But as the weeks
passed it got worse and worse. I was getting palpitations almost
constantly which made me very light headed and breathless.
One day it was so bad I took myself off
to casualty.
They took an ECG and said that I was
suffering from ‘ectopic beats’ which basically means that your heart has
a second pacemaker which ‘fires’ off a beat out of sync. But still they
told me ectopic beats were common and I shouldn’t worry. I was starting
to get so frustrated as no doctor seemed to want to listen to me or take
me seriously as I was ‘too young’ to have a heart condition.
I felt so ill every day due to the
constant palpitations that I had to give up work and spent most days in
bed due to the light-headedness and sickness I felt due to my heart
beating irregularly. This was a very low point for me as I felt that I
was never going to live a normal life again and I still didn’t know what
was wrong with me so there was no chance of a cure.
I ended up in casualty again just after
Christmas as I was close to fainting. This time I had to do a 24 hour
ECG and they said I was having very frequent PVC’s (Premature
Ventricular Contractions or Ectopic Beats) and was also having short
runs of VT (which is a dangerous heart rhythm). I was kept in hospital
for 2 weeks but I was still a mystery to the doctors as they didn’t know
what was causing the irregular heart beat - they just kept asking me if
I had taken any illegal drugs which of cause I hadn’t!
Finally they referred me to someone at
Papworth Hospital who turned out to be the most amazing doctor. He
diagnosed my condition straight away. It is called
RVOT (Right Ventricle Outflow Tract)
tachycardia which is a very rare
condition that mostly affects middle aged people. It is not life
threatening (so I am told!) but it can greatly affect your quality of
life.
I had my first ablation in
January 2006 which unfortunately did not cure the problem. I was put on
the waiting list and had a second ablation in September 2006 and since
then my palpitations have been greatly reduced and I am back living an
almost normal life. I can’t exercise like I did when I was younger as I
find that this can aggravate it but I like to do lots of walking and
Pilates to keep me fit.
When I first got ill I was
so frightened and I had no-one to turn to and no-one understood what I
was going through. Even the doctors didn’t believe me and I had to
really fight to get taken seriously. It really should not be this way,
and it makes me so angry that doctors don’t take young people seriously,
especially as some of these conditions are life threatening!
I am so grateful to the
doctor at Papworth Hospital for taking me seriously and giving me back a
life again. I have come to terms with the fact that I will probably
never be a competitive horse rider but getting ill when you are young
makes you realise that you should appreciate your health and everything
good you have in life and not take anything for granted.
I am
hoping that this story will help young people who have heart problems
realise that they are not alone and if they are not being taken
seriously be a doctor they should not give up but persevere (or get in
touch with CRY) until they get an answer.
Debra
Whiting
