Another Pointless Deadzombie Post

First, let me say, I really thought I was dying. My heart had been beating so very hard for several days straight, so when the chest pains started last night, with the shooting pains through my body, I wasn't surprised. I went to the hospital.

A little history: I grew up with my father constantly in the hospital for heart problems. Ten heart attacks and 5 strokes over 15 years, my Dad survived all of them with minimal damage. 4 bypass surgeries, alot of medication and a change in lifestyle later, he's ok, but his cardiologist has made certain to impress on me and my brother that because of my fathers history we are high-risk canidates for heart problems.

I work out, I eat right, I dont drink...I do smoke though. Risk factor number two. By the time I got to the ER I couldn't think straight, couldn't remember what was going on. I was pretty messed up. I was also embarrassed as hell - as irritating as I am in these forums, Im a pretty laid back guy in real life, and I hate bothering people or alot of attention.

They take alot of blood. Alot of X-rays. Im hooked up to EKG. My cardiologist (also my Dad's) tells the attending physician that EKG never shows when my dad is having a heart attack, so it probably won't for me either. Great - time for an MRI.

6 hours later I'm still in horrible pain, I still feel like I'm dying. My entire body is throbbing with my beating heart. Imagine running a marathon, and in that moment of finishing when the blood is running through every part of your body, when your temples, hands, feet are throbbing in time with the flowing blood. Now imagine that going on for days...with sharp shooting pains through your muscles.

Well, the tests all come back that I have the heart of an athelete. My test results are perfect, in fact better than most men my age (33). Dr. Ho, my Doctor (I was treated by a Ho...how funny), has this funny look on his face...he brings in this nasty green drink and tells me to drink it all down as fast as possible. This crap hits my lips and they go numb...tongue numb...and as it goes down my throat I can feel it going numb...and the throbbing, pulsing stops.

Turns out I've got something called errosive esophigitus - Acid Reflux Diasease. They do some more test to confirm it. My esophigous had become so damaged that it was throbbing like a heartbeat...and working the surrounding muscles so hard that it was causing extensive pains. Dr.Ho says the feeling is identical to having a heart attack. Basically, its really bad heartburn that requires treatment, but isn't life threatening. Don't I feel like an idiot.

So that's my Friday night - a $2,500.00 visit to get prescribed heartburn medication. On the good side, I know my heart is extremely healthy now, and I got to hang out with a Ho on a Friday night! I do have to take medication now...I changed my diet 4 years ago so I could actually eat healthy. Since I already switched myself over to a healthy diet I can't be treated by a change in diet...the Doctor says I already eat better than most of his patients with real heart problems.

So I guess if you have a similar scary situation that turned out to not be bad post here. Try not to tell me what an idiot I am, I already know. And Im healthy enough to kick your ass...

#44319

I don't know what to say man. I'm glad you're okay.

#44323

So I guess if you have a similar scary situation that turned out to not be bad post here.

Well, when I was only like 6 mo. old I had SIDS and I was hooked up to a heart monitor. My mom had to sleep underneath my credle in case the heart monitor went off. But one night my heart stopped and I quit breathing, but thank god my mom or my grand mother gave me CPR and I pulled through. Now I'm just a normal guy, I like to paint my toenails and hang out with the girls at the local mall.

hey, DZ, I'm glad your okay, I'm not alone when I say this forum would be a lot differant w/ out you here. And you should be glad to be able to say, "I went to the hospital and it want as bad as i thought it would be, I even got to hang out w/ a Ho on friday!" I'm glad to hear your alive and kickin'!

#44327

Well, I got a "meningite" (dunno what word it is in english, it's when you got a infection in the back of the brain) when I was 2.5 yr old. Well, I'm okay

#44328

Sounds like meningitus, thats what it is in english.

I got talcum powder in my eyes when i was like a month old and i had to go to a + e.

But I can kill my self as many times as I like, we have free health care

#44337

Damn what a crazy experience DZ, I havent had illnesses like you guys. Most of the things that have happened to me were things like highway car wrecks, near drownings, and certain beatings, sorta like self inflicted type things. But DZ sounds exactly like my cousin up in Selma. Hes a huge guy almost like 7 feet and hes around 25 and lifts weights all day but he has heart problems for real. Hey alilm hook me up with some of that free stuff!

#44344

whoa.. you're scaring the sh## out of me. How many sticks do you smoke a day? I don't wanna be in your position.

And the best of luck with your health.

#44352

Originally posted by Taha@Aug 2 2003, 04:34 PM

whoa.. you're scaring the sh## out of me. How many sticks do you smoke a day? I don't wanna be in your position.

And the best of luck with your health.

Seems the smokes aren't affecting me (yet) - my heart and lungs just got a clean bill of health. It's my stomach acid thats eating up my esophegous. That's just a little painful.

Damn, Im sorry to hear about menengitis, SIDS and the evil talcum powder. What a bunch of misfits we are!

#44374

Damn DZ glad your Ok !!

#44375

Glad to hear that you're okay DZ

#44377

Originally posted by deadzombie@Aug 2 2003, 02:05 PM

Seems the smokes aren't affecting me (yet) - my heart and lungs just got a clean bill of health. It's my stomach acid thats eating up my esophegous. That's just a little painful.

wheww...

And I'm glad you're ok..

#44380

Hey dZ, welcome to the club!

A while back I was having similar problems, heart pounding, skipping and then a big 'GEFLUMP' type of beat... this went on for about a week, along with chest pain and all the rest of it. Finally I went to the ER and they did the whole EKG, MRI, X-Ray etc. Turns out I was suffering from a severe caffeine overdose (15-20 mugs of coffee plus a can of Pepsi per day). I also had a Hiatal hernia, stomach ulcer and severe acid reflux.

You can guess what a complete tool I felt like when they diagnosed my 'heart problem' as coffee related

So now I'm down to just one can of pop a day, decaf and medication. Life sucks, I now don't drink, don't do caffeine, gave up loose women, can't sing but at least I can still kill myself with my one remaining vice... ciggies

#44392

smeggy: It sucks getting older, doesn't it? Tell me, it felt like your heart, didn't it? I swear to God I thought I was having a heart attack. And the pounding heart - weird that its actually the esophegous throbbing from all the torture its been put through.

They can have my smokes when they pry the pack out of my cold, dead, niccotine-stained fingers.

#44393

Damn straight.. I'll smoke myself to the grave, even if it kills me

Yeah, it did feel like my heart. All these thintgs all going on at the same time gives you the willies... and I'm 44! Scared the crap out of me. Doctor tells me I'm as healthy as a mule... about to go to the glue factory

And don't even ask about the problems at the 'other' end.

Heheh

#44394

Really, I dont want to know. Thats scary even thinking about it... >.

#44418

gripping,

just saw your post deadzombie and thought i'd post my pop's experience with his esophagus a decade ago to cheer you up. In 1992 he was at a conference in Russia, and during a lunch break he was eating some food when he felt a sudden massive burst somewhere around his throat and promptly passed out (he thinks the fish got him). His esophagus had burst and his stomach contents along with other goo ended up flowing into the cavity that surrounds the organs, stomach, etc.

he ended up in a Russian hospital for about a month and was very lucky to pull through. He lost about 40 pounds, which on a skinny man is a damn lot. My older sister went over there to stay with him and the stories of the hospital conditions were pretty nasty (ie. the rather large washroom in the hospital always had a one inch layer of "water" covering the floor ). That said though, the russian hospital staff saved his life(and were damn funny people), and seemed to have a better hands on understanding of treatment of a patient than the staff at a high end fruity Brittish hospital he was subsequently evacuated to and stayed at for a month.

IE He had a tube inserted in his back to drain the cavity around his stomach. The tube had to be removed and cleaned periodically to prevent infection and (he always laughs about this comparison now, being british) the Russian nurse would gruffly turn him over, grab the tube and whip it out, then insert it back in fairly quickly - a short burst of intense pain - and get back to joking with him. The british nurses were always debating on how to approach the dreaded tube, and would pull it out very slowly over the course of minutes (while debating)--pure torture to be followed by a worse insertion protocol(while debating). This(not the debating) also seemed to irritate the wound more.

Luckily we're Canadian, so he didn't have to pay for anything(the british private clinic, which was lackluster, would have saddled the familly). [God don't let the Albertans get their way with canada's health care system - cutthroat world here they come.] Anyways, burst esophagi (i love that word) are supposed to be extremely rare, but it can happen. My pops is doing good now, a decade later... 70 yrs old and still running about 50 k weekly to and from work, and skiing a couple of 55k crosscountry races a year.

Me.. I smoke.

D'oh, time to start paddling(the ultimate lazyman's sport) again...

#44456

I'm glad you're okay DZ, as much as it seems Im an unknown I care about all of the good people of Aqua-Soft; just like that button says we are a COMMUNITY and as a mod, you are the glue that holds us together. I hope you hold up even through the smokes ; I'm dealing with 15 years of second hand smoke, allergies similar to that of Paul on The Wonder Years and a very ugly bout of pneumonia that rendered my lungs retarded - but I still plan on playing amateur football in Holland or Italy in the next year or so keep on fighting it (btw if anyone has a floor I can sleep on in Europe in 2005+ do tell )

#44468

wow, glad you're doing better. i hope you quit smoking, though.

#44475

DZ, i feel your pain. Literally. I had this damn errosive esophigitus months ago and it freaked me out. I was in the bath when sundelly a strong pain in my chest almost made me fall to the floor. Damn, i don't smoke, i dont drink, i do exercise a lot, how come i was having a heart attack?!? I went to cardiologist several times, make a lot of exams... And the heart was fine. But i do drink a lot of Coca-cola, which was making my stomach very acid. When i discovered this i wanted to kick myself, my body was playing a very bad joke on me! Well, i havent' quit the Cola yet, but i don't drink too much anymore. Maybe one day i'll stop.

#44480

@DZ - glad to hear that you're going to be ok - that sounds damned scary!

@Wysiwyg & smeggy - you guys are reminding me why I quit caffeine a couple of months ago - I was getting to the point where I couldn't function without it, yet still felt like crap even while drinking my first can of the day (my caffeine of choice is usually Mountain Dew, Mello Yello, or Cherry Coke), my third, or my 6th...I decided it was getting a little out of hand and now, hearing about the health problems that can come from it, I'm rather glad I decided to take a break. Now I drink a can every once in awhile, but in general I avoid it.

:wine party:

#44672

That would be a scary experience. I know how you feel about going to doctors and attention and stuff. I've had a re-occuring case of strep throat for over a month now. None of the anti-biotics (tried amoxicillin and suprax so far) want to touch it. Next step is taking my tonsils out. Strep in the summer heat is NOT a fun thing.

My only life threatening illness was scarlet fever about 7 years ago. It's very rare to catch these days and can kill if not treated properly.

Get well soon.

Chris

#44684

Glad your ok but kill the ciggies, then tell me how to do it.

I got admitted at 17 once when I (thought) I was having a heart attack, syptoms:

heart rate = 220+ at rest for no reason

white face

dry mouth

cold skin

logarithmically (not linearly but ever accelerating) increasing feeling of impending doom / imminent death

This feeling building to a very uncomfortable peak in only about 10 seconds, at this peak you lose control, basically the fear (no cause) builds until your body cannot cope (whatever your breaking point is, it is reached) and certain parts of your brain go on standby.

Afterwards you feel intense euphoria.

Most doc's then didn't know what it was (1996).

Anyhow they told me I was lucky it wasn't a heartattack, but the doc said that if I was having a heart attack it wouldn't be as bad feeling as that. He said that more physiological changes occur in your body during what I had than during a heart attack (kidneys contract, vital organs shift several inches more into the body to minimise the risk of damage when the non existant wild beast slashes at you with its claw) . He said its like going into aphylaptic shock, but your body will not shut down.

It was what's now called neural panic attack syndrome. He prescribed me medicines none of which I took, he also said that 20% of people with this curse take their lives. Cheered me up alot.

I researched it myself and got access to more information that the doc had. Turns out it happens only in your early twenties (or late teens). And that was true by the time I was 23 it went had gone down from 10x a year to 3 to none)

But it was the reason that started me smoking when I was 17.

That pissed me off.

What pissed me off too was that I find that my reflex fear reactions have numbed. A bus approaching on a collision course, a dog you havent seen bark loudly 2 feet away. But I found out it didn't numb non reactive fears, heights, etc.

Good thing was I felt the limits of my consiousness, like others havent had the pleasure.

But if any youngsters have similar symptoms don't worry you aren't dying, there is no reason or psychological issue that causes this (it's physiological), you do not need to go to the shrink, and it passes.

I found out theres a lot worse things to life than what my doc called the worst possible feeling in the world.

#44693

Originally posted by deadzombie@Aug 2 2003, 08:05 PM

Seems the smokes aren't affecting me (yet) - my heart and lungs just got a clean bill of health. It's my stomach acid thats eating up my esophegous. That's just a little painful.

Well, I am no medican, but a pharmacist, and in pharmacology 101 we learn how much cigarettes (nicotin) raises the production of acid in the stomach. Plus a multitude of other effect, even to the stomach.

Sorry, but if you want to keep your stomach and your esophagus till the end of your life and prefer it not being replaced or cut down (i.e. have damaged pieces removed) you must stop smoking. NOW.

I hear a lot of people really were able to stop smoking with the help of a book by Alan Carr. Sorry I dont know whats the title in english is. It's not about brainwashing, it makes you realize what you actually are doing when youre smoking.

And of course, caffeine is evil to you as well. As is alcohol.

Good luck.

Have fun,

McTrinsic

#44800

Originally posted by deadzombie@Aug 2 2003, 07:56 PM

It sucks getting older, doesn't it? Tell me, it felt like your heart, didn't it? I swear to God I thought I was having a heart attack. And the pounding heart - weird that its actually the esophegous throbbing from all the torture its been put through.

They can have my smokes when they pry the pack out of my cold, dead, niccotine-stained fingers.

Had the same thing happen to me and yes I thought it might of been that same thing as well.

#45227

Originally posted by Three Drives@Aug 3 2003, 07:01 PM

Glad your ok but kill the ciggies, then tell me how to do it.

I got admitted at  17 once when I (thought) I was having a heart attack, syptoms:

heart rate = 220+ at rest for no reason

white face

dry mouth

cold skin

logarithmically (not linearly but ever accelerating) increasing feeling of impending doom  / imminent death

This feeling building to a very uncomfortable peak in only about 10 seconds, at this peak you lose control, basically the fear (no cause) builds until your body cannot cope (whatever your breaking point is, it is reached) and certain parts of your brain go on standby.

Afterwards you feel intense euphoria.

Most doc's then didn't know what it was (1996).

Anyhow they told me I was lucky it wasn't a heartattack, but the doc said that if I was having a heart attack it wouldn't be as bad feeling as that. He said that more physiological changes occur in your body during what I had than during a heart attack (kidneys contract, vital organs shift several inches more into the body to minimise the risk of damage when the non existant  wild beast slashes at you with its claw) . He said its like going into aphylaptic shock, but your body will not shut down.

It was what's now called neural panic attack syndrome. He prescribed me medicines none of which I took, he also said that 20% of people with this curse take their lives. Cheered me up alot.

I researched it myself and got access to more information that the doc had. Turns out it happens only in your early twenties (or late teens). And that was true by the time I was 23 it went had gone down from 10x a year to 3 to none)

But it was the reason that started me smoking when I was 17.

That pissed me off.

What pissed me off too was that I find that my reflex fear reactions have numbed. A bus approaching on a collision course, a dog you havent seen bark loudly 2 feet away. But I found out it didn't numb non reactive fears, heights, etc.

Good thing was I felt the limits of my consiousness, like others havent had the pleasure.

But if any youngsters have similar symptoms don't worry you aren't dying, there is no reason or psychological issue that causes this (it's physiological), you do not need to go to the shrink, and it passes.

I found out theres a lot worse things to life than what my doc called the worst possible feeling in the world.

Glad I'm not the only one to have this issue. Same sort of thing happened to me aftoer turning 21, that was 8 years ago. ABout 3 months ago, hugh panic attack in the mall, didnt leave the house for a week, finally went to the doc, he put me on zoloft, I thought It was a good idea, until all the side effects start kicking in. I basically was in a state of nothingness for 3 months. I just recently moved back to my hometown, from DC, and found a good doctor here, who agreed with me and actually allowed me to get off the stuff.

I am now in week two of weening myself off this garbage, and have to say I feel better than I have in a long long time.

Panic Disorder sucks more than anything in the world, it is normal for people to have fears of sepcific things, but just imagine driving down the road, at night, its dark and spooky, you can harldy see and all of a sudden a deer jumps in front of your car. You slam on the breaks, your heart is racing your palms are sweating, your adrenaline is pumping, you are dizzy and dazed. Now picture sitting in a restarraunt, eating a nice dinner, and for NO reason you feel those same things. It freaks you out, you think you are dying, and to quote TD, this feeling of impending doom rushes over you.

So to anyone who expereinces this stuff, just know you are not alone, and it will get better. But see a doc and discuss treatment, avoid meds if you can and try to see a psyc.

#45232