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Am I ill or having a heart disease?
- Thread starter matrix07
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Btw! Storytime, without hijacking your thread and making it about myself:
About half a year ago or so I was having random periods of severe heart palpitations a few times, much stronger than I've ever felt before in my life, it felt very uncomfortable and scary the first time especially as I have someone close to me with serious arrhythmia who if not for their pacemaker would in fact have been dead years and years ago. When it happened two or three times more, I mosied on over to the nearby hospital emergency room. They took an EEG on me and listened to my heart and could find nothing wrong with me.
Of course, during my waiting to see a doc, the episode had abated on its own like the other time(s). The doc then told me brief periods of uneven heart rhythm is not uncommon - which I knew, as I've experienced it many times before, just not so intensely - and empasized that if one feels worried about their heart it isn't wrong to go to the hospital. In fact I was the third patient this doc had seen that morning alone who came in with the same type of brief uneven heart rhythm, and IIRC it was just 10AM, if even that.
Because they couldn't find anything on my EEG, and because I weigh more than I should and am middle-aged and due to having felt vague feelings of pressure and discomfort in my chest when walking up hills and such (which may or may not have been brought on over my worry over these palpitations I'd been having), I was scheduled for an exercise EEG on a bike, and some weeks later I did it, and they found nothing wrong there either. So my heart coronary vessels aren't constricted or blocked, which is good, and I don't seem to be suffering from arrhythmia. Apparently I could have an intermittent form, but I'd need to wear a portable EEG device for an extended period to detect that, and as my symptoms were so random I decided I just wasn't gonna sweat over it.
And since I did the workout test, I haven't felt those feelings in my chest either when I'm out walking. It was apparently my own worries that created them, probably by magnifying ordinary shortness of breath.
TL: DR moral of the story:
Seeking help is quite alright. Well, you might have to pay like a thousand bucks to get examined I dunno; where I live everyone has basically free healthcare. (Well, except for dental work, because...reasons, I guess. *shrug*)
Snap! I had the exact same thing. I'm 36 and I've been wearing the Apple Watch and I think because I'm out of shape it makes me worry about my heart rate. My rate to is an 85 average but then whenever I look at it it goes to 90 or 100.
Anyways because of this I was getting chest pains and not feeling well so I went to the docs.. Nurse who did initial tests didn't seem that happy with me! I got impression that these smart watches must be a pain in the ass!
Long story short I was fine, had an exercise EKG and that was fine as well and I've been feeling better ever since and also better since I stopped wearing the watch.
I also had the shortness of breath thing but thats gone as well.. I think they put it down to anxiety!
I'm a super laid back guy so to have these problems is really strange for me.
1 good thing is its made me kick start my healthy living and I've lost 10lbs and when I last checked by resting heart rate is mid 70's.
That's pretty much a reverse version of 'a watched kettle never boils' syndrome, I'd say... I don't get my pulse racing when I watch the heartrate sensor do its thing, but I can understand why some people would experience it. After all, we're kind of depending on our hearts beating, and focusing on that could easily have a real-world effect on us.
I think this is something you could train yourself to not be so acutely conscious about, allowing yourself to wear your watch again without literally getting worked up about it...
Or, maybe just stay away from the heartrate app altogether. 
The only time I can get my HRV to be above 50 is when I do the breathing app. My resting heart rate is consistently in the low 60's and am a pretty relaxed person. From the research I have read the HRV on the watch isn't the greatest.
As a heart attack survivor, I would second, third and fourth the statement that your doctor is the first place you should go even on any suspicion of a problem.
That said, you can equip yourself with tech and knowledge to assist after you see your doctor.
Personally, I have AW3 LTE and Kardiaband from Alivecor. I use both. My wife and I trust them to give advanced info in case I ever start experiencing symptoms again.
Sometimes, people are lucky like I was. Sometimes people are not lucky and end up with major damage to their heart or even death.
Do not play around with chest pain. Get educated. Best of luck!
That said, you can equip yourself with tech and knowledge to assist after you see your doctor.
Personally, I have AW3 LTE and Kardiaband from Alivecor. I use both. My wife and I trust them to give advanced info in case I ever start experiencing symptoms again.
Sometimes, people are lucky like I was. Sometimes people are not lucky and end up with major damage to their heart or even death.
Do not play around with chest pain. Get educated. Best of luck!