Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Is there a doctor in the house?

Why yes, yes there is. And when I suddenly saw the room spinning yesterday morning, he got worried.

I put the word "dizzy" in the blog's search box just now and found several instances indicating that I do, occasionally, experience a loss of equilibrium. I didn't realize there were so many. The most recent, before yesterday, was April 6, which I remember very clearly. (What a coincidence that that's the same day we began the paleo plan.)

I was fine yesterday morning for the first couple hours I was up. Whether it was too much coffee or the smell of food or fill-in-the-blank – as I began making breakfast I was suddenly overcome and had to go back to bed. WITHOUT BREAKFAST.

I got really hungry, though, so I had to get back up and finish cooking. And eating.

My husband's a retired doctor who worries about these incidents way more than I do. Out came the stethoscope – heartbeat strong and steady – and blood pressure cuff – 123/72 or something innocuous and really, really normal. What he didn't like was how low my heart rate was. He took three readings, and it was below 60 each time – 57, 54, 52.

So we had to look up bradycardia (could it be specific to the Brady Bunch?), which means – duh – slow heart beat. And we had to check my pulse every 20 minutes (practically) all day. And we had to make it all much worse than it was. I mean, I appreciate his concern, don't get me wrong, but seriously. I needed to rest, I did, and now I'm fine again.

HOWEVER. I'm scheduled to have some bloodwork done next week and I'll then follow up with my doctor. It's been three years since I've been in for an appointment. My, my, how time flies when you have crappy health insurance. (Mine doesn't pay for office visits, lab work, x-rays or any kind of diagnostic testing, so naturally I only go when I'm dying. I've a feeling an EKG might be in my future.)

My husband shot down my theories for the dizziness. If it were low blood sugar I would also be sweating, shaky and cold, and food would have solved the problem. If it were a caffeine overdose (IS there such a thing? heh) my heart rate would have skyrocketed.

So I spent the day convalescing, alternately sleeping and playing Imperial Mahjong. I brought the laptop into bed and worked on a logo for a friend. I felt better as the day went on, but thought it best not to drive and didn't make it to the prison. (I have a co-volunteer, so the meeting went on as scheduled.)

Today we're all back to whatever passes for normal around here. I'm working this morning, mowing this afternoon and planning to go through my seeds after dinner.

Because it's time to plant here in Zone 7a!

P.S. Not really looking for advice here, just recording what happened for future reference. Yes, I could jot it down on the calendar, but I'm an old lady and we loooooove talking about our infirmities, doncha know. Your sympathy, on the other hand, is most welcome. ;-)

8 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm glad your husband is taking good care of you! Maybe this is a side effect of one of your meds?

Anne M. said...

Normal is good and when something is NOT normal (as is this), best to pay attention and take care of yourself. Including visiting the doctor. I'm glad you have a doctor in the house and the interwebz to stay in touch with all of us.

denise said...

I totally sympathize. When these fleeting issues come and go, it's hard to get too excited. It's the ones that come and stay that get my attention. I have periodic dizzy spells as well, but they're brief and infrequent and, if anything, cause me to sit down for a few minutes. I've never had one that sent me back to bed!

So I'm glad you have a doctor's visit coming up soon. Take care - and let your husband take care of you. At least it will make him feel better! :-)

Audrey said...

I get vertigo on occassion which knocks me on my rear - load up on sudafed, cold compress over my eyes and lie perfectly still for the whole day or risk losing my lunch. Luckily not one episode since I had my son(knocking on wood). At least your dizziness passed, but if it has happened a few times, hubby is right. Hope it all turns out to be nothing serious.

Diandra said...

Heck, I don't think my heart rate has ever been over 60BPM when measuring at home.

I used to experience dizziness if I did not eat within half an hour after exercise - no other symptoms, just sudden dizziness and nausea (to the point where, one day, I had to ask Richard to hand me the jar of honey from the bottom shelf because I was afraid of bending over and the honey was the only sugary thing we had in the house). However, I recently started eating three spaced meals per day (5-6 hours apart), and it seems my liver has re-learned how to use the stored sugar and energy to keep my blood sugar levels stable.

I hope it is nothing serious! (Might be something as simple as cerumen in one of your ears - in some cases that messes with your equilibrium.)

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you're pregnant. Congrats!

Debbi said...

Oh, joy!

Vickie said...

Too much sodium brings on dizzies for me. Messes with my inner ear. For years I thought the dizzies were hormonal. But it turned out that I craved salt during hormonal times, and then if I went with those cravings and increased salt intake, that brought on dizzies.

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