Last Thursday, I had my annual physical--and, once again, I had an EKG. After I got home, the nurse called me and said the doctor was a bit concerned because my heart rate was so slow. First, she wanted me to quit taking the atenolol--a blood pressure med--and then come in to have a Holter monitor put on. I really think I could have told the doctor what the cause of my slow heart rate was: the atenolol. Not only does this drug lower blood pressure, but it slows...the...heart...down. If I had MY druthers, I would have just stopped the medication and seen what happened. But, the doctor wanted me monitored, so I went in today to have that done.
The first thing the nurse did when I got to the office was to attach the patches and then attach the electrodes to those. The wires then got plugged into the recorder and I was set to go home--looking something like this:
Of course, I have larger boobs and less hair on my chest, but you get the idea. ;D I was given a diary to record my activities so that the recording could be compared to what I was doing if there happens to be any 'incidents.' And, as I said, I will be wearing this thing until Wednesday afternoon.
I'm not really worried about what is going to be found with this, because I don't think anything is wrong. I still think stopping the atenolol is all that is needed for me to raise my heart rate--and it is a bit higher already. Unfortunately, my blood pressure is up already, too. I don't know what the doctor is going to do about that, but I hope it isn't putting me on another BP med--I don't do well when my BP meds are messed with. But right now, the thing that is upsetting me the most is that I can't bathe while wearing this thing--and I'm going to have one wicked stank after 48 hours!
so, are you being careful what you do, or are you going about your normal business? I wonder if it'll show a big spike if you're watching hockey. ;-)
ReplyDeleteYou're supposed to go about your 'normal' activities so they can see what happens during a 'typical' day. I told the nurse there is NOTHING normal or typical about the way I live my life. ;) Really, how many people actually vacuum at 3:00 AM? (I will do this when K is on night shift--sometimes.) But, you have to put in the diary the things you are doing, so watching the game last night and tonight is part of the diary and my activities. Thank goodness these aren't playoff games. :D One of the things you are supposed to write down is if you have sex. =8-0 THANK GOODNESS this is not something I have to write in the diary! (K is on night shift.) As it is, I'm not too sure if I was supposed to write down my 'bathroom' time--and I won't do it. Some things DO need to be a bit private...
ReplyDeleteMy skin doesn't react well to the adhesive on the patches--and I know this because of the way I reacted to the patches when I did the sleep study for apnea. (I also don't do well with bandaids of most kinds.) I know I will look as if I was hugged by an octopus when these come off of me--and some of the spots will take days to heal. Right now I have one that is sitting too high on my chest and it is digging into my neck--I don't see this as being pretty after the patch is gone. The things the medical profession puts us through--and THIS is very, very minor compared to some stuff.
Oh man, that looks annoyingly uncomfortable. I hope the results come back all good. I know you said YOUR not worried, but I'm still sending good vibes/thoughts your way.
ReplyDeleteThe most uncomfortable thing is the not trying to undo anything. I found sleeping to be a little difficult--I was afraid the patches would fall off. (Thank you for the good thoughts. Love you. xoxo)
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