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Also, reader Kathy would like to know how much y’all are paying for gas. If you’d be so kind, leave a comment telling us how much your gas is, per gallon, and what part of the country you’re in. For the record, I think I paid $1.89 a gallon when I got gas earlier this week – I opted for the cheap stuff this time around.
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(Note for the spazzes amongst you: clearly I’m fine, or I wouldn’t be writing an entry about it, right? Right. So turn your spaz-o-meter to zero before reading the rest of this entry. Thankyew. Mwah!)
Fred and I had a hot night on the town last night. Whoo! That’s right, we spent two and a half hours in the emergency room because I was having a weird fluttery feeling in the center of my chest and when I Googled “Symptoms of heart attack woman”, the top symptom was always “Odd feeling in center of chest”. I was pretty sure I wasn’t having a heart attack – come on, I’m healthy as a horse – but when I went to watch TV with Fred it seemed to be a stronger feeling and I tried laying down to see if it would go away, and it didn’t, so I waited until Fred was done with his snack, for I am a wonderful, kind, THOUGHTFUL wife who is underappreciated, and then I sat up and fixed him with a look and said “Will you take me to the emergency room?”
Talk about a sentence to get a man’s heart racing! I thought he was going to have a heart attack right there in front of me. I went upstairs to change my shirt (because I knew they’d be taking my blood pressure, and I needed to be wearing a short-sleeved shirt) and told the spud that Fred was taking me to the doctor and we’d be gone a while, and that Fred would have his cell phone with him.
Then we drove to the emergency room in record time, and Fred kept saying “Keep talking so I know you haven’t keeled over dead!” and I kept telling him to shaddup, I wasn’t going to keel over dead.
And then I keeled over dead.
Kidding! Just kidding. Did I scare you there for a minute? Did you think I was writing this from The Great Beyond?
Anyway, we got to the hospital and went to the ER and signed in and started on the paperwork I had to fill out, and we’d only been in there about three minutes (juuuuust long enough to catch the very end of
Survivor and find out who got voted off, even though we did our very best not to listen. Urgh!) when they called me into triage to ask me questions and take my blood pressure and all that good stuff. I tried to explain the feeling in my chest and where it was and explain that it wasn’t PAIN, it was just uncomfortable and it was a fluttering, bubbly kind of sensation. Fred jumped in and helpfully TATTLED on me. “It’s been going on for TWO DAYS NOW,” he said disapprovingly and gave me A Look. “It’s been going on since YESTERDAY AFTERNOON!” I corrected hostilely. “And it wasn’t constant at first, but now it is!” Fred added, and I gave him a Just You Shut Up look.
The paramedic took my pulse and told me reassuringly that it seemed to be nice and strong, and then she led us back into the examining part of the ER, showed us to a tiny room, and left us there.
The door was open and so we could hear her telling the doctor “She says it’s not painful, it’s a fluttering feeling.” “Fluttering?” the doctor said. “Yes, in the middle of her chest.”
For the rest of the evening, Fred snickered whenever anyone said “fluttering”, because the word just seemed to baffle everyone who said it. I CAN’T HELP IT! THAT’S WHAT IT FELT LIKE, MOTHERFUCKERS!
A few minutes later a doctor walked in.
“Having chest pains, huh?” he said.
“Not pains!” I corrected him. “It’s more of a… fluttering kind of feeling.”
Fred snickered.
The doctor gazed at me confusedly, and then gave me a pointed look. “And what other health issues do you have?”
(“Oh, ‘CAUSE I’M FAT, you mean?” I didn’t say.)
“Nothing,” I said. “I’m on thyroid medication.”
“Nothing else?” he asked, glancing unsubtly at my stomach.
“No.”
He gave me a johnny and told me to undress from the waist up and put the gown on and another doctor would be in shortly. I did so, and Fred and I sat and waited and cracked jokes. A few minutes later, another doctor came in and introduced himself as Dr. Anders0n. He said “Chest pains, huh?”
“Not pain,” I said.
“What does it feel like?” he asked.
“It’s kind of a fluttering feeling, right here,” I said.
Fred snickered.
“And is it happening right now?”
“Yes,” I said. “I’m feeling it right now.”
He listened to my lungs and heart and asked a few more questions.
“Well,” he said. “I’m not sure what it is. You’re feeling it right now, but your heart sounds okay to me, a nice strong beat. It could be something, or it could be nothing. I’m going to order an EKG and some blood tests and maybe that will tell us something. Now,” he said with a pointed look at my gut. “What other health issues do you have?”
“I’m taking Synthroid for my thyroid,” I said (and honestly – why do three people have to ask the same questions? And all three of them write down the answers? Why, god?). He jotted down a note.
“Anything else?” A glance at my stomach again.
“That’s it.”
And then he launched into this really long explanation of what it might or might not be, and right around the time he said “ventricle” for the third time I found myself on the very verge of laughing out loud, because I desperately wanted to make that “Whoosh!” sound and make the motion, you know the one, where you fly your hand directly over the top of your head to indicate that what the other person is saying to you is going right over your head.
Fred told me later that he was watching me and saw my face go blank at that very moment. I was struggling with all my might not to laugh out loud, because I didn’t want to have to explain WHY I was laughing.
Anyway, the doctor finished talking and said someone would be in shortly to do the EKG and take my blood, and Fred and I sat and laughed and made fun of ourselves and the doctors.
Some time later a nurse came in with the EKG machine and Fred went across the hall to use the bathroom. The nurse pulled up the front of the gown I was still wearing, doing her best to keep me mostly covered.
“I’m going to do my best to keep you covered,” she said. “They knock before they come in, but they knock as they’re opening the door, before you can tell them to wait!”
Then she showed me the stickers and told me there were twelve of them, and that she’d put the stickers on me, and then attach a… uh… THINGY to each sticker and it shouldn’t take but a few minutes. She put one on each of my legs (which is when I wished that I’d shaved my legs in the shower that morning), one on each of my wrists, and then she hoisted my left breast out of the way and put the rest of the stickers under there.
Fred walked through the door as she hoisted, doing his best to open the door as little as possible so he could slip through. He sat with his back to me as she did the test. It took only a couple of minutes once everything was in place, and then she printed out the test and made a copy, and pulled the stickers back off. And let me tell you – those stickers were REALLY sticky and didn’t want to come off. She told me that the EKG results looked fine to her, but that the doctor would discuss them with me.
A little while later, a lab tech came in to take my blood, and he set his little carrying case down and started pulling empty tubes out. A LOT of empty tubes. Five, to be exact. He started poking around in the crook of my right elbow, located a vein, and was done so fast I hardly knew I’d had it done.
“I was waiting for you to tell him that they usually use a butterfly needle in the back of your right hand!” Fred scolded me after the guy was gone. “Why didn’t you?”
“Because they just used that vein to take blood at the doctor’s office on Wednesday!” I said. “And the phlebotomists here at the hospital usually do a good job of getting blood from my arm. GOD! YOU’RE SO BOSSY!”
And then we cooled our heels for more than an hour, waiting for the doctor to come back in and talk to us. Fred finally opened the door so we could see what was going on. A whole lot of nothin’, is what was going on. The doctors and nurses stood around chatting and we sat and watched them. The nurse who’d done my EKG walked by.
“Oh, he’ll be in in a minute,” she said. “We just got your lab results back.”
And for the next fifteen minutes or so, we watched the doctor yukking it up with various other people who wandered by.
“Give him a dirty look,” Fred suggested.
“I will not!”
“I should go out there and fake a seizure,” he said.
“Go for it!”
“You should clutch your chest and gasp ‘Oh, my heart!’ and fall over,” he suggested.
“Yeah, I should. Heh.”
And then I got the idea that Fred should go out there and kick him in the ass, and the mental image made me laugh really hard. I’m not talking a straight-on kick in the ass, but one of those kicks where you kick someone in the ass with the side of your foot. I imagined Fred running up behind the doctor and doing that, and then his reaction. And it amused me so much that whenever anyone walked by our door, I tried to get Fred to go kick them in the ass.
He wouldn’t, though. Spoilsport.
Finally, the doctor came in and said that the test results came back just fine. He gave me a copy of the lab results, told me to follow up with my regular doctor, and then said the nurse would be in in a minute with my discharge papers.
Three hours after we arrived at the emergency room, we were on our way home.
“Don’t go dying in your sleep,” Fred said as he kissed me goodnight. “That would really piss me off!”
“I’ll do my best,” I said, and went straight to bed.
This morning my chest was still doing its thing, so I called and made an appointment with my doctor. She listened to my heart, asked a bunch of questions, looked over some lab results, and posited that perhaps the problem was that once again I appear to be on the edge of diabetic – not quite there, but almost. Also, my thyroid levels are a little low, so maybe the combination is causing occasional palpitations. She ordered an ECG and a Holter monitor (basically a 24-hour EKG), both of which I will be getting next Thursday.
What do you want to bet I stop having that funny feeling in my chest before then?
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If you’ve ever had an ECG, answer me this – can I wear a bra to the appointment? Because the page the nurse at my doctor’s office gave me said to wear a button-up shirt, but didn’t say whether a bra is okay.
* * *
And let me just say really quickly that I really really really love my doctor. I was so very very sad when my previous primary care physician left to go to an office closer to where she was from, sure that I’d never have another doctor as wonderful as she was, but Dr. M is even better. Love her!
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Just a wee bit freaked by the camera.
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Robyn, I’ve had the Holter monitor done. I think I remember wearing a bra, but I also wore it for the next twenty four hours straight. Once they wire you to the monitor, they don’t want you unplugging the wires to free the girls.
Oh, also, your books are on the way back. I hadn’t forgotten you….
Robyn, I’ve had the Holter monitor done. I think I remember wearing a bra, but I also wore it for the next twenty four hours straight. Once they wire you to the monitor, they don’t want you unplugging the wires to free the girls.
Oh, also, your books are on the way back. I hadn’t forgotten you….
Hey Robyn, I hope everything turns out okay with the ol’ ticker.
I had a Holter monitor years ago. I know I wore a bra because I refuse to leave the house without one on. I believe you have to wear a button up shirt because the wires aren’t long enough to come out from under the shirt – they feed through the gaps between the buttons. Hope everything goes well. P.S. I’ve been having a funny feeling in my chest lately too and “fluttering” is the perfect description. I just shrugged it off as too much caffeine, cigarettes and chocolate (the only thing keeping me from slitting my wrists after Tuesday’s elections) so I’m really interested in what your doctor tells you.
Hi Robyn, my husband just recently went to the doctor for an ECG – it’s basically an ultrasound of the heart. I would ASSUME that they’d probably have you take your bra off – because they move their little thing around to get pictures of all sides of your heart. I went with him – and they were moving that thing all around, even to his side at times.
He was determined to have something called Atrial Fibrillation – which means his heart rate goes up and down and beats out of sync at times. They put him on medication for a while, but since he’s young – they took him off and are now just monitoring how often it happens. He describes it as a “fluttering” too – and we had a good laugh in the ER because he kept having to say that to the doctor…LOL
By the way – I live on the coast of California – Pismo Beach area, and I just paid $2.47 per gallon for the CHEAP (ha!) gas.
Sucks to be me…
I hope everything is okay!!! I’m sure Fred would not mind leaving his snack unattended if the alternative was something happening to you Chickie. (at the very least, he could have taken it with him..HEE) Don’t take things so lightly, it COULD have been serious (heaven forbid)!! Listen to yer boday! 🙂
Robyn, I flew Independence Air a few months ago from Washington Dulles to Ohio. Everything went very smoothly. The flights were on time and, more importantly, cheap. I got a last minute ticket for my Grandpa’s funeral for only $100. However, I must warn you that the planes are TINY, and probably hold only 40 (10 rows of 2 + 2). So if you have issues with little planes, you may want to look elsewhere. Otherwise, it was a fine experience.
I hope you feel better soon!
They’ll probably have you take your bra off before the ECG – if I recall correctly from when hubby had one done (he has an artificial heart valve & has to have it checked every so often), it involves that lovely ultrasound gel.
Hope all goes well and yes, you can wear a bra Gas here in Western NY is $2.15
I have low thyroid and no problems with my heart, but I have had that fluttery chest feeling before when my synthroid dosage has been out of whack. I should add that the levels were showing up on blood tests as normal, but the doctor adjusted it anyway, and the feeling went away. This might be worth investigating further. Maybe you can get referred to a thyroid specialist after the ECG stuff is done.
Whatever it is, I hope it goes away soon!
Hope everything turns out fine with the test. And I understand perfectly what you mean by “fluttering” — I’ve had that feeling too. Mine usually occurs when I am in the midst of a panic attack. Thankfully mine aren’t too severe and the fluttering goes away once the panic attack ends.
I live on Long Island (NY) and I am paying $2.19/gallon for regular (it was as high as $2.33 at one point). I grumble and curse every time I fill up the gas tank.
I’m glad you went in to have it checked out. What I think your doctor was talking about was ventricular tachycardia (or maybe atrial flutter?) The heart starts to beat so fast that it’s not filling with blood to pump and the heart stops (called sudden cardiac death). Two years ago my mother, out of the blue, went into ventricular tachycardia and, well, basically her heart stopped. In my mom’s case, my sister found her before brain damage could occur so we were very, very lucky. She ended up having a pacemaker/defibrillator implanted in her chest. You know how you sometimes hear about young people (usually athletes) who suddenly die of heart failure? This is usually what happens. It can happen at any age.
My point? I’m glad you took it seriously and that your doctors are taking it seriously. Odds are that everything will turn out normal but it’s best to check it out.
Gas here in Kansas City is about $1.80 right now – it just went down a couple days ago.
I hope you soon feel better and your test results come back only showing how fabulous you are!
I live in Western PA and gas right now is $1.89. The local grocery store has a promotion running that for every $50 you spend in the store you get an additional 10 cents off per gallon at the chain’s gas station. I think I have 40 cents right now.
You won’t be wearing a bra during the ECG, and the gals will be moved around a bit. (The gel stuff is normally warm and gooey, though not uncomfortable.) You can, of course, wear a bra to and from the test — they’ll have you undress from the waist up. The guy who did mine had very hairy arms and it tickled like crazy, but he didn’t seem to notice that I was trying not to giggle.
When I was fitted for the halter monitor, I wore a large t-shirt over the whole thing once it was set up. Also, I had chosen a very comfy semi-supportive athletic bra that clasped in the front to wear for the full 24 hrs. It was more comfy, and would fit over the little sticky wire-connector thingies without constricting them.
By the way, I totally empathize with you on the automatic diagnosing that goes on with various docs and overweight patients. Grrrr to them! Good for you to get it checked out!
Gas here averages about $2 a gallon mid grade.
When I worked as a CMA in several different doc’s offices and performed lots of EKG’s throughout the day, I’d let a woman leave her bra on as long as there’s no underwire: the metal interferes with the reading of the electrical activity of the heart by the EKG machine. Same goes with any ankle bracelets or wrist bracelets, as a lead (sticker) goes on each arm & leg.
I’ve had that fluttering feeling myself, and learning all the cardiac stuff I learned in nursing school, I attributed it to occasional atrial fibrillation, which can be brought on by stress (helLO, nursing school!), too much caffeine (again, same reason!), & some other random reasons. It was a weird feeling, like a butterfly in my chest, which lasted no more than maybe 1-2 seconds. Haven’t had it in several months though. A-fib isn’t much of a big deal. Anyway, we’ll be awaiting the results of your Holter monitor test! Good luck!
I’ve had that fluttery feeling before, but I noticed it happened when I started taking Zyrtec, so I stopped. I live in Maryland, and paid $2.01 for the cheap stuff yesterday. 🙁
Independence Air rocks! I love it! It is cheap, they are friendly, my 2 flights on them have been EARLY…and they give you hot towels at the end of the flight!
But, they are the small jets. No more than 50 passengers per plane right now. So, if you don’t like the little ones, you might not like it.
Hey Robyn…
I’m just letting you know that I’m thinking of ya. I have worn a monitor several times and I always wear my bra and it always ends up staying on until the monitor comes off because I do not like to go braless. Gotta keep the girls in control ya know. (Now calling them “the girls” is going to be my new term heh) I have a medical condition that warrants my wearing of the monitor but as I understand it they like to see where the flutters are coming from and most are benign. >smile
$2.05 a gallon of the cheap stuff in North Dakota
In New Zealand we pay $1.20 p/litre. In NZ$.
If we were paying by the gallon, it would cost us $5.44. In US$ that would be $3.78.
It really sucks.
Its $2.16 on the airforce base, $2.40 or so out in town for regular!! Oh yeah, IM in Hawaii. The outer islands are even more expensive. Last I heard it was 3 something on Molokai.
$2.04 for the cheap stuff in Madison, WI
$1.95 in Nashville and $2.59 in Ojai, CA. Oy vey.
Out here in Southern California the average price of regular unleaded is $2.40 a gallon.
…I win! I win!
Also, I have had heart palpitations for years. The doctor’s say it’s harmless and if it gets worse, they might prescribe a beta-blocker for me. It’s annoying, but as long as I know I’m not going to keel over any second from it, I’m okay. Good luck figuring things out!
Oh. Darn. Kim beat me too it.
It’s $2.39 for the 87 octane unleaded in Los Angeles. Crazy.
I paid 2.10 at the 7-11 yesterday, but that’s “highway prices”. The average in North Florida is about 2.01. Bleh.
Oh! And yes, you can wear normal clothes with the Holter – I wore mine to work, and I sure as hell ain’t gonna go without a bra 🙂
Ooh! Val is from my hometown of Madison WI! Hi Val! Gas here in Minneapolis MN is about $1.95 for the cheap stuff…at least it was yesterday. I haven’t checked it today yet.
OK, I just checked Twincitiesgasprices.com and they range from $1.81 to $2.09 for the cheap stuff. Depends where you live.
Good luck with your monitor. Gas is $1.89 here in the mountain of Colorado, Fort Collins that is !!!
Glad you’re ok. Good luck w/the rest of the tests.
I thought our gas was expensive at $2.39 for the cheap stuff until I read Kristen’s. California pays higher than any other state in the union. Aren’t we special?
Hi Robyn,
I had a Holter monitor test for 24 hrs as well, and didn’t wear a bra because I wouldn’t have been able to get it off after they stuck the sticky things (I don’t know what they’re called either) on me and the thought of sleeping in a bra sends shivers up my spine. The fluttery feeling you had sounds very familiar. Look up ‘premature ventricular contraction’ (PVC) — this is what they discovered I had, and felt to me like a fluttery kind of feeling almost like skipping a beat. It’s caused when the lower portion of your heart beats first (rather than the top portion beating first) so that your heart kind of beats upside down almost. It is harmless, although annoying. I find caffiene and stress make it worse. I had a hell of a time convincing the doctor at the clinic to investigate because to them everything sounds normal with a stethoscope. The Holter monitor should catch it, however. Email me if you like.
Good luck next Thursday! Cat.
… Ok that should have read
“.. caffiene AND stress…” not nad stress, get your mind out of the gutter!
The cheapest gas in Lisbon Falls is at the Getty station next to Lisbon House of Pizza (next to Food City). To me, it’s a hoot that you probably know where all these places are. The gas there was $1.97 yesterday.
I hope your tests turn out normal and that nothing’s wrong.
Hope all goes well with your test next week.
We are paying $1.87 to $1.95 for the cheap stuff here in Austin.
I’m in western masachusetts adn I just paid 2.19 for 89 octane, the gas stations other grades were 2.09 and 2.29…
Hi Spanky! You little sweetie…
Robyn, I hope your heart-fluttering turns out to be nothing serious! Good thing you’re having it checked. People should be more take-charge with their health and not just ignore anything strange/unusual.
I get the heart flutter thing pretty regularly, and it has been happening for years and years — I’m still not dead, so I attribute the fluttering to stress/caffeine. I’ve never really mentioned it to my doctor, though. I should practice what I preach (see paragraph above) and ask her some day…
we pay a shitload of money for gas in western canada. so much that I don’t even look at the pump for the price per litre.
hang tight, Robyn. big, stinky kisses from Vince.
I actually just had 2 ECG’s, the holter and an ultrasound of my heart in the past four weeks (I’m 37wks pregnant and they were concerned about my heart based on symptoms I was having). Anyway, for the ECG I always had to undress from the waist up – like you said they put the stickers just under your boob, etc. If you have to wear the 24hr holter, (which sucks by the way – try sleeping with that on! You look just like a suicide bomber with all those wires! And you think the ECG stickers are sticky – oh, boy!), you have to undress from the waist up, they connect the stickers, connect the wires, then you can put your bra and clothes back on – otherwise, you’d never be able to get out of your bra. For the ultrasound, you are, once again, completely topless. (Which I really didn’t care for as the u/s tech was a guy who kind of gave me the creeps – my ECG’s, holter, etc. were all administered by women). But anyhow, that’s been my experience!
I have hypothyroid problems & take synthroid. My problem presented with FLUTTERING IN THE CHEST!! I’m married to a doc & am a former ER nurse & people complain about the fluttering sensation a lot – but we’re from Michigan & maybe south of the Mason Dixon they don’t know that lingo. Anyway, whenever the internist tries to decrease my thyroid amount, fluttering returns. Hubby says fuck it – your symptom is a more reliable indicator of thyroid level that’s best for you, so I do take gr 1/137 instead of the 1/125 that they keep trying to make me take. Good Luck, Margaret
Hi Robyn
I know what you are describing, I have them. Started about 2 1/2 years before my Thyroid crashed. What I have are called pre-ventricular contractions with runs of bigeminy. Had the holter monitor done several times as well as a stress test and an echocardiogram. Have the latter done being big busted….OUCH! My grandmother as well as my mother had them too. Grandmother’s doctor told her they stop after menopuase, which they did. Taking Toprol XL 25 mg to stop them. Totally harmless but VERY ANNOYING. No caffeine or aspartame or smoking. Gave up two out of three, chocolate is a food group!
Anyhoo….yes, you wear your bra, though you have to take it off before they put the monitor on, they scrub and I mean scrub the skin where the leads attach, attach the electrodes, on go the bra and shirt then they start the tape recorder and you are on your way. Be prepared to itch and be annoyed for 24 hours. My prayers are with you that all is well.
BTW- I take armour thyroid which has worked wonders for me
Gas prices here in Palm Beach County are so outragious I don’t even bother to look anymore, I just pay whatever the bill is….*SIGH*
My liquid gold costs 2.43 a gallon for the cheapo right now. It’s so lovely to live in CA!! Oh well, as my daughter always says to me “Too bad, so sad, sucks to be you!” And why is it that they can raise the price by 5 or 10 cents a pop, but when it is coming down (HA), it is by a penny or 2? Greedy oil companies.
I get fibrilations from time to time, and my tests always turn out normal, thankfully. My doctor thinks it could be also triggered by too much caffiene, as I drink coffee, and am a major diet pepsi drinker.
Gas is .81/liter here in Alberta Canada. You do the math! HEH!
Good luck with your tests… I sometimes get a little “fluttering” feeling when I have an anxiety attack, but the freaking out part of it usually overwhelms the fluttering feeling. Also get it with too much caffeine.
Gas in the suburbs of Chicago where I live is $2.19/gallon for the cheap unleaded.
Just paid $2.73 for super unleaded and I live in Grand Terrace California… Inland Empire southern California – couple hours east of Los Angeles. The more expensive it gets the quicker I seem to burn through it! :/
Another sign-in from Alberta re: price of gas. Doing the conversion to price per gallon is downright scary: a U.S. gallon = 3.78 litres. So at 81.9 cts/litre, we’re paying $3.09 per U.S. gallon or $3.68 for our larger Imperial gallon. And every single gas station in the city of Edmonton sells it for exactly the same price. So much for competition. (A couple of times a week, Safeway offers “cents off” coupons for their gas stations. A few others have a similar offer.) On a driving vacation in the western U.S. this spring, Caspar, WY was the cheapest, and a couple of places in UT and AZ the most expensive.
Jeez, I can write more about the price of gas than most people did about medical conditions! Yep, I have “heart flutters” too occasionally.
Robyn
I’ve had the fluttery feeling in my chest too. I think it has something to do with the Synthroid and nerves. I notice it more when I’m resting in bed. I was told this is because it happens all the time, but I just notice it when I slow down.
My levels were too high. Bastard doc thought he would “get some weight off of me” by having the dosage higher. It made me plateau for a year instead.
Good Luck
Bobbie
Hey Robyn! Glad to hear that you’re getting you “fluttering” checked out. Even more glad to hear that it seems to be pretty common. I’ve had episodes of that too. I can’t believe they thought “fluttering” was so weird, though, because that is exactly what it feels like! Weirdos! I’ll be waiting to hear what they diagnose. Oh, and I live in Missouri and I think gas is still around 1.80 or so for the cheap stuff at SAM’s…at least it was last week.
SPAAA-AAA-AAAA-NKY! My sweetie!
Gas in Marathon, FL (just north of Key West) was $1.30-ish for the mid-grade. Pina Coladas are still more expensive, so I figure it’s OK.
Best wishes fer yer ticker, Robyn!
I hope the tests work out ok and everything’s fine!
I don’t have a car, so I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to gas prices, but the last time I looked it was about $2.15 here in Washington DC.
I’ve flown Independence Air several times now and I love it. The staff is fabulous- one time my flight was sharing the gate with a flight that had been delayed and the staff walked around and asked everyone where they were going and made sure everyone on the delayed flight knew what was going on and when they could possibly expect to be taking off. They were very nice to us non-delayed folks, too, making sure we knew that our flight was still on time. The planes are small jets, but they’ve been rather smooth flights- much smoother than the turboprop planes I’ve flown on previously. I haven’t been on a full flight yet, so I’ve always had both seats on the row to myself, so there’s been plenty of space. I’m a shorty, so I have plenty of leg room even on the big planes, but a couple people I know who’ve flown with I-air say that there’s more leg room too. And you can’t beat the price. Can you tell that it’s my airline of choice?
Gas is $1.95 a gallon today in Cincinnati.
Dang,now that you mention it,my “flutterbyes” has worsened since I have been on thyroid. In fact,they move up from the heart area directly to the thyroid area when having a strong fluttering episode.
Heh,my last EKG was given by a wonderfully hunky male nurse.I figured he’d seen “older ones” than mine on the job so I didn’t stress out too much. You do have to make sure you don’t use deodorant,powder or oil on your skin before you go to the appointment.
Personally,I think the nurses/attendants are not too careful about how far they open the damn door when you lay on the table-exposed to the world. Egads!
As you know I am an expert on all things cardiac related *snort*
Anyway, I wore a bra for both my ECG (which is the same as an EKG btw) and for my hoilter moniter, although wrestling myself out of the bra that night around all the wires was quite a chore. I hope everything continues to turn out fine. A low thyroid level can defintely cause a fluttery chest feeling. If it makes you feel better I know exactly what you mean by “fluttering”. It happens to me occasionally. And you know why Fred wouldnt kick anyone in the ass? Its cuz he sux the fun out of everything!!!!
I just paid $2.49/gal for gas with a discount card. The regular gas in town at Chevron is $2.60/gal.
A rocket scientist(Dr.Bill Wattenburg) says that you do not get better performance with the higher octane fuel,but if you are willing to pay for the higher priced gas,the gas company will be more than willing to take your money.
My mom has made several trips to the ER this year with fluttery feelings in her chest. They have finally decided that it’s a weird manifestation of acid reflux. They put her on Prevacid, then doubled the dose, and that seems to have fixed it.
$1.93 for regular unleaded here in Jersey today. But, it depends on where you go. If you get gas on major roads, like the Turnpike or Garden State Parkway, you’ll pay more like $2.20. There’s a place near my house that offers gas at $1.50 on Sundays. The line is out into the road all day long.
Robyn, I paid $1.89 for regular in Columbus, Ohio.
I hope everything turns out for the best!
Hi Robyn, I hope the fluttering goes away and your chest goes back to non fluttering status ASAP.
Haven’t had the time to read all your replies so I may be repeating someone else here but WTH…
in Melbourne (australia) petrol/gas today is A$1.20 per litre. Which works out to be nearly A$4 a gallon. Not sure what the exchange rate is but I think you guys are paying a loooooott less than we are.
I got gas Thursday for $1.68 and there was a line out onto the road for it too. We usually have about the cheapest gas in the country here but lately most stations are in the $1.80’s and $1.90’s per gallon for 87 octane unleaded.
Well, that’s about the scariest thing I’ve read today. Glad you are ok. Holy cow! No croaking over there, ok! You got stuff to do!
Gawd, i can’t believe i’m going to put my 2 cents in here. Just to say heart “fluttering” is a very common description here in the south as well as anywhere else so i don’t know why your ER doctor acted weird about it. Maybe he is a foreigner? AND…Ami is right about the EKG/ECG thing, same same. My daughter, she is soooo smart! 🙂
Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, girlfriend, I hope that test on Thursday comes out good, and shows how wonderful and healthy you are. I’ve felt that fluttery feeling a few times too, and I also have a thyroid problem. Mine is overactive and I have to take two medications for it. Tapazole and Synthroid. Good luck with the test. BTW Thae gas prices here in NC is $1.89 a gallon, not quite as high as some other laces. Nanamama
hi Robyn! im not exactly IN the country but thought i would participate in the whole gas discussion because we can only wish we paid those CHEAPCHEAPCHEAP american prices.
since our car is diesel we are very lucky because its only 0.91 eurocents ($1.20) per litre -in The Netherlands.Germany is more expensive- there are almost 4 litres (3.8) in 1 gallon,so for 1 gallon it is $4.47 … of course if you have a gas car it starts at $5.95 per gallon and up for the special types of gas
Have your doc test your iron levels. A lot of people on thyroid meds have that flutter feeling. Most have noticed an improvment when they start taking Ferrous Sulfate. Your thyroid meds could also be out of wack. And if your not losing any weight on the syntroid you might want to research Armour. I’m having better luck with the weight since switching. And by the way, here in Oklahoma when I told the emergency room staff I was having “flutter feelings” they all knew exactly what I was talkin about. There’s even info in search when you type “flutter feeling in chest”. (Gas here is $1.78 to $1.85)
My mother had a major heart attack this summer (she’s fine now after angioplasty) and fluttering isn’t exactly the feeling that she had when having a heart attack. She said that at first it felt like she was having a little bit of heart burn, then it felt like extreme heartburn and then it was a crushing sensation. She had no clue what was happening to her until she had the crushing sensation and then she knew it was a heart attack. I’m glad you got checked out – so many people don’t get checked out and try to “sleep” off any feelings like that. It’s always better to be safe then sorry. Hopefully you will get some information.
I know some people get the fluttering, racing heart when they have too much caffeine? Don’t know if it is a problem with you but that is the only thing I can think of.
Good luck
Dawn
Hello,
Here in Fairfield County, CT – gas is $2.27 for 87 – and in Northern NJ on my way home from work it is $2.03 per gallon. Can you guess where I fill up?
I’m in Madison, WI, too, Val, and I paid $1.99 on Thursday. (I went to the Marathon on the eastbound side of E Wash.)
YAY MADISON–Wisconsin *and* Alabama!
In fluttery news, I had fluttering every once in awhile this summer, but I think it was probably stress-related–I haven’t had any in months.
Good luck, Robyn!
In Chicago gas is anywhere form about $2.10 for the cheap stuff to $2.40 for the Premo.
And best of luck with everything, Robyn!
“And then I keeled over dead.
Kidding! Just kidding. Did I scare you there for a minute? Did you think I was writing this from The Great Beyond?”
You had me laughing over this for 10 minutes. Hope everything goes OK 😉
I live in Santa Cruz, CA, and I paid $2.36 a gallon last time I filled my tank…oh, wait, I didn’t even get to fill my tank ’cause I ran out of money before my tank ran of room. Biodiesel is sounding better and better…or maybe a hybrid. Or a donkey cart. Humph.
In Downtown Washington DC, gas is $2.18 for Regular Unleaded. 🙁
$1.89 a gallon??? Here in California, we would kill to pay that price. The cheapest I can find right now (and it just went DOWN to this price two days ago) is $2.29 a gallon. Most of the other “discount” stations are hovering at $1.34 or so – and that’s for regular, by the way. Glad I don’t drive an SUV …
Um, correction to my last post — I meant TWO.34 a gallon – not $1.34. Gah, just shows that it hasn’t been that long since we really were under two dollars a gallon. (And BTW, Kristin – see above post – I live in Santa Cruz, too! Check out the Texaco on Soquel and 17th Ave. – It’s $2.29/gal there right now)
Completely off topic so apologies – and yes I’ve read the disclaimer – but any chance you could update your links page Robyn? – not necessarily what is there but any new discoveries you have found? I’m looking for new reads.
had an ecg a few months ago. although i went bra-less, i wish i’d had something on. the nurse wouldn’t stop staring at my man-tits.
Forgot to put in my two cents worth about the fluttering heart. I have been suffering from that for several years now. I find that it is worse for me when I am ovulating and during my periods, so they think that it is hormone related. Chalk it up to perimenopause. It is a common symptom before and during menopause from what I hear. And considering that I am still going strong and regular, it looks like I’ll have to put up with it for a while yet. But it sure can be disconcerting as you well know! Hang tough girlie and everything will be ok!
Freaked out? Looked pissed to me.
$2.33 for the cheap stuff….another sucker living in California (San Francisco peninsula).
Robyn — I’ve been reading your journal forever, but very rarely comment. But this seemed important enough.
I take Synthroid (for over 15 years now) and my dose is very high — .2 — but it fluctuates a bit, and whenever the dose is a bit high, I *immediately* get that feeling in my chest. Just knowing that your heart is beating, but it doesn’t feel quite right. Once, and only once, it started a bout of SVT (Supra-ventricular-tachacardia) sounds a lot scarier than it is — just means ultra fast heart beat. All of this feels a lot worse than it really is — there’s no immediate danger other than your blood pressure dropping.
Anyway … the point I’m getting to is you should *definitely* have your thyroid level checked ASAP. Though the heart thing is not really an immediate concern, Synthroid in doses higher than they need be can cause you all kinds of problems you don’t want. Thyroid levels can change pretty rapidly without warning, and you show all the classic symptoms. If your doc ever mentioned the term “Hashimoto’s thyroiditis” that means that your thyroid disease is one that will fluctuate wildly at times.
Take care. And get that thyroid checked. 😀
Yep. Ditto. First thing I thought of. Since I too am on Synthroid, the only time I have had flutters was due to the whole thyroid issue.
Gas here is $1.89.
Be jealous…bwahaahahahahaha!!!