Last Person #5

[AngryHobbit]

Have yet to hear a cardiologist recommend to a patient that they need more bacon....... that and I do no tike bacon...I do realize that this can be seen as un-American...but I simply do not like the stuff.....besides...half my household is Chinese so I think that makes me exempt from the liking bacon requirement of US citizens

The reason cardiologists don't recommend bacon is because they want to keep it all to themselves.

P.S. Don't blame me - I was talking about Zumba.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Note that bacon has never been shown to have any negative impact on cardiac rhythm. Plumbing, sure, but not the rhythm.

Hey, don't go bringing actual medical knowledge into this important discussion, DD!

 

[CB Jones]

meth, cocaine, etc.

@Xue Sheng ....do we need to have an intervention?

@Dirty Dog ...Snitches get stitches

Just saying...

 

[Steve]

He did not prescribe any pills, just told me to leave and never darken his door again

Well he didn't prescribe any meds..... and did say if it reoccurs and gets worse to let him know and we will go at it again.

I have noticed that sugar, (=>10g) can kick it off and on occasion caffeine, put caffeine and sugar together, even in the form of a cup of tea and a pear and off I go. But I have also discovered that if I hop on the treadmill and do a faced paced walk, 3.5 to 4mph, for 15 to 20 minutes that is goes away.

The diagnosis for my wife is basically that she has pre-ventricular contractions. She's had them all her life, and what she's been told is that it's not life threatening. But it does irritate her. I don't know what she takes, but it's like 1/2 a pill daily, and it seems to help.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Have you told them you weren't eating bacon? They probably just assume you're getting your daily requirement. I mean, who in their right mind doesn't?

Did I specifically say "I don't eat bacon"?///no, no I didn't.....but I kind of thought he could figure that out on his own when I said I was an ovo-vegetarian most of the time with occasional chicken and fish....now I am willing to admit I could be wrong in my assumption...I mean he is only a cardiologist and not a nutritionist

 

[Xue Sheng]

The reason cardiologists don't recommend bacon is because they want to keep it all to themselves.

P.S. Don't blame me - I was talking about Zumba.

I have to blame you...I had to get the conversation off of Zumba...I was getting itchy and beginning to develop a rash

 

[Dirty Dog]

@Xue Sheng ....do we need to have an intervention?

@Dirty Dog ...Snitches get stitches

Just saying...

Mrs Dog had meth at work last week. This is the second time in 2018. Both times, she says she took it off a patient in the psych hall, but we're talking about the need for an intervention...

The diagnosis for my wife is basically that she has pre-ventricular contractions. She's had them all her life, and what she's been told is that it's not life threatening. But it does irritate her. I don't know what she takes, but it's like 1/2 a pill daily, and it seems to help.

Premature Ventricular Contractions (PVCs). Most commonly they're treated with a Beta Blocker (such as Metoprolol). Motoprolol is commonly sold in 25mg tabs, and 12.5mg is a common dose for treating PVCs, so it may well be that. Calcium channel blockers (like Cardizem) are less commonly used. Sometimes drugs like Corderone are used, but these are usually not used unless the PVCs are affecting function, not just being an irritant. Once in a while an ablation is done to 'burn out' the area that's causing the ectopy, but that's fairly uncommon.

 

[Xue Sheng]

@Xue Sheng ....do we need to have an intervention?

Just saying...

No...... I will never eat bacon NEVER I TELLS YA!!!!!!!

So... without seeing the strips I can't say for sure, but it's most likely you're having PVCs or PACs. I describe them to patients as "a normal abnormality" meaning that although they're technically abnormal beats, pretty much everybody has them once in a while, and they're essentially harmless. Most people don't feel them. Some feel them sometimes. Some feel them all the time.

There are certainly meds to reduce their frequency, but meds have side effects, so the feeling is that since they're harmless, there's no need to treat them unless they're occurring (and being felt) often enough to disrupt your life.

There are also certainly things that will increase their frequency. Notably stimulants. So sugar, caffeine, diet pills, nicotine, meth, cocaine, etc. Alcohol is an issue, too, despite not being a stimulant. The problem is that when you stop drinking, there's an increase in cardiac irritability, and thus more ectopic beats. It'll sometimes cause people who are prone to atrial ectopy to go into A-Fib and is common enough to have it's own name - "holiday heart." It's called that because you mostly see it around the holidays, when non-drinkers are at a lot of parties and consume more alcohol than they're used to. Or when they're on holiday and drinking more than usual.

Did you have a cardiac echo during this workup? It's unlikely (but not impossible) that you had some slight valve leak in the past that has resolved. It's more likely that you still have leakage, but it's not significant. Slight leaking of the valves is, like an occasional PVC, pretty much normal. And would fall into the category of "working fine." Something like 40-45% of the population has this sort of insignificant leakage.

Note that bacon has never been shown to have any negative impact on cardiac rhythm. Plumbing, sure, but not the rhythm.

Thank you for being the voice of reason amongst the Bacon Groupies

Thanks for that. I am not to bad, I have figured out many of my triggers...sadly one of those seems to be tea. Although it was black tea and I had something with sugar with that (cookie, dark chocolate, pear, etc.)...I am going to try green tea soon to see what happens

I had an echo, and an EKG and the week long Holter monitor and per the MD everything is normal...as far as the heart goes...and whatever you do...don't tell the others, but I hardly drink alcohol at all these days. I generally average 0 to 2 alcohol drinks per year.....last year 1 and 0 so far this year...

 

[Xue Sheng]

The diagnosis for my wife is basically that she has pre-ventricular contractions. She's had them all her life, and what she's been told is that it's not life threatening. But it does irritate her. I don't know what she takes, but it's like 1/2 a pill daily, and it seems to help.

He has suggested no medication at this time....just told me to get out and never darken his door again....actually he told me I did not need a follow-up but if it got worse to give him a call

 

[Dirty Dog]

Thank you for being the voice of reason amongst the Bacon Groupies

You take that back! How dare you call me reasonable????

Thanks for that. I am not to bad, I have figured out many of my triggers...sadly one of those seems to be tea. Although it was black tea and I had something with sugar with that (cookie, dark chocolate, pear, etc.)...I am going to try green tea soon to see what happens

So... caffeine and sugar. That could do it.

I had an echo, and an EKG and the week long Holter monitor and per the MD everything is normal...as far as the heart goes...and whatever you do...don't tell the others, but I hardly drink alcohol at all these days. I generally average 0 to 2 alcohol drinks per year.....last year 1 and 0 so far this year...

So "normal" would very likely mean you've still got the leaky valve, but it's insignificant.

I'm prone to holiday heart myself. I'm not much of a drinker, but when we're at the all-inclusives I do drink more. One trip coincided with my birthday, and since I've never been drunk, Sue and Kim decided that they absolutely had to get me drunk. So through dinner we did shots. Not nasty things like rum shots. We told the waiter 'just keep bringing shots, but bring a different one every time' so we had things like a Superman, a Mexican Blowjob, a Scooby Doo, a Lemon Drop, and who knows what else. Things without all that much alcohol. I did 15 shots through the evening and had some A-Fib the next day. Fortunately, I've always been able to vagal out of it. After the 15 shots, I could still pass a sobriety test, but as I said, they were 'weak' shots. And I'm not a small man - 6' 1" and about 210lb. So their mission failed.

 

[Xue Sheng]

You take that back! How dare you call me reasonable????

Well that's reasonable...oops...sorry

So... caffeine and sugar. That could do it.

Caffeine, sugar and arguments with Mrs Xue..all seem to trigger it

So "normal" would very likely mean you've still got the leaky valve, but it's insignificant.

I just assumed it meant the heart of a teenager
He did not mention a leaky valve, but I was once told I had one, but it was too insignificant to worry about

I'm prone to holiday heart myself. I'm not much of a drinker, but when we're at the all-inclusives I do drink more. One trip coincided with my birthday, and since I've never been drunk, Sue and Kim decided that they absolutely had to get me drunk. So through dinner we did shots. Not nasty things like rum shots. We told the waiter 'just keep bringing shots, but bring a different one every time' so we had things like a Superman, a Mexican Blowjob, a Scooby Doo, a Lemon Drop, and who knows what else. Things without all that much alcohol. I did 15 shots through the evening and had some A-Fib the next day. Fortunately, I've always been able to vagal out of it. After the 15 shots, I could still pass a sobriety test, but as I said, they were 'weak' shots. And I'm not a small man - 6' 1" and about 210lb. So their mission failed.

Yeah...speaking as a 6'1" guy....try that with whisky shots......not that I have in my misspent youth.....and since there are no witnesses around to ask if that is true or not.......that's my story and I'm sticking with it

 

[AngryHobbit]

I have to blame you...I had to get the conversation off of Zumba...I was getting itchy and beginning to develop a rash

We can talk about POUND instead. Or about yoga. Or herring-in-a-fur-coat (which, incidentally, is ENTIRELY within the scope of ovo-vegetarianism with occasional fish or chicken use). It's not like I never offer options.

 

[Steve]

I checked and she takes atenolol at a very low dosage, and it seems to help.

As for triggers, she has decided that it's voodoo. At times over the last 25 years I've known her, she has been convinced that caffeine is a trigger, but at other times felt that caffeine might help. Same with exercise, fatty foods, fried foods, sugar, and all kinds of other things. I've stopped worrying about it, but it's interesting to run across someone else with what sounds like the same thing.

 

[AngryHobbit]

Caffeine, sugar and arguments with Mrs Xue..all seem to trigger it

I never understood why people argue... Especially if they are married...

I just assumed it meant the heart of a teenager

Oh, goodness me, who in their right mind would consider a teenager an epitome of health? What with all the hormonal mess and the heart doing flips in unison with the stomach at the sight of the member of whichever gender you happen to fancy? No thanks... I'd rather eat bacon.

 

[AngryHobbit]

We told the waiter 'just keep bringing shots, but bring a different one every time' so we had things like a Superman, a Mexican Blowjob, a Scooby Doo, a Lemon Drop, and who knows what else.

HOW are any of those even remotely appetizing? A Lemon Drop... ok... that sort of sounds not too bad... But the others? Yikes! And that's something coming from a girl reared on a steady diet of Russian vodka and home-made moonshine.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Did I specifically say "I don't eat bacon"?///no, no I didn't.....but I kind of thought he could figure that out on his own when I said I was an ovo-vegetarian most of the time with occasional chicken and fish....now I am willing to admit I could be wrong in my assumption...I mean he is only a cardiologist and not a nutritionist

Yeah, see...you're withholding important information from your healthcare professional. How can he possibly correct your bacon deficiency if he's not aware of it? C'mon man!

 

[Xue Sheng]

I never understood why people argue... Especially if they are married...

Oh, goodness me, who in their right mind would consider a teenager an epitome of health? What with all the hormonal mess and the heart doing flips in unison with the stomach at the sight of the member of whichever gender you happen to fancy? No thanks... I'd rather eat bacon.

Not the whole teenager....just the heart.....

 

[Gerry Seymour]

the Bacon Groupies

Excellent name for a band.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Yeah, see...you're withholding important information from your healthcare professional. How can he possibly correct your bacon deficiency if he's not aware of it? C'mon man!

Next time for sure......well...next time that is if I am abducted by aliens who alter the chemistry of my body and all of a sudden I like bacon...it could happen

 

[Xue Sheng]

Excellent name for a band.

Yes and I demand a percentage should it ever come into existence

and of course their songs
A whole lotta bacon
another one bites the bacon
Stairway to bacon
Give me 3 strips....of bacon
the bacon
All along the bacon
bacon kept a rollin
shout at the bacon
sympathy for the bacon
bacon along the watch tower
Castles made of bacon
Ace of Bacon
Highway to Bacon
Back in bacon

and of course

Peaceful easy bacon