tachycardia

I like my doctor.  This doesn't mean I like going to see him, because I hate it.  But as it's one of those things that needs doing, I'd rather see him than any other doctor I have had so far in my life.  He's very pleasant.  I have a terrible case of White Coat Syndrome, and with him I only feel like I might faint from nervousness for the first few minutes of the appointment rather than all the way through.

My appointment this morning was interesting.  It was just the yearly check-up thing, no specific concerns.  But he took my pulse and blood pressure and noticed my racing heart.  A racing heart is typical for me when I go to the doctor's office -- but I guess it was racing extraordinarily fast.  Enough that it worried him a bit.  He asked me a billion questions about my sex drive and whether or not my ears ring, whether I ever feel paranoid or depressed, whether my chest feels tight and painful... and so forth.  In the end he was a bit stumped, probably because I don't really have most of the symptoms he was concerned about, and yet, he really felt that my heart was too fast even with White Coat Syndrome taken into consideration.

So.  I got to have a blood test to check for hypothyroidism.  I don't really have most of the obvious symptoms associated with hypothyroidism (weight gain, swollen neck, depression, fatigue) but I do sometimes experience tinnitus (ear ringing) and have once in awhile experienced dizziness.  And there's these crazy red eyes I've developed lately, which I thought were associated with either hayfever or allergy to make up.  Apparently they can also be a symptom of hypothyroidism.  Or hyperthyroidism.  Or something.

And I also got to have my first ECG (electrocardiogram), which is a heart test.  I had to go to another office for that test where a man stuck paper electrodes all over my chest, arms, and legs, and then attached wires to them that looked quite a bit like the wires that connect to the computer router in my house.  (It is possible he was uploading information from my brain into a computer.  He won't find anything useful.) He looked alarmed when he saw my heart rate too and asked me if I was experiencing any shortness of breath.  Nope, I feel normal.  Or maybe, this isn't what normal feels like.  Maybe I just feel normal for me.  Because I have always had a racy heart, for as long as I can remember.

All this was mildly worrisome, but mostly it really made me wonder about my past experiences with doctors.  I have had several different doctors over the years, and in the diffferent cities where I have lived.  And I have grown accustomed to them noticing my heart rate and saying, Wow, your heart is fast.  (yep)  Did you drink a lot of coffee today?  (yep)  Are you nervous? (yep)  But no one has ever pursued the issue beyond that point.  It makes me wonder, if my heart rate is really so unusually fast, why is this the first doctor that has ever tried to find out why?  Which brings me back to the original point, which is that I like my doctor.

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