It’s been a strange week this week regarding my health. In fact it’s been a hard year all round!
I was convinced this weekend that I had cardiac problems. The sensations I was having were so strange (I’ll try to describe them another time in detail). They started on Friday and continued regularly – often every second or so if I was moving about – but I tried to pretend that it was all OK and half persuaded myself that I was over-reacting due to the knowledge I had from nursing. I thought I was scaring myself so I didn’t ring up the GP until Monday and then booked in as a normal appointment. I got in two days later but the sensations had stopped that morning – typical! I knew that I still needed to check it as I knew what it was despite trying to tell myself otherwise. If it had been anyone else describing these symptoms to me, I’d have sent them to A&E for an ECG. My GP wasn’t very happy that I’d left it and told me that my diagnosis was right. He also told me that my blood pressure was too high and I should monitor it. He sent me for an ECG that afternoon- which looked normal, thankfully – and told me that if it happened again, I needed to ring as soon as I could to arrange a 24 hour tape so they can monitor it. It’s quite frightening when you think there is something wrong with your heart. I’ve looked after many patients with heart conditions and although I could understand and empathise, it’s not the same as experiencing it. At certain points after I’d made my GP appointment I even half thought that I might have an arrest! How scary is that?!
As I said in another post, I went to see the neurologist almost a fortnight ago about my numbness and pain in my hands and wrists. First of all I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome but not all of the symptoms matched. For instance, the pain and numbness affect my whole hand and often affecting my little finger up to the wrist first before spreading across my hand to the index finger and thumb. I was sent for a nerve conductivity test to try to find out more. This is where they pass an electrical current through key nerves and measure the output. The sensation is very much like those exercise machines that you can buy but stronger – not pleasant but not painful either. I went today and off showing normal results but just as she (very nice lady!) was finishing the tests, I threw in abnormal readings. She changed tactics and did further tests and concluded that I had atypical carpal tunnel syndrome. I am being referred back to my GP who will then refer me to someone else. Apparently it’s the fasted way. I’ll keep you posted.
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