- During my 8th mile of the Los Angeles Marathon back in March, I had quite a scare when my heart started palpitating rapidly. In fact, I had to sit out for nearly 20 minutes and initially even thought that I'd be meeting my Maker that day. The paramedic who attended to me told me to quit, but for some reason (which can only be explained by insanity), I continued and finished the marathon.
- For an endurance runner, I have an incredibly high resting heart rate (high 70s to low 80s).
- I am constantly fatigued. Even after a good night's sleep of 6-8 hours, I find myself in need of a nap during the day, sometimes within just a couple hours of waking up in the morning. And I'm not talking about those 15-minute power naps. My naps last 1-2 hours each time. Without my naps, I am an absolute zombie for the rest of the day.
- I get headaches frequently, and am known to pass out from time to time.
I procrastinated in seeing my doctor, but finally succumbed to pleas of loved ones and my own common sense this past Tuesday. He ordered comprehensive blood tests to be done on me. The results showed everything to be "normal," except for a low red blood cell count and enlarged red blood cells.
I still need to talk to my doctor about what this all means and what I need to do, but I spoke with Uncle Paul at church because he's a doctor.
Blessedly, since he's also part of Kaiser Permanente, he was able to access my medical records. He spoke to me today and told me that the enlarged red blood cells and low red blood cell count is due to my endurance training. But, nevertheless, he feels that I may benefit from seeing a hematologist. I hope to talk to my doctor this week regarding my situation.According to Uncle Paul, however, the blood tests do not actually explain the palpitations, fatigue, headaches, or high resting heart rate. After talking to my doctor and perhaps meeting with a hematologist, I hope to receive a clear diagnosis so that I can have an action plan to improve my health.
Please keep me in your prayers. Thanks.
4 comments:
Hi, Eunice,
Have your fatigue, headaches etc been going on for a while? Before you ran the marathon, did you train? (this may be a stupid question). Heart palpitation is very scary. I had it for a few days several years ago while on the cruise ship en route to Greece from Turkey. It was diagnosed to be my body's response to change of time zone. That's why inspite of Uncle Ben's many promptings, I refuse to travel to Europe or Asia. I know how you felt.
With Kaiser, you need to push for a diagnosis. Be assertive (I don't think you will have a problem on that) and demand to be referred to a hematologist and soon, esp with your pending move to Vancouver. I will be praying for you.
Auntie Linda
Auntie Linda,
I trained for 6 months before the marathon. However, it was very hot on the day of the marathon, so the heat may have been a factor. I've had heart palpitations in the past before, but this time at the marathon was the worst.
Enoch has had heart issues (palpitations and arrithmia) since he was a kid, so this may be congenital as well.
Thanks for your prayers.
Hi Eunice! I hope everything turns out okay. Praying for you...
Thanks Hannah. I have an appointment today to get a device which will monitor my heart's activities for 24 hours. I hope something comes out of it, but since abnormal activity of my heart is not frequent, I kind of doubt anything will come out of it. Please pray for me. Thanks.
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