I *heart* me

When I was younger I used to watch a Sitcom called "Only When I Laugh" which was set in a hospital ward where three mismatched patients would cause havoc each week and make fun of the Asian doctor called "Gupta". This program and the Carry On Doctor films has always lead me to think that a stay in hospital would be quite nice. Well. I got my chance this weekend! Lets rewind a little. Thursday was just another crappy slow day at work, but I began to have feelings of pressure on my chest also accompanied by the odd irregular heartbeat - which I have had before in the past (usually due to too much Coffee). This abated though and in the evening I felt fine. Friday morning was again no issue. At around 10 am at work I started to feel unwell again with increased pressure across my chest and I was a little short of breath. I did not feel very unwell and it did not stop me from doing my work as usual. I didn't feel faint or anything - just felt like I had a child lying on my chest preventing me from breathing correctly. By the end of the day it still had not gone and I was getting a little concerned and decided to see the local emergency doctor after work who checked me over. He thought that it could be stress related but he also thought he could hear a heart murmur through his stethoscope and tried to hook me up to their ECG machine (the machine that goes "ping") for a scan - which didn't work - at all. So he ordered me to go directly to the Clinical Decisions Unit (CDU) at the local hospital to be checked over. I had to call my wife from home as I was not even allowed to walk back to get her to drive me. I still felt ok too at this point - my heart rate was elevated but I felt ok - probably just scared. My poor wifey went into panic mode and had to call my parents over to feed the kids as she was in mid evening meal cook. We went to the CDU and booked in at about 1830. I was checked over by a nurse an hour later with the ECG machine and blood tests but all appeared normal. I was still feeling ok too. Hours later the other doctors checked me over and agreed that they could hear a Apex Heart Murmur which could be a blood flow murmur but they were not sure. I was then checked again by another more senior doctor who checked me for other stuff (Marfanoid Features??) but agreed that my heart was exhibiting these murmur symptoms. My blood test was fine though and there were no other obvious signs (sweaty, swollen ankles, double vision). So I was admitted overnight and was left by the wife at around midnight who had already been home to get my clothes. Meanwhile, one of the nurses was taking lots of blood for some cultures to check for infections which would take about 3 days to grow. I managed to get to sleep after 1am and was woken at 7am for breakfast and more nursy TLC. I was seen by a senior doctor a little after 9am who listened to my chest again and thought that it was a only a flow murmur and I was told I would most likely have to attend as an outpatient for a Echo scan on my heart. I went for a chest X-Ray at about 1030am which showed nothing obvious either and was left to sit on my bed, watching elderly patients nearby slowly dying and waiting for a decision to be made by the Cardiologist who I was told would be round to see me today. I had my delicious hospital lunch (cardboard sandwiches) and dinner (soggy pasta and salty mash potatoes followed by over sweetened apple pie and magma crust custard). Nothing happened until about 10pm when the senior doctors and the Cardiologist did their rounds and they took 5 mins to discharge me. I have been told to avoid caffeine and spicy food until they know what it is exactly. I phoned my Dad and after I pretended I had to stay in for a month he came to get me at about 11pm. However, when I got home and went to bed I started to have real bad pressure on my chest again and began to hyperventilate and feel very faint. My heart rate felt normal (to me) though so I rode it out with some yoga breathing moves provided by my wife and some "head between the legs and deep breathing" action. After a bit of water and chocolate (just in case it was due to low blood sugar) I managed to get back in bed and after 30 mins or so I slept until morning.

Was this a possible panic/anxiety attack?

I feel ok now but I do still have a feeling of pressure/discomfort on my chest and feel slightly out of breath at times. Maybe when the blood cultures are grown they will discover some sort of infection - who knows. I will have to go back to the docs some time next week to hand in my letter of discharge but also to inform him of the "Panic Attack" situation last night. I will also be making an appointment with a local osteopath for a skeletal check up as the pain I am feeling in my chest does feel as if its actually on my breastbone and surrounding area. The osteopath in question has done wonders for my whole family in the past - so I am expecting great things. Maybe being hunched over a keyboard for 8 hours a day has finally done something to me! Needless to say I shall be "self certing" myself off work for as long as possible. Enough time to chill as much as I can and time to see the doctors and the osteopath. It could be related to stress I suppose although I don't feel I have anything to be stressed about. Work is easy and my home life is very good. I will be going back to see the Cardiologist in around 10 weeks for the Echo Scan so until then - and when the results come in a few weeks after - I will not know for sure if there is something wrong with my heart. But at the moment it all points to nothing serious.