Heart disease in the 30s? :/

Posted by mariabrat @mariabrat, Aug 15, 2022

Hi everyone,

I have been quite active on the forum since I have had a mysterious unresolved T-cell deficiency (CD4/CD8) for two years. Today, I am having other issues (which could potentially be related). Hoping to get some suggestions.

Last week I started to have a very strange feeling in the heart, some sort of pressure, with some moment of sharper pain. I also was waking up during the night or even can't fall asleep as I have a very strange skipping beat feeling like my heart is going to stop. I thought it would go away, but 4 days after it was still there, and worst, I wasn't able to do my normal activities and started to panic. I went to the emergency cardiologist, they did a EKG, Chest Xray, Blood test for troponine and heart ultrasound, and all good. My dad's family's died at 40 from a heart attack (they were smoker) and himself had one a few months ago (at 60), without any worrying EKG or ultrasound. He had one calcified artery which was not seen as it does not release cholesterol. I am very much worried and debating if I should go to the ER again to ask for more test? Maybe CT Scan? It does not seem like they want to do that… I also had a HPV vaccine two weeks ago but it would not really make sense that this caused that. Could it be autoimmune? Could it be a sign of soon to be heart attack in smaller vessels? I am very much clueless about what to do and my parents do not believe me and think I am just scared of also doing a heart attack like him, but my symptoms are very real.

Thank you so much for your support.

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Hello @mariabrat,

I can certainly understand your concerns as the symptoms you have experienced are certainly troubling as they are suggestive of heart problems. I am interested in knowing if your heart evaluations have just been with an ER doctor or if you have been seen by a cardiologist.

If you have not visited a cardiologist to explain your symptoms as well as your concerns I would strongly suggest that you do so. You have good reasons to be evaluated given your family history and your father's calcified artery (which you indicated does not release cholesterol). If it were me, I would make an appointment with a cardiologist and bring with you a list of these symptoms as well as information about your family history.

Do you have the name of a good cardiologist? Perhaps the doctor that your dad sees might be a good choice if you live nearby.

As you may know, there are other health issues that can mimic heart problems. Digestive tract problems can also cause many of the symptoms you mentioned.

I look forward to hearing from you again. In the meantime, will you try to get an appointment with a cardiologist?

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@hopeful33250

Hello @mariabrat,

I can certainly understand your concerns as the symptoms you have experienced are certainly troubling as they are suggestive of heart problems. I am interested in knowing if your heart evaluations have just been with an ER doctor or if you have been seen by a cardiologist.

If you have not visited a cardiologist to explain your symptoms as well as your concerns I would strongly suggest that you do so. You have good reasons to be evaluated given your family history and your father's calcified artery (which you indicated does not release cholesterol). If it were me, I would make an appointment with a cardiologist and bring with you a list of these symptoms as well as information about your family history.

Do you have the name of a good cardiologist? Perhaps the doctor that your dad sees might be a good choice if you live nearby.

As you may know, there are other health issues that can mimic heart problems. Digestive tract problems can also cause many of the symptoms you mentioned.

I look forward to hearing from you again. In the meantime, will you try to get an appointment with a cardiologist?

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Thank you for your reply! I went to a specialized cardiology hospital in Canada where I saw a cardiologist (urgentologist) - I don't think anyone there was present because of non-heart conditions.

I did explain to the doctor about my family but she did not seem worried. I am wondering what other test they could be doing? Since I am not insured here I can only go see a cardiologist at the emergency, but I can take an appointment when I am back home.

I feel that the only test I could be doing is an EKG while running and a CT scan. Is it worth going to the Emergency again? Also, I have been so dizzy for months and again, the brain MRI was good, so I am wondering if that could come from that...Again that could also be from my mysterious disease.

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@maribrat Ive been reading your response about dizziness.Have you had your ears checked? I had dizziness or vertigo for awhile then saw my EENT who sent me to a ventricular Dr specialist.He performed alot of different test found out the crystals in my ears where of balance ,hence dizziness.After he had me do ear exercises for a month 2x a day it finally cleared up .There are so many reasons for vertigo besides heart problems.I would suggest seeing a ear Dr .also

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@mariabrat

Thank you for your reply! I went to a specialized cardiology hospital in Canada where I saw a cardiologist (urgentologist) - I don't think anyone there was present because of non-heart conditions.

I did explain to the doctor about my family but she did not seem worried. I am wondering what other test they could be doing? Since I am not insured here I can only go see a cardiologist at the emergency, but I can take an appointment when I am back home.

I feel that the only test I could be doing is an EKG while running and a CT scan. Is it worth going to the Emergency again? Also, I have been so dizzy for months and again, the brain MRI was good, so I am wondering if that could come from that...Again that could also be from my mysterious disease.

Jump to this post

I appreciate the added information, @mariabrat.

How soon will you be returning home? If it will be soon, perhaps you can get a copy of the tests that have been done and call a cardiologist in your hometown and schedule an appointment.

If you bring with you the results of the tests that have been done that will assist your new doctor to decide if anything else needs to be done.

Will you let me know how you are doing?

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@hopeful33250

I appreciate the added information, @mariabrat.

How soon will you be returning home? If it will be soon, perhaps you can get a copy of the tests that have been done and call a cardiologist in your hometown and schedule an appointment.

If you bring with you the results of the tests that have been done that will assist your new doctor to decide if anything else needs to be done.

Will you let me know how you are doing?

Jump to this post

I will be going home in a month, which is quite long :/ and therefore quite hesitating what to do. I will definitely bring my results back home, I also just bought an Apple Watch which can do EKG - not perfect but can definitely help.

Of course I will keep you up to date 🙂

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@lioness

@maribrat Ive been reading your response about dizziness.Have you had your ears checked? I had dizziness or vertigo for awhile then saw my EENT who sent me to a ventricular Dr specialist.He performed alot of different test found out the crystals in my ears where of balance ,hence dizziness.After he had me do ear exercises for a month 2x a day it finally cleared up .There are so many reasons for vertigo besides heart problems.I would suggest seeing a ear Dr .also

Jump to this post

Thanks for reaching out! I did go to two ENT - they did check it as I claimed dizziness (put me in a dark room and did some checks) and concluded it does not come from the ears but from somewhere else 🙁 Im glad it worked for you

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@mariabrat

I will be going home in a month, which is quite long :/ and therefore quite hesitating what to do. I will definitely bring my results back home, I also just bought an Apple Watch which can do EKG - not perfect but can definitely help.

Of course I will keep you up to date 🙂

Jump to this post

@mariabrat
If at anytime before your return home, your symptoms become worse or more troubling, please reach out to the doctors at the emergency.

Do you have any shortness of breath?

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I feel like I do, but I’m not sure 🤔

Everyone says Im “too young” to do heart issue but I’m really scare as it does not look like the stomach.

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Hi all,

I just wanted to give you some update. I went for dinner with my family and right after I started feeling a malaise and my heart was racing at 135. I went to the Emergency and felt absolutely horrible. I tested positive for D-Dimmer at 6500 which is very high so they were convinced I had a pulmonary embolism. I went to an emergency scan with contrast. They kept me in a room to observe me as my heart rate was too high. The scan came back negative which they were very surprised. They said they think I have POTS, and that they don’t know why D-Dimmer is high. After reading on the internet I found out that D-Dimmer can increase if important disease is present in the body and POTS can be cause by an infection, trauma etc. I am very confused with the D-Dimmer wasn’t high a week ago when I went to ER the first time. I am also confused why the symptoms of POTS would have started 2 weeks ago? Could it be the vaccine? Is it my autoimmune/disease? I am very discouraged, I feel like my heart will stop during night, and I walk two steps and my heart is on the roof. Im feeling very anxious because this create very strange feeling and dizziness. Im very struggling to go out of my house without panicking and thinking I’m going to die. I have a machine for a week that measure my heart beats, but that might take 3-4 weeks to get the results. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard about this but that’s very mysterious, Im again thinking they must have miss something or if my underlying disease will make my heart stop. I’ve been feeling like my heart can’t handle my sickness anymore as I feel absolutely exhausted.

If you have ever heard this, or if anyone had this condition, I am keen to hear some advice

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@hopeful33250

@mariabrat
If at anytime before your return home, your symptoms become worse or more troubling, please reach out to the doctors at the emergency.

Do you have any shortness of breath?

Jump to this post

Hi Teresa,

An update on the situation - I did a Cardiac MRI and it was fine. I had a cardiac recording for 3 days and it shows 1% Tacycardia and some mild arrhythmia with one Mobitz II block in the night. The doctor said it’s fine but I feel horrible and think I will die everyday of a heart failure. I am supposed to fly today and I’m terrified.

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