Wild Weekend

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Friday: Late duty= run in the AM, not my favorite time but Bulls on @ night and working 'til 530 but smoked a 5K and had a nice time b/c it was sunny for the first time in like a month. Chasing dog in house, wipe out in socks on clean floor, sprain wrist. Lots of snapping,crackling and popping so…

Saturday: Day off working out, run around, do grocery shopping and some other errands decide to get wrist xrayed and they come out negative doc says “do you want some painkillers?” well, it’s sore, what the hell, get rx. drop off on the way home but, amazingly enough, it’s still nice out so ride over in an hour to pick them up and then cruise the trail, maybe 10 miles, not a huge ride but pleasant, BG 60 when I get home, a bit dicey so have some carbs, order ribs/ fries/ etc. for dinner, go to pick up…eeek, up to 126 in drive through!! (CGM only…) hit it w/ anticpating 85G of carbs (fried shrimp too…) and go home. It appears to be reasonably normal so dinner gets up to 105 or so so I figure “I’ll head the spike off @ the pass and take the dog for a walk!!” which I do, that crashes the BG out totally, spend the rest of the evening chasing the dragon, snacking, etc.

Sunday= long awaited big run day, it’s sunny and warm and not even as windy as it’s been so hit the road, crank out 10 miles, had planned to take mom to lunch but get home and Mrs & junior are making impromptu excursion so playing with dog outside is in order to inspire dog restroom (fail, dog did ok, though, she’s got the hang of it…). The run was odd as CGM was lowish, in the 60s like the whole time. Fortunately, 4 or 5 miles, I had my meter, ooops…one strip! I’d had a granola bar beforehand and a yogurt but it wasn’t rockin’ but I felt ok, so I ran out to 7 miles or so and tested. I’d been munching away on carbs the whole time too but still in the 70s so sprinted a bit, had some carbs, kept running, CGM stayed low but got 10.5 miles in, had a nice time but then, of course, all the carbs were subject to exerpariesis and BG spiked afterwards up to 160. Bolused for what I figured I ate, went to lunch, next town over, a bit low, had a screwdriver as 56 w/ 6U IOB w/ shi-shi food coming but lunch worked out ok. CGM now in the 40s but BG tests (reloaded) still showing 70s or so. Went home, began preparing Mother’s day feast-- ATK Bolognese sauce, very tasty but sort of a constant input recipe- CGM STILL in the 40s, BG tests, like every 20 min or so still in the 70s, maybe not ideal but ok, right? Kept cooking, party got going ok, had some appetizers, maybe overstacked bolus or something, dinner finished just in time for the Bulls’ game. Started watching, MrsAcidRock “oh, sure, me and your mom will clean up the dishes on mother’s day” “no, no, I’ll get it in the commercials…”

Next thing I recall is the paramedics w/ Oxygen mask, EKG, whole 9 yards. They are going "his BP is 120/ 70 [yay] but this is odd…] and they are like “this EKG isn’t normal, you need to see your doctor immediately”, of course alarming everyone, including me. They spared me the trip to the hospital but I dutifully went to the doc the next day, 12 lead EKG was normal, no issues but let’s schedule $12K worth of tests.

The really crazy thing is that today, I decided to hop back on the treadmill, BG was a nice 20 w/ only .2U IOB so no big deal, had a whiff of Gatorade and, maybe 2.5 miles into it, decide to see what my pulse is doing and it was doing the same 3 and 1 beat depicted in the EKG from Sunday!! EEK. I checked CGM, it was ok, like 85 down from 115 when I started, no big deal but then I test and it’s 45 or something like that so maybe the hypo is causing the irregular heart thing? Or maybe I am a dangerous lunatic? Or both? There’s an Echo CT (?? every person I talk to calls it something different…) on the addenda w/ the treadmill so we’ll see how that goes. I wonder if I should run my BG down to see if the result is consistent?

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AR,

Don’t overdo anything - until you get the ok - after the treadmill. The one you are referring to, is probably the echo treadmill. They have ultrasound going right along with it. Not sure of the exact name though. The cardiologist usually comes in right after the test is over.

To answer your question, I sometimes think that hypos will cause irregular heartbeats, as does blood pressure; and lately for me, hypers will too. My neph told me once, that when I go hypo, my blood pressure changes as well. (Remember the old board, when we all had this kind of discussion?)

Be careful!

Trisha

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Geez, a sprained wrist and a Bad Hypo all in the same week-end. Sorry to hear it. A lunatic? No. Too much activity? Yes. Trying to get out of the dishes on Mom’s Day…definititely. Tsk! Tsk! :slight_smile:
I hope that you feel Better soon. Good Luck on the Stress Test. Interesting and fast-moving blog.

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Thanks guys, I just noticed the “nice 20” which should be “nice 120” which ordinarily should be “120” before running. The last time I keeled over I’d “stacked” workouts too. I have negotiated Mrs down from “don’t run the marathon” to “don’t run 10 miles when you are busy” but this heart stuff is eerie. My aunt has a lot of odd heart issues and mentioned “when your BG is off, it can throw of your heartbeat” and she may know more about that stuff than some of the doctors. I’m sure it will freak them out when I tell them my stuff but it’s probably gonna be a week or so before I follow up with them again too. Argh.

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Let us know how it turns out. Are you saying that it will be a week or so, before the treadmill?
Trisha

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The treadmill is set for Monday however I’d called them immediately, they cancelled, then insurance approval came through so I rescheduled for Monday however that’s at the convenient facility (between house/ work) and they don’t do the other tests that weren’t approved until 3:30 or so yesterday, I was in the weeds @ work and worked out and then realized I’d better call them and got in under the buzzer but the cardio place was closed by the time I finished my wierd call w/ the scheduling office that doesn’t schedule the heart exam so it’ll be back on the horn w/ them today when they open. I’ll see if I can bump it up to Friday too and just do it all @ once.

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I am always surprised how good our bodies cope with low blood glucose. Muscles are running on glucose and because of their design it is just due to the deposits that we get through the low. To me being low and having low deposits will logically cause trouble for our muscles. On top of that there is the nervous system for the heart that is suffering from the low too.

As you know I admire your level of control. At the same time I see strong tendencies in your behaviour to ignore low blood glucose numbers. My endo would actually call that Hyposurfing. I will stop my physical activity at 70mg/dl and eat some glucose tabs. I then will rest for 10 Minutes to give it enough time to absorb. You see the 70 more like a harmless low and this is s very small rope you are dancing on. The CGMS is 15 minutes behind, the fluid in the finger can be behind too and finally the meter can be 20% off. There is not enough margin for error. Still you continue to burn carbs at a high rate.

I think you should set the margin for a low higher and in general you should seek to avoid lows. Try to see the low with the same negativity you have towards higher numbers. My endo thinks that if diabetics are hit harder by lows than before then they are about to loose their awareness for lows. So I think it is about time to reshape things.

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What a weekend! Sorry it was so eventful. Do yourself a favor… listen to Mrs. AR at least until all the tests are done!

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Thanks for the suggestions. I am planning another run for tomorrow but will see if keeping my bg higher and emptying out IOB/ basal a bit more will prevent the irregular heartbeat?

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OK, you should definitely go ahead and have the tests, but chances are it was trigeminy, which is a premature ventricular contraction occurring every 3rd beat. It COULD be caused by hypos, or possibly low potassium, or just idiopathic. Not to worry TOO much, if you’re going to see a cardio. It’s usually innocuous, and they don’t usually do anything about it. I think it’s wise to have it checked out, and if it turns out to be minor, then at least you will know, and it will put your mind at ease. Good luck! :slight_smile:

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Well, it is pretty consistent, 3 then 1, 3 then 1. Was that today’s, or the other day? Take care and please don’t overdo it, until you know for sure. Let us know.
Trisha

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That was the other days, the doc explained that the points are supposed to be the same distance apart. Albeit after keeling over and all that but what I felt in my neck yesterday (@ 45 on the treadmill, although the CGM was behind more significantly than I’d have liked it to have been…) was eerily similar. Although that is entirely unscientific since I’m not a pro? I’m certainly going to follow through with the tests but am 1) not sure what the tests will show if my BG is normal and HR is normal, it may still flake out when it’s low 2) what is the big deal if it flakes out a bit (the $64 question…) and 3) which doctor is going to tell me what the deal is? GP, Endo an as yet undetermined cardiologist, Dionne Warwick’s psychic friends? You guys seem pretty knowledgeable? I’ll see if BCBS will send you the $12K too!

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#3. The cardiologist is the one that will be in charge of this. If he says Dionne’s friends, run like hell! :slight_smile:

You know, Natalie raises a good point about potassium. You could be a tad on the low side, and that will cause all kinds of little cardio gremlins, to come out and play. Trust me that you NEVER want to have IV potassium!

Magnesium is very important for the heart too. We had a guy that had to be shocked the max # of times in the ER, while the doc was waiting on the stat labs. His magnesium was way too low. Once they got magnesium into him, he was fine.

As Natalie also mentioned, it could just be, … because.

I’m sure that whatever the issue is, is that 1.) You don’t want to be passing out all the time; 2.) The cardiologist will know what to do. Be sure to tell him anything that you may have noticed - like yesterday with the 45-, even if it may seem insignificant to you. Go as far back into your memory, as is possible, for medical history. The more info he has, the better.

Trisha

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That is, of course, presuming that the medical industry will refer me to a cardiologist, which makes me think I should aim to duplicate the funky heartbeat on the Echo CT Ultrasound whatever the test is called (everyone I talk to says it’s something different…) in order to get the referral there? I called the endo today but it was the end of the day so it doesn’t suprise me that I just left a message and will hear back from them tomorrow. I am not 100% sure if they are in the same “network” and will have the reports, etc. already or if I have to give them to them which may necessitate another apppointment. I just left “I need a referral to a cardiologist” in her VM so we’ll see what she or her flying monkeys have to say. My boss already pretty much said “don’t apologize for taking ridiculous amounts of time” so that’s not a problem but it annoys me to have to keep going over and over and over again and repeating the stories.

I don’t have any history at all as I haven’t ever paid any attention to my heart. I used a monitor on a few runs until I was sure I wasn’t going to blow up and then for a brief period when I read that 60% of your max HR would burn more fat but I was totally unable to run that slowly so I gave up on it.

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Yikes, AR - that’s a crazy stuff! I get the goofy things that D does while exercising but cardiac stuff is totally foreign to me as well. Please take care of yourself and let us know how it all turns out!

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Does your insurance require an actual referral or can you just call & make an appointment on your own? I can call & see whatever specialit I want without permission from my PCP. Hopefully it was just the low causing the irregular heartbeat. I haven’t had a normal heartbeat for years and up until the last one, my stress tests all came out normal. Now the neuropathy causes me to flunk the stress test.

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@ Mark, he herniated a disc recently so he’s going through the same drill, go this doctor, get referred for tests, get tests. go back to doctor…

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And thanks everyone for the suggestions and support and expertise (Trisha!). So far, I haven’t hit any roadbocks but I can sort of see where they might come. My aunt has a bunch of unusual heart issues too, a hole in her heart that was fixed when she was younger and pacemaker(s) since then that periodically cause problems. She knows a lot about the litany of tests and all that and even mentioned that if your BG is low it can cause irregular heartbeats, etc.

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I don’t actually know about the referral process Kelly, i just go to the doc, they give me a bunch of paper that says get these tests and then they call to get them approved (of course, telling me to call to see if they got the approval rather than calling me to tell me ‘we’re ready, let’s take the next step’…).