The Joys of Growing Older

I swear I should have gotten the extended warranty at 45,000 miles.

A month ago I spent three days in the hospital.  I had started Adderall for ADD the week before (side note...the shit was awesome.  I had never been so focused in my life.  It worked like a dream.).  I had started having palpitations at work.  It felt like a massive anxiety attack.  I did everything I could to relax, breathed deep, tried to walk around...the pressure wouldn't go away.  When my hands went numb, my husband made me call my doctor.

Of course...come in, we're waiting.  I genuinely felt like crap.  My husband picked me up and off to acute care we went.  I was there maybe a half hour and they were like "We're calling an ambulance.  You need to go to the ER."

Awesome.

I figured it was just the Adderall.  I mean, even though I was on blood pressure meds, I was given the all clear.  I was expecting a few tests and to be sent home...just stop taking the Adderal and that's it.  Instead I get "We already have a room for you upstairs.  We're keeping you overnight for observation."

Wonderful.

Three days, one chest x-ray, one echo cardiogram and one stress test later I got to go home...with all this crap to digest.  Ventricular trigeminy (every third heartbeat is a palpitation), my heart is enlarged (max should be 5cm, I'm 6cm) and EF% is at 40 (Ejection Fraction - how much blood is pumped back into your body.  A healthy heart is between 55-60%).  And my thyroid is all screwed up...showing signs of hyperthyroidism.

So I've seen a cardiologist, will see him again in April.  Going to see an endocrinologist and getting an MRI on my heart this week .  I was really down when I heard all of this.  I'm forty-eight...I feel fine!  I finally understand how high bp is a silent killer.  If it wasn't for the Adderall this would have gone undetected.  I'm grateful this was caught early before something catastrophic happened.  And I have a great team of doctors at Yale.  I feel well taken care of.

Tough lesson learned...take care of your body.  Period.  You just don't know.