I haven't hear of that but who knows what you might learn! I had a guy in my choir that wore one for 2 days and found out his heart regularly skips a beat! Doesn't actually mean anything, just cool to know!

Joe

Like Bob I had a problem...atrial fibrillation...
It runs in the family so I asked him if it was really necessary and he said not really.

Charlie

Well, it was inevitable. I got around 3:30am this morning. Was already pretty far gone by the time I reached my tank, so wrote down the approx time it began and when it subsided.
So, am anxious to see what, if anything, was picked up.

Your theory makes sense to me. I've had CH for over 20 years and none of the medications worked for it until this year when they started me on Verapamil. It was like a miracle. Had they prescribed it sooner, I would have had alot less suffering. Hope you feel better soon.

Carl - Both times I was hospitalized for IV-DHE treatments I was actually on the cardiac floor (I don't think they have a cluster headache floor). The reason was I had to wear a portable monitor because of the potential effect of a powerful vasoconstrictor like DHE on the ol' ticker.

They probably thought I was healthy as a horse because they wouldn't let me out to smoke for three days, which I'm sure skewed the results to the good.

Jeannie, best way I can describe it is how the doc that diagnosed it put it to me - he asked me if I had a feeling of butterflies in my chest - and when I said yes, and let him know that I had, had that for as long as I could recall (keep in mind 16 y/o's don't do much in the recall dept hehe);  they did some tests, what they were I couldn't tell ya, it was too long ago, and told me I had heart palpitations.

Carl, I had wondered if there was a cardiac connection myself, especially with the O2 being such an effective tool;  during one hospital trip for cardiac issues - ekg with abnormal readings - ST segment and irregular heartbeat, with an extremely fast heart rate and very low blood pressure, as well as possible left atrium enlargement - they decided they were going to hook me up to everything under the sun.  They were very concerned with the erratic rhythm of the heart, and ended up giving me IV nitro despite my extreme protest.  That brings on a mother F*cker attack like I've never had before - they refused me triptans, and when I was yelling for the O2, the nurse kept saying but your O2 sats are at 98%, you don't need more oxygen;  Clark finally had to step in and let them know it was to abort the attack; 

What we did learn, is that as a cardiac patient, giving me nitro and the ensuing CH attack it triggered, was the biggest mistake that could have been made.  Fortunately, I was having a mild cardiac event with the spasms - had I been having a heart attack (and this is according to the cardiologist who reviewed the chart after they admitted me) the stress the nitro induced attack put on me, as evidenced by how crazy my vitals went, would likely kill me. 

I was advised by 2 different cardiologists now, to NEVER let them give me nitro for any suspected cardiac event.  If I end up in the ER for a suspected event, and they get an abnormal ekg, they are under NO CIRCUMSTANCES to administer nitro.  They have used ativan in place of the nitro the last 2 times I was hospitalized for the spasms.

Interesting enough, my son has also been diagnosed with ECH, and that came about 2 years after he was diagnosed with a heart murmur - a mild mitral valve prolapse, congenital heart defect.  So, who knows.

My own theory for CH, and I've talked with Doc Finkel about it, is that no two sufferers are the same, and no triggering factors can be isolated as the same ones in multiple sufferers.  I think it takes a series of events, from sinus infections, knocks on the head, cardiac conditions....whatever the magic sequence is, it appears to be different for each person.

Hopefully you'll be able to get things resolved without having to go through many tests before they have an answer that will put your mind, and heart, at ease;

Cat

Thanks Cat and Bob.

Jeannie

Got the heart monitor results back...

What's odd is, I kept a log of everytime I felt something not quite right, but they said it didn't register anything at those times.

What I DID learn is, it stayed around the 50's-60's, but fluctuated between up to 120... and down in the 30's!!! My Doc's NP was shocked by that. So I asked, "Where do I go from here?" and they are referring me to a cardiologist and, with the irregular heartbeats and such, they MIGHT suggest a pacemaker. That really, really scares me. But as long as the heart keeps beating...

No new revelations on the CH end though. Had hopes but, same ole same ole.

Back to bed. Another long hard day tomorrow, including another trip to the Rheumatologist. I am SICK TO DEATH of having to go to this doc, that specialist, go get this MRI, another set of xrays... I would MIND if people knew how to read and report test results.
My PM doc said my last 2 back MRI's reported nothing. He went back and looked at the actual MRI's and found the problems himself. Makes me wonder if half of the testing I've had done has been read and reported accurately and if not - why waste my time? Oh yeah, so they get my money!

About to go out to a reservation and find a REAL shaman. Might do more for me than some of these docs.

Peace,
Carl