The condition is congenital, which means I've had it since birth, and I'll always have it. I get my "attacks" or "seizures", or what ever I should call them, when I'm stressed. If there's a lot going on at school or in my private life and I become too stressed out, I'm more likely to pass out. It's not deathly, I get dizzy before passing out and I get a fair amount of pre warning, so I'm able to sit down or take other precautions to make sure I don't get hurt when I pass out. I'm usually out for about 6-7 seconds (one of my friends has been there when I've passed out on a few occations, and he timed it), so it's not too serious, but I'm very tired and dizzy for a while afterwards, but after about 30-45 minutes I'm back to normal.
What I think happens is that when I become too stressed, there's a set of reflexes that stop working the way they're supposed to. That's is basically what the cardiologist said. When the reflexes stop working, the heart doesn't get signals in the right order and that causes the heart to have an irregulare beat, or arythmia. When that happens, the blood pressure drops, the brain doesn't get enough blood and oxygen and I pass out.
The medicines that I'm on are part of a group called beta blockers. They stop the stress hormones from messing up the reflexes and heart rythm and they also slow down the heart throughout the day. Since the condition is congenital, I might have to be on the beta blockers for the rest of my life, but nobody's been able to explain what's going to happen about it yet, so I'm hoping beyond hope that I'll be able to go off them in a few years.
What I need to do to be able to manage this thing, apart from taking the medications, is to learn to cope with stress in another manner. If I can learn some techniques to calm down better and I need to take better care of myself. That means a cleaner diet, more exercise and I need to be a bit selfish, think about myself and what I need more than what people need from me. That's what I'm trying to do now. I'm eating a lot more fruit and vegetables in stead of living off a typical student diet of pizza and instant noodles. I'm also exercising a lot more than I used to and I'm trying to relax and spend more time on myself. I think it's working, too!
In August 2013 I was working way too much. I had 11 episodes in two weeks because I never slept a full 8 hours, I had a horrible on-the-go-diet, the only exercise I got was walking at work and I was working so many hours that I didn't have any time to relax at all before I got home and fell straight asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I didn't always pass out, I think I had a full episode about 5 times, but the rest was definitely close calls, so I still choose to count them because even though I didn't pass out, my body was trying to tell me that I was doing too much at once, and I wasn't listening, I just kept going.
Today, it's the 12th February 2014 and I haven't had an episode since the 16th November 2013. I've changed a lot over the past few months and I think it would take a lot more to trigger an episode now than back in August. Thankfully. I wouldn't ever want to go back to that.
Today, it's the 12th February 2014 and I haven't had an episode since the 16th November 2013. I've changed a lot over the past few months and I think it would take a lot more to trigger an episode now than back in August. Thankfully. I wouldn't ever want to go back to that.
What I'm aiming for is 1 whole year without an episode. It's already almost 3 months since the last one, so I'm on my way, but from today, if I can go 365 days without any incidents, I'll get my drivers licence back, and I swear, if I get it back on this date a year from now, I'm going back to Norway for the weekend, just to drive. I don't care what it'll cost, I'm doing it!
As I'm getting more information on this, I'll be writing it down here. Not just to keep you guys informed, but to keep all the information that I have, in one place.
Edit 27.04.14: I think it's time for an edit on this page. I've read through it and decided there's some things that needs clearing up and other things that needs updating, so here you have it.
1. I don't actually know what my condition is called, I don't even know if there's actually a name for it. However, it is stress triggered and the stress triggers arythmia, which is what causes me to pass out, so that's what I call it.
2. My GP told me that I'll be able to go off the heart medication when I get my drivers license back, which should be some time between October and December.
3. I still haven't had a new episode, the last one was on 16 November 2013, which is 5 months ago now. (Yay!)
4. I've managed to keep to my diet, I've been eating a lot more fruit and vegetables and it feels great. I'm planning to rejoin the local gym over the summer and attend group sessions to get back into shape. The reason why I choose to do it like this in stead of running outside or anything like that is simply that I'm dead scared of how I'll react to the workouts. My mum goes to the gym and she'll probably be in all the same classes as me, so if anything happens, I won't be around strangers. Since this is a reassuring thought, that will make me less stressed about it and, by default, less likely to have an episode at all.
Edit 27.04.14: I think it's time for an edit on this page. I've read through it and decided there's some things that needs clearing up and other things that needs updating, so here you have it.
1. I don't actually know what my condition is called, I don't even know if there's actually a name for it. However, it is stress triggered and the stress triggers arythmia, which is what causes me to pass out, so that's what I call it.
2. My GP told me that I'll be able to go off the heart medication when I get my drivers license back, which should be some time between October and December.
3. I still haven't had a new episode, the last one was on 16 November 2013, which is 5 months ago now. (Yay!)
4. I've managed to keep to my diet, I've been eating a lot more fruit and vegetables and it feels great. I'm planning to rejoin the local gym over the summer and attend group sessions to get back into shape. The reason why I choose to do it like this in stead of running outside or anything like that is simply that I'm dead scared of how I'll react to the workouts. My mum goes to the gym and she'll probably be in all the same classes as me, so if anything happens, I won't be around strangers. Since this is a reassuring thought, that will make me less stressed about it and, by default, less likely to have an episode at all.
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