My Heart

As I've mentioned before, I have some heart rate issues. Yesterday I finally got in to see the cardiologist, Dr. S. He told me that it's very unlikely I have a serious problem.The short version is that I probably have sinus tachycardia, or I might have POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome). Neither are really anything to worry about. In the coming weeks, I'm scheduled for a holter monitor, an echo-cardiogram (an ultrasound on my heart), and a follow-up appointment.

I've actually felt fine coming down to a lower dose of Savella. I was a little worried that I wasn't doing it slowly enough or that it would be not enough to help me anymore, but it seems my fears were unfounded. Here's hoping for more good days.

Yoga!

Last fall I took a "gentle yoga" class at The Avalon Yoga Studio in Catonsville, MD. I wasn't able to take a class in the spring, but when the fall semester began to loom ominously in my future, I signed up for yoga level 1 at Avalon.

I've been to two classes now and it's very challenging for me but I think it's a good thing. I would definitely recommend Avalon to anyone (otherwise I wouldn't mention it by name and link to their website) but I didn't expect level 1 to be so hard! I guess for most healthy people, it isn't hard, but I don't fall into that category!

I have had some interesting experiences while doing yoga. Last week I was very hot and sweaty, but otherwise felt normal. This week I kept getting sort of faint, and had a tingly numbness in my hands, which were very cold. I intend to speak to the cardiologist about it when I go on Friday. For now, I'm not concerned, just perplexed.

So far it's been a workout. My muscles are always trembling with effort but I recognize that this is because I'm way out of shape. I know I'm not pushing myself too hard because I feel fine the next morning - if it was too much, I'd be stiff as a board by morning and all kinds of achy. I was surprised to discover how much flexibility I had lost over the past year, but it's been coming back pretty rapidly, which is reassuring.

Here's hoping that my body will respond well to a little exercise!

The Physician Parade Begins

When I left the ER on Tuesday night, they instructed me to follow up with my doctor because my heart rate shouldn't be so high. I called my doctor at home on Thursday and made an appointment for today.

Dr. D agreed that it was concerning, so she ran an EKG and called Dr. A, my rheumatologist. They agreed that it could be the Savella doing it, and now I'm supposed to reduce my dose to see if it helps.

I made an appointment today with a cardiologist. I'll see him on September 17, just to make sure everything's okay.

Day Two

Well I've made it through one class so far. I took the Wave 'n' Ride bus this morning so I wouldn't have to walk down the hill, but all through class my heart rate was 135-140 anyway. I'm going to have to start keeping a log so I can show a doctor what's going on.


*sigh*