My Mom has been having these "episodes" that she's convinced herself are heart disease symptoms.
Little background - my Dad had a couple of heart attacks in Oct. 2008 which led to triple bypass surgery. It was a VERY stressful time.
He died unexpectedly from what turned out to be a 4-day long heart attack in February of this year.
My Dad took care of ALL of the finances for their 42 year marriage - and he left a lot of things a real mess.
My Mom has been under a bit of stress as far as what to do to repay a debt to family. It's not that she doesn't have options, but it's all just overwhelming for her.
Her medical history: She doesn't really like doctors/medicine/etc. Her family doc told her she had high blood pressure (I didn't think it was all that high, not for a 67 yr old woman since I believe it's supposed to go up a bit with age.) So she put her on a BP lowering medication. My Mom hated it because sometimes her BP would go too low & she'd feel really crummy. But she was scared because of what happened to my Dad.
So she stopped the BP meds one day a while back & took her BP every morning and recorded it in a log. It really wasn't so bad - mostly 140s over 70s, sometimes lower and rarely higher. I think this is a decent BP for her age.
Over the last 2-3 weeks her BP had a few readings in the 150s-160s over 80s and she began to really worry. She started back on her BP meds. During this time she also felt "off." She felt fatigued and dizzy & would have these episodes where her breathing would get rapid and shallow and her BP would rise up a bit and her heart rate would climb.
She went to see her doc who ordered fasting blood work and did an EKG which came back normal. She did the blood work last Monday morning and it all came back fine. On Tuesday she felt "off" again and asked my Sister to take her to the hospital. They did another EKG and chest x-ray and more blood work - everything came back fine. They wanted her to stay overnight for a stress test but she figured she could go home and have it done at the cardiology appt she was going to make. She couldn't get into the cardiologist until October.
Then on Thursday, she really freaked out. I went up to see her and her breathing was rapid and shallow, her hands were shaky & she was filling out her Will. She wanted me to take her to have it notarized and then straight to the hospital where she said she was going to check herself in until they figured out what was wrong.
I told her she need to do some deep breathing - in through the nose, out through the mouth because she was freaking ME out. But she said she couldn't calm down to do it.
SO, after a huge circus to get her Will taken care of, my Sister and I took her back to the hospital.
They took her back immediately and did another EKG, more blood work, chest x-ray, u/s of the heart, stress test on a treadmill and a CAT scan. During the time we were there, we could see everything on the monitors - blood oxygen (always 99-100), heart rate - which would go up to 110 during one of her episodes but was usually in the 60s-70s and BP. They gave her a BP patch that was supposed to bring down her lower number (& top number, but they were more concerned about the lower number.)
They never found anything other than a small spot on one of her lungs which they really weren't concerned about but asked her to follow up with a pulmonary doctor just to be safe.
My gut says it's anxiety/panic attacks. But as my Dad was leaving for the hospital (the last time I saw him conscious), I was *so* sure that he just had a UTI which was causing his fever and not feeling well. Boy was I wrong. So I guess I'm doubting my gut instinct.
I know that a heart catheterization is the only definite way to tell what's going on in her arteries - or if there's any disease, but it's SO invasive and if all of this other stuff has come back okay, I don't know that it's warranted. The doctors seemed confident enough to send her home w/o doing it.
What gets me is that they didn't suggest *anything* to explain her "episodes." They told her to follow up with her family doctor this week. Do they not suggest anxiety in hospitals anymore? That's rhetorical, I know they do. I suggested that maybe she was under too much stress and needed to figure out ways to handle it - starting with deep breathing. (I can't imagine her deciding to take anxiety meds.)
While she was in the hosp., her episodes were coming faster and closer together - it reminded me so much of labor that I told her she'd need to push soon.
But then the nurse told her she needed to take a deep breath through her nose and exhale through her mouth - and then they gave her oxygen just to help her relax more. It must've worked because she stopped having the episodes and hasn't had one since about 2pm on Thursday.
This makes me think it's just anxiety related.
She was in good spirits on Friday evening when I picked her up and again on Saturday. She went to the store and out for dinner. But by yesterday (Sunday), she didn't leave her bed except twice to have something to eat. She said she felt really exhausted and weak. Not dizzy and no "episodes."
The only other thing she mentioned last week was that she had an ache in her cervical spine (neck.) I know it sounds far-fetched, but maybe it's Lyme? She was up visiting her parents (her step-mom) in the woods and did a bit of gardening while there. It's a fairly ticky area (not as bad as here), but I think it's a possibility. As far as I know, no other joints are bothering her. I asked her to request a western blot when she does go in for her appt just to check. I'm aware of the false negative results, but at least it's a start. Fatigue + achy neck is fairly suspicious of Lyme.
So other than that possibility - any ideas?
She's usually a very active & upbeat woman for 67. She will often hop on her bike and ride 5-6 miles at a time! She's vibrant and full of life, always being silly. It's just not like her to lay in bed all day or to succumb to anxiety. I know it can build up and then one day it just hits you - and with all that she's been though these past 2 years with my Dad, it wouldn't surprise me if it all just caught up with her finally.
Thanks for any ideas...
Little background - my Dad had a couple of heart attacks in Oct. 2008 which led to triple bypass surgery. It was a VERY stressful time.
He died unexpectedly from what turned out to be a 4-day long heart attack in February of this year.
My Dad took care of ALL of the finances for their 42 year marriage - and he left a lot of things a real mess.
My Mom has been under a bit of stress as far as what to do to repay a debt to family. It's not that she doesn't have options, but it's all just overwhelming for her.
Her medical history: She doesn't really like doctors/medicine/etc. Her family doc told her she had high blood pressure (I didn't think it was all that high, not for a 67 yr old woman since I believe it's supposed to go up a bit with age.) So she put her on a BP lowering medication. My Mom hated it because sometimes her BP would go too low & she'd feel really crummy. But she was scared because of what happened to my Dad.
So she stopped the BP meds one day a while back & took her BP every morning and recorded it in a log. It really wasn't so bad - mostly 140s over 70s, sometimes lower and rarely higher. I think this is a decent BP for her age.
Over the last 2-3 weeks her BP had a few readings in the 150s-160s over 80s and she began to really worry. She started back on her BP meds. During this time she also felt "off." She felt fatigued and dizzy & would have these episodes where her breathing would get rapid and shallow and her BP would rise up a bit and her heart rate would climb.
She went to see her doc who ordered fasting blood work and did an EKG which came back normal. She did the blood work last Monday morning and it all came back fine. On Tuesday she felt "off" again and asked my Sister to take her to the hospital. They did another EKG and chest x-ray and more blood work - everything came back fine. They wanted her to stay overnight for a stress test but she figured she could go home and have it done at the cardiology appt she was going to make. She couldn't get into the cardiologist until October.
Then on Thursday, she really freaked out. I went up to see her and her breathing was rapid and shallow, her hands were shaky & she was filling out her Will. She wanted me to take her to have it notarized and then straight to the hospital where she said she was going to check herself in until they figured out what was wrong.
I told her she need to do some deep breathing - in through the nose, out through the mouth because she was freaking ME out. But she said she couldn't calm down to do it.
SO, after a huge circus to get her Will taken care of, my Sister and I took her back to the hospital.
They took her back immediately and did another EKG, more blood work, chest x-ray, u/s of the heart, stress test on a treadmill and a CAT scan. During the time we were there, we could see everything on the monitors - blood oxygen (always 99-100), heart rate - which would go up to 110 during one of her episodes but was usually in the 60s-70s and BP. They gave her a BP patch that was supposed to bring down her lower number (& top number, but they were more concerned about the lower number.)
They never found anything other than a small spot on one of her lungs which they really weren't concerned about but asked her to follow up with a pulmonary doctor just to be safe.
My gut says it's anxiety/panic attacks. But as my Dad was leaving for the hospital (the last time I saw him conscious), I was *so* sure that he just had a UTI which was causing his fever and not feeling well. Boy was I wrong. So I guess I'm doubting my gut instinct.
I know that a heart catheterization is the only definite way to tell what's going on in her arteries - or if there's any disease, but it's SO invasive and if all of this other stuff has come back okay, I don't know that it's warranted. The doctors seemed confident enough to send her home w/o doing it.
What gets me is that they didn't suggest *anything* to explain her "episodes." They told her to follow up with her family doctor this week. Do they not suggest anxiety in hospitals anymore? That's rhetorical, I know they do. I suggested that maybe she was under too much stress and needed to figure out ways to handle it - starting with deep breathing. (I can't imagine her deciding to take anxiety meds.)
While she was in the hosp., her episodes were coming faster and closer together - it reminded me so much of labor that I told her she'd need to push soon.
But then the nurse told her she needed to take a deep breath through her nose and exhale through her mouth - and then they gave her oxygen just to help her relax more. It must've worked because she stopped having the episodes and hasn't had one since about 2pm on Thursday.This makes me think it's just anxiety related.
She was in good spirits on Friday evening when I picked her up and again on Saturday. She went to the store and out for dinner. But by yesterday (Sunday), she didn't leave her bed except twice to have something to eat. She said she felt really exhausted and weak. Not dizzy and no "episodes."
The only other thing she mentioned last week was that she had an ache in her cervical spine (neck.) I know it sounds far-fetched, but maybe it's Lyme? She was up visiting her parents (her step-mom) in the woods and did a bit of gardening while there. It's a fairly ticky area (not as bad as here), but I think it's a possibility. As far as I know, no other joints are bothering her. I asked her to request a western blot when she does go in for her appt just to check. I'm aware of the false negative results, but at least it's a start. Fatigue + achy neck is fairly suspicious of Lyme.
So other than that possibility - any ideas?
She's usually a very active & upbeat woman for 67. She will often hop on her bike and ride 5-6 miles at a time! She's vibrant and full of life, always being silly. It's just not like her to lay in bed all day or to succumb to anxiety. I know it can build up and then one day it just hits you - and with all that she's been though these past 2 years with my Dad, it wouldn't surprise me if it all just caught up with her finally.
Thanks for any ideas...
That's one my mom has for emergencies and helps her sooo much.
)
