Went to the ER last night...

[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.