My 29 Lives

In July 2007 I had a heart attack with cardiac arrest that required 29 cardioversions/resuscitations and resulted in three stents for a 100% blocked right coronary artery and a triple bypass for blockages on the left side. I HAD NO PAIN OR CLASSIC SYMPTOMS and later found out that this is not uncommon for diabetics. It is this message that I want to promote in this blog plus my recovery process including lifestyle changes and my dealing with denial, depression, anxiety and ongoing health issues.

Showing posts with label shortness of breath. Show all posts

Monday, 22 August 2016

Finally Put the Nitro Patch On

So a few weeks back I posted about my increased angina episodes and the decision for me to start using a low dosage Nitro (glyceryl trinitrate) patch.

Ten days ago I bought the patches but because I was feeling good, had not had an angina episode for a few days, me being me, put off starting to use these patches.

Nitro-Dur 5 patches

And I won't mention my inherent fear of starting a new medication when it comes to my heart!

Well that all changed over the weekend when early Sunday morning around 3.00am I woke up with pressure on the chest, SOB and a bit of a racing/pounding heart - I have a history of heart arrhythmia and get it from time to time. Got up out of bed and used my GTN spray and things improved pretty quickly. Checked my blood sugar level and it was 3.8 (68 mg/dl) which for me is on the low side and being so early in the morning I knew they would be going further down over the coming hours. I had some juice and nuts and cheese to get the sugar level up and then went back to bed.

Blood sugar level converter

For most people a reading of 3.8 would be considered good but I know for me, most times when I go below 4 and definitely below 3.5 I tend to get typical HYPO symptoms and over the years have noticed that at the same time I can also get SOB, racing/pounding heart, pressure on the chest issues and using my GTN usually brings these under control - the racing heart and SOB are not common to HYPOs.

Maybe I did it to myself, overdoing things on Saturday - going to a Jazz festival event during the day and meeting up with friends we hadn't seen for years and then that night going to a music tribute show with me busy taking photos at both events. In a way, I probably brought the latest episode upon myself given I have very low stamina levels and heart muscle damage following my heart attack in 2007.

And having other health issues including a thyroid condition, means I am on a multitude of medications. In 1996 I was diagnosed with Graves disease and two years later had my thyroid burnt out and have been on on thyroid replacement medication ever since.

In May 2014, I had an episode of angina which landed me in hospital. Having just had a sandwich for lunch I started to feel unwell, thought it was angina, took my GTN spray and it didn't help. When the paramedics arrived they found my blood sugar level was 3.8. In hospital a discussion between endocrinology and cardiology decided my angina episode which included chest pain, sweating and pressure down both sides of my neck was related to my diabetes. In the following weeks I did a Holter monitor test (for the heart) and wore a blood sugar monitor for seven days.

Here I am after being brought into hospital in May, 2014

Whilst I have not had such a bad experience since, I am always conscious of my sugar levels and the effect a "low" can have on me when it comes to my heart.

Holter Monitor test in 2014

After the angina/HYPO episode early Sunday morning and then needing to use my GTN spray twice more during the day, once later in the morning and again in the afternoon when I had pressure in the chest and SOB issues I made the decision that today, Monday, I would start using the Nitro patch. The brand my chemist has given me is called Nitro-Dur 5.

In accordance with the instructions I have put one on my upper right arm and leave it on for twelve hours and then take it off tonight and put another one on tomorrow morning after a twelve hour break.

Nitro-Dur 5 patch applied per instructions to upper arm

Need to be aware that as I am getting used to these patches I can get similar side effects like headache, dizziness, light headedness etc. that can come with using the GTN spray.

We shall now see in the coming days, weeks if this will help with my angina issues.

This may be of interest regarding Diabetes Heart Disease: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/dhd/

Another article which may be of interest regarding diabetes and heart disease: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/healthreport/high-blood-sugar-levels-as-risk-factors-for-heart/3381068#transcript

Monday, 2 February 2015

Abusive note left on car of Darwin couple with valid handicap parking permit

I've written about this issue before and in the light of a news items I recently read, the topic bears covering again.

However, before continuing please read the article I am referring to from which this note was taken by clicking on this link: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/abusive-note-left-on-car-of-darwin-couple-with-valid-handicap-parking-permit/story-fnk1w5xx-1227204133934

Now a number of years ago I applied for a disabled parking sticker. It was maybe a year or two after my heart attack when I was having serious breathing issues - just couldn't get air into my lungs - and walking short distances was a real chore. It was a time when I was getting chest pains and dealing with arrhythmias/racing heart issues that would come out of the blue.

It was also a time when I was having lung function tests and did a V02 Max test to assess my lung capacity, a time when I was having echocardiograms and stress tests to check what was going on with my heart that might be causing chest discomfort issues. In fact this was a period I had a number of stress tests including the treadmill stress test with stress echocardiography.

The longest I lasted on any one of these treadmill tests was 3 min 31 secs - I had been told that nine minutes was what was expected of me given my age. I also on two occasions did a chemically induced stress test and around a year after my heart attack did a myocardial perfusion stress test.

In light of the above and given my issues with walking and running out of breath, my doctor completed a form requesting I be given a disability parking sticker. The powers that be declined and to this day I still have these shortness of breath issues.

However, this is not the purpose of this post. What is the purpose is that if you were to look at me, in the street, you would not know I have any medical/health issues. I look good, so I have been told, and as long as I am not walking too far and puffing due to shortness of breath no one would know I have SOB issues.

Similarly, no one who doesn't know me would be aware that:

1) I have had a heart attack, open heart surgery/triple bypass. They do become aware of this if and when I take my shirt off.

2) I am a diabetic and unless I have a hypoglycemic episode in front of them (which has happened a couple of times) how would they know about my T2 diabetes?

3) I have/had Graves disease, that I had my thyroid burnt out a number of years ago and that I require ongoing medication for this condition and when this medication is not balanced I can have problems with tiredness, blurry eyes etc.

4) I have blockages in both my carotid arteries.

5) I have regular episodes of angina which usually occur without warning - they do, however, become aware when I pull out my GTN nitro spray and take a shot to relieve the symtpoms.

6) I have sleep apnoea/sleeping issues which can and do impact on my diabetes and angina and which only in May 2014 brought on an angina episode which was serious enough for me to call an ambulance and spend a day and night in hospital under observation.

7) I have bleeding issues which is not uncommon for someone who takes meds following a heart event which may or may not have resulted in stents and/or bypass surgery - I had both.

8) I have lower back, bone/joint degeneration issues that can flare up leaving me unable to sit or drive and result in me having difficulties lying down and getting up from a chair or bed.

The point I am making is that sometimes, people are too quick to jump to conclusions without knowing the facts and this is what happened in relation to the article I referred to at the beginning of this post and could happen to you as indeed it has happened to me a number of times.