sunmoonstars
09-04-14, 20:25
I’ve been having some awful health issues lately and I’d love some advice…
I signed up for a gym membership a month ago and went for the first week with no issues. I had an endoscopy on 3/14 and found out I have a hiatal hernia which has been causing me to have extremely bad heart burn for the past 2-3 years. It was so bad that I lost 30 pounds a couple years ago because I couldn’t eat at all. I was told to up the dose of my acid reflux medicine (pantoprazole) from 40mg daily to 80mg. Not too long after I doubled up on the medication I went to the gym and 11 minutes into doing cardio I felt like I was going to pass out. I got this strange feeling, couldn’t catch my breath and just felt generally very lightheaded and dizzy. I left and went home. I assumed I had a panic attack and resumed my work out on my treadmill at home for 22 minutes. A few minutes after I finished my vision started getting fuzzy and I knew I was on the verge of passing out. I ate a piece of candy but I still felt dizzy and nervous. I’ve almost passed out one other time in my life and it was from being out in the heat and not eating or drinking anything. This felt the same as that time, that’s how I know I was about to faint. I quit taking the pantoprazole and switched to omeprazole (only 40mg daily) and I’ve been off the high dose for about 2 weeks now.
I went back to the gym twice following this incident. Once with my mom , which went ok, I had a few panicky moments but I got through 35 minutes of cardio and didn’t feel like I was going to pass out. The second time I went alone after work and I moved very slowly but did cardio for 30 minutes that time. I felt ok when I left that time too. This was 2 weeks ago.
I met with my therapist yesterday and he suggested that I keep trying to exercise because he thought it was just anxiety. He said I need to exercise so that I won’t be afraid of it and it won’t cause me to panic. I went home yesterday and used the treadmill for 30 minutes. Just like before, a few minutes after I finished I got lightheaded and my vision got blurry and I almost passed out again. This time was different though, I got a series of several heart palpitations before I felt like I was going to faint. These were probably the worst palpitations I’ve ever had, I’d guess about 6-7 in a row. Usually I just have 1, maybe 2-3 in a row.
I read up on the pantoprazole and it says that it can cause low magnesium which can cause dizziness, fast or uneven heart rate, jittery feeling and choking feeling (I also had this, it was a weird feeling I’ve never felt before). I thought for sure this medicine was the reason I had almost passed out before. But it happened again after I stopped taking that particular medication. I started getting palpitations after I started taking birth control, but not like the ones I had yesterday.
I made an appointment with a cardiologist but it isn’t until 4/30. I’m upset, but more than anything, I’m ANGRY. I’m 25 years old, I shouldn’t be having these issues. I know people in their 60’s that don’t have issues like this. I thought after the first time it happened that it was diabetes ( possible low blood sugar that caused me to almost faint) because my dad is diabetic (type 2). I’m angry at my parents for even having children when they have so many health problems. I feel miserable and I don’t feel like myself anymore. I KNOW there is something wrong with my heart. I was angry for a week when I thought it was diabetes, not I’ll be angry that it might be my heart until my appointment. Both times I felt the fainting coming on I had eaten between 950-1,110 calories, so I don’t believe it was from that. I was drinking water throughout both work outs. I just feel that there is nothing else it could possibly be. I can’t live like this. I shouldn’t have to see a cardiologist at 25!! I hate my life and I hate that my whole body is falling apart on me. All I hear is “ you need to exercise to keep your heart and lungs strong”. How the hell can I if I almost faint every time I try to?? All I want to do is lose a little bit of weight and tone up for the summer and obviously it’s impossible to do.
I signed up for a gym membership a month ago and went for the first week with no issues. I had an endoscopy on 3/14 and found out I have a hiatal hernia which has been causing me to have extremely bad heart burn for the past 2-3 years. It was so bad that I lost 30 pounds a couple years ago because I couldn’t eat at all. I was told to up the dose of my acid reflux medicine (pantoprazole) from 40mg daily to 80mg. Not too long after I doubled up on the medication I went to the gym and 11 minutes into doing cardio I felt like I was going to pass out. I got this strange feeling, couldn’t catch my breath and just felt generally very lightheaded and dizzy. I left and went home. I assumed I had a panic attack and resumed my work out on my treadmill at home for 22 minutes. A few minutes after I finished my vision started getting fuzzy and I knew I was on the verge of passing out. I ate a piece of candy but I still felt dizzy and nervous. I’ve almost passed out one other time in my life and it was from being out in the heat and not eating or drinking anything. This felt the same as that time, that’s how I know I was about to faint. I quit taking the pantoprazole and switched to omeprazole (only 40mg daily) and I’ve been off the high dose for about 2 weeks now.
I went back to the gym twice following this incident. Once with my mom , which went ok, I had a few panicky moments but I got through 35 minutes of cardio and didn’t feel like I was going to pass out. The second time I went alone after work and I moved very slowly but did cardio for 30 minutes that time. I felt ok when I left that time too. This was 2 weeks ago.
I met with my therapist yesterday and he suggested that I keep trying to exercise because he thought it was just anxiety. He said I need to exercise so that I won’t be afraid of it and it won’t cause me to panic. I went home yesterday and used the treadmill for 30 minutes. Just like before, a few minutes after I finished I got lightheaded and my vision got blurry and I almost passed out again. This time was different though, I got a series of several heart palpitations before I felt like I was going to faint. These were probably the worst palpitations I’ve ever had, I’d guess about 6-7 in a row. Usually I just have 1, maybe 2-3 in a row.
I read up on the pantoprazole and it says that it can cause low magnesium which can cause dizziness, fast or uneven heart rate, jittery feeling and choking feeling (I also had this, it was a weird feeling I’ve never felt before). I thought for sure this medicine was the reason I had almost passed out before. But it happened again after I stopped taking that particular medication. I started getting palpitations after I started taking birth control, but not like the ones I had yesterday.
I made an appointment with a cardiologist but it isn’t until 4/30. I’m upset, but more than anything, I’m ANGRY. I’m 25 years old, I shouldn’t be having these issues. I know people in their 60’s that don’t have issues like this. I thought after the first time it happened that it was diabetes ( possible low blood sugar that caused me to almost faint) because my dad is diabetic (type 2). I’m angry at my parents for even having children when they have so many health problems. I feel miserable and I don’t feel like myself anymore. I KNOW there is something wrong with my heart. I was angry for a week when I thought it was diabetes, not I’ll be angry that it might be my heart until my appointment. Both times I felt the fainting coming on I had eaten between 950-1,110 calories, so I don’t believe it was from that. I was drinking water throughout both work outs. I just feel that there is nothing else it could possibly be. I can’t live like this. I shouldn’t have to see a cardiologist at 25!! I hate my life and I hate that my whole body is falling apart on me. All I hear is “ you need to exercise to keep your heart and lungs strong”. How the hell can I if I almost faint every time I try to?? All I want to do is lose a little bit of weight and tone up for the summer and obviously it’s impossible to do.