A few weeks ago, I had several instances during which my heart felt a little pinch. It was nothing severe and not enough to make me gasp or feel intense pain. Nonetheless, it concerned me a little bit. I have read a lot about cardiac events expressing themselves differently in women versus men so I wanted to get checked out. Here's a good link about the differences: https://www.goredforwomen.org/about-heart-disease/symptoms_of_heart_disease_in_women/symptoms-of-a-heart-attack/. I set up an appointment with my Internal Medicine physician. Before I met with her, I also felt a little tug once around my heart when I was running on the treadmill and a pinch in my left side as well. Since I am trying to get back into my pre-baby level of fitness and exercise, I knew it was doubly important to make sure I was being smart about my exertion.
On March 19, I was able to see my doctor. She thought that these incidences were muscular based, rather than something dealing with my heart. Because of my family history (my paternal grandmother passed of an aortic dissection and Ripley has a congenital heart defect), she recommended more testing. At that appointment, I had my first electrocardiogram (EKG/ECG) to check if my heart rhythms showed anything abnormal. The EKG results came back normal and indicated I have not previously had any cardiac events.
On April 9, I had a stress echocardiogram. This meant that my heart functioning and structure would be analyzed. I had an EKG running the entire duration of the appointment and my blood pressures were taken several times.
An echocardiogram was taken while my body was at rest to see my heart's structure. I found out that my aortic valve and pulmonary valve were tricuspid; this was something I was wondering about. The probe to scan my heart was a little uncomfortable as it was being pressed up against my chest. It was interesting to see my heart structure be displayed on the screen while I laid there.
The next stage was the stress portion. I had to use a treadmill that had its incline and speed increased every three minutes. The purpose was to see how my body and heart responded as the conditions got more difficult and I had to work harder. The technician routinely asked me how I was feeling on a scale up to 20. She said that she expected I would be on the treadmill for six to ten minutes. I decided I felt tired at 11 minutes, 25 seconds. My heart rate got up to 176 beats per minute. For comparison, when I run at the gym (on a level incline) while training, my heart rate can hover around 180 beats per minute.
Immediately after the treadmill running, I had to get a follow-up echo to see my heart's functioning under those conditions. The technician had told me it had to be done immediately afterwards because one's heart starts slowing down very quickly after exercise stops. It was strange not to taper down and just stop moving. I could feel myself start sweating as I laid there.
More measurements were taken by EKG and then the test concluded.
The stress EKG and echo results came back normal.
My doctor said, "Your heart is functioning normally. It has normal squeezing and relaxing function. You have normal heart valves. Your heart is getting enough blood during stress, which means we have no evidence to think you have significant heart disease."
It's a relief to know that I am doing okay and don't have to worry (for now). It is a little unnerving that I'm sure these tests will cost me a lot out of pocket (the American healthcare system still has a long way to go before being truly affordable, but we are still blessed to be able to afford individual insurance). As I'm getting older, I see the importance of getting checked out when something seems amiss. When it is possible, preventive care is so much simpler and effective than going through difficult treatments to "repair" a problem that has progressed.
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