So last night when I was trying to get to sleep, my heart started to pound in my chest in a very disturbing way, as though I had just run up a dozen flights of stairs and then wrestled a polar bear at the top. At one point, I even got short of breath a couple of times.
It was scary.
I got up and paced around a bit, hoping to take the edge off. No good. I tried willing myself to relax. Nope. I tried a little meditation and deep breathing exercises, but that just made everything worse.
Laying down was a no go. Sitting up was even uncomfortable. Finally, I gave in to the very raw sensation that I was most certainly doomed if I didn't go to the hospital right freaking now, and I went to the hospital right freaking then.
So, two hours, one hot nurse, and one earnest doctor later, we finally managed to piece together what was wrong with me.
Two weeks ago I decided that I was going to go off soda permanently. But I couldn't go cold turkey--been there, done that, didn't work. So I decided to wean myself off soda by drinking iced tea and green tea. I'd never had iced tea before, and rarely had green tea, so I wasn't aware that both contain like double or triple the amount of caffeine compared to soda. It's crazy.
So I drank that stuff for a week and added some exercise into the mix. working out a bit so I could overcome the tendinitis in my arms. Bad idea.
About the middle of last week, I began noticing my heart thumping harder than normal, and it concerned me a little, but not too much. But the biggest problem was I started feeling like crap. Figuring out the caffeine was the cause of my distress, I didn't drink anything but water or milk up to now. But it was too late.
The damage is done.
Add to these things is the fact that I haven't been getting enough cardiovascular exercise. I used to walk three to five miles every day, but between my new inconvenient work schedule and the summer heat, I hadn't been walking or working out at all since I started back at work in January. This neglect has taken its toll, and I'm paying the tax with every beat of my heart.
That's what I get for being a big fat guy in a family full of diabetics and heart disease. I've been begging for heart problems for way too long, and now it looks like we're here.
They did an EKG on me and tested my blood. My blood pressure was still way higher than it should have been, although I maintain it could have been attributable to the freckled hotness of my raven-haired, blue-eyed nurse as much as to the caffeine and sloth. Seriously, homina homina.
The doc told me to go see a heart specialist today, and that the heart doc would probably put me on meds to keep my blood pressure low. So yay me, I've officially turned into an old guy. Bad heart, bad joints, bad stomach, headaches, tendinitis, heel pain, excessive weight, and probably diabetes knowing my luck. I have to take all kinds of vitamins now, fermented cod liver oil, and I just know I'm going to be guzzling Geritol and Ensure by next week.
Let this be a lesson to all you fatties and lazy, slothful youths. Don't let yourself get to the point I'm at, or you probably won't live to regret it.
Looks like Dannyboy gets to shape up or shuffle off this mortal coil. And there's none of my usual procrastinating this time.
Man, oh man, this was one hell of a 9/11.
4 comments:
I hope you'll be better soon.
Last week I have an EKG too. They said everything is okay, but I still feel something wrong with my heart.
indonesiatooverseas
That seriously bites.
An addiction to caffeine soda so bad that you can't stop drinking it even though you know it will kill you? Not researching the caffeine content of ice tea (would take like 10 minutes on google).
Letting yourself drink too much soda on a regular basis with a family history of heart disease and diabetes in the first place.
Soda isn't crack or even tobacco. I was stupid enough to get addicted to cigarettes so I can't point fingers too much. But I admit smoking ciggs was not only stupid but means I am stupid as well. But eventually I was able to quit, and I quit cold turkey, it's called will power and self control and taking it like a man (even though i am a woman).
Unfortunately we have that terrible family history with the heart disease, diabetes and cancer. With Mary having stage 1 diabetes, I am constantly lecturing all the other kids, I forget about the heart disease. Soda is a killer though. You're in my prayers Dan. Love you!
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