when this happens?

But your other symptoms are very concerning. As far as I know, the fluid in the ear would only possibly cause the dizzyness- not your other symptoms. There are a couple heart rhythm problems that can cause similar feelings. They're usually easy to treat with meds, but they can be dangerous if not treated.

Keep in mind that nursing school is stressful and that we all diagnosed ourselves with all kinds of things we were studying about. It might be nothing. I've never seen an NP I didn't like, but you need to be seen again- by her if you feel comfortable, by someone else if you don't. It might help them ti diagnose you if you check your pulse yourself when you feel this happening, and if you kept a log for a couple days of what you eat and what you are doing when the episodes happen.

I'd stay off the cardio machines until you get looked at, too.

Take care of yourself.

Thanks for the advice.....I'm going to call and make an appointment for monday.

Is your pulse regular? I think it is time you went for a physical and insist on a EKG for a baseline just in case you end up in the ER.

I'm not sure what a "regular" pulse is. I am still in pre reqs for nursing, so I dont know much but basic anatomy, nad we havent gotten to the cardiovascular system yet. At rest, my pulse was 77. It's hard for me to tell if that is accurate though, because sometimes I have a hard time finding it, and sometimes it feels like it is beating harder then others. I"ll just go to the doc to be safe. It's been worrying me. And I have fainted recently (well it was at my wedding! a month ago, but that could have been due to just nerves.). But I get that same dizzy feeling I got then alot. LIke a "cloudy" head feeling.

Praire -- May be A-Fib. Let us know what they find.

Good luck!

Hey LG, i'm thinking ablation...what say you?

Hi, Din! (Miss chattin' with ya. Hope you're well.)

I hear ya. You EP folks can't wait to poke and zap people till the sparks are flying off the freakin' table!

Could we hold on just a tad -- you know, till there'a a professional diagnosis here??? Or this redundant??? (Geesh!!!)

Seriously, perhaps something as minor as diet, supplements, alcohol, excitotoxins, etc., may be playing a role.

Prairie, while we may kid, please understand we care for you and that we're all hoping for your prompt return to the gym. Please keep us posted on how things go.

I think I figured out most of my problem on my own.......I have either a nasty nasty cold, the flu, or a viral infection. I started running a fever friday night, it stayted low grade 99.1-99.6 all weekend and I have felt like trash. Had cold chills so bad last night all the muscles in my body ached from shivering. Started yesterday blowing out "green globs" of stuff and coughing up "brown gunk". I go to the doc tomorrow...I'll let ya'll know what happens.

Prairegirl,

Viruses only incubate for a few days before you get symptoms from them. You may have some kind of winter crud as well, but whatever virus you have wouldn't have been causing your symptoms this long.

By all means get checked out, but don't let them blow off your symptoms as a virus. As them about a holter monitor- it's a kind of EKG monitor that you wear for 1-3 days at home. It captures heart rhythm changes that don't show up at the doc's office. They might need to refer you to see a cardiologist to get this done. They'll be understandably resistant to refer a healthy 19 year old to a cardiologist, but you need this figured out.

It might be better to wait until after your virus clears up to see a cardioloist or have a holter monitor- you mentioned that your symptoms show up with exertion and it sounds like you should be taking it easy for a few days.

I went to the doctor today.....i have a sinus infection and a nasty ear infection (hence my dizziness). She put me on a heavy dose of Amoxycillin (sp??) for 10 days a coritcosteroid for 10 days. She said the corticosteroid will help my sinuses since the decongestants I've been taking havent helped it any. And as far as my weird heartrate while exercising.........I think it is just those silly machines. I went again the other day, but on a different machine and I made sure to keep my hands steady on the metal things that take your pulse, and it was fine. She told me that my hot feelilng on my face is most likely the body's response to illness. But she told me come back in 2 weeks to see if my headaches are any better. If they are not, she said she'd look into other possibilities for them.

Originally posted by prairiegirl

I have a concern. I am a basically healthy 19 year old female in nursing school. I recently have been having problems where my face will turn really head and feel very hot, but my arms and legs etc. are still cool. It makes my head hurt really bad. I also go to the gym and I dont know how accurate the heart rate monitors on the cardio machines are, but when I am exercising, my heart rate will go from 170 to 80 in less than 3 seconds. I got on several machines, and they all did this! I dont know if I should be concerned by this or what to do. I also get dizzy often, but was told earlier by a nurse practicioner that I just had fluid in my inner ear. I"m not sure what to do.

Laura

I love the responses to this original post. I especially love the dx of a-fib in a 19 year old girl. Or the bit about ablation. She said her HR went from 170 to 80 in 3 sec, talk about your extreme parasympathetic responses! Then she says she has a cold (which sounds bacterial in nature) and people still want her strapped to a halter EKG. She finally says she wasn't using the equipment right and we all breathe a sigh of relief.

I'm only a student. But I like the responses that told her to just go to the doctor. Man, that's their job. Once they say she has 9 volt battery inadvertently connected to her vagus nerve, we can do all the nursing interventions to care for her. But we don't dx, do we? I mean we don't dx other than diagnoses r/t nursing care, right? NANDA and all that?

By the way, I'm not singling anyone out. I went running for the med/surg book myself. But I realized as I fitfully threw books from the shelf in search of a medical dx for this 19 year old that my part hadn't come yet. She wasn't on my floor in a bed yet. We're nurses, right?

OK, my heads on the block axe away.

Originally posted by ADNRN

"And what, pray tell, is ablation? Am I missing something, because I'm thinking placenta here?".....now this made me smile!

"She said her HR went from 170 to 80 in 3 sec, talk about your extreme parasympathetic responses!".....very good!

" Then she says she has a cold (which sounds bacterial in nature)".....colds are viral, but good thought process!

"and people still want her strapped to a halter EKG.".....not unusual for anyone c/o an arrhythmia that needs diagnosing.

"She finally says she wasn't using the equipment right and we all breathe a sigh of relief." .....We nurses have a funny way of wanting everything to be okay for everybody.

"I'm only a student. But I like the responses that told her to just go to the doctor. Man, that's their job. Once they say she has 9 volt battery inadvertently connected to her vagus nerve, we can do all the nursing interventions to care for her. But we don't dx, do we? I mean we don't dx other than diagnoses r/t nursing care, right? NANDA and all that?"....Most nurses enjoy the mental gymnastics called critical thinking that is a big part of our jobs. You would not believe the number of close catches nurses perform for patients due to the fact that the doctor has missed something. No, we do not write the diagnoses that we catch as medical dx, but we do write the assessments, lab work we recognize as a potential factor, and patient's s/s that allude to a medical dx. We say to the Dr., "should we check a hemaglobin", or the patient's I&O's have been upside down for 3 days and I heard crackles" or "he coughs with every meal and with all thin liquids. Would you like a swallow eval?"...you get the picture.

"By the way, I'm not singling anyone out. I went running for the med/surg book myself. But I realized as I fitfully threw books from the shelf in search of a medical dx for this 19 year old that my part hadn't come yet."....Our jobs are much bigger than waiting for the Dr. to direct our care.

"She wasn't on my floor in a bed yet. We're nurses, right?" .....Yes, we are, so we jump in to help where ever we can. We are not diagnosing, we are just voicing thoughts that pop into our heads, based on our experiences...based on what we have seen before. We just offer suggestions, and the poster accepts what seems to fit, and rejects what is off base.

"OK, my heads on the block axe away." [/b]

No chopping here. That's just how we play.

;)