I was in the emergency room all afternoon

[HeeBGBz]

My heart started doing weird shit while I was at work. Spent the afternoon hooked to an IV, oxygen, heart monitor, pulse finger thingy and had blood tests, EKG, and X-Rays.

Now I'm home on a heart monitor for 24 hours. The only thing they found so far was low potassium. If they really want to see my heart do flip flops they should have me hooked to a monitor when I get the ER bill.

At least I get a day off tomorrow.

[Spinzonner]

1. Here, have a banana

[HeeBGBz]

4. Had to take a potassium pill the size of a small asteroid

Thanks anyway.

[Spinzonner]

17. Look at the sunny side

it wasn't a suppository

[GCP]

2. Low potassium can do that to you

Make sure you eat lots of fruit, bananas, cantelope, dried fruits are good sources.

[Amfortas]

3. oh , sorry to hear that .....

it seems you don't have insurance. damn shrubs america!

[HeeBGBz]

5. No I don't

That's what I had to think about all afternoon. How much I despise the chimp and his policies and how screwed I was gonna be when I got the damn bill.

[Amfortas]

6. Just so you are prepared...

it will be several thousand dollars ....

my wife once went to the ER (for a severe throat infection) , they just gave her pain relievers and antibiotics through the blood stream ,the bill was about $3,000

another time when I went there (lucky aren't we me and my wife !) since I had insurance at the time the bill was about $2000 , but the insurance just paid $700 .

So if you're a big insurance company they cut you deals , if you're a poor individual they screw you !

this makes me mad on so many different levels .

[diddlysquat]

7. If you belong to AARP, you can get some insurance through

them. Hospitalization insurance for sure.

[HeeBGBz]

9. I just heard about the AARP insurance last week

I'm going to check into it now that I'm officially "eligible."

[AlinPA]

8. Was it atrial fibrillation? If so, that's a nuisance, not morbid- just

have to keep your blood thinned.

[HeeBGBz]

10. I don't know really. It was skipping and odd beats

With pressure in my neck and chest pain when I carried a tray of food out to a table. I was lightheaded and at one point I couldn't remember what medication I was on to tell the Dr.

All the tests were okay, but I've got the monitor on to see if it records anything odd. They're mainly concerned because the odd beats and palpitations lasted so long (about an hour and a half)

[Branjor]

11. That would give anyone

the HeebeeGBz (sorry, I just couldn't resist).

Hope you will be OK.

[HeeBGBz]

14. Hee hee. You're forgiven

Thanks.

Most times doctors make me feel like I'm a hypochondriac, so it kind of freaked me when they started hooking me up to all these devices and actually showed some concern.

[hyphenate]

12. Ah--been there, done that

The low potassium crap is a pain. Did they indicate if you might have had an angina attack? When I had my heart attacks, they dismissed me because I was too "young" to have a heart attack, and I was a woman. But it happens; it definitely happens.

Don't let them dismiss you because you're female, though. Go to your regular doctor as soon as you possibly can, and tell them what's going on. You might need a stress test, which willl give a doctor a lot more information. I would also tell them to get a specific blood test for troponin level. It's a good indicator of whether you're on the verge of a heart attack or not.

Palpitations can be an indicator of a whole bunch of other things, though. The finger thingie is not really for pulse--it's to check your oxygen saturation level. If you have lung problems, it can get quite low. Most people have their saturation levels in the 90s, though.

Low potassium and palpitations can also indicate dehydration. Drink plenty of fluids. Dehydration can also lead to liver and kidney problems, or can actually be a result of liver and kidney problems.

Let us know what happens!

[leftofthedial]

13. stay away from GD and GDP until you get the okay

from the docs

[HeeBGBz]

16. LOL. When they asked if I had any undue stress levels

I should have told them "yes, since the election"

[hyphenate]

15. Here are a couple of websites which deal with both

low potassium and palpitations:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003081.htm

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/articles/17135-3.asp

http://www.pennhealth.com/ency/article/003081.htm

http://www.emedicine.com/EMERG/topic273.htm