It's possible. I've been telling myself if I were to die, I wouldn't mind it being on property I owned (Granted, not at an unusually young age, but, one of my physics classmates did die younger than me. And so did half the people in the "Children with IQs above 180", during the Great Depression, accidents seemed to be most of them (I recollect a farming accident, an auto accident and a shooting accident.), but one died from a cancer due to diet. One of the 'survivors' led a 'quiet life' being an artist, whilst be an apartment manager of some apartments she owned. The author, Leta Hollingworth, made it seemed like she lived a quiet isolated single life (A shutin), but I'm wondering did she essentially consider herself queen of the apartments? If she did, I don't think she cared what anyone thought of her, lol, including this 1960s(edit, 1920s) author who lamented her 'never married'/'always single' life.). Why did it have to be her? She was lovely.); dying while in the navy nuclear program, however, would've been a disgrace and I did tell myself I couldn't let myself die in the navy. (I made that joke to my friend once. I warned him not to do something, and he replied "It's not like I plan on dying.", and then I retorted "Most people never do.". I stole that from a movie, was it Thor?]
Anyway, I was reading the book because I wanted to know what happened to these 'genius' people. I wasn't expecting such a high rate of early mortality, because I had this stereotypical idea that practically everyone died in their 60s/70s/80s, and that actually shocked the pants off me that more than one person died before the age of 40. Which, of course, then led to me wondering about my own mortality. People lead such blissful lives probably thinking the same stereotypical naive things I did because they, unlike me, never read longitudinal studies. Leta Hollingworth should've done what Modest Mouse lyrics suggests doing, and what Disney does all the time: Edit out the sad parts. I suspect I would be so much better off with that naivete.
Sometimes I speculate this whole thing is like "The game". You know, whenever you think of "The game", you lose "The game"? It's like, if you're always thinking about life and death, you lose. It's like programmed. You're not supposed to think of "the game", otherwise, 'you lose', lol. Indeed, thinking about 'life and death' is something that most people actively avoid, and probably for good instinctual reasons. (Like the survival instinct)
I hope that's my panicky nature that's just been having thoughts like that, and all experiences thus far are purely attributable to panic, and nothing (significantly) more than that. I don't think of acid reflux as significant, and acid reflux was definitely going on, as the back of my throat was sore, I had a tickle in the back of my throat, followed by a dry cough. Since that 'never' happens, just as heartburn 'never happens', the fact that one happened, highly suggests the other was happening, since they're highly associated. And, acid reflux is highly associated with sleep deprivation. While it's possible to have heartburn in addition to similar cardiac symptoms, since they're often confused with each other, it would seem highly unlikely. I'm just one lucky fool with an ECG meter and the knowhow that goes with it. I'm guessing that other people probably have these kinds of traces all the time, without overt symptoms or significant mortal risks. It's just that most people never know about it, because they don't have the equipment, knowhow or curiousity(or worry/concern) to measure it.
However, it's not like I plunked down a significant sum for no good reason. I've been showing symptoms suggesting this direction for 5 years now, identified about 4 year ago. I never thought it was incredibly likely and what was causing my symptoms was something else entirely unrelated. Like, a pinched nerve causing random fleeting sore pains along the left carotid artery in the neck (Now identified as likely a tendon, possibly strained from my neck position while sitting.) and fleeting sharp pains in the outer shoulder left blade (Same straining due to the sitting position). So, in all likelihood, there's nothing to worry about. I'm just a worrywart that gets scared by all these 'heart attack' articles that always seem to popup at the top of google search results whenever you start googling any and all symptoms, lol. Because, google shows what people click on the most, and of course people who google these kinds of things (People who worry) tend to click on the scariest things ever, instead of material I prefer (The likeliest things ever.). Sometimes I think life would be better (Would've been better) if google's search results hadn't been molded by scaredy cats.
However, I'm still going to follow my guidelines, because I think staying up until 6 a.m. because work compels one to do so isn't good for you at all. And, enduring stressful workflows isn't good, either. So, I'm going to change my systems to make this happen, I just haven't completely figured out how yet. I have figured out a few things, like simplifying, and deploying as many resources as possible.
Boy, I feel like I'm on a roll tonight. Was it the adequate carb consumption? The 8 ounces of fish? The 10 TBSP of cocoa powder? The hard work of edging the front yard by hand? The fact I went to sleep at 11 p.m. instead of 6 a.m. yesterday? Whatever it is, I need to keep doing it, lol.
EDIT: I was probably using the ECG meter wrong, lol. I found out, through my extensive testing, that simply placing the ECG leads a mere 1 inch higher inverted the trace, making an otherwise perfectly healthy trace look like a freaking heart attack, lol. I've also concluded that two traces across the screen corresponds to 60 bpm, not the 29 BPM it was telling me at the time which I believed Okay, I still didn't answer my question, what was the cause of the slight burning chest sensation from staying up late if it wasn't something I thought the ECG was telling me? Well, I'll assume consistency, acid reflux.
What's interesting is that I was consistently getting a different trace (A good trace) after eating carbs. And, fish and cocoa noticeably reduced the 'gripping sensation' in the middle of my chest slightly above my two nipples and noticeably lifting my spirits and erecting my posture. Well, since the heart is located just above the sternum (Not higher up), and assuming sensations are felt in that general area, I think it's probably more realistic to assume heartburn. It's interesting that the action of relief feels like its quickly 'releasing a grip' when drinking the cocoa and eating the fish. I didn't think heartburn would feel like that, and I wouldn't think it's relief would feel like that? Well, it appears heartburn can last for hours, which it generally did. And the pain lasted long after the trace went back to normal; I would think a 'good trace' automatically excludes cardiac causes of pain? But, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the heart can cause chest pain/discomfort without affecting electrical activity? Seems intuitive.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/783372
My suspicion is confirmed. Still, I think my case is simply acid reflux. It's just that this every other day insomnia that's been happening in recent weeks has me a little worried; just happened tonight. I've always felt sleepy every night, even if it took hours for me to succumb to it. I googled "Can't fall sleep, no obvious reason" once, and some girl asked the reddit community about it because it happened to her and one person posted she had a friend who didn't sleep once, she then died. I suspected she was playing on the OP's fears, like the pyschopath she is, that something was terribly wrong and she invented this friend up because she couldn't use her own experiences to communicate that (For obvious reasons)[i.e., "I didn't sleep once, and I died", lol]. But, at the same time, I know that cardiac patients typically have issues with insomnia (As well as schizos), so it didn't seem completely implausible. If you just start having bouts of insomnia for no obvious reason, it doesn't seem unbelievable it could indicate you're about to die. But, I imagine that most cases of unexplained insomnia are ultimately not fatal because the vast majority of all insomnia cases (Explained and unexplained) are not, lol. And, I imagine most people aren't born with insomnia; it starts at some point.
Yep, I think the 10 TBPS of cocoa is causing tonight's insomnia, lol. I thought I could avoid it by spacing it throughout the day, but I get the feeling 10 TBPS of cocoa causes it no matter when it's consumed.
UPDATE: It's now 2 days past the event. The entire event lasted about 1 day long, judging from how long the main symptoms lasted and the noticeable limits on my exertion levels the morning after. While simple sleep deprivation and heartburn seem like most likely culprits, I can't rule out cardiac origins, and I can't use my ECG traces as evidence (Faulty evidence - a mere misplacement of 1 inch higher completely inverts the signal,lol.). After sleeping from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. (I guess my body thinks that's a fine time to sleep, want to change that, lol.), everything felt OK, and I drank the cocoa and it had no obvious relieving affect like it did yesterday morning. I also tried edging the lawn, and there was no obvious limits on my ability to do physical work. I didn't get winded and exhausted from this minor task, unlike yesterday morning. I'm guessing I could probably pedal a bike at an easy 10 mph without feeling like I'm reaching my maximum capacity and really stretching myself, and requiring an hour of napping afterwards, lol (I usually only require napping post-exercise If I'm pushing my maximum capacity of 17-20mph, and, even then, it doesn't feel like I'm reaching my 'maximum capacity', it feels like my leg muscles just can't exert more force, due to muscle fatigue.) And, I can quickly change the position of my head without feeling like I'm about to lose consciousness.
I'm going to continue developing and implementing my guidelines and then get back to business soon enough.
UPDATE: pedaled to the store today, and maxed out my physical capacity no problems! Maybe my problem was solely severe anxiety and/or sleep deprivation, nothing more.
And these crows keep cawwing around here, lol, they keep having me worried. :lol: I wonder, am I moving somewhere where black crows largely don't exist? lol, I just want parrots and sandpipers all around me, lol. Oh, yes, google is telling me that Hawaii and Africa is my kind of place. The tropics, that figures, something the more affordable parts of America largely isn't. :lol: Okay, that's it, I'm saving up for Hawaii. Preferably Honolulu or Maui, lol. (If you thought southern california was expensive...)
I've been having this consistent "something feels like it's hanging" sensation in my chest today, a sensation I've never really noticed before. It started becoming a little more noticeable recently, so I made some hot cocoa, drank it and it dissipated somewhat after about 20-30 seconds after the first drink. As much as I have a hard time believing it, since my ECG traces look perfectly fine all the while this is happening (And they've been looking fine ever since I've figured out how to properly use it) and I'm at an age where acid reflux/heartburn is far more common, evidence seems to suggest cardiac origins. Or it could be heartburn and I guess the molasses just takes that long to act, coincidentally about as fast as wine acts to cause inebriation. I should see a doc, but I don't have a legal vehicle and no one wants to take me (Apparently), so I guess my only options are uber or the ENT via 911. And the only place open now are the ERs. I might as well?
Coincidentally, it seems like this thread was what immediately preceded the first strike, so I guess I can take that as a sign I'm not moving to Texas? lol, I guess that's one way to send the message, lol. (Coincidentally, the idea of "I'm not moving to Texas" gives noticeable calming relief.)
And, my realtor asked me "Why are you really moving here? I mean /really/.", he said with an aggressive tone like that of a growling dog. I told him, "I'm moving my business operations down there.". I'm guessing he probably feared I was seeking a job in the area because so many others had done that already, as his tone immediately changed from one of 'stay out' to one of 'welcome to the area'. But, if I were to dig a little deeper, I guess I could've answered 'my parents are kicking me out of the house', lol. The thing is, I planned on moving anyway, they were just pressuring it just to happen a little sooner, so it's not like they were actually kicking me out, per se, I planned on it. But, perhaps they were simply trying to send a message of rejection, as was this realtor, which then triggered some kind of internal self-destruct button. But, it isn't supposed to happen like that, right? I mean, I always expected to move out, it's like the American thing to do and parents kick their children out of the house all the time, so I don't understand why doing so would trigger some kind of involuntary suicide. Maybe my suspicion was right, helplessness kills. I just didn't think it would happen like this, and never expected it to happen to begin with.
Maybe it's a simple back issue; I could only wish, lol.
Maybe it's simple anxiety. Anxiety is known to cause a feeling of 'chest pressure'. And, perhaps cocoa has a way of relieving anxiety symptoms. It's not entirely farfetched, and seems more readily believable. And, I want to believe it, lol. The fact that the hard exercise I did may have helped deplete magnesium/cocoa/carb levels, it wouldn't be too surprising that anxiety symptoms (chest pressure) would increase in intensity, and that consuming more cocoa would help relieve it.
Maybe I'm not destined for Texas. Perhaps I would be more comfortable with somewhere closer by. Maybe Texas is just one of those kinds of places that just sounds so great from all sorts of angles (I can afford it, I can grow crops using the rain, I have protections from Wall Street that aren't designed to throw me out onto the street, it doesn't snow, I love the humid weather), but in reality, I'm like the majority of people and could never really move so far away from home, which is why the largest population centers tend to be the oldest. Because most people just can never move too far away from home. Don't get me wrong, there's exceptions, but they aren't necessarily the norm. And moving to the nearest big city across the state isn't what I would consider "too far away".
Okay, let's say I move to Idaho. As much as I think the climate sucks, I seem to be somewhat more comfortable with that idea. Perhaps that's just because I haven't /really/ committed to it, lol. Maybe... I'm just afraid of commitment. Maybe that's it.
I wasn't afraid of committing to my business. But, that's largely because I didn't think I had a choice, and I knew running a successful business would be more satisfying than the alternatives. I didn't think I had a choice joining the navy, but I sure was terrified of going and when I got there, after they came out with this big needle like gun to test for TB ("We're going to inject a protein to test for TB", and that didn't sound like the common-jo vaccinnes I was expecting, and that gun just didn't look friendly.), I thought "fudge this" and tried immediately uncommitting myself, because I thought I ultimately had a choice if I tried hard enough. (Sure enough, I was right, but they resisted my every attempt to leave and I gave in.)
I guess what's terrifying me about this property is the train. Even though there's many houses that are far closer to it than my location, I'm still wary about the proximity. Perhaps I should check the property out before closing, to find out if I'm really comfortable with committing myself to it. That's what just about everyone suggests, though they never suggest to find out if you're "really comfortable with committing to it", they usually just want to make sure there's nothing really wrong with the property. But, I guess the proximity to the train is one of those things I might find 'really wrong' about the property. Darn it, I might just be flying to Houston, despite my wanting to pinch my pennies as much as possible before moving, lol.
I'm feeling more comfortable now, I wonder if the chest pressure is still there? Oh yeah, still there, maybe it's my back doing something to my ribs. My ribs are definitely irritated. And the location of the sensation seems too far above my heart, I know the heart isn't that tall. Well, the diagrams online seem to indicate this location, upper chest. I just find a huge heart problem so hard to believe, the timing of it seems really unlikely and remarkable. And, my ECG has always looked fine, since I've properly figured out how to use it (Granted, I didn't know how to properly use it when the symptoms were at their worst, but I'm absolutely positive I measured it too high. That doesn't mean the signal I saw was normal for high measurements, as the signal I saw looked similar to but not exactly like the one I'm seeing now when I measure it too high, suggesting the main signal was different than what it's like normally (A healthy trace), I just don't know if it was a significant difference. I wonder if I can recreate the exact signal I saw?). The only (seemingly) compelling evidence I have is the nature of the symptoms, thus far.
I'm feeling completely calm, now, after embracing the idea of checking out the property in person before the purchase, so I know that's what I need to do.
Huh, interesting. I notice if I hunch over, while standing, my BPM is 66 and the chest pressure goes away (My upper middle back also feels a little sore). If I stand straight up, my BPM goes upto 86 and the chest pressure emerges (back no longer feels sore). I noticed someone else on yahoo answers had this issue, and did she figure it out?
I know that I have kyphosis and that being hunched over is my 'natural posture'. With all this bike riding, it seems like I've jostled the joints, and I'm able to easily attain an upright posture, with the additional sensation of chest pressure and a BPM that's 20 points higher. The ECG trace is exactly the same between hunching over and standing straight up.
I want to speculate what this could be. Seems like it's probably benign (i.e., irritated back ligaments/muscles, transmitting the sensation through the ribs, causing the pressure sensation.), but it's also plausible cardiac might be causing the sensations. As to the BPM being 20 points higher, since both are in the standing position, I wouldn't think that the worload is actually higher? But, being hunched over, the heart is on the same level as the rest of the upper body, reducing overall workload demands since it has less gravity to work against, so it can pump at a lower rate for similar reasons to why sitting reduces BPM, and lying down reduces it further. So, the BPM increase is expected, as well as the ECG trace remaining normal between the two positions. The increased irritation in the back ligaments/vertebra is expected following a rather high velocity bike ride, and the fact that could also increase the sensation it creates in the chest while standing straight up isn't unsurprising (Assuming the two are directly linked, which they appear to be. When one hurts, the other doesn't, and vice versa, suggesting there's incongruence between the rib-cartilage spacing and the vertebra spacing, so when one is stretched beyond normal, it hurts/creates-sensations while the other doesn't being at normal spacing, and vice versa between the two positions. The incongruence between vertebral spacing and rib spacing is expected for a kyphotic anatomy.)
So all current experiences seem to be explained by normal physical mechanisms. Can't rule out cardiac origins as the cause of any of the current sensations, but seems to be completely unnecessary (And, also pretty unlikely.). This pressure sensation should decrease over time as the kyphotic posture is maintained and the vertebra have time to resolidify/become-less-irritated. In my experience, this usually takes several days.
As extra confirmation, there is a palpable increase in rib irritation when standing straight up, and decrease when hunching over.
I feel this light tingling sensation in my left hand, and I'm like "Oh noes, it's actually my heart", but then I lift both hands up and they're both tingling the same, presumably for the same non-cardiac reason. (Possibly irritated back nerves.)
Now, is there anything that could've irritated the joints from yesterday? Oh, yes, edging the entire front hard by hand could've certainly set the stage for today, and could've been further intensified by the high speed bike ride. It apparently also caused something hard to pop out in the inner right foot, which I pushed back in. At first I suspected it was swelling from heart failure as I've never seen it before, but it was too hard to be that and the fact it "pushed right back in" was highly unusual for swelling. And I was pounding my right foot on the ground repeatedly yesterday smashing the edger into the edge repeatedly, and apparently this can pop out the tendon. Pretty common in sports with high ground-feet impact.
Now, why would cocoa reduce the feeling of chest sensations about 30 seconds after drinking it? Apparently it works as an excellent painkiller, just like wine. (Oh, by the way, drinking molasses sweetened cocoa powder in hot water followed by a swig of red wine creates the most delicious combination of flavors I've enjoyed in a while. Eating chocolate bars with wine doesn't taste nearly as good, and neither does that 'chocolate red wine' I've seen in stores. Hmmm... I wonder... what if I mix hot water, molasses, cocoa powder and wine... would it taste nearly as good? Maybe it's like hot brownies and vanilla ice cream; you need the complement of hot and cold to create that ultra delicious affect. Eating warm ice cream with room temperature brownies doesn't taste nearly as good.)
None of these explanations seem to immediately explain the nature of the relief yesterday and the day before from fish and cocoa, however, as purely back/rib explanations of the 'gripping sensations' in the upper chest, and relief there of ('releasing the grip'), seem intuitively implausible but not impossible. However, acid reflux/GERD doesn't seem farfetched, since both molasses and salmon have high calcium content. Oh, look, salmon is also an effective pain reliever according to google. Who would've thought?
So, it's plausible this is just one big back/acid reflux problem. I knew it was wise to give myself plenty of time to figure this out and take a break from the freaking tidal wave of customers in recent days, even if I'm losing a hundred or two. And, taking a break during the less busy period to try to figure out a far more efficient system to take care of the high volume of business during the busier period seems more than sane. Yep, no regrets. I'm enjoying this relief. And, with that in mind, I want to reduce my cocoa intake to increase sleepiness at night. This feeling like the cocoa is forcing me to stay up until 7 a.m. when I can no longer feel any more tired is for the birds.
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Yesterday night, had a "can't breath" episode, felt my like my lungs were caving in and I was going to faint. The affect lasted for about 30 minutes, and it followed the same nature of nocturnal panic attacks earlier this year around Jaunary: always happened 60-150 minutes after falling asleep, lasted 30 minutes. Except, this one was strange because I felt completely calm when going to bed having resolved it was a simple back issue. I did start trying to restore the kyphotic curve earlier that night, and a particular spot on the back was sensitive and turning to my right (as I did) certainly was irritating the vertebra/nerve there, started getting quickly repeating sharp localized shooting pains in that particular spot. I probably found the culprit; it seems like that vertebra was responsible for more nocturnal panic attacks than I can count back in January. However, I do find it odd that this 'shortness of breath' episode happened just two nights after 'the attack', as it fits the 'nocturnal paroxysmal dyspnea' symptom that's characteristic of heart failure. Reading the literature on these episodes, it seems to also happen in Sleep Apnea where the body can't get enough oxygen, so I guess the brain panics? Makes sense. "Not enough oxygen -> red alert! red alert! Get up and go find some oxygen!". Coincidentally, on the day of 'the attack', my oxygen levels were staying at 94, never budging above, whereas any other day, they're almost always at 97/98. I would expect a less efficiently pumping heart, like one under attack, would reduce the amount of oxygen it could pump through the body, which seems like it would lower SpO2 levels. So, as much as I want to solely blame that vertebra for these symptoms (And I could have reason to do so, since I've really fudged it up over the last week riding my not-very-comfortable bike at high speeds over bumpy roads, driving my unsuspended car over the same roads, and edging the lawn with vigor, and just starting making an attempt to resolidify the back last night, so it was probably in that sensitive chrysalis stage.), I can't ignore that 'the attack' and this soon-to-follow nocturnal shortness of breath episode seems like it would neatly fit into some kind of trend-line for a textbook case of an elderly person with advancing heart failure. But, gosh, at 29? :?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3661181/
Kyphosis, aggravated by computer work (Hey, my kind of work), was associated with chest pains, shortness of breath once a month, etc. according to this guy's 'straight back syndrome' (Symptoms present when the back is straight which, indeed they do.); It's a 'pseudo-cardiac' condition while not a true cardiological condition, and MVP shows up in 64% of cases. (Mitrial valve prolapse, which doesn't seem unlikely showing up in 10% of the general population and 64% of this particular subpopulation, and having symptoms highly similar to heart failure (chest pains, exercise intolerance, shortness of breath,etc). MVP is not associated with an increased risk of actual heart attacks or heart failure, according to wikipedia.)
It appears this guy's condition was resolved by chiropractic manipulations (Of course), and complete resolution took 24 months.
And, oh, now that we're on the topic of MVP, here's an interesting statistic.
Around 10% of the general poopulation at age 40 have MVP, while only 2% of the general population at age 80 have it. Why?
[One might conclude that it's become more common over time, as being a sign of increasing genetic defects in the American genepool, being increasingly subject to various genotoxic factors through the food supply and air supply. Possibly even water-supply, though that seems more tightly regulated. Or, perhaps, 'bad genes' have proliferated in a modern environment where 'bad genes' have had a chance to proliferate like rarely before in history; it's harder to imagine that, however, as I would think MVP genes would be normally distributed across the general population, and there would be no particularly negative or positive selection pressures for MPV. People aren't screening for MPV with hiring, for example, and if there was a trend in that case, I would expect it might tend to be negative. But, maybe it's true, geeks, along with all their bad genes, are inheriting the earth that increasingly rewards technical skills. It's harder to imagine that generally, however, as the 'technical population' is quite small compared to the MVP population, and I don't think geeks were inheriting the earth back in the 1960s-1970s, when most 40 year olds were born at the time of the study. The technical population was even smaller, then.]
[Or, you might conclude that it's always been roughly the same, it's just that people with MVP tend to die younger than their counterparts, reflecting the statistics at age 80.]
[Or, you might conclude that most people get MVP fixed sometime before 80 when symptoms start really presenting before then.]
[My guess is that it's really a combination of the two previous factors]
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I'm getting rid of all sources of avoidable fears in my daily business. I noticed that this area played a key role in episodes of worsened symptoms, and I'm not entirely sure if it's due to the chemicals involved and/or the fear thereof; by eliminating it, I eliminate both possibilities. While I don't think this particular fear triggered anything, it's daily exposure might be a contributing factor. And, I already know the chemicals aren't good for me, so I'm only doing myself a favor regardless of its emotional impact.
So, the essence of the business changes.
-Streamline so that projects never risk becoming too late (Too much stress involved when projects pile up.)
-Get rid of bad chemicals (Health hazards, in addition to stress contributions.); if bad chemicals are required, ensure proper self-containment.
-Avoid bad/unduly-stressful customers/clients, regardless of the money involved (Stress); Granted, if one is at the financial point where starving is more stressful than working with a particular client, then by all means, do whatever it takes. I'm sure the psychological impact of working with a difficult client pales in comparison to starving.
-Never work late, never work past ordinary bedtimes (Disrupts circadian rhythms; Stress)
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8/7/2016
Suddenly felt fatigued, like a type of overwhelming fatigue I've never felt before in my life. I took my ECG, the trace looked relatively normal but the BPM was abnormally low for standing, 60ish, as opposed to 70ish/80ish. Started feeling some kind of radiating sensations(I guess some might call it pain?) in my upper chest along with the same kind of sensations/pain radiating down my left arm at time. I felt very tempted to call 911 but I didn't want to make a big ado over some spinal/nerve problem (Which I suspected), then groceries came home and I grabbed the grape tomatoes and ate them. Suddenly, a 'sprinkly sensation' of relief washed over me and the fatigue slowly vanished, and the radiating sensations didn't come back. My BPM returned to the 70s.
What's going on? Do I have a nutritional deficiency that the tomatoes satisfied? Or, did the lycopene use its mythical clot busting powers to my advantage? (According to some article, lycopene apparently prevents strokes but the vitamins in the tomato did not.)
I ate some apple sauce earlier, but to no affect. I would presume I wasn't hypoglycemic, as I would expect the apple sauce to do something.
Anyway, this experience was compelling, because one of my mates back in the navy told me (Who was from puerto rico), told me, "Tomatoes are the answer, my friend, they are the answer."
Anyway, it kind of feels like the grim reaper is knocking at my door. Which I would completely /not expect/ at 29. While the gripping chest sensations two day ago was kind of unexpected and didn't seem particularly severe by themselves, this 'follow up' definitely felt like I was going downhill fast.
I guess it's possible I have an iron deficiency (Not that uncommon, comparatively). But, I get a very strange feeling I might have a clot in the heart, despite the statistical unlikeliness of that. Statistically speaking, an iron deficiency would seem far more likely /if/ it was someone else my age.
--------------------------------
I remember what the navy doctor told me. Take some Naproxen and if that relieves it, you know it's back pain. Remembering this advice, I decided to take some Excedrin. Noticeably relieved the pain within 5 minutes (Though still present to some degree), while the aspirin I took previously didn't really do anything as far as I could tell the first time the mild 'gripping pain' took place two days ago. And, it's been lasting for the last 45 minutes. My 'spirit' is back, and I don't feel like I'm about to fold over.
Someone apparently took excedrin, which apparently worked the first two times, but didn't the (third?), presumably. http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=328269#post6068590
So, I guess this could be just the first time it works. But, for my age and knowing I have some kyphosis, back pain/nerve-irritation would seem far more likely. The above poster is notably older.
However, the sudden wave of persisting exceptional fatigue that I've never felt before was unusual, relieved by the tomatoes. I could speculate I needed the carbs, but the apple sauce previously didn't relieve it. Maybe it was the iron. And the prickly/sprinkly sensations that radiated in the upper chest and spread down the left arm along the thumb/index/middle-finger (the radial nerve) was also unusual, but it's not exceedingly unlikely that nerve would've been irritated along with the back. Seems to be a common path for my arm being numb in the morning (Sleeping on the nerve).
I suppose exceptional thoracic back pain could cause exceptional fatigue, it's just weird I've never experienced it before. I guess there's a first time for everything?
Time will tell if this is a back pain issue. My ECG traces looked completely normal while the mild 'gripping pain' persisted two days ago. And, they've looked completely normal all today, even when the pain/fatigue/sprinkly-radiating-sensations was at its worst. So, my ECG traces would support the 'back pain' hypothesis moreso than the alternative. I've never seen errant ECG traces, since I've learned how to properly used it.
The 'short of breath' nocturnal panic attack, however, is just so associated with heart issues. lol (But, apparently it happens to other people; It doesn't appear, however, that it lasts a good 30 minutes - it seems like they get over it in a minute or two, something I would find exceedingly difficult. I'm still gasping for breath by the 10 minute mark.)
Man, just so confusing. Some evidence doesn't fit the back pain hypothesis, and a lot of evidence doesn't fit the heart issue hypothesis.
I'm assuming I need tomatoes, however, so I'm eating a can of tomato paste a day from now on. It can't hurt, I say, lol.
And... about 2 hours after taking the excedrin, it seems the escalating anxiety and chest pressure seems to be slowly returning. But the broad chest pain seems to be gone. If this turns out to be some kind of spinal issue, ultimately, I'm seeing a chiropractor because this is crazy to deal with on a daily basis. I guess by now, I would expect the vasodilatory affects of the cocoa to be dissipating, but I would think there's a chance me sitting in this chair, working, is irritating something. The left leg seems to lightly tingle, for some reason, indicating possible lumbar issues; it seems like this 'left side' phenomena is a common theme.
Seems to be notable that my heart rate seems to be 65bpm while standing, when it's usually upper 70s/80s. It seems be a common thread with this chest pressure/anxiety feelings, unusually low BPM while standing. Seems like it stays roughly the same while sitting (60 bpm). Why wouldn't the heart pick up the pace to compensate for the increased workload while standing? No doubt that has something to do with the feelings of anxiety. Historically, anxiety caused by my back indicated the back was well on the road to solidification, and by laying flat on my back on the floor for some amount of time, the anxiety would disappear for at least a couple of hours. Doesn't seem it's been working as well as it has used to, but I'll try again, just in case it might this time.
Just got back, seems like it's worked a bit in relieving the anxiety.
I remember back in the navy, people would tell me "You're like an old man."; it's true I was 6 years older than most in there, but I didn't think it was likely I was just like any other senile elderly person out there in the world, so I thought they were exaggerating. But, if I'm having significant heart problems now related to 'age', maybe I really was a lot older than I thought was, biologically. The funny thing is, though, is that I measured my pulse pressure ratio (Where you measure the BP of the legs and arms or some such and calculate a ratio), which is supposed to be an indicator of overall systemic atherosclerosis, and my pulse pressure ratio was perfect, what I would expect for someone my age. So to have age-related heart problems often related to systemic atherosclerosis would be kind of unbelievable. If there were some amount of relevant CAD, it would have to be awfully localized. And why would it be so localized? God only knows, probably. If only it didn't end up making me worry that much more than I should, I would say something like "There's probably relevant emotionally-related selection mechanisms that would localize the CAD so much.". Gosh, I just did. Eh, does it really matter? I would've been already thinking it, lol.
Despite all this that's been going on, I haven't been experiencing the 'elephant on my chest' or 'shortage of breath' yet. (Only when sleeping, apparently. I'm not calling 911 over that because there's plenty of people that appear to have this happen to them, and they don't seem to be suffering from heart issues. And, it seems like I can always blame my vertebra for it, I just don't know how it's responsible. Whether it's been causing vasoconstriction through the pain it endures, thus reducing cardiac efficiency and thus oxygen delivery while sleeping, or it's been directly affecting the lungs somehow. Or, maybe, it's just causing the brain to panic because it's receiving pain signals while falling asleep. I started having regular nocturnal panic attacks this January, but the shortage of breath type only happened once. Usually it was just a feeling of "Oh god, oh god, there's something extremely wrong!" feeling when waking, or intense shivering, or some such. Almost always there was a feeling of panic, but I didn't really embrace the panic by like the fourth time it happened and it had a name: Nocturnal panic attack. By that time, it was like "Oh, look, another nocturnal panic attack I'm going to have to walk of for 30 minutes, now."; usually the intensity of the episode varied, most of the time I would just mysteriously wake up for no known reason (And I suspected my heart was racing like in all my panic attacks after I recognized the "waking up 60-120 minutes after falling asleep" pattern after a while, but I never checked.), but some times it was quite intense.) That would be a sure fire sign to call 911. The prickly/sprinkly sensation just doesn't seem like 'pain', to me. It's a strong sensation, but it isn't painful. Just seemingly plenty worrisome.
But, the strong radiating prickly/sprinkly sensation in the chest and along the left arm following the radial nerve path (Thumb/index/middle) during one of these extreme fatigue episodes, sure has/had me worried.
I wonder if this turns out to be some kind of vast 'spinal only' issue, if I'll ever get back to normal?
This spinal pain feels like it's getting intense. I will definitely pop some NSAID before bed time and wish for the best.
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8/8/2016 2:59 a.m.
This thing has been acting weird.
Right now, I'm kind of convinced these "chest pain" episodes I've had are simply spinal phenomena radiating out towards the center of the chest, because I've noticed the top part of my chest is almost always sore to the touch in the center, 3rd rib from the top. And, so is the two ribs it's attached to, on the left and right. And, so is the vertebra those two ribs are attached to. I've always noticed that particular vertebra to have been bugged for many many months, and never really thought much of it. I've speculated it's played a large role in much unusual phenomena I've endured, because it's always seemed noticeably more irritated than my lower vertebra that's always bugged by the way it feels, and since it's higher up, it potentially has greater influence on breathing and cardiac functions should a spinal injury happen to be there. But, that's just speculation. It could be that it's always been bugged regardless if my mid-vertebra is bugged because something /else/ is bugging it, but that is also speculation.
Anyway, I'm just so convinced that these 'chest pain' episodes are simply are an irritated vertebra up there. Now why would it create a 'gripping pain' sensation (And 'relieving a grip' sensation when eating fish and cocoa?), and why would it cause a feeling of chest pressure and strong prickly/sprinkly sensations radiating in the chest migrating towards the left arm along the radial nerve that just /happens/ to go along with an incredible fatigue that immediately comes from nowhere, I do not know. When the episodes happen, they seem to be so convincing of some heart attack in progress, despite (seemingly) perfectly normal EKG traces. But, since Excedrin relieved the strong radiating chest pressure and I started to feel like I could just walk around like normal earlier tonight, it almost seems like it's just regular, albeit debilitating, musculo-skeletal pain that's relieved by NSAIDs. But, since Excedrin has plenty of aspirin in it, I can't rule out that possibly its blood thinning is why. It's just that aspirin didn't seem to have any effect on preventing the first episode of the 'gripping pain' two days ago, and my age, and the knowledge I have kyphosis (Which the meps doctor incredulously asked "You're not having any pain there?"), I'd normally find musculo-skeletal pain to be highly suspect in anybody else like me. But the last episode was so ungodly intense, it seems to be so hard to believe it's /just/ neuromuscularskeletal pain. But, hey, I'm feeling just fine right now and I feel like I can run as fast as I ever could. And, when the intense chest pressure struck earlier tonight, I could easily push out 30 pushups while it was happening. (Wow, it's amazing that I still have my pushup strength. Before I joined the navy, I could barely muster 3.) So, I don't feel like I'm 'going downhill fast', but when the last episode struck with the ungodly fatigue with the strong radiating prickly/sprinkly in the chest and left arm, it sure did seem like it. :lol:
Oh... what triggered that episode?
I remember I felt tired, so I laid in bed, and laid on my right side. Out of nowhere, it felt like something happened in my vertebra (laying down on my right side seems like it can cause my heart to 'kick' or otherwise act weird when the back is acting up, but I've always assumed it was relatively harmless. It also seems to correspond to my nocturnal panic attacks, which don't always seem nearly as harmless but the last time it happened was back in January, not including the shortage of breath episode yesterday night, so I've assumed the back was OK by now. But, since the gripping sensations happened two days ago starting that morning, and then the shortage of breath yesterday night, and then the intense fatigue this afternoon, I guess not? I wonder if driving the car with a rough ride down a bumpy road and riding my unsuspended bike starting this week has really been upsetting it?) and blood rushed up my head, which kind of spooked me and then I suddenly felt awake. When I got up, that's when I noticed the intense persisting fatigue. Then the strong radiating sensations in the chest/left arm followed.
I'm suspecting I've screwed my back up, which then triggers the various episodes I've experienced when laying down (So far, on my right side, which does noticeably irritate the middle vertebra in a way laying on my back and left side does not.), and /this/ batch of episodes has been hitting with a vengeance. This batch of episodes doesn't seem to be the same garden variety, "Oh, here's some panicky feelings you can walk off for the next 30 minutes", of January, it's more like, "You're going to die, sucker! Say your last prayers.", lol.
[Btw, 'out of the blue' nocturnal panic attacks have happened to one other person in their 50s sometime shortly before their first major heart attack. So, while I would assume that the 'out of the blue nocturnal panic attacks" I had in January are just like any other person's nocturnal panic attacks, and not a sign of anything particularly worrisome (Other than a sign of 'being stressed out' or something benign like that), this recent batch of episodes seems to suggest they might have been a warning just like in her case. Just at 29, it seems kind of unbelievable? And, it's 4:00 a.m. and I still don't feel tired. Get. Off. The. Computer. Now, lol.]
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8/8/2016 3:51 p.m.
So, I'm pretty confident this is a back issue with some possible cardiological involvement. Because, now the back spasms have become prominent and it's hard to deny those aren't going on, lol. Now, the question is if cardio is involved, and if so, how?
ECG traces don't seem to suggest it. But, my doctor suspects I have angina. Except, angina typically lasts for less than 30 minutes according to the internet, this seems to last until I figure out how to make it stop. So far, cocoa seems to provide temporary relief for 2+ hours while Excedrin seems to last longer.
