Had a scare today.

[randian]

Went to the ER with mild chest pain and chest tightness. Tests suggested possibility of clots and a calcium score of 30. Lung CT showed no clots (yay!). Not sure what the chest X-Ray showed, I never saw it. They tried for 5 hours to get my heart rate down far enough to get a heart CT with contrast done. It never worked. 3 pills of Metoprolol, 2 IV push of Metoprolol, and 1 IV push of Atavan later and they still couldn't get my heart rate below 90 (about 99 when admitted). Plus plenty of now-useless nitroglycerin. So no heart CT got done and no direct evidence of blockages or plaque buildup. But the two heart enzymes a few hours apart looked good, as did the EKG, so no heart attack. No additional pain from light exertion, and the tightness is positional dependent (worse lying down, almost invisible sitting or standing up).

So in the end I have an appointment with a cardiologist for a stress test since there were no specific heart issues showing up. Oh yeah, the blood tests they did for cardiac enzymes revealed my glucose was 260. Not a real glucose loading test, but still! I don't know if those tests are screwed up by high vitamin C like handheld meters are. I suppose not, so another appointment with a PCP. I'm getting that glucose level even thought I'm not eating soft drinks or sugary snacks. Lame. Probable insulin resistance.

The doc said the calcium was "pinpoints" so apparently I'm in the beginning stages of calcification of my blood vessels and probably other tissues. I don't anticipate large blockages given that description, but what do I know? I've been taking the LEF Super-K for more than a month now along with 10000+mg C, 50,000 IU A, 10,000IU D, and 2,000 IU E daily. I've also been taking ~4800mg of lysine and 1600mg of proline daily, for about the same amount of time. Plus Bs, ALA, 50mg zinc (as zinc gluconate) and 400mg magnesium (as magnesium glycinate). I hope the score is better than it was when I started. How long does this sort of thing take to reverse? I'm definitely going to push back on statins if the doc recommends them. I don't know why they would, since I have no clotting issues.

[Johnwen]

Just from what I'm reading here it could be a vagus nerve problem?
After you went home did your pulse drop?

Here's a study on vagus nerve from the year 1911 and it hasn't been disproved yet 102years!!!
So it stays in the system!
The reason I like this study is they used human subjects back then.
Even though none were harmed in the project.
Anything you read after this is on dogs, cats, rats and monkeys.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article ... df/217.pdf

[randian]

Just from what I'm reading here it could be a vagus nerve problem?

I don't understand. That paper says that stimulating the vagus nerve slows down the heart. How is that related to the drugs' inability to slow down my heart? Are you saying the vagus nerve is sending bad signals to my heart? Is that even a correctable problem, if it is a problem?

After you went home did your pulse drop?

I didn't measure it at the time. A quick check right now estimates my resting heart rate is ~100, just like the heart monitors at the hospital were showing. It did get as high as 108 in the ER. Situationally-induced stress? I guess my heart just likes to run fast. I thought it somewhat disturbing, but neither the nurses nor the ER doc saw fit to mention it as an item of concern. They were frustrated the meds didn't work, but chalked it up to "just doesn't work on some people".

My BP was good, 122/75 on admittance, and as low as 110/65, probably a side effect of the nitroglycerin patch (which I was told dilates blood vessels) they gave me. I can't be certain (lacking a control) but I hope the good BP is due in part to my supplement regimen.

The nurses were nonchalantly talking about putting a stent in if any (they didn't qualify that by percentage) blockage was found. Given what I've learned about stents from this forum, I found that quite distressing.

[Johnwen]

[randian]

[Johnwen]

[randian]

Drop down on the LC probiotics to Once a day away from the antibiotics!!!! Geeez talk about starting a war!!!

Ok.

Did they give you a shot for the pull or did they use sedation?

Shots. Four to the gums and one very painful one to the palate. I'm glad the brain is very efficient at forgetting pain. I also had a full cleaning on that side of the mouth prior to the extraction. Next week they're cleaning the other side and extracting one tooth on that side.

Calcium testing shows plaque that has stabilized and got coated over with calcium.

Is Pauling therapy effective at eliminating or reducing these plaques, or are these a different kind than those that form the blockages that some here say they have successfully reduced or eliminated with Pauling therapy?

[eDOC]

Anxiety > Excessive cholinergic discharge > palpitations, should have given you an antichoinergic drug.

GERD & Angina have similar & at times atypical symptoms.

GERD increases the risk of angina & coronary vessel vasospasm.

[randian]

Anxiety > Excessive cholinergic discharge > palpitations, should have given you an antichoinergic drug.

If I was suffering palpitations the docs didn't mention it.

[ofonorow]

Randian, sorry to hear about your difficulty, and I defer to the very experienced johnwen, who seems quite sure based on the information that you provided that this isn't a heart issue per se.

It is fascinating about the vagus nerve and the old finding that without it's influence - that the heart beats at approximately the rate yours is.

As far as GERD, in my experience, it occurs approximately 6 hours after a meal if one is lying down. (As if when the contents of the stomach empty into the lower intestine, the sphincter between the stomach and esophagus relaxes, releasing some stomach acid into the esaphagus.) I have tried the tablespoon of vinegar - which does work, probably by shocking the sphincter closed. However, a very recent solution that is much more pleasant - I take a glass of whole milk just before bed. For what ever reason, this works.

And this may or may not be related to the vagus nerve, but when I was in the hospital for what turned out to be the finding of a "lesion" on my pancreas, I had chest pains. So I reported them, went through a thallium stress test, and passed with flying colors. During the operation on the pancreas, they removed a very "distressed" gallbladder. I have a feeling some of the "heart pains" I felt had to do with gallstones.

Anyway, johnwen, is there a connection between gallbladder/stones and the vagus nerve?

[randian]

Went into the ER again for significantly more right-side chest pain. Same diagnostic non-result. The attending ER doc ordered me 25mg metoprolol, 500mg metformin 2x/day, and low-dose (81mg) enteric-coated aspirin. I have an appointment with the cardiologist later this week.

The metoprolol is a beta blocker. I read here that they stop the body's production of CoQ10. I've been taking 200mg/day of ubiquinol, supposedly the equivalent of 400mg ubiquinone. In any case, should I up my intake of CoQ10 to compensate?

It's not clear to me what the doc is trying to accomplish with the metoprolol. I was showing no arrythmias on the EKG, just a too-fast regular sinus rhythm. I took one dose so far today and my heart rate is still about 100. If GI distress wigs out the vagus nerve to let the heart run unregulated, and I am suffering constant GI distress right now (not to mention constant right-side chest pain), now doubt worsened by the metformin, that's exactly what I expected to happen.

Of course, with my GI distress who knows what nutrients I'm actually absorbing. I'm keeping up with my nutritional supplements, but my appetite is shot to hell and it's a major effort to eat the equivalent of a 6 piece chicken mcnuggets (i.e. not much food). I certainly don't feel good doing it. I must be running well under 1000 calories a day right now. My energy levels are shot to hell too.

[bbtri]

This anecdote may or may not be relevant to your situation. I was having back and chest pains on the right side at night. My heart was fine and blood pressure optimal. I had a lipoma on my back that I thought could be pressing on a nerve and causing the pain. GP and surgeon thought it unlikely but possible. Regardless they thought surgery was a great idea. Since the lump was ugly and the doc deemed it 'necessary' (meaning insurance would pay) I decided to go for it. I have a terrible case of white coat hypertension and when I went for the procedure my BP was through the roof and the anesthesiologist refused anesthesia based on that. Since my BP spike was stress related the GP prescribed metroprolol to control it next time. The first time I took it (without food, a big mistake) I had horrible pain in the same spots as before. I thought I better sleep in the living room so they would find the body sooner. Because I was sweating so bad I grabbed a glass of ice water. When I drank it I felt the sensation of coldness in the exact spots where the pain was. After a while I thought wouldn't an ulcer do that, so I drank some pepto bismol and the relief was immediate. The point of the story is that an ulcer presented symptoms that made the docs want to check my heart. A note on the metroprolol - without it my BP jumps from 115/68 at home to 130/80 at work; with it, it only rises to 125/75. I don't know if it's worth it to take it for that minor improvement. I've heard of statins blocking CoQ10. Where did you hear metroprolol does it too?

[randian]

I've heard of statins blocking CoQ10. Where did you hear metroprolol does it too?

I read it here

[Johnwen]

[randian]