POTS and IST

These pictures have nothing to do with this post. We just got several new fish on Saturday and since they each look different, we named them. Madelyn came up with Thorin, Fili, Kili, and Bombur (someone is obsessed with The Hobbit...) and we also have a Petri III, Fungus III, Gandalf and Speedy Gonzales. We already had a Gollum (our giant algae eater) and some other nondescript fish. They are the best pets! We've had fish the whole time we've been married.

Anyhoo, I have been meaning to post but last week was sort of awful and I had nothing to post about. I do have some news about my heart, though. Ready for a long ramble??

On last Friday morning, I was scheduled to go in at 8:55 am for a stress echocardiogram at the hospital. I had been DREADING it and was so nervous that I wasn't going to have the energy to do it. And so of course the night before I threw up and couldn't get any sleep. (The throwing up was because I'm still nauseous 50% of the time at night.) So, off to a swimming start!

I had to wait for a half an hour but they finally brought me back to radiology and hooked me up to about 12 different wires all over my chest and neck, and then took an echocardiogram (ultrasound) of my heart. My cardiologist Dr. Manchanda and a couple members of his team were right there in the room with me and he was able to tell me right away that my heart is physically fine and that there's no arrhythmia or valve prolapse going on. (Not surprising, since my echo from 2009 showed the same thing.)

My heart was going pretty fast, though, and my blood pressure was low. It's amusing that every time his nurses have checked me, they'd remark about that, and I'd say, "I know....that's why I'm here...." Hah.

Next, I was supposed to run on a treadmill for six minutes. This is the part I was dreading so much because I have NEVER been able to run very well. Even when I was a ballerina dancing 3 hours a day, I could never handle running or as much jumpy stuff as the other dancers. It always made me feel like collapsing. And since I've become pregnant, my physical tolerance for exercise has gone down to zero.

So I stood up to get ready to run, and after a few seconds, my blood pressure dropped so much that I got a little dizzy (I didn't say anything, just blinked hard a few times.). They had me lie down again and Dr. Manchanda came and felt my pulse in my wrist. They took my blood pressure while I was lying down, then had me stand up and took it again, while the doctor was still feeling my pulse. My blood pressure went from 110/50 to 100/60 (or something) and since I was still hooked up to the wires, they could see my heart rate jump up to about 120 at the same time. I also almost blacked out from the sudden drop in blood pressure. They seemed alarmed, but I told them that it happens to me every day and always has (which is true) and that it stabilizes within a few seconds and then I'm fine.

After all that, Dr. Manchanda said he wasn't comfortable with me running on the treadmill, and I was like, "Yay! I have always had trouble running." and he said, "Well, no wonder..." He said from what he had seen, he didn't need me to run anyway because my diagnosis was clear. I have Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS).

He had me get dressed and come down to his office, where he sat and looked over my heart monitor readings from the past two weeks and also talked about POTS and our treatment options. Basically, the fludrocortizone drug he might have put me on to help my kidneys retain more salt is not pregnancy approved, so I have to start taking salt pills. 

YUM!

Better than eating actual salt, I guess. I don't like salty foods so now I just have to swallow about 6 of these a day. It should increase my blood pressure and volume. I couldn't find them anywhere in town, so I'm waiting for a delivery from Amazon before I can start taking them.

I am still trying to figure out exactly what POTS is, and from my first visit with Dr. Manchanda, it sounds like I also have overlapping symptoms of Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia (IST), hypotension and hypovolemia. So here's the gist:

hypotension: low blood pressure

hypovolemia: low blood volume

IST: Elevated heart rate not related to postural changes or activities. Might explain why my heart rate shoots up to 120-150 when doing mundane things like sorting laundry, showering, or even just sitting on the couch or at church. Right now, I've just been parked here at the computer for quite a while and my heart rate is 112. Symptoms include palpitations, lightheadedness, dizziness, flushing, sweating, and shortness of breath.

POTS: Falls in blood pressure accompanied by increased heart rate when standing or eating. Symptoms are the same as IST, including my favorite: darkening of the visual field (blacking out), but also might include fatigue, gastrointestinal problems, nausea, early satiety, bloating, and constipation.

I have had all of the symptoms I just listed, but since I'm pregnant, a lot of the digestive woes and fatigue come with that territory, too. So either way, I'm hoping for some relief soon, either from the salt pills working miracles or from my hormones leveling out since I'm finally in the 2nd trimester.

I know I have had these heart issues since I was a teenager, but pregnancy hormones have made everything exponentially worse. That is apparently common, and once I deliver (have I mentioned that this is our last baby?? I can't go through all this crap again.) my condition should improve. 

I went through a heart monitor, echocardiogram and the whole 9 yards while I was pregnant with Luke, too, but my cardiologist then was a moron and just blew it all off as nothing. I'm so glad to have a wonderful doctor now who took the time to get a proper diagnosis.

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In other news: we had our house appraised last Monday (managed to get the house and yard spotless--it nearly killed me but it got done) and......it appraised just a tad too low. UGH. It is basically worth what we paid for it (could be worse) but since we have done so much work on the property, we were hoping for a little more. But I have faith in our mortgage broker that he's still going to make the refinance work. Because otherwise we are doomed and still have to pay $450 for the appraisal.

Also: last week got news of the $3,500 in doctor bills we now owe, not including the heart monitor or echocardiogram I just had. And Christmas is coming. And Madelyn's birthday. And our anniversary. *hoo heee hooo hee* (practicing labor breathing, serenity now.......)

Pray for us.