"You Know You Have a Bad Doctor When He Repeats Stress Tests Over and Over Trying Different Inhalers to Fix My Tachycardia"

by Janice Buchanan
(Michigan)

My first tachycardia with chest pain experience was over 10 years ago. Since I was only 26, doctors attributed my symptoms to allergies and never looked any deeper. A little over 3 years ago, I finished a 5K after trying to push through my "asthma symptoms" and knew right then something else was wrong. I just about passed out! I remember blackness coming in and out of my mind as I bent over gasping for air. You start to take notice that other runners aren't wheezing like you even though your using an inhaler, and the elderly walkers are kicking your butt. So I took it upon myself to request a stress test and to see a cardiologist. They stopped the stress test immediately after 3 minutes of walking at 4.0 speed and a slight incline because my heart rate accelerated to 180 and my bp dropped. The cardiologist reviewed the stress test and thought I should try different inhalers, because he felt certain it was exercise induced asthma. He said I was a healthy individual and shouldn't worry because my stress test was abnormal as long as I felt good. He even wrote in my charts the patient seemed to have high anxiety. After 2 years of trying different inhalers and stress tests he ordered an electro-physiology study. That determined a minor arrhythmia, but really nothing they could fix. Another year later, I was still experiencing sinus tachycardia and arrhythmia with exercise. At this point I had even purchased a heart monitor/watch. My heart rate would quickly climb as I started jogging and then once it hit 208 my breathing would become compromised. I told my cardiologist and he referred me to a lung specialist. The lung specialist spent 30 minutes with me and my charts and quite frankly told me to go to Cleveland Clinic. "You can't breath because your heart rate is at 200 and your blood pressure is 80/50. Your lungs aren't getting enough blood flow to work properly." I set the appointment up with Cleveland and it took their cardiologist 10 minutes of looking at my charts to determine I had POTS.