Conversations With A Nice Lady

So far, my health is fine. I have no apparent blood problems and/or heart problems. However, I need to follow up with my health care professional. The dizzies are not gone.

I was referred to a heart specialist for a "stress test". This consists of having an ultrasound of the heart before exercise, then walking on a treadmill (they increase speed and incline every three minutes) all the while connected to EKG machine and having your blood pressure taken every three minutes. The goal is to get your heart to target (mine would be 165-175 based on my age and overweight) and exercise for at least 15-20 minutes. When the treadmill part is complete, they do another EKG to determine if the heart is beating properly, circulating properly, etc. If everything is okay, they assume that there are not bigger underlying issues.

I only lasted 12 minutes on the treadmill! I couldn't keep up with the machine, what with all that gasping for air and holding on for dear life! What a weakling - I was completely embarrassed (especially since they kept asking "do you exercise regularly?" and I had to answer honestly, "no".)! And because, once upon a time I was able to exercise at my target heart rate for an hour or more every day and enjoyed the feeling of pushing my body to the limit!

They did notice some irregular heart beats while I was resting. They tell me that this is nothing to be worried about. They also tell me that preliminarily the stress test showed that my heart is fine (yay!). The 24hr EKG, called a Holter test, when it's read, may state something about the irregularities of the beating of my heart. That's the only test that is pending at this time.

This entire ordeal has given me quite a scare. Heart disease runs in the family and I've got a few of the risk factors (weight gain, less than impeccable diet, alcohol consumption, no real exercise to speak of, stress, bad sleep, etc.). So, even with no "diagnosis" I made some life changes (and so did my family by default).

I quit coffee. I'm doing everything I can to give up my sugar, candy, chocolate addiction. I've been eating vegetarian although the goal is vegan whenever possible (and no, I'm not giving up meat, etc. entirely just making more conscious choices about what and how much I eat). And I'm figuring out how to get some more exercise in. I'll be starting back at the Gym very soon - cardio-kick boxing classes at the Y - and two of my co-workers and I have made a pact to walk together at lunch time at least three days each week.

With the lifestyle changes, my sleep has been somewhat better. That almost three year old of ours is having his own sleep issues that severely impact my ability to consistently rest well. But, I've noticed a big difference in quality of sleep when I do get it.

Despite a week-long case of the stomach flu, my body loves the whole grains, vegetables, and fruit every day. The challenge of finding new and exciting recipes is keeping me on my toes. Of course we need to buy fresh fruits and veggies every few days, but it's much cheaper. And, I think that a few pounds may have shed themselves already!

I look forward to getting to the Gym again. I have been missing that outlet for a long, long time. It's just been hard (almost impossible) to fit it in with all of my family responsibilities. But finding the time at work has been excellent. It feels good to get out of the office in the middle of the day, get some sun, social time, and a little sweat too.

The dizzies have improved a fair amount but they aren't entirely gone. They come and go at the strangest times. Sitting at my desk, driving in the car, watching television, laying down in bed.

I need to make an appointment with my doctor (and the eye doctor) to follow up on the dizzies and the test results but I'm feeling apprehensive about it. I don't want to talk about mental health issues: stress, anxiety, and medication as the other alternatives to what I'm experiencing. I don't want extreme medical diagnoses either, but I'm uncomfortable with drugs in general in relationship to treating ailments. I want to know what the root cause(s) is so that I can treat the real problem. Not just the symptoms.

After we get back from vacation. I'll think about it while we're on vacation next week and make the appointment when we get back from vacation.

Until the next time I can write...