Of Hearts and Heads

Last week was an absolutely insane one. I was up, down, in, out, generally everywhere, physically and emotionally. Work was chaotic, but since when is that new?

One of the things that occupies my attention most, however, is my upcoming visit to the Heart and Lung institute for a heart test. Worried? I keep trying to convince myself that I'm not, but who wouldn't be, at least a little.

It all started a few weeks ago when I went to the dr's office for dizziness and sinus pressure. Not much happened on that front, but while I was there the doctor noticed that I generally have a slower heart beat than usual. For kicks and giggles we did an EKG, which she said a visiting cardiologist would look at within the next couple of weeks. A few days later I got a call from her office about a culture that came back negative, and I asked the person who called if a cardiologist would still be reviewing the results. My doctor called back to confirm it, and I mentioned that I had since been reminded that my grandpa had a pacemaker put in due to his slow heart rate. The next day she called and asked if I would like to be present while he reviewed the results, and I agreed.

That appointment had some interesting results. The cardiologist wasn't concerned about my EKG, but the subject of my migraines came up, and he informed me that there is a heart condition that can contribute to chronic migraines like mine. In one out of four people there is a shunt in the heart that doesn't close after birth. Usually no biggie, there are occasions when an open shunt can cause migraines, or other health concerns. I go in for a treadmill test soon to find out whether or not that could be the cause of my migraines.

I dare say that I am becoming increasingly intrigued. I've spent the last 26 hours with a migraine of varying intensity. It started as a sinus & stress headache, and rapidly advanced into full-blown misery. Normally my migraines last only 12 hours or so. While I didn't relish going to work on the back of a nasty night's rest, I nonetheless had planned on doing just that-until I tried getting out of bed and was largely unsuccessful. I called in to work and sent out an email requesting the delay of a phone meeting and went back to sleep...until about 2 in the afternoon. By that point, while I still had the headache, I was able to eat a bowl of cereal. Two hours later I was able to eat a couple of burritos and spend the rest of my time out of bed. I still have a headache, but at least I can function. Sigh.

Do I relish the idea of a possible heart condition? No. If I had said heart condition and fixing it would fix my migraines would I do it? In a heartbeat (pun intended ;) ). What if I don't have that heart condition? Well, then I'll rest well for having a healthy heart and keep getting the same migraines that I've had for my entire life, as long as I can remember. It's possible that the cause is neurological, in which case I might be recommended an MRI test, but I think I'll take it one step at a time.