Today, I spoke with a doctor, and got some initial information. I (probably) have bradycardia and premature ventricular contractions. We’re still waiting on test results, but I’m willing to talk about it at this point. Here’s the information my doctor gave me.
What are premature ventricular contractions? They are when your heart sometimes randomly squeezes when it is not supposed to. For me, it feels like my heart occasionally twitches; sometimes it only twitches once, sometimes it twitches every third heartbeat for 5+ minutes. These twitches are usually mild, and rarely painful. While unpleasant to experience, they are (mostly) harmless.
What is bradycardia? It is when your heartrate slows down below your resting heart rate for an extended period of time. It can happen for any number of reasons, some bad others neutral. In my case, the doctor suspects it’s one of those neutral reasons: it’s common for people who begin using a CPAP machine to have bradycardia. I feel lethargic when my heartrate slows like this, so in this case bradycardia is my body’s way of encouraging me to get more sleep.
So to summarize, right now my doctors think the contractions are harmless, while the bradycardia is a potential sign of me healing. Both should go away as I rest. I like to be optimistic, so I’m hopeful right now.
I am presently wearing a heart monitor. I’ll get more information in about a week’s time.
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