I can do nothing & just live with it. It’s not “life threatening” – I won’t die from the PSVT episodes, but it’s very annoying at the least and can be quite inconvenient depending on when, where & how long they last.

I can continue with the meds for a while to see if there seems to be any difference. (I got an app for my iPod today to track symptoms since I can’t remember from one day to the next & it’s a pain in the butt to write them down – I’d much rather just tap a couple of things & let the iPod time stamp it for me!)

I can opt for a cardiac ablation procedure. At this point I wasn’t too thrilled with some of the statistics that were discusses, so I’ll definitely need to do more reading & pondering before making a decision on that.

Otherwise, I’m not restricted on anything. I can continue with my Adderall. The doc said that he hasn’t seen any problems in his patients who take both Adderall & Toprol/Metoprolol. The Adderall did not cause the PSVT (that has been going on for the past 18 years – at least – and I’ve only been taking the Adderall since November and I hadn’t taken the Adderall for 4 days prior to this last major episode). He said if I have an SVT event that lasts for more than 2 hours I should go ahead and go to the ER to have it stopped, but otherwise,

I’ve got a follow-up appointment with the doc in 3 months. He wants to do an echocardiogram at that appointment to take a look at the structure of my heart, but he said the EKG today looked fine. At this point I’m just going to continue with the Toprol & do my best to remember to record my symptoms. Boring stuff…

Problems with my heart are nothing new for me. I was diagnosed with a heart murmur when I was in the 5th grade. I was told at the time the heart murmur (due to a defective heart valve) was caused by Rheumatic Fever I had when I was 2 and that it was the kind of murmur I would not grow out of and it was highly suggested that I have heart valve replacement surgery.

The heart murmur diagnosis explained why I passed out so much during physical activity (once even during one of my birthday parties). So, my physical activity was seriously limited – no more PE class, no basketball, no running, nada… Time went on and I never had the surgery. Every time I went to the doc my mom would always ask if they could still hear the murmur – every time they could still hear it.

I moved to Virginia when I was 18. Shortly after I went to the doc to figure out once and for all if I needed to have the surgery (since my then husband was in the military I would be able to have pretty much anything I needed to have done for free at Portsmouth Naval Hospital). They could not find the heart murmur. Strange, but true – it was gone. Relief.

Fast forward about a year. I woke up suddenly (middle of the day – I was working night shift) with the feeling that someone was laying on top of me. I was difficult to breathe & my heart was racing. After a few minutes I realized it wasn’t going to stop. So, I told my then husband that I needed to go to the hospital & I dragged myself into the shower real fast (I had to sit in the tub because I couldn’t stand) & threw on some clothes. We rushed off to the hospital. Unfortunately we got stuck in some serious traffic. What should have only taken us about 20 minutes to get to the hospital took us almost 2 1/2 hours. They rushed me in & hooked me up to the EKG machine. It didn’t work. It was detecting my heart rate (217), but not printing the rhythm out like it was supposed to. UGH. So, as they were trying to figure out why the machine wasn’t working one of the nurses stuck an IV needle in my arm. That was just enough shock to my system to convert my heart rhythm back to normal. Of course, just a few moments later the stinkin’ EKG machine started working. Unfortunately, they never got my irregular heart rhythm documented.

A visit to the cardiologist & a Holter monitor study later they still didn’t really find anything – but I was put on beta blockers for a year. That sucked – I wanted to sleep all the time. Nothing like that episode happened again for several years – even through the stress of a divorce & move from Virginia back to Oklahoma.

The next time it happened I was living in Hawaii. I was at a study group & it hit me again. After a few minutes I knew I needed to be seen, so, stupidly, I drove myself home then had my husband, J.R., take me in to the clinic. Right as we were almost there it stopped. But, we had them check me out anyway…nothing. GGRRR… It did happen a few more times while we were in Hawaii, but they only lasted a few minutes, so we didn’t even bother leaving the house.

Years pass, and no incidents. Even while I was working at the prison in a high stress environment I only remember it happening once or twice, and again, they were only a few minutes. It always seems like they start when I’m relaxed – not when I’m involved in any physical activity or stressed.

The past, oh, 6 months I guess, I’ve had a hand-full of episodes – mostly very short lived – a few minutes. One was a little longer – half hour or so. But this last one was not my normal episode.

Like I said earlier, my phone rang about a quarter to 1 Sunday morning. Wrong number I’m guessing because it was an out of state number & they didn’t leave a message. Anyway, when I woke up I realized my heart was racing & it was difficult to get a full breath. JR was working (night shift) and the kids were in bed, so I just tried to relax and go back to sleep, since I knew the episodes normally passed in a few minutes. I was able to doze off and on the rest of the night – but very restless & needless to say, not comfortable at all. JR came home & went to sleep. I didn’t want to bother him. When I heard the kids get up, they started playing the Wii. So, I got up and came in to lay on the couch, hoping a change of venue would help me relax more and maybe I’d be able to catch a nap. No such luck.

So, I dragged myself into the shower & washed my hair so I wouldn’t feel so gross. I figured while I was in there I’d try shocking my system with a cold shower to see if that would work (since plunging your head in ice-water is actually a medically recognized way to shock your system back to normal). Again, nope.

So, I laid on the bathroom floor for a while – I don’t know how long. Then I got up and laid down in the bed with JR. Finally, around 2:30 P.M., I woke JR up & asked him to take me to the hospital. I called around to a few neighbors to see if they could watch the girls – of course, being the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, no one was answering their phone. Last ditch effort – calling Brianna’s best friend’s mom – SUCCESS. She rushed over to pick up the girls. Of course, right after she got here, one of the neighbors came over. I chose to go ahead and let the girls go with Brianna’s friend’s mom since I knew they’d have a great time over there and would be way less likely to be worrying about me.

While JR was getting showered & dressed I tried to call TriCare to let them know I was headed to the ER – of course, they’re closed. Typical.

We finally left the house a little after 3:30. Since JR knows the EMS folks in town pretty well, we drove past to see if they were in. They were, so we had one of them give me a quick once over, just to make sure I wasn’t just having a panic attack or something. The paramedic listened to my heart & lungs & then highly suggested we get to the ER because he suspected I was in SVT. So, off we went. This is totally silly, but JR’s wondering out loud about the quickest way to get to the hospital – since we hadn’t been since Delaney was born almost 3 1/2 years ago. I looked at him and said, “You’ve got a GPS!” (I bought him the GPS to use in his patrol car a couple of months ago). So, I plugged the hospital in as the destination – it decided to take us via the scenic route, but it actually was faster.

We finally get to the ER (in JR’s police car & him all decked out in his uniform, since he was supposed to work that evening) a little after 4. He filled out the forms and came to sit down with me. A few minutes later they called me back & hooked me up to the EKG machine. The nurse took one look at the printout, ripped it out of the machine & high tailed it out of the room. A few seconds later she & and another person came back in saying, “We’ve got to get her out of here & into the other room.” So, into the other room I went and the room quickly filled with people – complete with a “crash cart”. I had all sorts of things stuck to my chest for various monitoring. I didn’t realize it at the time, but they had also had the pads stuck on me for the defibrillator (just in case). They quickly told me they would be putting some medication into my IV port that would stop my heart for a few seconds allowing it to hopefully return to a normal rhythm when it restarted. Of course, they had the defibrillator pads stuck on me in case they needed to shock me. THAT was a freaky feeling. Having your heart stopped but people are still telling you to breath, just keep breathing, all while you’re grunting & trying to breathe. After what seemed like forever, but I’m sure was only about 10 seconds, I felt my heart beating normally. It was such a relief. The conversations after that seem to all get jumbled together, but I do remember asking to make sure that they actually did get the irregular rhythm documented this time. They said, they indeed did. I remember I started crying at that point because it was such a relief knowing that I REALLY DID have something wrong and that it was not documented.

And, in true fashion, after everything was over and we knew I would be fine, JR joked that he should have just tazed me and I would have been fine. He also knew I was fine when I asked for my iPod and immediately checked to see if the hospital had an unsecured Wi-Fi connection (they did) so I could update my social networks.

They kept me there for a couple of hours just to make sure I didn’t have any other reactions to the heart stopping medication. One of the first nurses that had seen me came in to check on me once and said that it was nice to see that I wasn’t gray anymore. I was very tired, and my chest was still very sore from my heart going nuts inside, so it was hard to take a “full” breath, but my blood oxygen level was 100%, so I was getting plenty of oxygen – it just still hurt to breathe. I was finally relaxed enough that I was able to sleep.

After we got home and ate something, the girls came home & JR headed out to work – 2 1/2 hours later than planned. I had the girls sleep in the room with me (on the floor, because neither of them can keep still & I didn’t want all that activity in the bed) just in case something happened & I needed Brianna to make a phone call for me. I slept like a rock. But, I’m still a little tired today. My chest only hurts when I try to take a BIG breath & earlier when I had a small case of the hiccups.

I need to call to make an appointment with the heart hospital in Columbia Tuesday when the offices open back up, and I also need to let my regular doctor know what’s going on. I don’t know if this is going to mean a change in the way my ADHD is treated, but I’m not going to take my meds “just in case” until I talk to my doctor. And, in case anyone has thought about it, I had not taken my Adderall since Wednesday, so it’s highly unlikely that this was in any way related since this has happened many times long before I started on the Adderall. Plus, once it wears off (within a few hours), it’s out of your system – it doesn’t linger.

I’m very thankful for all my friends, who’ve shown concern. I’m very touched. Thank you all.

It’s lunchtime. Delaney had started eating her apple (whole). Brianna just finished slicing hers & got the last caramel dipping cup from the cabinet. Delaney started throwing a fit that she wanted Sissy’s caramel cup & refused to eat her apple. I offered to cut her apple but told her she still wouldn’t get Sissy’s “dippin’.” She refused. Then it occured to me to offer her some peanut butter for dipping her apple slices. Delaney perked up & agreed. Crisis temporarily averted.

So, I go into the garage to get something & when I return I see Delaney dipping her apple slice into Brianna’s caramel. I looked at Brianna. She says, “We’re sharing. She let me have some of her peanut butter, so I’m letting her have some of my caramel dip.” I said, “Funny how that works, hu?”

Then, I get home and fed the dogs – Delaney dropped Jackie’s dish & food spilled on the floor. I went to heat up my coffee (since it went cold because I slept late) and when I put my sugar in I forgot to wait a couple of seconds & it “boiled over” the cup & I had coffee all over my counter.

I still have to shower & get dress, but first I have to upload shopping cart product updates & website changes for a client first (HAS to be done this morning). After I’m done with that and dressed I have to load Delaney up & go pick up prescriptions for me & Brianna at the doctor’s office then run them to the pharmacy to get them filled. Oh yeah, and we need milk.

Wish me luck with the rest of my day – I hope I don’t slice an artery when I’m shaving my legs this morning. <sarcasm>

It was also my 2nd day on my increased dose. I didn’t do much that required concentration today, so I can’t make much of an assessment for myself. Basically I only took down the Christmas tree, cleaned the kitchen some, watched a movie with the family, cleaned the play room & the girls’ bedroom & closet.

I also started my increased dosage today. I didn’t really notice a difference. But, then again, I wasn’t really doing much of anything today.

I haven’t been taking my Adderall as consistently as I should. If I know I’m not going to be working, I often won’t take it, or I’ll only take it in the morning and not take my afternoon dose.  I also need to start journaling my symptoms better, even on the days I don’t take it, so I can get a better view of what the meds seem to be helping and what I need to be working on.

Like I said in a previous post, I am noticing a difference in my mental focus when I take it, as well as my fidgeting and my desire to do things “in a hurry”. I also had lunch and spent the afternoon with a friend today and helped her with a few things at her office. Partway through our time together I could feel my meds wearing off, but wanted to wait a little while until I took my 2nd dose of the day. I could feel myself getting a little more fidgety and noticed I was talking faster. When we sat down to lunch I took my meds and about 10 minutes later I started feeling “normal” again. I found myself speaking slower without having to think about it and not feeling the need to tear the straw wrapper into hundreds of little pieces (one of my fidgety habits). Something that totally took me by surprise was when my friend told me she was amazed to see how quickly it “changed” me. She said one thing she noticed right away after it “kicked in” was I finished sentences instead of jumping to another thought in the middle of the sentence. I didn’t even realize I did that!

So, after much thought and consideration I decided to get Brianna evaluated also since she is almost a mirror image of myself when I was her age. I do not want her to have to struggle with focus and studying like I did in school. Although I was on the honor roll, studying was almost painful for me. I scheduled a meeting with her teacher and we discussed a few things before I made her appointment.

Brianna was in rare form the day we went to the doctor (which was combined with my monthly check in). The child did not sit still the entire time we were in with the doctor. She was constantly walking around the room putting her hands on pretty much everything. I tried, in vain, to tell her to sit still, stay in one place, stop touching everything, etc. The doc said based on what I had told him about her at home and at school and “just being in the same room with her” (yep, his words), it was one of the easiest AD/HD diagnoses he’s had in a long time. So, we’re starting her on a light dose of Adderall twice a day. I’ll have to get all the paperwork done for her school so they can give her 2nd dose to her at school.

We’ve had a pretty good Christmas here in the household. We got a Wii! It’s GREAT! We’re having a great time playing games with each other. Even Delaney is able to play some of the games. JR’s enjoying it more that I thought he would. I’m much more SORE than I thought I’d be! That darn thing works muscles you forgot you had with some of those games…especially the ones you use the balance board for. I did all the yoga poses the other night just to try them all out…I could definitely feel it the next day!

Jackie and Shiner are doing great. They’re pretty much inseparable now. Shiner actually enjoys being around her. Jackie’s getting so big…she’s up to 30 pounds now. When the two of them get to running around the living room chasing each other it’s like a herd of buffaloes running through the house. Jackie’s gotten “sit” down pat and she’s pretty good at “stay”, so we’ve moved on to trying to teach her “down”.

The sweating seemed to subside later by early afternoon, so it wasn’t so bad. I’ll update again tomorrow when I’ve had a full day’s worth of meds. Plus, I’m seeing my therapist tomorrow.