Matters of the heart

So I've been quite freaked out the past couple of days...on Wednesday afternoon around 1 PM I started having heart palpitations. If you do any research on the web or talk to any doctor they will tell you that heart palpitations are a common symptom of pregnancy...I've even had a few from time to time during the past 5 months. Typically I'd have one or two a day for a couple days and then they'd vanish for weeks at a time…only to catch me totally off guard again when another one would surprise me while sitting on the couch or doing something totally uneventful. I think palpitations feel slightly different to everyone, but for me if basically feels like my heart skips a beat and I get the wind knocked out of me for a second. It's a pretty scary feeling, especially because sometimes it almost feels like my heart gets off beat from it for a second and it really takes my breath away. It really reminds you just how crucial the heart is to your survival...something most of us take for granted on a regular basis because we don't have to think about it.

So when I had the first palpitation on Wednesday I thought nothing of it...but then when I had another one shortly after that...and another...and another...and another I started to get a little freaked out! Basically for the rest of the afternoon, heart palpitations were all I could feel and think about! I was having them every few minutes at least! I still tried to shrug it off, but was getting more and more worried...and more exhausted as the day went on. That night it was difficult to eat as it almost felt difficult to catch my breath. I would just recover from having a palpitation when the next one would come. Stressed and worn out I ended up going to bed at 8 o'clock that night…with the hope that I would wake up the next morning and feel totally refreshed! Not so much...I got a good night's sleep, but when I woke up at 4 AM and felt them still going on panic ensued. Having trouble falling back to sleep I decided to get up and go to work. The drive in was horrible...I had probably 50 palpitations and was feeling lightheaded from all the times my breath was robbed from me...not the ideal driving conditions that is for sure! I decided at work to try and count them to understand what I was really dealing with...7 in the first minute...5 in the next! Holy cow...this was not good...and not normal!! I ended up calling the exchange for my OB and when he called back 45 minutes later he told me that I needed to see my primary care doctor or go to the ER...probably going to the ER was the best option he said due to the hysterics I was in...I could not stop crying!

Around 9 AM I decided it was time to leave work...I was crying like an idiot and was not in any sort of mental capacity to work. On the way I called my primary care doctors office and explained the situation...they asked if I could come in at 10, to which I quicly responded YES! I drove straight there and got in right away. So let me first say, I love my doctor...she must have a photographic memory because she knows everything about everything! Anyway...when she came in to see me she had a medical student with her that she was "training." She asked if he could practice his interviewing skills on me while she stepped out and then she'd come back in and we'd all figure out the diagnosis together. Not exactly the best day for me to humor a med student, but I agreed anyway. After he debriefed her on what I'd told him they both came back in. She explained that the palpitations were possibly a result of the thyroid medicine I am on. I was put on it to help with the infertility issues, but she thought the dose may be too high now that I am pregnant. Another option was I could be anemic or be defficient in magnesium. She was going to order some blood work and an EKG...luckily both things can be done in their office! Yeah!

So next up the nurse came in to give me an EKG...they put all these sticky pads on you (10 total) then hook wires up to them and record your heart rhythm for approximately 10 seconds. Ugh...10 seconds we'll never catch one of these pesky little things! But luckily we did!!! I guess that's one good thing about them happening so frequently...and the good news is now I don't have to wear the heart rate monitor for a few days because the cardiologist should be able to tell from the EKG if these palpitations are "normal"...whatever that means. So as of this moment I found out that my blood tests all came back normal (so no change in thyroid medicine), I've started taking magnesium supplements, and the EKG is out for review. If the magnesium starts working and the palpitations become less frequent then that is hopefully the end of it. If they continue at this pace (yes, I'm still having them atleast every minute or so) AND my EKG looks ok, then they will start me on a beta blocker that will essentially slow my heart rate some and stop the palpitations. If we have to go with the beta blocker I will also have to monitor my heart rate and blood pressure regularly to make sure it stays in a healthy range. I'm really hoping the magnesium will do the trick, but I do feel better knowing my doctor is treating a patient now that is on the highest dose of beta blocker and should be delivering a healthy baby sometime in the next few weeks! So for now I'm dealing with the uncomfortableness and just hoping relief comes soon!