Went to the ER last night...

[bowdirk]

After my second work set of Deadlifts last night, I sat down to recover and my heart started doing backflips Hard. Now I am used to being short of breath, having my ears ring, and being slightly dizzy after deadlifts with proper valsava etc. but the Heart Fluttering in what felt like a very unproductive fashion was new.

After about 30 seconds of this I get up and go talk to my coach and neither he nor I could get a pulse, but I wasn't dizzy, didn't have blurred vision, had no tingling of extremities, had some very minor chest pain (like a pulled muscle in there from fluttering) so I just sit and drink some water and let things calm down. That was it for the workout and after hanging out for a bit and letting my heart get back to normal (pulse and everything) I decided to call the nurse line on my insurance card to get their opinion.

They were "Call 911" get to the emergency room. I'm like fuck, really? They are yes, really.

So I change into my street clothes and drive to the local ER, I say the word chest pain and they put me in a bed and hook me up with an EKG, IV, and this that and the other contraption. I am like jeezus, really? WTF... I guess this is what you are supposed to do but christ...

EKG fine, Lab results fine, doc says that to be 100% certain i should stay there another 6 hours so they can get another blood sample to see if my Tropine? levels get elevated due to destroyed cells but based on everything else he was okay with me leaving now.

Luckily my favorite brew-pub was just 2 blocks away and I was able to get a steak and a couple of pints...

Anyhow, the doc stated that the brain likes to have steady or slowly changing blood pressure levels and that occaisionally if there is a rapid change in blood pressure the brain/heart link can get a bit jacked up (my term) and trigger palpitations.

At age 52, you start noticing people you know or knew are dropping dead, so I guess I did the right thing but it sure goes against my nature to admit I may be mortal, in my 20's 30's or 40's I doubt I would have thought twice about it...

Has anyone else ever had the heart palpitation thing after a heavy set of something?
Does the Docs explanation make any sense?

Bowdirk

[ColoWayno]

Scary, but it sounds like you are ok. Good call on the steak and pints.
Any time a man walks in talking about chest pain they treat it like it could be a heart attack. I went in once just a few months after running a marathon because my heart rate wouldn't drop below 100 even when I was resting in bed. Normally it was below 50. They did the same thing and it ended up that I probably had some kind of virus.
52 is a going to be a hurdle for me. My oldest brother died at 52 (dissecting aortic aneurism) and my next oldest brother is 52 now. He has esophageal cancer (smoker). I don't think those are anything I need to be worried about, but it's still makes you go, hmm?

Take care.

[Carnivroar]

At least it's not tinnitus.

[medwards]

Luckily my favorite brew-pub was just 2 blocks away and I was able to get a steak and a couple of pints...

So, why waiting for results as to whether you were in close proximity to dying, you went and got a steak and beer? Sir, I commend your attitude, foresight, and self-evident awesomeness. I wonder what the doctor would have said upon reading the results if he'd taken more blood from you.

[Dastardly]

Heart attacks are not all as obvious as you might think. My mother had a big one last year, there was no pain at all. She just got randomly out of breath and faint. I did a lot of reading up on peoples stories when we were evaluating surgery options. Nearly all people dont realise that they are having one.

I had what I presume was a blood pressure/brain starvation issue a couple months ago. I actually passed out 4 real, whilst hanging from a pullup bar doing spinal decompression. The apparatus around me kept me in a standing position so no one noticed and I was saved the embarassment. But it actually felt like I died and took me ages to get my bearings. Very unpleasant.

[Tiburon]

Has anyone else ever had the heart palpitation thing after a heavy set of something?


if i have too much caffeine before lifting sometimes this happens. double beats, skipping beats, all kinds of shit like that.

[medwards]

How was the beer(s) and steak?

[Carlos Daniel]

Heart attacks are not all as obvious as you might think. My mother had a big one last year, there was no pain at all. She just got randomly out of breath and faint. I did a lot of reading up on peoples stories when we were evaluating surgery options. Nearly all people dont realise that they are having one.

I had what I presume was a blood pressure/brain starvation issue a couple months ago. I actually passed out 4 real, whilst hanging from a pullup bar doing spinal decompression. The apparatus around me kept me in a standing position so no one noticed and I was saved the embarassment. But it actually felt like I died and took me ages to get my bearings. Very unpleasant.
How old is your mother? is she diabetic?

[bowdirk]

Thanks all,

I am fine, felt like kinda a wuss about even going in because I 'knew' I was okay. But I also know that hubris can be fatal.


How was the beer(s) and steak?

It was especially awesome, thanks. Moylans (http://www.moylans.com/site/pages/home/index.php)

[yorick]

After about 30 seconds of this I get up and go talk to my coach and neither he nor I could get a pulse,

Hmmm. I'm not a doctor, but I would have diagnosed Vampirism caused by deadlift awesomeness.

Glad you are okay.

Dastardly - I've read that heart attack symptoms for women can be very different from what men experience. I knew a lady that had a heart attack and her main symptom was vomiting. She thought she was just sick, but an astute individual convinced her to go to the ER.

[jkw]

One interesting fact to note is that the valsalva can sometimes kick you back into a normal rhythm, or a really hard cough, or plunging your face into ice water, or carotid massage.

I sometimes get atrial fibrillation usually caused by stress and dehydration I believe. It's highly uncomfortable, basically a rapid/random feeling heartbeat which makes you feel weak and woozy. I don't know if it is what you had, but the aforementioned techniques do usually allow me to pop out of it.

[FKYT]

At least it's not tinnitus.

This made me LOL, I have to admit.

[bowdirk]

At least it's not tinnitus.

I have had tinnitus for 30 years. It sucks. But you get totally used to it. You don't have a choice.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Has anyone else ever had the heart palpitation thing after a heavy set of something?

Yeah, I get these. But I do high-dose bolus caffeine through a central venous catheter pump. Like that thing Iron Man wears on his chest. But for caffeine.



Does the Docs explanation make any sense?

Naw, he was talkin' out his ass. He took good care of you, but at the end of the day he didn't know what made you feel funny. Rather than shrug, he gave you some Dream Hands. We do that shit all the time. Makes us sound smart.


Sorry for the late post to a stale thread.

[GHK]

Felt like my lunges were about to burst doing squats 3 x8 reps at 130kg on Tuesday but that was down to me not being cardio fit from Winter lay off and I thought.. crap man, this is what 40 is like when you have not being keeping in trim.

[DoctorWho]

Bowdirk,
Very glad it turned out to be not serious.

[ColoWayno]

Yeah, I get these. But I do high-dose bolus caffeine through a central venous catheter pump. Like that thing Iron Man wears on his chest. But for caffeine.
Naw, he was talkin' out his ass. He took good care of you, but at the end of the day he didn't know what made you feel funny. Rather than shrug, he gave you some Dream Hands. We do that shit all the time. Makes us sound smart.
Sorry for the late post to a stale thread.

Are Dream Hands anything like the magic dust described by veterinarian/writer James Herriot in "All Creatures Great and Small"?

[bowdirk]

Thanks for the replies all. I haven't seen my 'regular' doc because he closed his practice and now works for Kaiser. So I get to shop around for a doc that Blue Cross approves of. What a waste of everyones time...

[Oldster]

Bowdirk,
Very glad it turned out to be not serious.
Sorry I noticed this so late. But I agree with Doc. Hope everything turns out OK.

[JM3]

excellent time to give up weed.

[kirkkhan]

this happened to me one time and my doc told me it was probably dehydration.

[MRP]

I just posted on another thread as a possibility on this. Probably what happened was vagus nerve stimulation from the valsalva. Drops your heart rate and bp. Used as stated earlier to get out of a-fib or SVT. This wikipedia link explains more about the vagus nerve http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagus_nerve I just got done doing ER time for my paramedic license and the ER experience you had was all Chest Pain protocol. All precautionary but sounded like the doc was trying to act all smart and explain why they had to do all of the tests to get you up to the highest ER charge possible. Anyways I'm no doctor obviously but the vagus nerve stimulation makes sense to me.

[bowdirk]

Only took 2 months to get pre-approval from the Ins. company... So next week the doc is gonna wire me up for a 24hour monitor thing that will record things over the course of a day. It is the same day I will be setting a new PR on deadlifts (300x5) and doing 3 x 500 meter rowing bursts with a minute recovery between each one.

That should give him some more data, we'll see what happens but I am feeling 100%.

Cheers,
Bowdirk

[Dastardly]

Lol, if I did that I am sure they would freak at the 180bpm+ heart rates.

[Philbert]

I am really curious, what was the conclusion?

[bowdirk]

Well the results are in! And I am not dead yet.

Over the course of the last few months I had a load of tests done.

The MRI calcium score test came back with a result of 0 on a scale of 0 - 400+. That means I have no calcified atherosclerotic plaque. Literally the best possible score

Echocardiogram - Everything normal, no thrombosis, masses, or evidence of spontaneous contrast

24 hour Holter monitor - "Unremarkable with probable sinus tachycardia during times of strenuous exercise." Minimum Heart Rate of 46, average 78, max 178 (estimated max for my age is 168) which was at either doing 300 x 5 DL (PR)! or during HIIT session of alternating step ups on blocks with 16kg x 20 kettleball swings.

All the blood work looked fine.

Doc never mentioned my weight which is 225 at 6'2", said keep eating as I am (mostly paleo/primal) and to come back in 10 years for another checkup if I want.

Thanks all for your support and interest.

PS: I don't know crap about the science and terminology, just re-stating what the reports say.

[vanslix]

I just posted on another thread as a possibility on this. Probably what happened was vagus nerve stimulation from the valsalva. Drops your heart rate and bp. Used as stated earlier to get out of a-fib or SVT. This wikipedia link explains more about the vagus nerve http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagus_nerve I just got done doing ER time for my paramedic license and the ER experience you had was all Chest Pain protocol. All precautionary but sounded like the doc was trying to act all smart and explain why they had to do all of the tests to get you up to the highest ER charge possible. Anyways I'm no doctor obviously but the vagus nerve stimulation makes sense to me.

The vasovagal response is a definite possibility. A top cause of loss of consciousness (syncope). It won't show up on EKG or any of the other stuff. Best test is a tilt table test to see if you are sensitive to it. Palpitations with no pulse can be very alarming, though. Doc (and you) did the right thing by being what may seem as alarmist but in reality is probably well justified. A-fib is also very common. Hard to imagine that wouldn't have shown up the holter monitor.