Hi all,
Just thought you may want to know, especially if you have problems with
hormones, if anyone remembers back in early September after I got back from
my trip to Toronto, I posted about the incident of my heart arrhythmia when
I had to get to the hospital. I've copied the post again below my sig line
if anyone wants to read or re-read it. I've had a couple of follow ups with
my GP and more blood tests, and we now know what caused it and it was my
thyroid. I've had hormonal problems on and off in my life, found out about
it when I went to the doc in my early 20's after my hair started falling
out. By default I'm often in hypothyroid mode, but this summer (as my
doctor concludes) I went into hyperthyroid because she says sometimes it
will swing in the opposite direction in order to try and balance itself out,
and then it just went whacko. Now it makes perfect sense to me, In the
summer I constantly had 13/16 of the hyperthyroid symptoms (listed below) -
which includes a quicker metabolism, and arrhythmias that can lead to heart
attacks/strokes (a whacked out electrical system, as the cardiologist put
it). I lost 16 lbs in July and 14 in August. I figured I was burning so
much because I was more active, and I practically felt like I was buzzing
the whole time. Now I realize why. I'll post the symptoms of hypothyroid
also, which is what I'm back at since the hospital ( I currently have 12/22
symptoms). And my weight loss has slowed considerably as a result despite
maintaining an average 800-1000 calorie deficit and increasing exercise.
It's getting frustrating but I'm determined to pull through this. There's
no way I'm going to give up now.
I hope this may help anyone who has hormonal problems like me.
I also have a new pic up in yahoo if anyone wants a look-see.
Thanks, Monica
--
Started Jan. 20, 2004
362/241.0/Goal: Till my thighs don't rub together anymore.
http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/otherme34/my_photos
________________________________________________________
"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
http://thyroid.about.com/library/weekly/aathyroid101-c.htm
"If you're hyperthyroid, you may find:
a.. You're rapidly losing weight, or you are eating more and not gaining
weight
b.. You're having a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep, or you
have insomnia
c.. You're suffering from anxiety, irritability, nervousness, or even
panic attacks
d.. You're having palpitations, or your pulse and heartbeat are fast
e.. You're sweating more than usual, feeling hot when others are not
f.. You have tremors in your hands
g.. You're suffering from diarrhea
h.. You feel tired
i.. Your skin is dry, or you may even have a thickening of the skin on the
shin area of your legs
j.. Your periods are stopped, or very light, or infrequent
k.. You're having muscle weakness, especially in the upper arms and thighs
l.. You're having eye problems, such as double vision, scratchy eyes, or
you notice that your eyes are bulging or more whites are showing than usual
m.. You're having trouble getting pregnant
n.. Your hair has become fine and brittle
o.. You're having a hard time concentrating, your attention span is short
p.. Your behavior is erratic"
http://thyroid.about.com/cs/basicinformation/l/aathyroid101_b.htm
The symptoms of hypothyroidism depend on how hypothyroid you are, your age,
your general level of health, and how hypothyroidism affects you uniquely.
You may have some or all of the following symptoms, in varying severity:
a.. You feel tired, exhausted, and like you can't get enough sleep, or want
to take daytime naps
a.. You feel depressed, down, or sad
a.. You feel cold when others do not, particularly in hands and feet
a.. You've gained weight inappropriately, or you are finding it difficult to
lose weight, despite proper diet and exercise
a.. You're losing hair, particularly from the outer part of your eyebrow, or
your hair is getting dry, or tangly
a.. Your nails are breaking and splitting and become brittle
a.. You have muscle and joint pains and aches, or you've been diagnosed with
fibromyalgia
a.. You've been diagnosed as having chronic fatigue syndrome
a.. You have carpal tunnel syndrome or tendonitis in arms and legs
a.. You have swelling and puffiness in the eyes, face, arms or legs
a.. You have a low low sex drive
a.. You have heart palpitations or a diagnosis of mitral valve prolapse
a.. You're suffering from unexplained infertility, or have had recurrent
miscarriages with no obvious explanation
a.. You have had a heart attack or have clogged arteries
a.. You have high cholesterol levels, particularly the type that is
unresponsive to diet and medication
a.. You have a heavier than normal menstrual period, or your period is
longer than it used to be, or comes more frequently
a.. You're going through menopause, and are having troublesome symptoms
a.. You have worsening allergies, itching, prickly hot skin, rashes, hives,
urticaria, chronic yeast infections, oral fungus or thrush, or stomach and
abdominal bloating
a.. You have anemia, or an excess of iron known as hemachromatosis
a.. You find it difficult to concentrate, your memory is not as good as it
should be, you feel like your thinking is "slow"
a.. You are constipated, sometimes severely so
a.. You have a feeling of fullness, or an obvious swelling in your neck area
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hi everyone,
I learned a valuable lesson this summer. Three weeks ago I had to call an
ambulance for myself. I'll begin the day before.
I felt extremely low energy, very lethargic. I had a headache and I felt
nauseous and moments of dizziness and leg cramps were happening frequently.
I felt like I did when I was on induction except worse. I then went pee
about 5x within one hour and a half in the evening. Full bladder pee's. I
knew something wasn't quite right. I fell asleep early. The next morning
when I awoke, my heart was racing...really racing. Still had my headache
from the day before, and I was also allot more dizzy.
I felt so awful, and I literally felt like I was going to pass out. I had
felt this once before earlier in the summer, but I was driving across the
country so I thought it was motion sickness at the time. Well I couldn't
chalk this one up to motion sickness so I knew something was seriously wrong
when I found it difficult to talk and breathe. I was alone so I called 911.
The paramedics, the fire guys and the police came! Yikes. I may be wrong,
but I knew that police only come on the calls when they think a death will
occur or has occurred. hmmm
They were checking my vitals and my heart was racing between 160 - 200 beats
per minute. They took me to the critical care ER pronto. (I didn't know
there were two separate sections of an ER).
They hooked me up to all the monitors, oxygen, and they were hydrating me
with that saline IV stuff. When they were asking me their questions, I told
them everything. My diet, my weight loss and smoking. They asked about my
caffeine intake and drugs, I told them that I smoke pot on occasion. They
didn't seem to care about that, they were more concerned if I did anything
like cocaine, ecstasy or heroin. I said no, which is the truth. They did
an ECG and an Echo (the ultrasound of the heart.) They also injected me
with this drug that is supposed to slow down the heart beat, it didn't touch
me. My heart rate was going at a steady 135 - 140 beats/minute all day
while waiting for the cardiologist. (The scary part is, that when my heart
slowed to 135, I felt "normal".)
Finally later on near the evening, the cardiologist came and he said that
they couldn't figure out why this was happening to me. He said my blood
work, my chest X-Ray, my ECG and Echo showed no abnormalities with my heart.
He actually said that my heart from what they could tell, was in excellent
condition. Mechanically, structurally all was sound. He said he's not
worried about a heart attack at all at this point, but he was worried that
if my heart continues to beat this crazy, that for sure I will have a
stroke.
Since the medication that's supposed to slow down the heart rate didn't
work, he said they would have to perform a cardioversion (those paddles they
put on your chest and yell CLEAR). He said it's like my electrical system
is out of whack, like they have to flip my breaker or reboot my computer, so
to speak. What he meant was, they were going to have to actually stop my
heart and restart it!!! I couldn't believe this was happening. So they put
me under and performed the cardioversion. When I woke up my heart was
beating at a normal 70 beats per minute. Btw, my blood pressure throughout
the whole day was at my usual 110/70.
Now that I'm back home I'm going to my doctor for a follow up on Thursday.
My records have been faxed over.
In hindsight, and looking over my fitday logs, my conclusion is this: I was
dehydrated (obviously), I had been drinking more caffeine than my usual 1
cup in the day (since low carbing) and I had again decreased my carbs and
increased my protein. I was also not drinking as much water as usual in the
couple of weeks previous to this happening. Main thing was the increased
coffee intake, decreased water intake, with increased protein can cause
arrhythmias (increased heart rate). I have been prone to arrhythmias all my
life, on occasion my heart will suddenly race, I'll take a few deep breaths
and it's back to normal, no problem. But this time I knew was different
because my deep breaths didn't help at all.
So folks, please, especially if you're prone to the rare arrhythmia like me,
don't overdo the caffeine, and DRINK YOUR WATER!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for reading.
Monica
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