Chest Pain - visit to docs

[jefmcg]

I just feel such a fool - all that healthy eating, gym, cycling - and now I find I have this - I might just as well sat on the sofa with a bottle of beer and a big bag of pork scratching's - Anxiety and depression shafted me out of a more comfortable standard living - now this.....

Sure I can pootle around on the flat - but when I said I cycle Im not sure she understood that I regular going up 12% hills - and yes the ticker is pounding - is that normal ? - is it dangerous ? - is that why the hills never seem easier

I m just so f***n angry - and I m not sure why....................Sorry for the rant....

Ah, you poor bastard.

It's probably nothing, but it needs to be investigated. Oh, and if it is something, then everything you have done is the reason that it took a woman with a stethoscope to find it, not some 999 catastrophe.

If you are really not dealing with this news, can you ring your GP? Mine is really good at calling back after surgery to answer follow up questions. If they don't, then book another gp appointment unless the follow up is happening quickly.

 

[Drago]

Don't be gutted.

I had a stress cardiomyopathy in 2015, brought about by a hormone reaction to a stomach complaint. While investigating that the medicos discovered my heartbeat is wonky in some way, but after mulling it over they decided it's nothing to worry about.

The downside is that my normal heart trace looks a bit like I'm having a heart attack...not a problem per se, but an utter ballache when having any kind of involved medical treatment cos they have to convince themselves I won't kark it before they'll do the work.

Be cool Rollo. It's a mental readjustment, but in a few days your mind will resume the routine of doing what you always did.

 

[alicat]

I've got a heart murmur. It doesn't affect my life one iota.

Hope the tests come back similar to mine.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I just feel such a fool - all that healthy eating, gym, cycling - and now I find I have this - I might just as well sat on the sofa with a bottle of beer and a big bag of pork scratching's - Anxiety and depression shafted me out of a more comfortable standard living - now this.....

Sure I can pootle around on the flat - but when I said I cycle Im not sure she understood that I regular going up 12% hills - and yes the ticker is pounding - is that normal ? - is it dangerous ? - is that why the hills never seem easier

I m just so f***n angry - and I m not sure why....................Sorry for the rant....

I'm now 66 and I'm still pedalling, I'm no longer a club cyclist but I'm still on my bike. I've survived angina and a heart attack, part of the reason I'm still here is the fitness the cycling gave me. It's working for you as well, it's the work you've done that means the doctor found the problem not a paramedic.

 

[classic33]

@kingrollo, can I ask if you worked yourself up, worrying about what might have been. Thinking the worst and you never got to hear it. As a result, you're feeling as though you've wasted time in getting checked?

 

[ColinJ]

Now the bad - she discovered a heart murmur - and I have to go for an ECG - then maybe further tests dependent on that.

Said I can carry on exercise normally as I do ....

bit gutted to be honest....

My heart has been doing weird sh*t off and on since I was ill in 2012. Every time I have had an ECG since then (5 or 6 times) the doctors/paramedics stand around pointing at the waveforms on the screens/printouts, go into a huddle, and then dismiss it. I assume that they can see something unusual but decide that it isn't anything serious.

If I exercise too hard without a warm-up, my heart rhythm can go wonky for hours but if I give myself 20-30 minutes to get going properly then I am okay to ride up 20+% hills after that. I can feel if I am overdoing things and just back the effort off a few per cent.

Listen to what the doctors say, and listen to your body.

 

[kingrollo]

@kingrollo, can I ask if you worked yourself up, worrying about what might have been. Thinking the worst and you never got to hear it. As a result, you're feeling as though you've wasted time in getting checked?

Hi TBH - I went thinking I would get all the clear - when I didn't its a swirl of emotions mostly I was angry, having done everything to keep healthy - I now find out Im not. Got all sorts of rides lined, and whilst not hitting any heights I m cycling better than I have ever done.

As others have suggested I have to get my head around cycling with a hopefully minor hear defect. I am a pretty bad asthmatic in terms of peak flow measurements. Part of my motivation for cycling was that if I could keep the rest of my cardio vascular in a1 condition that would offset my poor lung capacity- rightly or wrongly I think that approach has failed.

 

[alicat]

Wait to see what the tests reveal. Today was the first time in about 20 years that I even thought about my murmur. I am healthy despite it.

Most likely you were born with it and nothing you did brought it on or could have prevented it.

 

[classic33]

I'd say you're looking at it the wrong way. Have you thought that the cycling you've been doing has helped matters?

 

[Julia9054]

Wait to see what the tests reveal. Today was the first time in about 20 years that I even thought about my murmur. I am healthy despite it.

Most likely you were born with it and nothing you did brought it on or could have prevented it.

I have a heart murmur too - apparently. I had a medical for a job when I was 22 and the doctor said "I see you have a heart murmur"
I said "wait, what?" and he just shrugged and said loads of people have one. No doctor has ever mentioned it since.

 

[classic33]

@kingrollo, can I ask if you worked yourself up, worrying about what might have been. Thinking the worst and you never got to hear it. As a result, you're feeling as though you've wasted time in getting checked?

You've also got to consider that getting yourself checked over may have shown anything up that was a danger.

You got "booted to the doctors" by something. Waiting for the tests and then the results can be a time of uncertainity. You may have wound yourself up whilst waiting, expecting the worst, then feeling "deflated" when the first results came back. Await the full results, and don't be afraid to ask questions. You don't ask, you'll get no answers. Leaving you fretting over what may be, not what is.

 

[User10119]

Hi TBH - I went thinking I would get all the clear - when I didn't its a swirl of emotions mostly I was angry

That's a completely understandable reaction. It's all stressful, anxiety-inducing stuff. You are allowed to be a bit cheesed off and grumpy about it, y'know!

having done everything to keep healthy - I now find out Im not.

But, as others have pretty much said, you are surely a milion billion gazillion times healthier than you would have been had you gone down the sofa and pork scratchings route. And probably happier too. Yes, this particular moment, particularly with what sounds like a fair bit of uncertainty about what it all means, is a bit shitty. That doesn't take away from the pleasure and the achievements that cycling has brought you, or mean that you have to hang up the bike.

Part of my motivation for cycling was that if I could keep the rest of my cardio vascular in a1 condition that would offset my poor lung capacity- rightly or wrongly I think that approach has failed.

I suspect it is probably nearer to the truth that the cycling has done a sterling job of off-setting the problems of reduced lung capacity and, at the same time, has been keeping your ticker in the best condition it can be. That doesn't sound anything like failing to me - as @jefmcg says upthread

Oh, and if it is something, then everything you have done is the reason that it took a woman with a stethoscope to find it, not some 999 catastrophe.

 

[kingrollo]

Pretty sure it hasn't been there all the time, as an asthmatic they were always checking my heart as a kid.

I also notice that my blood pressure checks vary quite a lot - I can be be as low as 115/73 - right up to 145/73

A couple of weeks back I had been taking in some 20% climbs once a week - I struggled up them as anyone would. But the rest of the week I felt dreadful tired and slow on the bike - I took a week off and feel better now - wonder if thats all part of it...

Anyway first test tonight - does this give me a diagnosis ? - or just the info that goes to the hospital

 

[vickster]

Pretty sure it hasn't been there all the time, as an asthmatic they were always checking my heart as a kid.

I also notice that my blood pressure checks vary quite a lot - I can be be as low as 115/73 - right up to 145/73

A couple of weeks back I had been taking in some 20% climbs once a week - I struggled up them as anyone would. But the rest of the week I felt dreadful tired and slow on the bike - I took a week off and feel better now - wonder if thats all part of it...

Anyway first test tonight - does this give me a diagnosis ? - or just the info that goes to the hospital

It's quite possible that overdoing it / overtraining left you fatigued and thus under the weather as you found. The pollen count and pollution have been high, also not helpful especially if you have asthma and potentially allergies

 

[alicat]

Anyway first test tonight - does this give me a diagnosis ? - or just the info that goes to the hospital

Dunno, depends what the test is but I suspect they will wait until all the tests are done.

Don't forget how hot it has been. The heat and associated dehydration may have played a part.