No Heart Problems, Just Acid Reflux (Possibly)

Well, I do not have any heart problems. This was confirmed after I spent five entire hours at a nearby hospital today. However, I have extremely high blood pressure. STILL.

To make a long story short, I had an extremely stressful couple of days. When I arrived home in Tulsa on Monday evening, I found my power was off. Not only that, but it had been off since Oct. 17th. (It was a snafu with the power company and the building I live in. I was gone since Sept 30th, so I had no idea what was going on until this Monday). They finally turned it back on Tuesday around 3pm. I mean, what can be more stressful then arriving home - after a long road trip - to an apartment without power? What a nightmare. I had no choice but to go to the Doubletree Monday night. Tuesday was spent cleaning out my rancid fridge, unpacking and waiting stressfully for the electric company. There were some other stressful situations going on Tuesday that I won’t get into.

Things are better now, though. Power is on, cable, heat and internet are working fine! But last night, (Tuesday) I went to bed at 7pm. I got up today at 10am. 15 hours of sleep. That is unusual… but last night, I swear I was more tired than I have ever been in my entire life. Why exactly, I do not know.

So… today, I woke up feeling OK. But I began having a pressure feeling in my chest area though around 11am. It turned into a chest pain. So, I decided to go to the hospital once and for all.

After 3 hours of waiting, an EKG, and drinking some Maalox and Lidocaine, it was determined that:

1. I have high blood pressure. The first reading was 157/93. The second was 172/93. (Horrible!!!)
2. The doctor suspects I have acid reflux. After drinking a “GI cocktail” which consists of Maalox and Lidocaine, I actually felt better! The weird pressure in my chest went away temporarily.
3. I have an appt. to follow up with an internal medicine doctor next week. I will probably be put on blood pressure meds and something to control the reflux.

So, I am not dying. I am sorry to have stressed anyone out by talking about my heart situations. I don’t know what causes the palpitations, but after an EKG and chest x-ray, everything in that area looks fine.

As for my diet, I have still been eating very little. I have no appetite whatsoever (although weirdly, the Maalox made me hungry). When I do eat, it’s mostly healthy - fruit, veggies, nuts, cheese, meat, etc.

Oh, and I seemed to have lost my love handles literally OVERNIGHT. They are gone. I looked in the mirror this morning and poof! they are gone. How weird - but awesome! I haven’t really exercised since Saturday morning - the day I left New Hampshire - but hope to tomorrow if I’m feeling better.

Also, my resting heart rate at the hospital was in the low 70’s - which is better than it was only months ago, which was in the high 80’s. The (almost) daily exercise is obviously doing something good!

I do not know what I weigh, nor do I care at the moment. But I am seeing some definite changes in my body. I conveniently “forgot” my scale back in New Hampshire. I don’t know if I will buy one out here. I plan to use clothing size to chart my progress. My goal size is 2. (Not too thin for me because I have small bones).