Palpitations and Dizziness - Other Symptoms

Hi Bella, Fibromyalgia may be what is going on with the joint pain you have described in the past posts.  My ex-mother in law has Fibromyalgia and I dont recall her ever having a complaint of chest pain or palpations.  Have you ever explored the possiblilty of anxiety being the cause of this?  It could cause the symptoms that you have described and with worrying so much over what may be causing this and your other health problems it is possible that anxiety could be behind it.  It may be worth checking out....

hey Bella...I seriously believe this is NOT a heart problem. Especially seeing that you have had all those tests on the heart come back normal so you've ruled the heart out as being the issue. Some of your symptoms sound neurological. Palpitations can absolutely be benign and stress and anxiety can be the cause. There are meds to help with the palpitations. I am on them for that. Have you had other neurological testing done. You mentioned in another post about white matter. That doesn't sound normal, is it? I had an MRI and it came back normal and I didn't have any of this white matter.

Hey Bella...Im so sorry to hear this. I can relate. This weekend, especially today my shortness of breath or feeling of heaviness in my chest is really bad and I still don't have a final diagnosis. MS doesn't seem to be it. Are you having numbness and tingling? Also, any vision changes? I hope you don't mind me asking.

Hi, I know from experience and lots of research that Fibromyalgia encompasses alot of things.  There are alot of other syndromes that can go along with the Fibro.  I, myself, first had severe chest pain before I was diagnosed with the Fibro.  Then after the fibro diagnosis, came Tmj, migraines, and mitral valve prolapse syndrome.  I've also had to start seeing an urologist as I now have kidney stones and have a couple of kidney cysts that have to be monitored on a regular basis.  Because of my heart murmur and my mitral valve prolapse diagnosis, I have to see a cardiologist at least 2 times a year.  I'm on medication for chest pain.  I've also had problems with the palpitations and dizziness and episodes of near passing out.  I've had all the routine tests performed for heart issues and most of it has come back normal except that my mitral valve and one of my other valves do show leakage and the fact that I have asthma.  Because of the ongoing dizzy spells and palpitations they just Monday inserted a "insertable loop recorder" just under my skin for me to wear for an extended length of time to see if they can catch something more conclusive with it.  I have worn the 24 hr monitor and a 30 day holter monitor before with no worth while results being caught.  My doctor has a hunch that it might have something to do with my atrial valve and that this might be the ticket to getting an accurate diagnosis.  But I know that excessive worry can cause symptoms to come on as well.  I know that especially the Fibro has messed up my body big time with numerous disorders and has been an ongoing thing that the doctor is trying to get under control.  Only you know what you are feeling and you just have to keep plugging away at the doctors to get them to help you get to the bottom of your symptoms, plus do lots of research on your own.  There is lots of info out there regarding the fibro and what all it can entale.  Hope this helps, I need to stop typing now....incision is starting to hurt.

                          Summer39

Swanfleweast,
I was diagnosed first with my heart murmur when I was pregnant with my daughter 17 yrs ago. My obstretrician told me he thought I had a pregnancy induced heart murmur, but obviously that turned out to not be the case. My family doctor said I had probably had it from birth, but it just hadn't been detectable until I got pregnant. I was then diagnosed with MVP approx 9 yrs after the heart murmur diagnosis. My mom had Rheumatoid Arthritis amongst other complications and was very sick at the time....she was also in her early 70's and had decided she had had enough so we had to call in hospice....and I started having severe chest pains. Went to the emergency room and they said I was just having a panic attack, but told me I should go to my family doctor and get a thorough exam from him. I did and he diagnosed me with the MVP and sent me on to a cardiologist who confirmed the diagnosis and said basically the same thing that had been said about the heart murmur....it had probably been there since birth, but had remained undetectable until I became severely stressed with what was going on with my mom and then the symptoms started showing up. That was also the same time I got diagnosed with the Fibro. I had been my mom's primary caregiver for several years and I think I had been so focused on her health that I had ignored my own or maybe not necessarily ignored, but pushed to the back because at the time I couldn't deal with both. I knew my mom needed me and there just wasn't enough of me to go around to take care of my mom, daughter, husband, and then any health problems that I might be having. After my mom died, that's kinda when everything hit me at once with my health and I was forced to have to deal with it and it has been downhill ever since. It seems like it has been one thing after another which I know alot of people here on this site can certainly relate to. I do have panic attacks and I've certainly had to deal with depression off and on.....but the fibro and the MVP have been my biggest obstacles for quite some time now. I also think I should be tested for Rheumatoid Arthritis especially since my mom had it. I deal with high cholesterol which the doctor feels is genetic since I don't seem to fit in any of the other scenarios which could create it, so I take Lipitor for that. I take Darvocet, Robaxxin, Xanax, Zantac, and Toprol for everything else. I don't know if this helped you out any, but this is basically my story. I'm hurting pretty bad right now so I need to go lay down for awhile. I'll post later and let everyone know how my visit to the cardio went regarding my recent outpatient surgery with the insertable loop recorder. Take care....
Summer39

Swanfleweast,
My mom was 42 when she had me and I remember when I was starting kindergarten that's about when I remember her first talking about having arthritis, but an official diagnosis of the RA was not made until several years later. I have an older brother and sister and I know they both have been diagnosed with having arthritis and still continuing lots of medical tests to determine if there is anything else causing their symptoms, but with very slow progress. I know I need to pursue having tests done to see if I have RA and I guess I'm just procrastinating about going to see the doctor yet again for more testing to see if I have yet one more thing. I went back to the cardiologist on Monday and he was very shocked at how much bruising and swelling I still had after a week out from surgery. Gave me stronger pain meds and told me to give it another week to heal and see if the pain lessens during that time. I've been taking the new pain med, but still experiencing pretty much the same intensity of pain that I was before. The best way I can describe it is it feels like what I would imagine being branded would feel like.....this hot searing pain that covers the whole site of the implant and surrounding area. Plus it just feels like this constant pressure being applied to my chest....I could see how someone could go crazy with this. I've lost alot of sleep and it makes your nerves feel like you can stand nothing more. He keeps trying to reassure me that in time it will get better....I just have to be patient. I'm trying, but it is tough. I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your mother....she was still so young. At least my mom had lived a full life. How old were you when she died? I was 32. It's been approx 9 yrs since she passed away and I still have a hard time with it. It took me a long time to find my place in the world again because taking care of my mom was all I knew for such a long time. I basically went into seclusion after she passed and that is when I started having severe panic attacks. Couldn't even go grocery shopping anymore. My poor husband had to take over all those type of tasks for me for quite some time till the doctor put me on meds to help control the attacks. I still get them....but they are not near as bad as they were in the beginning. Well, it's late. I'm going to attempt to get some sleep. Have really enjoyed talking to you....it's nice to find someone who knows what you've gone through and are continuing to go through.
Summer

Swanfleweast,

  Sounds like your mom had a really hard time.  At least for my mom it didn't really affect her life to a disabling degree until she was in her 50's early 60's. 

   The pain has gotten somewhat better, but a couple of my stitches, that were supposed to dissolve, have popped up out of the skin and it is keeping part of my incision site from closing all the way.  I guess I will have to call the cardiologist tomorrow and see what needs to be done about it.  Do you have an outside job?  I currently work at a daycare center....not an ideal place to work with everything I've got going on with all the germs floating around especially right now.  I've thought at different times about trying to go on disability, but we need the money so bad right now...I keep trying to hang on and keep working at least for right now.  I've heard that it can take a long time to get approved for the disabilitly benefits and sometimes you get turned down a couple of times before you finally get approved.  There are days I just don't think I can make it through work, but I keep trying for now. 

  Did you have a good Valentine's Day?  Mine was pretty good despite everything that is going on. 

   Well, take care and talk to you again soon.

                    Summer39

Swanfleweast,
Sorry it has taken me so long to reply back....I've had the flu. In fact, my whole family has been sick with it. It has really zapped me especially after not being really all that long since I had the implant done. Haven't gone to the cardio yet to have him look at the exposed stitches....did go to my primary care doctor because of the flu and he took a look at it and said that sometimes they can come loose like that but since they are supposed to be dissolvable, they should still dissolve. I don't know. I go to the cardio on the 6th of March, so I'll have him look at it then. I've been keeping neosporin on the area and keeping it clean. The doctor put me on antibiotics while I had the flu as a prophalactic measure since the stitches are keeping the area somewhat irritated. But at least the pain as was having in the incision site has calmed down tremendously. It still hurts somewhat every so often, but nothing like it was. Thank Goodness!!!
My mom's RA did her hands pretty much the same way. They wanted to do surgery on her hands to try to restore some dexterity to some of her fingers, but she had already had 3 knee surgery replacements, 1 shoulder replacement, and she didn't want anymore surgeries after those. I can't say I blamed her. It was very painful, the surgeries and the recovery afterwards. It took my mom several tries before she was finally granted disability....so hang in there. I'm thinking I'm probably going to have look into trying to get it here before much longer because it is getting harder and harder to work. I miss more than what I end up being there and I know my boss gets tired of it. She tries to be understanding, but it can only go so far. My daughter also has health issues, so it seems if I'm not missing for something going on with me than I am missing because of something going on with her. Hard to be everywhere at once, huh?
Summer39