I've been suffering from dizzy spells for about 4 months now. I've been to the doctor about it and she sent me for blood tests. They showed my iron levels were half what they should have been so my dizziness was put down to that. I couple of weeks later I noticed that sometime when I was on my feet I'd get quite breathless and my fitbit would say my heart rate was 120+ (sometimes even 140+). After my next round of blood test - which showed my iron improving (without iron medication or changes in my diet!) I mentioned the increased heart rate. The doctor sent me round to the nurse for a ECG. The nurse asked me about what was happening and I told her that my heart rate was going really high for minor things - it goes 170+ when I'm on the treadmill at physio. She kind of dismissed this as me being unfit and told me the more I exercised the slower my heartrate would be.
My ECG came back clear and I've been referred for a 24hour ECG. Unfortunately I can't get an appointment until 13th July and I'm really struggling with my symptoms. Over the past 4 months I've went from having symptoms occassionally to having them multiple times a day.
During an 'episode' I start feeling a little unsteady sometimes close to fainting but never actually fainting. I start feeling breathless and when I check my fiitbit or pulse my heart rate is elevated. I feel really hot and exhausted. It lasts for a couple of minutes or so or until I sit down. Sometimes I don't experience symptoms for a few days then I'll have a few days where I have multiple episodes and can barely get out of bed I'm so exhausted.
I initially thought it might be POTS because it ususally occurs when I'm standing and I have hypermobility syndrome which is common with POTS sufferers. However, my heartrate doesn't spike everytime I'm on my feet and doesn't always stay elevated for 10+ minutes. Sometimes it only spikes after I'm been on my feet for a while, sometimes straight away and sometimes it doesn't happen at all.
To note - I'm a 32 year old female. I am overweight but I'm working on it. I have hypermobility syndrome. My iron levels are completely back to normal now. All my other blood work was normal. The last time I had my blood pressure taken it was 110/79 (last week) and my blood pressure usually tends to be on the low side. Last year the hospital staff found I had long QT intervals caused by medication which was subsequently stopped. My QT intervals went back to normal after this. I didn't have any symptoms at the time it was just found in a routine pre op appointment (for a shoulder injury).
These symptoms are really starting to have a huge impact on my life and I have no idea what they could be. Do you have a clue? Do you have any advice on how to manage these symptoms until my appointment next month?